If Only Reading My Life Away Was An Option

If I had a choice, I would read all day, every day, for the REST of my life. Seriously.

I think I should have been a book editor instead of a future farmer.

Then again, I would probably never go outside. Or cook. Or bake. Or really do anything.

And I hear being a book editor really isn't all that much fun.

So I'm probably where I am supposed to be.

ANYWAY, the school year ends up being a big dry spell for me when it comes to reading because I always seem to be worried about schoolwork and can't afford to get distracted by reading.

This is why when I go home for Christmas I end up reading about 30+ books in a couple weeks time...or really anytime I go home.

Over the years I have voraciously devoured any book that has been bought or any book that looks even remotely interesting from the library.

Then...I got a Kindle Fire for my birthday. I wasn't expecting this at all. I've always been that person that looooooves holding books in her hand. Looooooves rereading them so many times the bindings are permanently broken. So what on Earth was I supposed to do with this Kindle?

It didn't take long for me to fall completely head over heels for my new friend. Not that I don't still devour tangible books, but I devour even more books on my Kindle.

This age of constant motion has one issue. I will literally only buy books that are 3.99 or under. Every month the Kindle store pops up with a list of monthly deals under 3.99.

I think most of this stems from the fact that I'm a poor graduate student...and reading cheap books lets me read a million more books than if I bought those best name sellers. Plus (and I know this is awful), I feel like if I am going to pay full price for a book, I want to hold it in my hand...and I don't mean in my hand, on my Kindle.

You would be surprised at the awesome books you can find in these monthly deals.

I read one this morning about a family whose youngest daughter had disappeared and then was found 2 years later living right down the road. It was a touching, emotional tale of rebuilding a life and a family in the wake of such a haunting journey. I choked up and cried throughout the novel, but especially at the end. I feel like the ends are always the kickers. I'm never sure if it's because of the way the stories ended or because of the way I was impacted by what I read. Probably a bit of both.

If you are looking for a good read, check out Emma's Secret by Steena Holmes. There are actually 3 other books that go along with this one (which I found out AFTER reading this one), but you don't need to read the other 3 to delve into Emma's Secret.

I started another book right away called A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. The title pretty much explains the book. The author, Rachel, spends a year doing all of the things and following all of the standards that women in the Bible are responsible for and held up to. I have a feeling it will definitely be a memorable journey, for her, and for me. So look for an upcoming book review that you probably won't want to miss!!

Happy Sunday!

Snow in Wyoming, Sunshine in Kentucky

It's snowing in Wyoming. 

I've gotten many updates throughout the day how much snow has come down, which ditches are full, road closures, visibility, how hard the wind is blowing, who got stuck where and so on.

It's made me really homesick. OK, yea I may not be from Wyoming originally but I still consider it my home.

You are probably thinking ugh they can keep the snow!! But me, I wish I was getting it instead. 

I got this picture this morning. And it started up a wave of snow fever that I can't control. 

This is what it looks like in Kentucky today and a cool 82 degrees.

I miss seeing this off my front porch. 

 I miss being able to plop down and make snow angels for oh 9 months out of the year...

I miss going to the cabin in the snow.

Seeing tiny (abandoned for the winter) villages buried in snow in the mountains...

Seeing the mountain lakes covered...without all the fishermen in the way... 

So while I am roasting here in Kentucky, I will dream of the snow and all the adventures that go with it and hope for the day when I can head back to God's Country.

Maybe I will turn up the A/C tonight and make myself a cup of hot chocolate and pretend I'm in the middle of the first big snow. 

After all, if I can't be there, might as well dream about it!

Goodbye Homecooked Meals, Hello Astronaut Food

As far as I can tell, some of the strangest things come on the radio early on Sunday mornings. I was driving into Lexington to spend the day doing schoolwork and waiting for more sows to arrive from the farm, when I heard that we were going to be talking about making food security more of a possibility for people.

Of course this caught my ear and I was so intrigued I had to keep listening. What followed was a discussion with the Head of Efoods Direct. And what I heard surprised me.

Efoods Direct is a company that makes packaged food that can be stored for up to 25 years. The idea behind families buying these bulk supplies is that they will make themselves more food secure and not be left to worry how they are going to buy groceries if they get laid off, a storm system comes through, and as far as I can tell in case of a nuclear (or some sort of destructive) holocaust.

Efoods Direct stems from the fact that food prices seem to be steadily increasing which can be due to a large number of concerns such as supply and demand, specialty items, regulations, inflation (I think you get the idea).

Now I think it's a great idea to store some food if you are concerned about food security or some sort of disaster happening. In the case of a zombie apocalypse, I'm not sure this astronaut food will help you survive though.

