Garden Variety Thievery

Over the last several weeks we've been dealing with some thieves!  Just your average, garden variety thieves. 

The girls have been stealing snap peas straight off the trellis and aren't the least bit remorseful! 

Don't let those sweet faces fool you!  They're dirty, rotten, four pawed thieves.

"What?  My tongue didn't actually touch it!"

You might be wondering how on Earth did they decide they like snow peas?  

I'd point you in Matt's direction.  Years ago he was out in the garden and decide to throw a snow pea pod in Bella's direction... She's been salivating at them ever since! 

Obviously, Matt had to clue Haddie in on the wonder of the snow pea and now they're both hooked.  It's like crack to them!  They don't even wait for us to pick the pods off for them, it's a doggie buffet!

In addition to the snow peas, they also eat strawberries.  To be clear, they have to be ripe strawberries!  If they're not at their peak, they won't eat them.  Rotten.

Please confirm that our dogs aren't the most spoiled ones on the planet?

Factory Farm or Family Farm? You tell me.

As a kid I spent a lot of time hanging out with my grandparents on the family farm.  My sister and I would get off the school bus in the afternoon there and spend time with Grandpa and Grandma until our parents could pick us up.  On those days, Megan and I put countless miles on the golf cart checking cows with Grandpa and probably ate thousands of strawberries that Grandma grew in her garden!

After Grandma passed away and Grandpa retired to town, my dad took over the farm and our family moved to 'The Home Place'.  Moving to the farm meant I spent even more hours with the cows, fixing fence (that the cows inevitably would run through), hauling wagons to the field, baling hay and everything else that living on a farm requires.  It was these activities that bestowed on my sister and I our shiny 'Farmer's Daughter' badges!

Recently, there has been a campaign to raise money and buy drones to fly over so called 'factory farms' and expose all the "dirty secrets" that are being kept.  For cripes, sakes.  Really? 

In an effort to counter all the negativity surrounding farms and agriculture two bloggers, Nurse Loves Farmer and The Farmer's Wifee, have created a campaign 'Factory Farm or Family Farm?  You Decide.' in support of family farms. 

They are asking for participants to create a photo collage with an aerial photo of your farm and pose the question “Factory farm or family farm? You decide.” You can even hashtag #MyFamilyFarm on other forms of social media!

I couldn't help but create two collages.  One is of 'The Home Place' and the other where Matt and I live now.  The farms themselves are different, but neither are factory! 

We are family farmers!

Ag Chat: Agritourism and Fair Oaks Farms

How can farmers spread their message to those who've never been blessed to know how a farm operates or even what one looks like?

Enter agritourism.

Agritourism is all about bringing visitors to the farm and educating them by using engaging, fun activities.  These activities could be you-pick-em berry farms, guest ranches, Christmas tree farms, pumpkin patches, wineries and farm tours.

One place that in my opinion that is knocking it outta the ballpark by educating thousands of people every year about farming is Fair Oaks Farms.  Fair Oaks is a family owned farm located in Northwestern Indiana.  They welcome visitors hoping to find relief from asphalt and city life and dazzle them with engaging activities that also educate them about farming!  Because contrary to what you may think, not everything you read online about farming and food is true!

Fair Oaks offers it's guests many opportunities to soak up agriculture.  One of the first things you do upon arriving is listen to a quick introduction about the farm.  Fair Oaks originally started just with dairy cattle.  36,000 of them to be more exact!  The Dairy Adventure introduces visitors to what goes on behind the scenes of a dairy farm through a bus tour.  You learn about what cows eat, how much milk the provide a day, how they are cared for and also get to seem them milked on the large rotary or carousel.  Using modern farming techniques the dairy farms can milk 72 cows every 8 minutes!

Visitors can also explore Mooville, an outdoor adventure area with farm themed activities for the youngsters or the young at heart.  Many people think the highlight of  farm is the Birthing Barn, where you have the opportunity to see a baby calf be born!

Just last summer, Fair Oaks added Pig Adventure to their already impressive agritourism experience.  The pig farm is the only production facility in the country that allows visitors inside!  You have the opportunity to see three different aspects of raising pigs: Growing, Breeding/Gestation and Farrowing.  Through the technology implemented at Fair Oaks odor is kept to a minimum, but they also remind you... "If you smell some, remember it's still a farm!"

You may remember my first Ag Chat was all about how electric cooperatives turn cow poop into electricity, well the farms at Fair Oaks are no different!  The manure is recycled in a digester, the gas is collected and used as electricity to run the farms.  The farms are truly "Powered by Poo"!

