Give Us Your Farming Questions

Have you ever had those questions about farming that have been driving you insane, but could never get them answered? Or maybe you're just mildly curious. Well, go no further! This time, I'm here asking for your questions about farming!

Comment with those questions nagging at the back of your mind, and if I can't answer, I'll have one of the guys (or maybe more, depending on who I can get to agree) come as a guest to answer them for you! As with the advice posts we've done in the past, I can't promise that they'll all get answered, but it's worth a shot, yes?

You have until Wednesday, July 17, to submit your questions.

Field Meals + Blog Updates

Wheat harvest is in full swing! I don't know about you, but I'm kinda in denial that summer is officially here already, and that the longest day of the year is past. I mean, seriously, didn't we just have Easter? And Mother's Day? Like, yesterday?

Okay, I'll stop talking about how time has flown. One of these days, I'll cut it out of my posts completely.

Eventually.

ANYWAY. If your family is like mine, meals eaten in the house occur less and less frequently. With the guys constantly outside, more and more of the meals we make need to be taken outside. If the guys were to come in for every meal, it would cut quite a bit of time out of their work schedule. So pretty much every day during the summer, we pack their suppers, and during harvest, we pack lunches as well.

It can be super hard to take meals to the field; the guys eat on the go, so we can't exactly throw some spaghetti into a container, hand them a fork, and send them on their way, can we?

So if you're ever in this predicament, never fear! Here's some short tips that can go a long way when it comes to packing meals to eat on the go.

Pockets. Probably nearly half of the meals we take to the field are pockets. Cross Schwan's hot pockets with bierocks, and you've got pockets! Make bread dough, roll it out on your countertop (or cutting mat, in my case . . . ), cut it into squares, add the stuffing you like, fold the corners together, and bake! These are perfect because not only are they one-handed and practically mess-free, but you can add so many combinations of stuffings! BBQ, pizza, Alfredo, etc., with any kind of meat you like—just don't forget the cheese. Cheese really makes these babies amazing.

Pizza. Now, this isn't ideal. But if you're desperate for something different, take two pieces of pizza and put them together in a baggie, topsides together. This tends to be a bit messier, but making a sandwich out of it helps.

Wraps. No, don't just slap some cheese & ham on a slab of bread. I mean, you could. We've done it ourselves. But you want some really good wraps? Cheese, cream cheese, ham, lettuce, onion (bleck—I'm the only one in our family that doesn't like onions), and tomato. Can't forget the tomato—just ask my brothers. But you don't only have to use ham! Turkey, chicken and roast beef work great too. Or, if you wanted a variation of wraps (because, c'mon, wraps can get really old really fast), make quesadillas! If you make them with two whole tortillas and cut them into quarters, they fit into sandwich baggies really well.

Burgers. There's . . . nothing special that you can really do with these, I guess . . . but I thought they were worth mentioning. Because, I mean, burgerssssss. What's not to like?? (One thing that we tried though that was a smashing success with the guys was to caramelize the onions with barbecue sauce before putting them on the burgers. They loved it.) I will say, though, that wrapping them in paper towels makes them taste better. I'm not kidding. It's weird, but true! Maybe just the way it keeps the moisture inside.

Leftovers. If we have enough meat, we like to make extras of ^^aforementioned stuff. Pockets, especially. They freeze epically and are so easy to take out of the freezer and pop in the oven if you're ever short on time.

If you've got hungry guys in the field, or your summer is just super busy and you have to eat on the run, I hope this is a help to you!

Now, for the blog updates.

I've created an author blog! You can find it here. If you're following me because of all my bookish posts and writing updates, you'll want to follow me there. Why? Well, after much thought, I've decided to make my new blog my book blog, and Twin Thoughts will remain solely a lifestyle blog. (But, I mean, books are a huge part of my life, so that might bleed into these posts a liiiiiitle bit . . . ) So if you're following me for the posts other than the bookish stuff, then you'll want to stay here. ;) So, yeah, no more updates here for Beloved. If you want to continue following my publishing journey, follow my author blog.

I'm excited to see where this leads! Thank you, my loyal followers, for all your support!

You Might Be a Farmer's Daughter If...{Spring Edition}

Wow, it's been a long time since I've done one of these posts. About time I wrote another!

You might be a farmer's daughter if . . .

. . . rather than everything smelling fresh, spring rains make your yard smell like manure. Very wet manure.

. . . when you hear the words "it's time to start planting corn," you know the relaxed, slow days of the year are gone until winter. (That lil' thing called Summer Vacation? Yeah, we don't do that)

. . . driving in the dark and seeing fire on the horizon isn't horrifying—it's beautiful, and that means pastures are being burned so that fresh, clean growth can spring up. (pun unintended, but you can go ahead and laugh.)

. . . trucks & trailers are a common sight on the road outside your house, hauling cattle out to the pasture.

. . . the perfect place to read is outside with a breeze that doesn't tear your pages.

. . . nearly half of the meals you cook need to be taken outside.

. . . sometimes you think summer has arrived because it's just as hot and busy.

. . . the end of school is bittersweet because on one hand, YAY SCHOOL IS OVER, but on the other hand, days are getting suuuuper busy.

. . . baby animals are one of the best things about spring.

Could you relate to any of these? ;)
(Also how's that for entertaining, Chowboy?)

And so it Begins...

