Farmland ~ The Movie

 Guys!! LOOK what's coming out in Spring of 2014!!! I apologize that there's no picture, no video, no nothin'; I tried. Honest. But there's an awesome film coming out after winter thaw; a story following 6 young farmers in their 20's and how they do their job. Looks like they cover a pretty good scope with a crop farmer, cattle rancher, hog farmer, chicken farmer, and...? The trailer had me all misty eyed and I done ruined my mascara now. :P I realize not everyone will get teary eyed over something like this, but I think a few will understand my excitement. I think I might even be more excited about this than I am about the new Marvel movies coming out (Thor 2, Captain America 2, Avengers 2). Shucks, I might even be more excited about this than about The Hobbit 2. And that's sayin' somethin'.

 If you missed that first link, here it is again. Click HERE to check 'Farmland' out!

Let There Be Cowgirls

  It's been a long time since I've listened to honest-to-goodness country music. You know, the songs that actually talk about cowboys and cowgirls? I listen to a lot of country music, but my kind is the kind about tractors, crops, and pretty girls. ;) It's been many a year since the term "cowgirl" applied to me. I used to be that type of person... I was a rodeo girl; passionate about barrel racing and pole bending, and desperately wanting to master roping. My usual mount was a little gray Arabian mare; but my favorite was a lazy, bad tempered buckskin Quarter Horse named Snippy. The Arab was great if you wanted a good, dependable run; she was sturdy, and fast enough to finish a barrel course in 16 to 17 seconds. But the Quarter Horse... She made you work for the ride; you had to give things your all, ride her just right, convince her that this was the thing to do... If you were lucky, and she was in a good mood, the two of you flew through those courses and getting a time of 14 or 15 seconds on the patterns wasn't uncommon. I've ridden who knows how many horses over the years, but obstinate Snippy is still a favorite.

 But back to the music! Like I said, I haven't listened to this stuff since I was a rodeo girl myself, at the age of 12; my riding instructor got me hooked on this style of music and usually had it playing when it was just the two of us. I had forgotten all songs and artists that I liked over the years, and then a friend sent me a link to a country song the other day. I laughed at the song; thinking of all the memories that it brought back, and then instantly downloaded it onto my MP3. It's called 'Let There Be Cowgirls', by Chris Cagle and I have to admit that I'm quite smitten with it right now. I sing along with it outside while working in the barn, and my mind drifts back to days of creaking leather saddles, dusty arenas, and three barrels set up in a triangle shape... Waiting for a cowgirl and her mount to fly through it.

Feel free to give it a listen to. ;)

Graceful Me (Not)

 I wasn't planning on publicly sharing this story (because it's embarrassing!), but a friend convinced me, in between her peals of laughter, to share it nevertheless.

  Just know that I am not a very graceful person. 'Nor am I very bright most of the time. In short, I'm a klutz who is quite good at making a fool of herself.

 My afternoon was going swimmingly (that's such a fun word. I adore it.). It was a bright fall day, I had just finished a good morning's work in the barn, and I was ready for lunch. Everything was grand. I was sporting an unusual mishmash of clothes, but didn't really care then and there since I was just doing barn work and no one was around. On my head was a soft pink colored cap that said "John Deere" across the front, on my feet were bright purple Bogs boots that I got last week (Bogs sent them to me for free since my old pair was cracking!! Woohoo!), and I was of course sporting my absolute favorite sweater that I own: the ugliest lime green, fleece pullover that you ever done did see. It used to be a shocking neon color, but I've had it for so many years that it's finally faded to an awful lime. I love this sweater way too much to ever give it up. Even if it is an eyesore.

 So yeah, I looked like quite the oddball as I walked back up to the house for lunch. But hey, there was no one around right? Knock on wood, my dears. Knock on wood. I'd only gotten halfway to the house when I heard a familiar rumbling sound that always makes me smile: A tractor was coming my way. And it was big. I twisted around and saw to my delight that it was the neighbor down the road, driving his John Deere 9630 (remember this baby? I've got such a horrible crush on it...). Oh this was my lucky day!! The 9630 was driving right past me. I forgot all about my pink hat, purple boots, green sweater, and the fact that I looked like a wreck. All that mattered at this moment was that a beautiful hunk of metal was going by, and it was like being at my very own private parade. I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing, too.

