Local Dine & Discuss Event

With a great amount of the population being off the farm, it is important to share what happens on the farm, modern day farm practices, and how farming is an important part of everyone's lives. On Thursday evening, Scott and I had an opportunity to attend the Dine & Discuss Event at Culp Family Farms, a farm in our community. Kendell and Tammy Culp welcomed many from the community to their farm. We were among several others in attendance ranging from local community leaders, board members, farmers, and bloggers. The event was sponsored by Indiana Soybean Alliance.

 

Once we arrived and parked our vehicle, we were offered a ride on a Gator up to the event area. The event started with reception where attendees checked in, received name tags, and mingled. There were cheeses from Fair Oaks Farms and wine from Carpenter Creek Cellars for sampling. There were also farm equipment parked around the area for viewing. They had a combine and a tractor out with a price tag on them. This gave attendees an idea of some of the costs of farming. Kendell Culp welcomed everyone to the event and introduced his family. He mentioned the point of this event was to share with our community the importance of agriculture, what modern day agriculture is all about, and Jasper County's role in agriculture. Guests were then divided up into three groups according to the color on their name tag. Each of these groups was a short presentation station about different aspects of modern farming.

Our first station was about technology in agriculture. Brian, with North Central Coop, talked about modern day agriculture and the use of auto steer, the ability of modern farm equipment to steer by itself. They can be programmed to stay on the same path, resulting in less compaction in the field. He then shared with us about soil sampling and farm mapping and how it is used to determine how to take care of the land. Taking samples from the field allows the farmer to see what fertilizers need to be applied and in what amounts to improve their soil. Combines can also show field yield data as they combine showing the farmer the yields overall and how they vary within the field. By doing this, farmers can see what kind of improvements they need to do to their land to increase their crop yield. He demonstrated how a quadcopter is used for scouting. A quadcopter, also known as a drone, can be remote controlled or have a path programmed into it and uses a camera to scout the field.

Our next station was livestock. Culp family farms raise pigs and beef cattle. Dr. Kenneth Culp III, a professor at the University of Kentucky, shared with us their operation. The family buys the young pigs when they are just over a few weeks old from a farrowing operation. They feed them out for five months, then they are taken to market for meat. He explained the differences in the feed the pigs and cattle eat. Pigs need their feed ground up finely, while cattle can eat more course food. Cattle have 4 stomachs that the food travels through and the food breaks down, while pig's are not as complex. Ken explained how his cows are brought into heat on Memorial Day weekend and artificially inseminated. Some of the cattle are surrogate mothers and have embryos implanted. He passed out a flyer with a variety of interesting farm facts of American agriculture and some specific to Indiana. Even more specific to our county, Jasper County is #1 in agriculture sales among Indiana counties.

Our last station was about corn and soybeans, which are the two major crops produced in Jasper County, presented by Stuart and Kayla with Vision Ag. Kayla, who is Kendell's daughter, explained that the break even point for a corn farmer is $3.60 a bushel, which is just higher than the current market price. Adam, from IBEC, the ethanol producer at Pleasant Ridge, shared with us how much corn the plant uses each year. This corn is turned into alcohol from the starch and the rest is a by-product called DDG, dried distillers grain. These DDG's are mixed with other ingredients for livestock feed. We also talked about GMO crops. Round up ready corn and soybeans have improved agriculture practices and are produced this way. These are created by agriculture scientists, inserting genes from species into the DNA of another. By improving our crops and planting GMO crops, the need for herbicides and pesticides are decreased. American farmers are feeding an ever growing population and feeding more on less ground to produce. Kayla shared that today's American farmer feeds about 155 people worldwide, while in 1960, that number was 25.8 people. Jasper County currently has 615 farms and is first for corn production in Indiana, among other things. A flyer was also handed out at this station listing some of the numerous uses of corn and soybeans.

After the 3 presentations, was the dine portion of the evening. The dinner consisted of food produced in Jasper County. We enjoyed pork from Culp Family Farms, sweet corn and melon from Gilmore Green Acres, green beans from our farm Walker Farms, tomato slices from Luttrell's, and homemade blueberry pie with blueberries from Van Kley Blueberry Farms. The dinner was under a tented area in the Culp's beautiful yard.

