Monday, April 27, 2015

The Zit On Our Farm

Do you remember as a teen when you got a blemish on your face? You know what I mean... a pimple... a zit. And didn't it feel like it encompassed your entire face, and everyone was staring at it? 
Meet the "zit" on our farm - our barn.


Don't misunderstand - I love our "zit". I mean, aren't these old hip roofed barns part of scenic rural living? Plus we are all about preserving the history of our farm, and this is one of the few original buildings we have left.


But how can we repair this blemish on the face of our farm?


After years of repeatedly scraping and painting, it was time for a real facelift. After much research we finally found the right guys to do the job.


The building supplies were delivered and the heavy equipment rolled into Bremer Farms in October. The project was taking shape, but then winter began and cold, snow, and ice halted the progress. Oh, pooh!


Our blemish started to fade again in March when the crew returned and within a few weeks our project was complete!


We are thrilled with how our "new" old barn looks!


The cows like it too. Our "zit" is gone!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Waiting But Not Resting

A half inch of rain was just enough to keep Farmer John from Spring planting yesterday and again today. We are not complaining about this delay however, since the moisture is necessary as our area of Minnesota is still in a moderate drought.

When the weather is right it will be business as usual and John, and nearly every farmer, will be back in the tractor seat. Chances are John will be back at planting tomorrow right after church.

Our barley, peas, and oats have already been planted and now we move on to the corn. Last Spring I shared with you about how Farmer John was Waiting To Get His Hands Dirty. You can read about Johns anticipation and the dollars and cents that go into planting our corn crop each year. 

So what happens when we can't plant today?
There are still calves to feed,
 

 and cows to feed,

 
and pens to clean...

 
 and cows to milk,


so that we can continue to provide you with milk for tomorrow mornings cereal.


Fun Farm Fact:
It takes less than 48 hours for milk to get from the farm to your grocery store.
Isn't that amazing?


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Earth Day Is Every Day On The Farm

Happy Earth Day!

  
My family and I live by the motto, “Leave this world a little better than you found it”. We became farmers because of our love for our land and animals. What better way to show this love than to respect our natural resources? 


We pride ourselves on making the best decisions we can to preserve our land to keep it beautiful, productive and sustainable. 


I invite you to read an article I wrote for The Food Journal and Food, Nutrition & Science to learn more about what we do on Bremer Farms to make everyday Earth Day.  

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?


Saturday, April 18, 2015

Cows + Books = MOO!

I love to read and I also have many, many great memories of spending time at the local library with Sara and Michael when they were little kidlets, so when the library asks me to help out with an event (especially one that involves cows)
 I say, "What time do you want me there"?

 I recently participated in the "Once Upon a Reader" program which is designed to encourage the love of books.
 

The featured book was Moo! by David LaRochelle.


There were guest readers, like Tom from our local TV station,
 and crafts to make like these great cow hats...


and I got to talk about living and working on our dairy farm to lots of kidlets.



Cows and books, AND cookies and milk at the library...
my life is good!

You can click here to see a movie of the book Moo

and you can click here to learn more about cows and milk!

Happy Spring and Happy Reading!
Moo!



Monday, April 6, 2015

A Day Late

I have a potato recipe I want to share with you. I served Roadside Potatoes 
 yesterday as part of our Easter feast with my family.

 (Hey Jan, why didn't you post this before Easter so we could have served them too?)
 
I rarely publish a recipe on my blog that I haven't tried first. Come to think of it, I have only posted one recipe that I didn't make. The weird thing is...I served my Easter guests these potatoes without trying the recipe...but yet I won't share it with my readers without trying it. Hmmm...

Roadside Potatoes
24 ounces frozen hash browns
1 pint whipping cream
1 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Place hash browns in a 9x13 pan. Cover with Parmesan cheese. Melt butter and stir in whipping cream and salt. Pour mixture over cheese and hash browns. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown on top.

Everything's better with cheese!
photo from Google image search
 
* I also made a pan using cheddar cheese. Yummy!
** This basic recipe would be great with some additions- I'm going to try onions, or bacon bits, or green peppers, or ham pieces. The possibilities are endless! What would you add?