 The tractor was going at the same pace that I was walking, so I was all too happy to just let my feet walk in the direction of the house while I gazed longingly at the tractor. And yes, I will admit that I had a dorky smile plastered on my face as I looked up and down at the giant wheels and green paint.

 Then things got bad.

 There I am, walking along, looking like an idiot in every sense, and trying to not squeal out loud at this tractor, when I glance at the cab. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no!!! Folks, it wasn't the elderly neighbor who's in his 90's driving that machine. It was his grandson who's MY age. We're talking early twenties, blond crew cut, muscle to spare. You know, the type that catches the eye of most girls? Yeah, that kind. We were far enough from each other that you most likely couldn't tell exactly where a person's eyes were looking, so to him it probably looked like I was staring at him, and smiling like someone who should be in an asylum. Okay, I swear I was not checking him out. Let me just state this here. Cross my heart and hope to die. I check out tractors and trucks; not guys. He just had to be in there, didn't he!?!? Of all people, why did it have to be the neighbor's grandson in that cab!? He had the strangest expression on his face when I looked at him. Like he was trying to figure out why this girl dressed in clownish colors was staring, smiling, and walking in a crooked line towards her house. Apparently I wasn't the only one staring.

 I wanted to die. To be swallowed up by the earth and never be seen again. This was embarrassing. No, this was humiliating. I'll never be able to go on a walk up the road again for fear that I'll see him. Oh it was bad...

 At this horrifying realization of who the driver was, I did the most logical thing there was to do: Panic. Yeah, I'm great at being logical. I should get a degree for my logic; or a medal or something... 'Cause I'm obviously top dog in this circle. Okay, whatever.

 I had just reached the front porch by the time it completely sank in that it was raining on my parade, so to say, so without further ado I whipped myself around and decided to bolt towards the front door. I probably would have made it too, had the support beam to the porch roof not been in my way.

 Yes, dear reader, yours truly smacked herself into a beam. And the grandson saw me do it. It was like something from a cartoon; right when I thought I couldn't embarrass myself any further, I go and walk into a big wooden beam.

 There was no way to play this cool. I had just destroyed every shred of dignity I owned because of a tractor. I was officially mortified. Why couldn't he have looked the other way!? Why couldn't a cougar have suddenly darted into the road?? Or a herd of flying blue monkeys have gone past his windshield?? Anything to have made him glance away and not see me walk into a post. But no. He saw it. All of it. And I wanted to die. My one comfort is that I'm leaving the state in thirty six days and then I won't have to worry about bumping into him again for awhile. And maybe he'll have forgotten the whole thing by the time I come back. We live in hope, anyway.

So there you have it folks. I'm ruined. It's a gorgeous tractor though, I will still cling to that. But if I have a "most embarrassing moment", this surely is it.

 It just had to be the grandson in there, didn't it??

Heifers For South Dakota!!!

 I just found this organization about an hour ago and I'm positively THRILLED to see it! This is a group of folks actively taking donations and buying heifers to help the ranchers in SD get back on their feet. Things like this are a great reminder to me that there's still hope for this nation... There's always hope. There are still good people here who will help a total stranger build their herd of cattle back up.

 The blizzard 'Atlas' may have ravaged that state, but Americans know how to fight back.

 Wanna' join ranks and help? Click HERE and you'll go right to the Heifers for South Dakota website. :)

Q&A Monday

 

 Okey dokey my dears... It's time to confront the question of the week and give it an answer!

