Diary of a Farmer's Daughter
Have a Good Scare
One of the hazards of working with an eccentric personality is that you never know what new oddity you’ll find around the corner…
There I was, alone in the office. I got up to do something and turned the corner to see these…
Then, I came in first thing this morning and ground these…
At least she’s productive!
Nose to the GrindStone
Some days are fun, some days we want to cry. Lately, we’ve just been busting our butts trying to get everything done. Summer is a busy season. The days are longer with warmer, dryer weather, and we are just able to get so much more done. Not to mention Mom and Dad are babies about the “cold”… ;)
First, it’s hay season. We try to get our first cut in May, then cut about every 4 weeks after that. This year, we’ve had broken equipment, rain, and so many other things going on that we’ve struggled to keep up. Normally, with how great the grass has done, we’d have had at least 3 cuts by now. Instead, we’ve done 2-ish this year.
Next, its weaning season. We group our calves by age, and wean and vaccinate them over a 6 week period. We work a group of 10 calves at a time (the first 10 born last season). The first group was started in June. They got 1 round of vaccines and went back with momma. A month later, we worked them again to give them their boosters, and gave our second group of 10 their first round. At this point, the first group gets separated from momma (across the drive way so they can still see each other), and the second group goes back with momma. The first group stay separated for 2 weeks before they go with our “Stocker” group and their mommas go back to the main herd. Then, another 2 weeks later, we work group 2 for their second round, and group 3 start their first round. This cycle continues until we’ve worked all of the calves for 2 rounds of vaccinations and weaned them. Then all of the calves are in the “Stocker” group and all of the mommas are together.
Then there’s all the usual things like: rotational grazing, electric fences, overseeding, weed management, pond management, and any other basic maintenance that comes up. There are electric fences everywhere. If we never have to do them again…it’d be too soon. :P
Finally, we have the CORN MAZE. We are so excited about this event, but it is kicking our behinds. In trying to get all of this done, we’ve painted the barn, installed an irrigation system, planted corn, created games, planned the event area, booked vendors, set up the web page, created facebook events, designed flyers, trimmed trees, bought all kinds of what’s-its, and tried to keep our heads on straight. There’s been confusion, injuries, hurt feelings, laughs, tears, fun times, hard work, and excitement. Every day has been an adventure.
Our personalities are so different. Mom tends to be the idea person. She gets so enthusiastic that its like her drive runs away and there’s no stopping the ideas. Then when the realization hits that there’s too much, you can see her excitement fall like melting snow from the roof. Mom is also the one that does most of the facebook posts. She drives us nuts pausing to take pictures of everything, hehe, but she is so much better at the social media stuff than either of us. She has the biggest personality of the three of us. Daddy is the physical one. He wants to be out in the field doing. He wants to see the fruits of his labor immediately. The day to day running of the farm, often requires more than one person, which seems to put the other work in the background. Then, he’s always amazed at how much “background” work gets done. He is the most reserved one, introverted, and particular. He has a specific way and purpose in doing everything, and he makes sure to remark about the right way to do it when he’s teaching. I am apparently the organizer and tech person. I have fallen into the roll of event planner/project manager/designer. I’m the goofy, introverted nerd. Regardless of my sun revulsion, my aircondition-a-holic status, and my allergy to sweat, they keep making me go outside to help. It’s kind of funny to see how different each of us is, but our personalities mesh really well together.
My wonderful husband has taken vacation days to help us get all of these things done. Mema and Papa have been wonderfully supportive, and are ready to help in whatever capacity they can. Our family have all committed to coming to the event, and/or shared the event to try to draw people out. And, our friends are always trying to find ways to help and support us.
It’s a difficult and unpredictable job. Every day is different. There’s always something going wrong. But I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I love the people I work with. I love the work I’m doing. I see God in my world every single day. It may be a hard life, but it’s a blessed life.
Beef Survey
This survey is to get an idea of the preferences you may have in beef. This survey is completely anonymous. You do not have to buy our beef to participate. Please tell us what our potential market is looking for in our meat!
Gettin' my Learnin' on
It seems crazy to me how much learning has to happen in any industry. We are participating in the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course, and I’m working on the Barn N Door conference. From forage to marketing, there isn’t a topic we aren’t covering.
Cattle Dubbing
Steer 1: What is this thing?
Steer 2: I don’t know. I’m trying to smell it’s rear but I can’t find it.
Steer 3: I think it’s some kind of cow. I smell poo on this round thing. Oh! never mind. That’s your poo.