The longer I listened the more concerned I became about the bulk food storage idea. All you need to do to make these quick, family meals is add water! But it's not astronaut food.

Ummm, sounds like astronaut food to me?? Oh, it's more flavorful huh? Well it's dehydrated, so isn't it pretty much astronaut food? Not to mention ALL of the food is vegetarian. Yep, vegetarian. Don't worry they have a couple of meals that contain TVP (textured vegetable protein) that they label as chicken, beef, and ham in order to "represent a flavor profile" because meat can't be dehydrated. And you can always enjoy a nice refreshing glass of (dry mix + hot water + chilled overnight) whey milk!! Yum, that will be delicious during a nuclear disaster when all of our fridges are gone and we are running through the woods away from the zombies.

OK, so maybe I am bashing this too much. I will stress again that it really may be a great idea if you don't want to cook a big meal or you are a senior who wants to remain independent (this seems to be a popular concept to that age group because they don't have to actually cook meals but can receive proper nutrition and remain independent).

But what are we teaching our children by eating astronaut food? Will people who use this food even know how to make a real meal (one that doesn't involve adding water)?? Will their children even know what a fresh vegetable, delicious glass of milk, fresh cheese curds, or a juicy steak is?

From ND AG in the Classroom

What happens if there is actually a major disaster and everybody has to go back to farming to survive?? (Granted that we survive whatever this disaster may be). We are already seeing an overwhelming ignorance in where food comes from. People think milk and other food comes from the back of the grocery store! The general public is already 3 generations removed from farming. So if we see an increase in dehydrated food popularity (which wouldn't actually surprise me), haven't we irrevocably damaged our children's education?

Will they even realize that food doesn't come in a powder and all you have to do is mix water?

What I thought was going to be a good lecture on how to improve food security ended up terrifying me. Food security is a real issue in the US and all over the world. But allowing people to enjoy more convenience and forget what actual food looks like may not be the best solution.

I think I will stick to my real meat...it is after all Porktober!

Visit www.porkbeinspired.com for recipes

Piglets Can Cure Anything (WARNING: ADORABLE OVERLOAD)

Are you having a bad day? Do you need a pick-me-up?

Well I have just what you need!

Yep, you guessed it.

Piglets.

If you gave me a herd of cattle or horses (or both), I would be happy. But pigs (and dogs, of course) are my soul mates. So without them I think life would be incomplete. Pigs are the most human-like of all domestic livestock. They like to talk a lot (grunting, barking and squealing being the primary speech patterns), they will eat or even just chew on whatever you put in reach of their mouth, and they like to fight. Sounds like a lot of people you know when they drink, right? They really are just my favorites.

I spent most of Sunday waiting for 1 of my gilts (1st time mama) to farrow (have babies). I know what you are thinking...why on Earth were you sitting around waiting for her to have babies? Well, I'm a bit of a worry wart...which may be because I live 24 miles from where my sows and gilts are currently staying and I knew once I left she was going to be on her own. And for the most part pigs are really good at having babies on their own, but it doesn't stop me from worrying.

This is the girl who was having piglets. Ignore the slobber, she's really quite beautiful. She weighs in at about 550 pounds (light compared to the 700+ pound girls I got in today). 

After deciding she wasn't going to have piglets til at least the middle of the night, I left and got up early this morning to check on her. When I came in this morning I found 7 newborns! 

Don't worry, they were old enough to be dry and completely adorable. And I will spare you a picture of the placenta because don't get me wrong, placenta is amazing but WHEW it never fails to make me gag a little. I don't know if it's the smell or thought but OK, I will stop talking about it now. 

If you can't handle an overload of cuteness then stop scrolling NOW!

Aren't they just ridiculously adorable?! 

The following piglets are about 5 days old. You can see that they still have that silky soft smooth skin of young piglets but aren't as weak kneed as the newborns! 

If you are wondering why I keep taking pictures of sleeping piglets, it's because even newborns are extremely mobile and wobble quickly (much quicker than my cell phone camera can capture)! 

This is the same group from yesterday's piggy pile...as you can tell these 4 like to pile up next to mama.

I will end this picture montage with my week old piglets. It's amazing how fast piglets grow! 

So if you had a case of the Monday blues, I hope this cured it :)

Now do like the piglets do and pile up! Sleep tight!

Quilting to Get Me By

Quilting started as fluke for me, and I'm not really sure I can even classify myself as a quilter yet. Especially since I haven't done anything but make quilt blocks. One day last summer I just decided I needed to quilt.

To make this more complicated, I don't own a sewing machine. And may never own a sewing machine.