The adorables are starting to come into the world! Meet Jimbo, Sarah, Ashwy and Caleb, the first calves of the season!

Well . . . I actually didn't get a picture of Ashwy. Because when I was finally in a position to snap a shot, she'd disappeared. Go figure.

Jimbo

Of course the little guys wouldn't let me close. I guess I'm scary. *halo*

Caleb & his mama

Me: You could stare at your cows all day, couldn't you?
Kordell: Yeah, probably.

Kinda hard to see Sarah...she's the little one on the left

Yeah, he kinda loves his cows.

The cows were quite anxious to get fed!

Cows that are too hungry to be wary of the phone. *smirks*

FOOOOOOD

He actually has some of them tame enough to let him pet them.

No, Kordell...a little bit to the right...ahhhhh, that's the spot.

So yes, that happened almost first thing this morning. What do you like to do during your weekends?

My Cattle Adventure—Part 2

So after the gates are as they were, it's time to herd the cattle down the to the working shed.  Once there, Kordell tells me to get in Jarvis's pen next door while he separates some of the cattle.  So I hop in and Jarvis moseys over to me.

Now, I say 'mosey' in the most literal sense.  He was barely walking, really.  In case you haven't gathered the fact, he's the laziest calf you've ever seen.  Plus, he's potbellied, which adds to the effect.

So I started petting him, and he thought he'd take a taste.

Well, after he determined that my skin didn't quite meet his requirements, the top of his head started itching.  I didn't get that memo, since he and I obviously don't speak the same language.  So he took it upon himself to use me as a scratching post.

"Ahh, yes.. this is the life."

He then commenced to kicking up his heels once and tearing off behind a tree.

Where's Jarvis?

Peekaboo!

And what's Kordell doing this whole time?  Getting cattle ready to go through the working shed and into the trailer.

Well, it occurred to me that Jarvis is so lazy, surely he won't run away from the flag!  So I whipped it out and held it in front of him.  If I flicked it, he actually flinched.  But then he seemed slightly more comfortable, and even gathered enough gumption to come up and hesitantly sniff the thing.  But it didn't last long.

And about this time Kordell is ready to load the cattle.  So I went out to the loading chute, as per his orders, to make sure they don't try to come back out of the trailer, and to make sure they don't get stuck in the chute.

Wait for it...

And the race is on!

So after I masterfully prevented the return of the cattle, and even got a couple unstuck, Kordell told me I could go wash off my boots really quick at the hydrant while he pulled around the yard and out of the other driveway.

So we're on our way to the other farm to drop the cattle off and load some more to bring back here. Why, exactly?  Um, ask the guys.  I just tag along with minimal questions that I don't think of until after it's happened, like now.

G'bye, goats!

Once at the other farm, Kord pulled into the yard and commenced to backing up in semi-darkness with a trailer.  Slightly impressive.

So about this time Birdo shows up and my services are no longer needed, so since I have to just stand around waiting for my ride home, I watch him take my flag and help Kordell unload.

Then they moved to the loading chute to pick up some cattle to move home.

Shutting the gate...

And then we were on our way home again!  They were going to load some more cattle to take back over, but by this time I decided Mom needed my help with supper (AKA I didn't wanna do any more 'cause I couldn't do anything to help).
And thus ends my cattle adventure.  Have you had any similar experiences? ;)

My Cattle Adventure—Part 1

A couple days ago, Kordell called to see if I'd help him haul some cattle.  Sure, I thought, I bet this'll be blog post material!

Well, I changed into work clothes, grabbed the phone for pictures (sorry, the phone's camera isn't exactly superb, so that's the reason for the poor quality of the pictures), slipped on my shoes, and headed outside, where Kordell was just pulling in the drive with the trailer to back up against the loading chute.

Well, he took one look at my footwear and sent me back inside to get some mud boots.  Kansas has finally gotten several inches of rain (right in the middle of bean harvest, unfortunately...), and naturally, this means the cattle pens will be quite sloppy.

So I get back out to the working shed, and he hands me this epic sorting stick with a flag on the end.

We walk through the shed to the alley, and at this point I'm very glad for those mud boots...

Almost lost them in the mud a couple times!

Once we're out of the alley and into the feeding lanes, it's time to set up some gates.

And finally, we get to the cattle themselves.  Kordell stuck his flag's handle in his side pocket, so walking behind him cracked me up!  It was like one of those little kid's bikes.  I never had to guess where he was!

Not too happy to see us... ;)

Kordell's job: slowly herd the cattle toward the open gate.

My job: make sure the cattle don't sneak past me to this side of the shed.

So there I stood, flag in one hand and phone in the other, desperately hoping that I won't drop the device in the muck, staring down the cattle as they warily made their way toward the gate.  "Don't wave the flag, and just talk quietly," Kordell had said.  I already knew that.

But it sure took away from the fun.

See ya!

There was one fella that was a little stubborn, but just a little, so after just a little flick of the handy-dandy flag, I chased him right back into the alley.

Well... okay, Kordell actually got him out.  But I did splendidly at lending my incredible presence and moral support.  And don't forget that flag's daunting appearance!

So after they're locked in the alley, it's time to set all the gates back to the way they were.

We'll avoid the fact that Kord basically did them all because I hadn't done it for a few years. Having four brothers to help Daddy kinda prevents that.

And thus ends part one of my cattle adventure with Kordell!  Tune in next week for part two, featuring Jarvis... ;)