Farming in the shade

Agricultural land provides food and habitat for 75% of the nation's wildlife. Deer, moose, fowl and other species have shown significant population increases in the past several years.

Yes, I realize that Day Three was actually yesterday. I plead exhaustion--up at 5:00 a.m., out the door at 6:00 a.m., back home for 30 minutes or so in the mid-afternoon, and then home for good about 11:00 p.m.). And actually, you'll only get the first half of Day Three in this post. Stay tuned... Daughter # 3 showed in her first 4H horse show yesterday (her second show ever). She cleaned her horse up the day before and blanketed her so that she would stay tidy. She did stay clean, mostly, but we did need to do some last minute touch-up once we got to the show. Doesn't she look nice? There is a lot of waiting at horse shows, in my very limited experience. Good thing we brought chairs and food and water. Too bad we didn't bring sunblock. Oh-oh! Daughter showed in halter class: Western horsemanship: And trail class (which is like an obstacle course): Lots of fun, and they both did fabulously. We don't think the horse has ever been shown before, and daughter is a beginner,...

Yes, I know that today's photos are pixelated. I want to share pictures of my kids, but then again, I don't want to share pictures of my kids. But I wanted to show you what we dealt with today. The calf show was funny in a way. Our daughter's calf is so well behaved. Normally. He leads well. Normally. He does what she asks. Normally. But not so much today. Today he was stubborn and a big lethargic. Notice the helper to the left. There were a couple of people pushing that calf around the ring pretty much the whole time. He just didn't want to move! Despite the lack of cooperation on the calf's part, there must have been something that the judge liked. In the lightweight class, that silly stubborn calf got second place! Gotta scoot off to bed. Tomorrow starts early...

Whew! Lamb show is over, and the kids did very well. The Farmer thinks he saw the biggest smile ever on the trophy winner's face... Tomorrow is feeder calf show.

Today is the first day of the county fair! Between them, our youngest two kids will show six different animals in at least 10 different classes. In the first three days of the fair. Fairs are a dying breed. And with Michigan's deficit, fair budgets are being cut, which will quickly hasten the death of the county fair. But that's a post for another time or another blogger. I've got lunches to make.

I lost the first half of my heart a couple of years ago. Now it's being halved again. Tomorrow we will send off daughter number 2 to a far away nanny position and college in the fall. This is our job--to raise them up and send them off. So why is it so hard? Her creativity and business sense will be missed (especially on those open-to-the-public days). We'll miss her wonky sense of humor and light-heartedness, her cleaning binges and sudden inspiration to cook a wonderful supper. She's grown up into a lovely, self-confident young woman. She'll do well. But boy, are we gonna miss her. God be with you, my dear.

Today's American farmers and ranchers receive an average of 19 cents for every retail dollar spent on food. In 1980 it was 31 cents .

If it seems like every third post during the summer is about haying, it's because haying is a HUGE part of our lives during the summer. I wish it weren't so. I would like to hay twice during the summer, just for the fun of it. After twice, it's just mind-numbing work. We have over a hundred sheep. So far this summer we have harvested over 3,800 bales of hay. A few hundred of them, we've sold (thank you, Lord). The rest have been stacked in the sheep barn, until it can't hold any more. After that, they've gone UP in the loft of my father's 60 year old barn. I have been a bit crabby face about haying this summer. I can't seem to get even half done with my own work (I've added a part time job with lots of responsibility to the mix), but when it's time to hay, everything else stops. "Make hay while the sun shines" is not just a cute saying. Yet, The Farmer keeps on smilin'. He keeps on cutting hay, raking hay, stacking hay, and (glory!...

Summer farm work is never done. Never. There's always something left to do or chase or fix or chop or haul. But, as the old saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." And I've been feeling a bit dull lately. So I rounded up the troops (making sure that the cut hay was, indeed, too wet to bale) and we headed for the workshop. (Cue James Taylor's "Up on the Roof" and you'll get how I feel about the workshop.) As parents of teens, we hear our share of "aw, do we hafta?" But usually, when we work together, they make it fun. There was skein winding (note the precision measuring equipment used) Droplets of perma-dye everywhere..."Quick! Hand me some paper towels!" A steady progression of saran wrapped yarns going into the microwave and coming back out again, dyes set And the reveal How satisfying!

In 1996, each American consumed an average of 77 pounds more of commercially grown vegetables than in 1970, 63 pounds more grain products, 54 pounds more fruits, 32 pounds more poultry, 10 gallons more milk (lower in fat than whole milk), 20.5 pounds less red meat, 73 fewer eggs, and 17 gallons less whole milk.  (This one is sad): More than 96 billion pounds of edible "surplus" food is thrown away in the United States. Each year. It is estimated that almost 27% of our food supply is wasted.

Once a loom came to live with me, free to a good home. It's not sturdy enough to be a good rug loom, so I use it for placemats and table runners. It's got a rich history--which I won't go into here, for lack of time. Google Hartland, Michigan and Osma Gallinger-Todd to explore the history of a Michigan weaving Mecca in the 1930s. I'm posting these photos of the brake system of my Cromaine Crafts loom for those who might also have stumbled on one of these treasures and need a bit of help in putting it together. The brake is a friction brake. The chain attaches to a stationary hook at the top, wraps around the beam and hooks again at the bottom on the movable foot pedal. The pedal is held in place by a large spring, which attaches to a stationary hook at the base of the loom. To advance the warp, you step on the pedal, which releases the tension of the chain. This allows the beam to rotate toward you. Let off the pedal, and tighten up the warp again and you're on your...

Soybean oil is the mostly widely used vegetable oil. It is found in margarines, salad dressings, canned foods, sauces, bakery goods, and processed fried foods.

Our kids are lucky to have grandparents who live nearby. Well, kind of lucky. Well, maybe lucky isn't the right adjective. They spend a lot of time serving as conscripted labor on whatever the current farm project is. Here's our son and his grandpa, working to clean up the foundation of an old corn crib they took down earlier this summer. I won't show you all the photos of grandpa working and son watching grandpa work. A lot of my homeschool mom friends would give almost anything to have opportunities like this for their sons. Better than a summer full of video games. I think skidsteer driving and video games have some similarities. But you don't get nearly as dirty playing video games... We are blessed to live where we do. We are blessed to have parents/grandparents still healthy and directing mini chain-gangs. We are blessed.

We're contributing to the Phat Fiber Sampler Box again this month. July was a little challenging, as the theme for the box was "Non-Wool". As sheep farmers, there's very little we produce that isn't wool! We finally settled on a couple of things that would work. At the top of the photo are little mini-washcloths (good for taking make-up off, I'm told) made of cotton. And the cards are prints of a pencil drawing by our daughter. Just something fun and silly. We'll get back to wooly things in August--just in time for fall knitting plans.

Flowers and other blossoming plants have nectarines that produce sugary nectar. Worker bees suck up the nectar and water and store it in a special honey stomach. When the stomach is full the bee returns to the hive and puts the nectar in an empty honeycomb. Natural chemicals from the bees head glands and the evaporation of th water from the nectar change the nectar into honey. In one day a honey bee can fly 12 miles and pollinate up to 10,000 flowers.

This Saturday, July 4, from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Bring your spinning wheel or knitting or your circular sock knitting machine and hang out for a while. We'll have the shop open and plan to be out there all day just enjoying ourselves. DH will be knitting socks if you'd like to see that. Email me for the address...