Honestly sewing machines terrify me. And they are expensive. But mostly I'm afraid of them. I have never been able to figure out how to use them without constantly having to fix something. Not to mention they are loud. And expensive. And did I mention they are scary?

So I sew everything by hand. Yep, everything. That doesn't mean I am an expert though. But I figure that will come with age.

And to make matters worse, I'm a Pinterestholic...remember? It's truly an addiction. If Pinterest had its way, I would have enough quilts to keep the world warm.

My brain is fried so I figured I would show you some of the blocks I have put together. If you are a quilter looking at these, please don't get upset. Remember I am a beginner...and I'm doing it all by hand!

Bearpaw (with dog bones and breast cancer fabrics)

Cross

Pinwheel

One of my early efforts...you can tell because they are a little uneven (and the left one isn't sewn together)!

 

OK so the next couple aren't really part of a quilt but hey they wanted to be shown off as well.

Pillows I had to make for Cody...plain but comfy!

One side of a tablet case for Cody

Other side of a tablet case for Cody

 And now back to the grind...and by grind I mean playing with piglets and waiting for some piglets to be born! I have a gilt (first time mama) I'm waiting on pigs from. I wish I had brought some sewing with me!!

Guess I will have to study and wait for nature to take its course!

OK, everybody needs some piglets to get them by :)

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Women In Agriculture Are Nonexistent

I was all set to put a fluffy carefree post up today but then a good friend of mine sent me an article that had both of us fuming.

I'm famous among friends for a very quick temper (which I've gotten a lot better at controlling over the years) and a tendency to rant and rave when something gets me going. Well this got me going, so bear with me while I dissect this article.

Basically the article is about "factory farming" and how the world would be so much better if there were more women in agriculture.

It's true that Ag is a largely male dominated sector. And I sometimes ask myself if I can compete with the guys that may be vying for the same jobs I am, but mostly because I don't have some of the skills and aptitudes that are absolutely necessary to farm and ranch. I can care for animals, drive a tractor, drive a stick shift, use my brain and find solutions that don't involve physical strength but there are some things I just can't do. I can physically not exert enough force onto a wrench sometimes or even remotely think of handling a tractor tire by myself. I'm 5'1"! Cody (my 6'5" homegrown Wisconsin farm boy works as a mechanic at a John Deere dealership and he tells me it is a struggle sometimes to do the things he has to do!!)

I definitely agree that men and women look at things differently and that women may be more emotional. But I wouldn't say that male farmers are not compassionate when it comes to their animals. They are just absolutely 100 times better at hiding the pain and agony that comes with raising animals than women are. It can also be difficult for women to accept that not every animal is a pet and cannot be treated as one.

"The women I met in agriculture showed a clear preference for working on organic and small farms..."

Here are some fun statistics for you from the USDA ERS (Department of Ag Economic Research Service):

As of 2011, there were 2,172,843 farms in the US. Of those, 2,114,668 were FAMILY farms (which comes to 97.3% of farms being family owned). 76% of those earned less than $50,000 a year. And only 2% earned $1 million or more. You can see the whole graph here.

Another report by the ERS shows that 88% of farms earn under $250,000 per year and are considered small family farms!!!. They also own 64% of the land assets. The simple fact is that larger farms are more economically viable. And most family farms continue to grow in order to support multiple generations. Let's face it, in an industry where the average farmer and rancher makes $40,000 a year....in order to support multiple generations on one farm, you have to expand and diversify! And in a lot of cases work jobs off the farm in order to survive and continue to farm.

So my point is that farming is still family held and small. No, all of our farms are not "organic". But really the definition of organic is carbon containing (um that means all animals, people, life forms, etc and a lot of other compounds). So isn't everything we raise organic? I'm not so sure about the meat substitutes and food being produced in laboratories...but I feel better being able to see and touch where so many of our products come from!

The article's entire point was that agriculture would be better if there were more women. I thought I was surrounded by women in agriculture!! All those farm families are only comprised of men?? We can reproduce without females now!! Granted, some farm moms don't work on the farm, but a lot do, and they work with their men to make many choices. There are strong farm women raising the next generation of farmers...so there really aren't women in agriculture?

I will agree that men still dominate agriculture. And the article scoffed at the argument that it's because agriculture is back-breaking manual labor. But really, do you expect millions of women in developed countries to give up their fancy manicures, expensive shoes and outfits, and all the glamour that goes with it to be completely covered in manure, placenta, feed and lots of other lovely substances day in and day out? We may have technology that helps make a lot of labor easier...but some things are still back breaking no matter what you do about it.