He said she said cont…
Talking about a can of fruit
Mom: it had it’s back to me…
Dad: like it was the cans fault?
Mom: yes, so, it had it’s back to me while I used the can opener, and I went to drain the juice and didn’t see the tab on the top until I turned it over
Dad: so it had nothing to do with the can being backwards…it was upside down?
Mom: yes, but I couldn’t tell it was upside down because it had it’s back to me
Dad: so not only first, the can has control of its own position, so it’s the can’s fault, but second, it being backward somehow had bering on your ability to tell that it was also upside down?
Mom: (with a completely serious look on her face) YES!
Me: OMG, my mom is ridiculous
Poisonous Plants Quiz
Which of these plants is poisonous?
A. Carolina Horse Nettle
B. Buffalobur
C. Tomato
D. Belladonna
E. Silver leaf Nightshade
F. All of the above
He said she said cont…
Mema: They gave him a salve to put in his nose. They told us how to do it, but then the label said don’t put it near your face.
Papa: What’s it for?
Mema: They noticed a slight infection up there.
Papa: I thought I felt too boogers fightin up there.
OH PAPA
He said she said cont…
Papa: These grapes are… (trying again) These sours are… (trying one more time) These grapes grew sour…
Me: Papa, your joke took too long
Papa: Bitterweed! That’s what I’m trying to say!
Group: Rolling on the floor laughing
Poor Papa just couldn’t get his mouth to work right for him
He said she said cont…
Melanie: (to irritate her sister) Ni Ni Ni Ni Ni Ni Nick Nickelodeon…(over and over again)
Me: I’m going to start throwing things at you
Group: lots of talking
Papa: (trying to get Nick’s attention) Ni Ni Ni Ni Ni Ni Nick
Group: burst out laughing
Me: don’t make me throw stuff at you too
Saturated Fats
How many of us just know "fat is bad" or "fat makes you fat"? I know I was taught this from elementary until I got out of college.
Who is now hearing "carbs are bad"?
And, who is tired of hearing all of it and you just want to eat what you want, when you want???? ME ME ME ME!!!
Since we can't all eat whatever we want without probably being very unhealthy and overweight, we do what we can to keep up with the latest information. John found a new article about fat that I found rather interesting. I've copied and sourced it in our newsletter, but here's a link to both. http://www.oklahomafarmreport.com/wire/news/2020/02/00098_FatsNoLongerjustified02282020_075753.php#.Xot4r4hKjIX
Newsletter: Industry News
He said, She said Cont...
Me: Lot's of people that have had food poisoning are never able to eat that food again. I have a friend that can't eat chicken on the bone because she had food poisoning one too many times from it
Daddy: That's just ridiculous. You have to know that not every instance of that food is going to make you sick.
Me: Of course, and it's totally a mental thing, but your brain tells you you will be sick if you eat it
Papa: Some people just never budge once they get their mind made up
The Room: Rolling on the floor laughing because he is the worst about being set in his ways
Probably one of those "you had to be there" things, but we were in tears laughing. We love Papa.
March fools?
It may be April fools today, but yesterday the cows were playing pranks on us.
First we tried to move yearlings across the street, to the barn to weigh them…they had other ideas
Then we tried to tag and vaccinate the 5 new babies. Papa got pooped on, and the feisty littlest one gave daddy a mini rodeo.
Needless to say, we had a bunch of laughs.
April Showers
Well, the March showers brought April flowers. Fields of emerald, gold, crimson, sapphire, pink, plum, and coral make the mind wonder how such vibrant beauty can exist.
We have beef
We do have meat! We are delivering! Please check our inventory. Give us a call, text or email. Or, place your order online. Online payments are credit card only. All other order types accept cash or check.
Today’s the day!
“Today’s the day! The sun is shining. The tank is clean, and we are getting out of…gasp” -peach
Except the sun isnt shining here. 🙄 However Spring is officially here! Lots of flowers coming out. The Pear tree made snow on the driveway. What’s your favorite part of spring?
We Have the Beef
Our beef is locally raised on our farm and locally processed at a USDA inspeced facility. We NEVER use added hormones, dyes, or antibiotics on our beef cattle/meat. It is dry aged for 21 days, processed, vacuum sealed, and flash frozen in package. We have bundles too for a little bit of a discount.
Check out our Beef page for inventory, or to place an order. Or call, text, or email from our About page for more information or to place an order.
