Work is important in our family. David and I were both raised with strong work ethics, and it’s really a core value for both of us. It’s not that we don’t believe in leisure, but we really appreciate the satisfaction of a job well done, and we don’t shy away from something because it’s “too much work”. It’s important to both of us to to pass this on to our children, and that’s one of the reasons we farm.
This rice is my ultimate comfort food. Whenever I’m sick, or sad, or hungry, this usually sounds better to me than basically any other food. I’ve made a full 9×13 pan of just rice on many occasions. I had to grieve when it was temporarily off the table because it was something I genuinely wanted to share with my kids.
I’ve hit a point where I feel like someone needs to say something, and I guess it might as well be me. I’m here to say that I am a person. I have a brain. I can make decisions and hold beliefs without your input, direction or permission.
We bought the dairy in 2012 from David’s dad and Uncle Richard who had farmed here their entire lives. They grew up in what is now our house and raised their families working here side by side. I didn’t know either of them until they were nearing retirement, and I used to joke that I should film their antics for a YouTube series with a working title of “Fun on the Farm with Richard and Jerry”. My favorite such moment was a time that they were using a truck to pull-start a tractor (because sometimes tractors that don’t want to will start if they’re already moving). I don’t remember which was in the truck and which was on the tractor, but the one on the tractor was yelling something and the one in the truck had the windows up AND was on his phone. That was just par for the course.
As a farmer, it’s hard to not draw comparisons between our animals’ veterinary care and our family’s medical care. Just like we take our kids to well-child visits and keep up with their vaccinations, we practice prevenative care with our cows, too. This week was full of opportunities to do just that.
I like to consider myself a pretty decent cook; my family seems to agree, so we’ll go with it. That said, I suck at recipes. I love to read recipes. I have books full of them and search google for ideas regularly, but in reality, I never follow them. I substitute and make adjustments often based on what I have or what I like as well as Dominic’s allergies. I’m writing this as a recipe, but it’s really intended as a guideline for how to make a meal that fits your family, which is where the (ish) comes in.
This year has certainly been one for the books. Between the COVID monkeys and the cocaine pigs, there has been a bright spot, besides more family time of course. Many … Continue reading COVID’s Bright Spot: Live Music at Home
I’m in a few Facebook groups focused on feeding kids, and I see this question daily. There are so many options available. There are even dozens of versions of cows’ … Continue reading What milk do you give your kids?
If you’re looking to make pickles without gardening, without spending days on the process, and without actually canning -THIS is the recipe for you!
Previous editions of Bovine Basics cover proper cattle terminology and breeds of cows (specifically those at our farm). Another thing we talk with our kids about a lot is what the cows eat, but I’ve covered that in previous posts. The last thing the boys are already learning is cow anatomy. We pay a lot of attention to our cows’ form. How their body is put together actually has a pretty big influence on their health, including their milk production.