Fair Oaks Farms is like no other place!  If you're ever in the vicinity you should definitely stop in and check it out.  You won't be disappointed, especially if you purchase some of their delicious cheeses or amazing ice cream made in house at the cheese factory!

It's no secret that I have a soft spot for anyone that helps spread the message of agriculture to those who are outside of the farming community!  I believe that it's terribly important for people to understand the passion that goes into farming and raising livestock.  It's not a cake walk.  Believe me.  There are sleepless nights spent worrying about the weather, the markets, that sick calf and how in the world will I be able to get up tomorrow and do it all over again?

So what is it that keeps farmers growing healthy and wholesome food for consumers?

Passion.  

It's truly a passion.  A love for the land and the lifestyle.

Linking up with Nicole for this week's Country Fair Blog Party.

Ag Chat: They Convert Cow Poop To What?

Hey y'all!  Quick tidbit.  Today's entry marks my 100th post on The Purple Front Door and I'm excited to have it be about something that's dear to me, educating people about agriculture!  This post also serves as an introduction to those visiting from The Ultimate Blog Party 2014.  Take a look around and I hope you like what you see!  

Did you know that the state of Wisconsin has more than 1.27 million dairy cows living there?

That's a lot, huh?

All those cows have to go number two, right?  I know you're thinking "where is she going with this one?!", but hang tight I'll tie it all up in just a sec.  There are many electrical cooperatives in Wisconsin and throughout the US that are turning cow poop in electricity to power homes and businesses!  They've even dubbed it 'cow power'!

Source

So are you asking yourself, 'so how does this actually work?'  Here's the details.  Farmers use a machine called a manure digester to turn methane gas released from cow poop into electricity.  Before the poop goes into the digester it is heated to 100° F which helps to activate the microorganisms that are inside.  As the manure breaks down it creates a gas, as well as both liquids and solids.  The gas is mostly made of methane which is then collected and used to generate electricity!  The byproduct of creating methane isn't wasted either!  The liquids and solids are used as fertilizer, cow bedding and even in the lawn care industry.

Source

Okay, spill!  Did you know that cow poop is converted to electricity or is this news to you?!?

That Gal's A Tease

Mother Nature can keep teasing us with her sporadic 60° days and then shower us with more snow and cold temps, but I know Spring is coming! Want to know what's got me clued in???

My winter gloves are covered with horse hair after giving Louie some rubbins in the barn.

The shedding blade in my grooming tote has been working overtime to remove all the hair that Louie has been shedding due to the longer daylight hours.

It also works really great for those days when he comes in from the pasture covered in dry, crusty mud!  Doesn't Louie look ashamed of himself?

There's also the piles of horse hair in the grooming area the size of cats.

Oh and last, but not least I can't keep the horse hair outta my lip gloss!

So Mother Nature can keep fluctuating the temperatures, giving us 60° one day and 32° the next, but she can't fool me or my horse!  Spring is on the way!!  

Midwestern Values

On Saturday I was heading home from a program for work and I came upon this sign as I was driving.  I can't hardly express how much I LOVE it!  To me it just really expresses the true values and character of those living in small, rural farming communities.

Share the road, farmers keep us fed!

Planting Veggies

When we first moved to our house one of the first changes we made outside was tilling up a patch of the yard for a garden.  Matt and I were both fed from garden goodies growing up and knew that we wanted to keep that tradition alive.  Our garden square footage has managed to increase each spring as we have grander and grander plans.  This year Matt is actually tilling up a separate location for produce that vines out, he really hates it when they take over the other vegetables.  I think it might be one of his biggest pet peeves!  He's affectionately started calling this patch 'Garden #2'.

All summer long we harvest the produce that the garden provides.  Sometimes we give it away to friends and family, other times I use the fresh produce in recipes, I freeze things like pepper rings, onion rings, and shredded zucchini and we can a LOT of green beans and tomato products (salsa, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and bruschetta) for use during the fall, winter and spring.

So far we've got:

 8 Roma's, 1 Better Boy, 3 Super Fantastic's and 1 Yellow Heirloom

Green, Red and Yellow Bell Peppers

2 Watermelons

Cabbage

Jalapeno

In addition to all those goodies, we've planted spinach and lettuce and also have pumpkin, green beans, and sugar snap pea seeds, as well as sweet yellow and sweet red onions coming from Gurney's.  We will also plant cantaloupe, zucchini and cucumbers once Matt gets the patch for "Garden #2" tilled up.  And last but certainly not least, we have our strawberry and rhubarb patches!  It's a fairly good bet that we are going to be up to our ears in fresh produce and that makes me giddy just thinking about it!

Do you have a garden or raised bed at your house?  We love ours... if you couldn't tell!