This And That Thursday - 15

A little bit of this and a little bit of that- here's what we've been up to.

Seven inches of snow today and lots of wind.

Uff-da! We were blessed with more extreme winter weather again this week. Monday and Tuesday brought -50 degree wind chills and no school across most of our state. This meant Sara and I had two more days of vacation from our teaching positions. It also meant a day off for Michael since the local television studio he works at is also located at our high school. Since we were all home, that gave Farmer John more helpers with the daily chores. Extreme weather, or not, the chores still need to be done. Take a peek at Baby, It's Cold Outside to learn about what we do to keep our animals safe and comfortable in our "winter wonderland".  

One of my favorite paintings by Minnesota's own Bonnie Mohr hangs in our kitchen.

Did you know...One cow produces 144 servings of milk per day to provide 48 people with three daily servings of milk? Way to go girls! 

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This And That Thursday - 13

A little bit of this and a little bit of that- here's what we've been up to. 

Recently our daughter Sara was visited by a friend she went to college with. As he was peering out the window watching Farmer John do his typical Saturday chores, Sara's visitor said, "Does your dad always work on Saturdays?" Yes, he does. We all do. Daily chores are just another part of farm life. Granted, if you have a larger farm with several employees, you may have a regular day off, but since we are an average size farm with only family workers, we all do chores every day. Does your dad always work on Saturdays? This question is just another example of why I write my blog...things we farmers take for granted, people not in the farming industry are surprised by. 

Farming can be a 24 hour, seven day a week job. We enjoy what we do, and love working side-by-side with family members. We consider that a "perk" of our career!

Sara and Michael

Tuesday morning we were greeted by several inches of snow. As the snow continued to fall, Farmer John began the task of moving the snow with the tractor. We not only needed to move snow to get to the barns to feed our herd, but John also needed to clear a path for the milk hauler who comes every other day to pick up the milk. 48 hours later that milk can be found on your grocery store shelf. Even heavy snowfall can't get in the way of fresh milk brought to you, and that makes us proud!

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to learn more about dairy farming and the importance of dairy in your day.

Not Quite Yet!

Have I mentioned our farm is across the street (road, in country language) from a golf course? Hole three of the Platinum Course of Emerald Greens Golf Course is 250 feet straight north of our front door. It is a beautiful well manicured sight in the summer. It provides us with entertainment when a golfer gets a hole-in-one. And sometimes it grants us a free language lesson on what not-to-shout in public when the ball doesn't find the hole. My family all enjoys sitting in our front yard enjoying the entertainment and the view, after a day of working on and off the farm.

But as you can see, Mother Nature has played another cruel trick on us, with another blast of winter. If you look closely you can see the optimism of the golf course staff however. See the blue flag marking the hole?

We as farmers have to have that optimistic attitude too. No matter what the season, weather is a concern. When winter winds down, we think about "When will it be warm enough and dry enough to start planting?"  When summer rolls around the question is "Will we have enough rain or too much rain?" Fall's question is "Will we finish harvest before  winter rears its head again?" Our "farmer optimism" always wins out though, because each spring we say a prayer and place more seeds in the soil to start the process all over again.

Until then we'll just sit in the yard and enjoy the view.

Well, maybe not quite yet!

To learn about other dairy farms visit Dairy Farming Today