Animal Science programs in the country are almost 70-80% females and 20-30% male. But you know what the majority of the degrees are in? Pre-Vet. Horse Management. I've been in labs with pre-vet students who were so dressed up they physically could not participate (and these were labs we were going to work with pigs in!!). Do we expect people to give up well paying day jobs to make minimum wage mucking stalls and feeding pigs in an environmentally friendly, economically viable way?

Let me just point out that in 2011 there were 306, 200 female operated farms. If we count women as secondary operators that number increases to 1 million! WOMEN ARE PARTNERS TO THEIR MEN ON FARMS!

I'm not sure I even want to get started on the cage free issue the article mentions. Sure, I like cage free hens, they seem to be happier. But saying that by getting more women in agriculture (and ultimately having only smaller, more "organic" farms) that outbreaks of Salmonella and E.coli (and all the other pathogens) would automatically decrease is not a very informed outlook. There have been more deadly outbreaks found in organic produce lately than in conventionally raised foods.

Big does not always mean bad. And small does not always mean good.

I truly believe that we are blessed here in the US. As a sector, Ag is constantly trying to improve environmental impact, economic viability, and efficiency. We are trying to produce more using less resources (the WWF wants to help us continue this...), and allow people a choice in what they buy. Some people cannot afford to buy moral food. It is a FANTASTIC thing that we have so many choices.

Farm size, operator type, what does it really matter if our products are healthy and safe? And anybody in agriculture knows that happy animals are healthier and more productive. And we want healthier and more productive.

I'm sure I have upset somebody with this post but as a WOMAN IN AGRICULTURE, I am proud of the diversity there is. I am thrilled that we are seeing more and more women in management positions in Ag and more female operated farms. But the truth is that women are a vital part of agriculture (and always have been). They take care of their families. They help their farmers. They farm as well!

Every farm is different. Every situation is different. There are so many women in agriculture, but not all of them like to be out in the spotlight.

And farming is not for everyone. It's just a fact. Farming isn't a job, it's a lifestyle.

To see some of the fantastic WOMEN IN AG, check out some of the blogs I have listed. Or any number of the organizations geared towards women in agriculture (like American Agri-Women, National Women In Agriculture Association, and countless others).

This is something I could rant about for days and use reams of paper, but I will halt the rant here. And leave you with a picture of a pig that was raised inside, in what I'm sure people would consider a "factory farm". He looks miserable doesn't he?

What Am I Doing?

It's a gloomy day here in Kentucky. And I don't mean it's an awful day. Simply one of those days where the sun didn't show its face this morning. So even though I woke up in a good mood, its turned into one of those days where you end up in a depressing mood for no apparent reason.

On days like this I often find myself wondering
     
       What am I doing with my life?
 
       Do I really have any skills that are useful to anybody?

       Can I compete with all the guys out there looking at the same jobs I am?

       What the heck do I want to do with my life? I mean I know I wanna work with animals but I want 
        variety and action, volunteer, be involved in my community, and spread the good word about Ag...but
        what will I do that let's me do that (besides own my own farm)?

       Will Cody and I survive without killing each other?

        Am I really cut out to be a farmer's wife??

The last one stems from the fact that I can be a bit of a control freak. And it's already been decided that I was going to be the sugar mama in this relationship which means I get a say in every choice (works well for me...not sure Cody agrees though haha).

Let's face it, you give me some animals and I am perfectly content to take care of them and all is well in the world. I really have no strong feelings about crops...I know I need them to feed my animals but how I get them really doesn't matter. Cody, on the other hand, loves crops. So yea we have both sides of the issue covered.

Caring for animals calms me down just as riding in the tractor calms Cody down.

And don't get me wrong, I like riding around in tractors too...but it usually puts me to sleep. Not really a good thing when you are trying to get something done (haying, harvest, you name it...I'm probably close to passing out while it's going on).

So after an (almost) argument about going to look at a corn planter this morning...I figured I needed some time to work through my issues. So I did what every normal person does...and went and prepped for my sows and piglets that are coming in this week. And then visited the Holstein steers that are currently on a study up here on campus.

I'm hoping sows and piglets will pull me out of my slump...but for now I will just continue to visit my new Holstein friends.

Aren't I a handsome steer?

Hey crazy lady, you stay right where you are...I'm watching you!!

Are you gonna come say Hi to me too? Huh, huh??

Mmmm tasty wrist, maybe I can wrap my tongue around it and chomp down?!

This is my favorite. He snuffled and let me scratch his itchy spots. Now he just needs a name...

How can you be depressed after looking at a face like that! Time to let my worries go for another day. How is everyone else this fine Wednesday?