Kendell shared some closing statements after the dinner. Science is the root and has an important role in modern day agriculture. Agriculture today is different that it was generations ago and is always changing and improving. People are becoming more interested in where their food comes from and how what is happening in agriculture affects will affect them. He shared with us that in the drought of 2012, four television crews, including 2 from over seas, interviewed him as a typical American farmer as they were interested in what was going on in Midwest agriculture and how it was affecting their food prices. Kendell also shared that they are partnering with IBEC to use the DDG to feed their pigs and have for the local food pantry. He also talked some of property taxes and although they have decreased for most people, they are on the rise for farmers as the value of land has increased greatly over the last decade. He shared that there are 3 generations of Culps farming the land and that they work with 160 different businesses through the farm, most of Jasper County.

As the sun was setting, the event was coming to an end. The FFA members were thanked for helping with the event. The attendees were thanked for coming out and "dine & discuss" agriculture overall and in our community. Every couple left with a cooler bag of pork burgers from Culp Farms, dozen eggs and garden fertilizer from Rose Acres, mint oil from Kanne Farms, mint candy from Dobson Farms, and popcorn from Con Agra, all items also produced in Jasper County.

This was a great event to learn about modern day farming and the importance of agriculture in Jasper County, which was the reason for the event. It was very informative for promoting agriculture in our area. Thank you Culp Family Farms and Indiana Soybean Alliance for putting on this event, we had a great time!

This post was sponsored by Indiana Family of Farmers. 

making something for myself....

Winter is approaching, so quickly it seems! Earlier this year I set out to make myself an afghan throw blanket. Now I crochet a lot, but have never made myself an afghan, so I'm really looking forward to making something for myself.

I chose colors of my favorite color combination. I just love these colors together. Bright and cheery! I also picked one of my favorite brands of yarn for this project. I love how soft it is and easy to crochet with.

I have a long way to go as I got away from it for a few months, but I'm fitting in making a few squares here and there with different color patterns. I am loving how each granny square is turning out and look forward to putting it all together.

I can't wait to wrap up with it this winter, especially as much as I hear about the cold temperatures and snow predictions.

Do any of my readers crochet?

Stay tuned for more of my granny square afghan progress. :)

Canning Green Beans

We LOVE green beans! We love them fresh right out of the garden, cooked, in casseroles, and canned. We plant several plantings during the growing season to have a good amount for our CSA and farmers market, so I am always sure to can several quarts for our family to to enjoy after the season each year. It's a lot of work to snap all the green beans but it is so worth it in the middle of winter, or any time really, to go grab a jar of homegrown green beans! So let me share with you my canning process for green beans.

Start by picking your green beans from the garden, or if you don't garden, a lot of farms sell beans at bulk prices. Check with your local produce farms.

Have your clean and sterilized jars ready to fill. Be sure to check over your canning equipment. Remember canning safety during your canning process.

Start the snapping process. Simply snap off each end and then snap the remaining part of the green bean in two or three pieces. I grab two bowls, one large and one smaller. I place my snapped parts I plan to process and can into the large bowl and all the ends or snapped off bad pieces in the smaller bowl.

Dump your freshly snapped beans into a sink of water and swoosh around to wash them off, then drain.

There are two ways to can green beans, hot pack or raw pack. I prefer the hot pack method. Probably because that is how I learned to can green beans with my mom. So for hot pack, place the prepared green beans in a pot and cover with boiling water. Boil the beans for 5 minutes.

Then using a slotted spoon, fill the jars. Shake the jars so the beans move down, then add more beans to each jar. Once the beans are in, fill the jars with the boiling water. Be sure to leave 1 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, simply by sliding a small rubber spatula between the jar and the beans.

Next you'll need to add your lids and rings, but first be sure to place the lids in boiling water for about 30 seconds or so to sterilize them. Then grab a damp cloth and wipe around the top of the jar. This removes any standing water or green bean pieces and allows for the lid to seal properly. Place the lids on the jars, add the rings and tighten.