  This week we're hearing from Tasha, and I *think* I understand the question, but I'm not positive. Tasha, you referred to micros, but then went on to explain fodder; are we just talking fodder here? I wasn't sure where the micros came in. Just to clarify the difference betwixt the two, microgreens are a leafy vegetable such as cabbage, kale, radish, and peas that are grown in soil until 14 days after germination, and then normally saved for human consumption. These are fancy little greens that sell for a hugely high price to restaurants. Chefs love 'em. Fodder on the other hand is barley or wheat (the two most common grains; you can sprout anything, but nothing grows like these two) that is grown "hydroponically", meaning there's no soil; you just keep them in drained trays until you have a mat of "grass" which you feed to livestock. You don't sell this stuff to restaurants. ;)

 I'm going to guess that we're talking about fodder here, so that's where I'm taking this conversation. :) You asked how often to water fodder, and then stated that you're having mold problems. I can relate. And I'll bet an acorn to an oak that anyone else who has ever done fodder will raise their hand and agree that they've had the same problem. Oh the mold issue... Don't worry, it's fixable.

 First off, make sure that the grain in your trays is no deeper than 3/4 of an inch. Any deeper and you'll just exacerbate the molding problem. Any thinner and it'll dry out too soon, and then when you get it wet again, you face mold, or the loss of the entire tray due to the germ dying. (yeah, this is sounding like a really fun project, huh?) If you feel that your seed depth isn't a problem, then next look at your drainage. There should be NO standing water, EVER. I repeat, NO standing water, EVER. When you water your grain, all liquid should drain out within twenty seconds. If it takes longer than that, then you need more drainage. Someone gave me "pre-drilled" trays once, and those things took almost a minute to drain. This seemed great at first; I was able to fill each tray to the brim and then walk away, letting it drain slowly on its own. Or, that was the thought anyway... Since there weren't enough drainage holes, there would be too much moisture hiding in the cracks and crevices; puddles sitting in the low spots where there was no drainage hole. After two days in the high 80's I had to throw ALL of it out. Mold. Lots of it. As to how often to water, I do it 3x's a day when it's hot outside (like, 80F and up). Anything cooler than that, and I find that 2x's a day is usually fine.

 Now, suppose your drainage is fine, and your depth of each layer is fine. Now what!? Mold is an extremely common problem during the summer; doesn't matter how you do it, you're most likely going to have mold issues because it's hot, your grain stays moist all the time, and each pound of grain has thousands - if not millions - of bacteria spores coating it, which is what causes your mold. So the key is to deal with the bacteria that's present on the grain itself. How do you do that? There are a couple ways.

1. Skip the initial soak during hot weather. Normally you let your grain sit in water for 12-24 hours before you put it in the tray. Skip it, and put your dry grain in those trays. I don't completely understand what effect this has on the grain, but someone gave me this tip when I was having issues with mold back in August and it worked well for me.

2. Put a "glug" (1/8 to 1/4 cup) of apple cider vinegar (raw, with the "mother" in it) in the water that is soaking the grain. This method you would obviously only use if you wanted to keep doing that initial soak (which some feel is beneficial in breaking down enzymes). Or, you can do a capful of bleach into the soak water. Either one should work; these *should* kill off the bacteria that's causing you problems. I say "should" a little hesitantly because nothing is for certain with this. I've had both options work really well for me, but I have a different climate than you most likely.

 If you're still having mold problems when they're growing, and you're not growing a huge amount of fodder, you could try watering with a watering can, and putting a bit of ACV or bleach in the can once a day (I would really recommend the ACV during the growing period) to keep that bacteria at bay.

 Hope this helps! Mold can be such a frustrating thing to figure out.

Cider Pressin'!

This was my day today. Well, part of it. We invited a couple of families over and together we pressed some cider to go 'round. Cider pressin' is one of my favorite parts about October. ^_^

Marvelous Marvel

 Okay... Besides being a LOTR nut, I'm also a fan of anything by Marvel. I like them all. ^_^ And while I admit that the story plot for Captain America 2 didn't sound all that great, the trailer has got me thinking otherwise. I'm gonna' have to watch this one. After all, anything with Capsicle is good, right? (my fellow Avenger fans will understand the name on that last sentence. Hehehe.)