Farming in the shade

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here! No secret that I love where I live. What a place!  Currently, Michigan (by way of the auto industry) is all over the news. It's not the best news, to be sure. But I did see a sign the other day that said "Michigan's Employment Rate is 88%!" That was right after Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope Meeting , and I think the signmaker heeded Dave's "Stop Listening to Loser Talk" point... Michigan has been amazingly impacted and shaped by the auto industry. In our part of Michigan (the not-Detroit part), a large number of the factories are auto parts suppliers. In the city nearby, the employment rate is a bit lower than the state average--it's 84%. And you'd better believe there are a lot of people sweating the impending bankruptcy and/or summer shut-down of some of the auto companies.  But Michigan is so much more than just auto plants. I'd like to have you check out the   Michigan in Pictures   blog...

***Click here to go to this week's giveaway.*** At a farm convention this past winter, I got to see trailers for the movie "Asparagus! Stalking the American Life". I was so intrigued, I found a copy and bought it.  I just found out that this movie will be airing on Michigan PBS stations on Wednesday, April 29 at 8 p.m. EST. If you can, watch it! It shows how whole agricultural communities can be affected by the government's ill-considered actions. If you aren't in Michigan, check your local PBS schedules to see when it airs. More info:  "The hour-long film tells a compelling and poignant story about Michigan’s agricultural community and the social, economic and political factors influencing asparagus production and marketing. The “stalk-umentary” is the work of filmmakers Anne de Mare and Oceana County native Kirsten Kelly. "Original inspiration for the film surfaced when Kelly, after moving away from her western Michigan homeland, discovered that tales...

Today starts a giveaway at Farming in the Shade! I am happy to contribute this complete hat kit (needles not included) to someone who has a knitting obsession and a small person in their life. Here are the rules (contest open to US or Canada residents only): Giveaway ends May 1 at 9 p.m. EST. Winner will be announced by Sunday, May 3. Enter by posting a comment on this blog post. Tell me something about your knitting--who taught you to knit, your favorite yarn, the coolest thing you ever knitted. Make sure you leave contact information! Earn extra entries by: 1) Following me on twitter. (If you don't know what twitter is, don't worry. It's another way to waste your time on the computer.)  Add a comment here so I will count it as one entry. 2) Tweeting this giveaway (no more than once daily). Add a comment here so I know you did it. 3) Blog about this giveaway. Add a comment (with link) here so I can go visit your blog. 4) Follow or subscribe to this blog (or tell me if have...

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,  so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;  by his wounds you have been healed.  For you were like sheep going astray,  but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."  --I Peter 2: 24-25

Each American consumes, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year. Assuming a sandwich was eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it would take 168 days to eat the amount of bread produced from one bushel of wheat. A family of four could live for 10 years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat.

It's come in fits and starts, but I think spring is here. Here's a photo of our horses enjoying the spring sunshine.  It would be easy to wonder if the darker horse is dead. Many people are not used to seeing animals laying out flat. I'm not used to it! Several times I've been known to slow down the car, roll down the window and yell "Hey!" to see what happens. Usually the animal will startle and look at me strangely. Usually my teens startle and look at me strangely, too. But it's an easy way to see if an animal is resting or dead.  Don't call the animal rescue until you've thoroughly investigated the situation. Just yell "Hey!"

I've been sort of computerless over the weekend. We brought our main computer (as opposed to kid's school computer) in for its yearly tune up, and they kept it. And kept it. And kept it. They've still got it, well past the 24-48 hours they promised. I'm rather miffed, and plan to spring it out of the pokey no later than Wednesday, no matter what. Two thumbs down for the apple store. In other news, The Farmer planted oats last weekend, just ahead of Sunday's rain. Perfect timing. Babies are still being born. Endless bottles are still being mixed up, thrice daily. Laundry still gets dirty and then washed, and food continues to be consumed. I guess it all goes to show that the world still spins and orbits, even without the computer. Yeah, I'm kind of surprised, too.

There are about 600 kernels on each ear of corn. Farmers grow corn on every continent except Antarctica. Each tassel on a corn plant releases as many as 5 million grains of pollen.

TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties were scheduled to be held all over the country today. Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra lists these as up-and-coming tax changes: --Marginal income tax rates will increase for all income brackets. --The $400 "Making Work Pay" credit will expire. --Capital gains and dividend rates for individuals will increase. --The child tax credit will decrease from $1,000 to $500. --The death tax will return with a 55% maximum rate. --The Alternative Minimum Tax exemption will expire. And lest any readers think I am picking on the current administration exclusively, I was also appalled at the amount the federal deficit increased under the previous administration.  What do you think?

Just a couple more photos on bottle feeding. The second photo was blurry, so I "artified" it. Whenever I look at it, I blink repeatedly, thinking my contacts are making my vision blurry.  Any questions about bottle feeding? Any volunteers?

We honestly do not know (off the tops of our heads) how many lambs we have on the farm. If we took the time to add them up from our records, we would know. But who has extra time to spend tallying lambs (it is enough just to get them taken care of and written down)? Right now we are feeding 7 lambs exclusively with the bottles, and supplementing 5 who are underfed by their mamas. Three times a day.  Here's your daily dose of cuteness: This is a one year old cat--not overly large. It gives you an idea of how small our lambs are! And how friendly our cats are...

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted,  yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." --Isaiah 53: 6-7

I am very lucky to live on a farm. My kids are fortunate to be raised on a farm. There is nothing but sweetness and light on the farm. Well, except for the mud and muck that is everywhere during the winter and spring and fall seasons... Just keepin' it real, folks. 

This new listing in our etsy shop generated a lot of interest this past week. It ended up in two treasuries (which are collections of items promoted by etsy sellers), and got lots of views. If you click on the photo above, you can read my attempt at a humorous description for the yard of socks... ETA: I guess Blogger is just not going to cooperate with me on this one... To see the listing for the socks, click here. 

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;  my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people;  pour out your hearts to him,  for God is our refuge." --Psalm 62: 5-8

Soy crayons have been created to replace toxic petroleum-wax crayons, soy crayons are safer to use, brighter in color, and less expensive to produce. One acre (43,560 square feet) of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons. ETA: Here's a short article on the processing of soybeans into wax.  Thanks, mulchandmore, for asking! I didn't know, either. And here's more information on soy silk (not to be confused with soy milk).

The spring weather in Michigan varies widely. Some days the temperature will hit 60 degrees and we enjoy the sunshine. Other days we are teased and tormented with late-season snow showers or cold, miserable rain.  Just as the weather varies widely, so on a farm there is life and death, joy and heartache. We've had a few premies that haven't made it. We've had a couple of sets of quadruplets and many sets of triplets. Occasionally, one will be much smaller than the rest, and need special help. Sometimes, no matter what we do, the lamb dies.  This is my son's lamb and ewe--he's had a lamb born on his birthday for two years now. This one was actually one of triplets--two were breech and didn't make it. It's one of the hard things about raising animals. When a stalk of corn dies (or a whole field, as we had last summer), there is a sense of loss. But there's something different--somehow deeper--about the death of an animal. Something that makes you appreciat...