Next is processing the green beans. You need to process the green beans with a pressure canner. The acidity of green beans isn't high enough to just process them with a water bath. Pressure canners have different instructions, so be sure to read your manual that comes with the canner. I use a Presto pressure canner. My canner calls for 3 quarts of boiling water in the bottom of the canner. Then place the canning rack and add your jars.

Place the lid on the canner and tighten down. Keep the burner on high heat until the steam comes out the vent pipe. Allow the steam to flow for 10 minutes. 

Place the pressure regulator on the vent pipe. Continue to heat canner until the pressure dial gauge reaches the desired pressure needed. For my canner for green beans, I need to process at 11 pounds pressure  - 20 minutes for pint jars and 25 minutes for quart jars. You may have to adjust your burner to maintain the correct pounds of pressure. Set your timer for the amount of process time. If your processing above 2,000 feet altitude - check your pressure canner manual for recommended pounds of pressure. 

At the end of processing time, turn your burner off. Let the canner sit and cool and the pressure drop to zero on it's own. This may take a while. Do not take the lid off the pressure cooker and do not quick cool. 

When the pressure of the canner has been completely reduced, you can take off the pressure regulator from the vent pipe and let canner set for 10 more minutes. Then remove the canner lid. Remove jars from canner with a jar lifter and place on a towel to cool and dry. 

When jars are cool, check seals by making sure the lids are not popped up, wipe jars down, label and store in a cool dry place. You can also remove the rings to use for more canning. 

Then that's it! You now have yourself some canned green beans to enjoy this winter! Happy Canning!! 

This post is part of The Backroad Life Freezing & Canning series. 

Gardening With Kids - Gardening Gives Food and More

I left off in the last post talking a little bit about harvesting produce with kids from the garden. The garden provides nutritious and delicious food for us to eat....and also preserve if you have abundance.

There is nothing like a fresh garden meal in the summer!

Picking your vegetables right out of the garden and using them in your meal - you can't get any fresher than that!

You might make fresh salsa from your tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro in your garden.

You might enjoy stuffed peppers.

Sweet corn is always a delicious summer treat with any meal.

You might have a wonderful crop of green beans and can them to enjoy during winter.

Of course, picking fresh lettuces, spinach, radish, and green onions for salads is always refreshing.

Allow your children to cook meals with you. Sometimes its hard with little hands, but you might be surprised what they will eat knowing that they helped prepare it from what they helped grow and harvest.

Sometimes room is not available to grow everything you would like, such as fruits, where several plants are needed to pick a larger quantity. Look for local u-pick farms in your area and take your kids there to experience picking at a specialty farm. We go to a blueberry farm and strawberry farm every summer to pick bulk amounts of berries to freeze and make jam from. You might want look for local specialty farms in your area to pick strawberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, pumpkins and more.

For your kids to see these large specialty farms puts a whole new perspective on how and where produce is grown. For example, we just went to a u-pick blueberry farm and driving down the lane to where we would pick, my son said "These are ALL blueberries?!" They can see acres of one type of plant growing. I explained to him that the blueberry farm has workers to pick blueberries for customers to pick up or they can come and pick them themselves. Seeing these specialty farms helps put the whole idea of farm size into perspective. Kids can see that your backyard garden feeds your family. There might be some abundance of certain vegetables that you can share with others. Large farms, such as berry farms or pumpkin patches provides for several families, sometimes several hundred to thousands.

Gardening with kids has several advantages and provides such wonderful experiences.
- It educates them on where food comes from.
- Showing them planting to harvest and getting them involved is a great way to share the farm to    fork process.
- It teaches them what it means to live a sustainable and healthy life.

I hope you will show your kids where food comes from and enjoy the farm to fork process!

This post is sponsored by Indiana's Family of Farmers but all opinions, photos, and ideas are mine.

Gardening with Kids - The Harvest

If you remember in my first post about gardening with kids, I talked about some easy vegetables to grow in your garden and shared some tips how to get your kids involved in the garden.

