Our Annual Date Day

 It's that time again. Time to prepare for planting, getting the equipement checked over, and our annual date... to pick up the seed!

Yes, John and I have been laughingly calling this our "date day" for years. It typically begins with a trip to our seed dealer to pick up the oats and barley seed.

On busy days like today, you pay, and then wait your turn.

Before we know it, the seed bags are piled in our truck. After a bit of conversation, of course.

The next stop is almost always Dairy Queen. A hot dog and malt never tasted so good! I didn't have to cook, and you can never go wrong with ice cream!

Next stop- our John Deere dealer to pick up a few filters for the tractors. We always keep a few on hand. I, of course peruse the toys. Did you know they make Lego sets so you can build a John Deere tractor? I begged, but didn't get one. :(

Our last stop is our local grain elevator to buy calf feed. With all the calves born lately, we are really going to go through it in a hurry. 

So there you have it, a typical, annual, farmer-style date, with my favorite farmer by my side!

Anywhere Farm

We grow all the food for our animals on Bremer Farms. We also grow much of the food we eat!

This book shows all the places and all the ways you could have an Anywhere Farm.

The farmers in this book need the same things Bremer Farms need to start growing food.

Whether it's growing food for people,

or growing food for animals,

it all starts the same way. Feeding animals just takes a lot more seeds and a lot more soil!

Q is for Quiz

Remember when you were in school and your teacher announced, today we're having a pop quiz?  Well good news, today's quiz is not going to be graded. Shown below are close-ups of photos from some of my previous blog posts. Let's see if you can identify what they are.

You can find the answer HERE.

You can find the answer HERE.

You can find the answer HERE.

You can find the answer HERE.

You can find the answer HERE.

How did you do? Did you pass the quiz?

Hay, It's A Date

Hay, It's a date!

Okay, before you go all "spelling police" on me, I know I spelled hay wrong. I know it should be hey, but there is a reason for my spelling error.

 

I love Farmer John, and I love spending time with him. We spend a lot of time together each day on the farm, but time together away from the farm is a lot less frequent. So when John invited me to ride along to pick up our seed order, I considered it a date and hopped in the pick-up!

Our first stop was the Stein Haus, a local bar/restaurant with delicious food and friendly servers. Our fish dinners were yummy. It's a perfect lunch spot for a farmer and his wife  who are dressed in their clean, but patched, barn clothes. 

Then it was off to Werner Farm Seed where we stood among rows and rows and stacks and stacks of  all kinds of seeds. There were two buildings full of seed bags packed nearly to the ceiling. We were literally standing in a gold mine, with thousands of dollars of seeds surrounding us.

We first loaded the peas and barley mix. We purchased 20, 50 pound  bags. The barley and peas are a fast growing crop and will be ready to feed to our cows in early June.  You can learn more by reading Pass The Peas Please.

 We next moved on to the alfalfa shed. Alfalfa (hay) can typically be harvested for 3-5 years, but each year we plant a few new fields so we constantly have new crops just beginning. Every animal on Bremer Farms gets hay every single day, so we use a lot!

So what does all this seed cost? 

Now we patiently wait for the weather to warm so we can begin preparing the soil for planting. I will be helping with much of the planting this year, so soon I'll be inviting you to go on a "ride-along." Perhaps in the mean time, Farmer John and I will fit in a few more dates...John?...Dear?

 This may not have been the kind of date you were expecting, but if you are the wife of a farmer, I'll bet your dates are similar. Am I right ladies?

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung,

the grass has riz,

I wonder where the flowers is?

I remember reciting this as a little girl, anxiously waiting for the warm weather of Spring. As I age, I still anxiously await the warmer weather, and never as eagerly as this year. As I write this post, it is a chilly 19 degrees with a 20 mph wind. I don't know about you, but that does not scream "First Day of Spring" to me!

As we enjoy our Winter weather a bit longer than usual on our Minnesota dairy farm, we are still keeping our animals warm and comfortable, despite the near-zero temperature. And we keep ourselves warm and comfortable by bundling up to do our outdoor chores. But I'd be lying if I said we aren't looking ahead to Spring.  

We are preparing for Spring on the farm in many ways. Farmer John has had the seed ordered for several months now, and it will soon be delivered. We plant corn, oats and alfalfa each year. Most of our crops are used to feed our animals, with some corn left-over to sell. Machinery for planting is being  looked at to make sure it is ready to hit the fields when the soil (and the weather) are ready for the next crop. This is also a good time to finish up any odd jobs around the farm. Whether it be re-organizing the repair shop, cleaning a shed, or giving the milking barn an extra helping of elbow-grease, we do whatever we can before the busy, long days of planting season are here. 

So the grass may not have riz and I still wonder where the flowers is, but I'm confident Spring will arrive...someday.