This post is about the HARVEST! 

The most rewarding part of gardening in my opinion. 

The result of all your hard work in the garden......and you can sample and snack as your picking.

One exciting part about gardening is some vegetables continue to produce bounty after the first, second, and several  pickings.
Like green beans and tomatoes.......

By planting your garden from seed and/or transplants to picking what is produced and involving your kids in the whole process they are learning, seeing, and experiencing gardening with you. What a great way to show them how plants grow and where the food you eat comes from.

So what have you harvested from your garden? What is your kids favorite things to pick?

If you have the space try your hand at backyard gardening. Gardening is a great way to not only include your kids in the process but also to save some money. Who doesn't want to save a little cash on your grocery bill?!

For example:

Tomatoes in the grocery store cost between $1.50 to $3 a pound in the grocery stores. A 4 pack of tomatoes plants at a garden center is less than $2. Each tomato plant can produce roughly 8 to 20 pounds of tomatoes based on growing conditions and if staked and caged.

Potatoes cost around $4 for a 5 pound bag where as you can buy seed potatoes in the spring for 99 cents a pound. Cut those seed potatoes in fourths then plant. Each one will yield on average 5-15 potatoes give your a pretty high return on your seed potato cost.

When you think about your entire garden - lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, onions, etc the money savings can really add up. 

You will also save money by eating what is in your garden. This may prevent you from going out to eat or will aid in providing ingredients to the dishes you prepare for your meals. Doesn't a dinner of green beans, red potatoes cooked with onion, sweet corn, and broccoli sound great to go with the steaks your having? Save yourself the $40 plus dinner bill going out to eat and have a nice meal from the garden you've grown yourself.

If you don't have room to garden at home, check to see if there is a community garden in your town. These are becoming more and more popular and are a great to take part in. Your children can help in the garden and also enjoy the rewards of gardening with fresh produce. You can also do some patio gardens with tomatoes in pots. Grow lettuce, green onions, spinach together in a spot for your salad needs.

The taste of your backyard garden produce will taste amazingly different that what you can buy in the store.

Stay tuned for the next Gardening with Kids post for different ways to enjoy and preserve what you're growing in your garden.

This post is sponsored by Indiana's Family of Farmers but all opinions, photos, and ideas are mine. 

Down At The County Fair

Last week was our county fair and although our kids aren't in 4-H yet, it will always be a part of our life. We usually go out most nights of the week and enjoy different parts of the fair. Having a breaded tenderloin sandwich, a funnel cake, several milkshakes, a pork burger, and a lemon shake-up are always musts on the list for fair week.

Being 10 year 4-H members has provided so many memories. 4-H is where I first learned how to sew, a skill I still use very regularly today. I took basketry and made several pieces that I love, including a fishing creel, a basket w a deer antler as the handle, and a baby cradle my last year of 4-H. I also did the photography project. It was always fun taking several pictures and then narrowing it down to your best and favorite one. Showing horses provided the most 4-H and fair memories! I grew up on a horse farm and had been riding horses since elementary school, but only showed them my last 6 years of 4-H.

My last year of 4-H showing my horse Tiny

My farmer showed beef, took the corn project, farm scene project, and woodworking. At fair time (and also throughout the year)  we always reminisce of our 4-H days. 

Having kids in 4-H allows you to enjoy it all over again and I cannot wait until our time comes ( 2 more years until our oldest can start). Next year we will enjoy mini 4-H! I can picture the projects that our kids will take and hope they will want to show an animal or two also (maybe a goats and Rhode Island Red chickens - what we have now). 

Until then we will enjoy the fair time as future 4-H parents! 

We enjoy the games and rides! 

The food and milkshakes!

We show off our Farmall 560 as part of the Retired Iron antique tractors and parade!

Our kids enter in the open class!

We serve milkshakes as part of our Farm Bureau Young Farmer group!

We enjoy watching 4-Hers show their heart out during animal judging! 

We enjoy grandstand events!

I enjoy when I'm asked to judge open class and 4-H projects. 

4-H will always be a part of our life and we will always enjoy going down to the county fair!