Back to School – 3 Down, 1 to Go

Posted on August 21, 2012 by wagfarms

Our third child starts kindergarten today. Or at least that’s the plan. He has a way of deciding for himself whether or not he’ll follow through with my ideas, so I’ll wait to see if I get a phone call today letting me know that he’s had enough.

Scooter (yes, he’s only 8) in his football gear, surrounded by his biggest fans!

It’s crazy to think about. Big Bro is 10, George is now 3…I have been changing diapers for 10 years in a row (hoping that changes here shortly, but still end up changing him once or twice a day). And now I only have one child at home.

Ready to go!

So what will I do with my time? It should be pretty easy, right? Perhaps a nap or two, finish writing that book I’ve been talking about? Organize my house so that I can be on the Tour of Homes? Or just make it through each day.

EJ, ready for his first day of kindergarten.

You see, the last one left is the one that makes the rest all look like walks in the park. Yes, the force is strong in that one…strong indeed.

He’s the one that tried to put bubble solution in his Dad’s C-PAP machine yesterday afternoon. (I stopped him…through a fit of the giggles. The images were priceless!) He’s the one that dropped a bucket full of toads in my kitchen. He’s the one that put his jelly sandwich in the microwave for 20 minutes. (Don’t worry, I caught it only 3 minutes into it…but beyond salvage.)

I had to walk EJ to the bus…he wasn’t so sure about it once it stopped in the yard.

It’ll be 2 years before George is old enough for kindergarten. I’ll start praying for the teachers now.

Is there a calf in there?

Posted on August 20, 2012 by wagfarms

A few weeks ago, we had a crew of people out in our pastures. Although the set up and take down took a little time, the reason behind all the work was definitely important. You see, we were ultrasounding our cows, to find out which ones were going to have calves and when they would be having them.

Just like at the OB’s office!

That’s right, we used an ultrasound machine…much like the one that is used every day by obstetricians when they are looking for a baby’s heartbeat, measuring the size of the baby or checking for any other problems.

Why would using a machine like this be important for our cows? One reason is where we live. Since we start calving in February in North Dakota, it’s important to know which cows should be calving and approximately when. That way we can make sure that they are closer to the barn, so they can hopefully have their calves inside, where it’s warm and protected from the elements.

The head gate makes sure that the cow stands still and doesn’t hurt itself.

Another reason we use ultrasounding is so that we can more accurately determine those cows that are definitely having a calf, and those cows that are not having a calf (we call them “open”). It’s expensive to raise cattle, even more so right now. We only keep the cows that are bred and the ones that are “open” are sold. Many times our open cows go to other farms that have a different calving cycle then we do, allowing them the chance to become bred later.

The girls, waiting their turn!

The ultrasound technique is very similar to the same used in a doctor’s office…well, in general theory anyway. 😉

Once the probe is in the cow and an image is on the screen, a measurement can be taken, just like how the technicians measure the length of a baby’s bone to estimate it’s gestational age. On a calf, the measurement is taken of the space between the eye sockets on the head. The number of centimeters between correlates between the number of days the calf has been in the uterus, giving us an estimated “due” date.

The calf’s age can be measured on the screen!

Of course, these numbers are just estimates, but every bit of information that we can use to ensure our herd is taken care of and healthy is definitely a step up from before!

School lunch: NOT the key to obesity

Posted on August 18, 2012 by wagfarms

If anyone has been paying attention lately, there’s been some big changes announced regarding schools and the hot lunch program. It wasn’t anything done locally, so don’t take your school board to task on it, but it was done at the federal level…and I think that they definitely need to hear about it.

I don’t want to be stirring a pot here, but first of all, I think we all can fully agree that the school lunch program is in NO way responsible for the obesity issue in our children. In fact, I just heard another commercial yesterday that made the claim that school lunch is one of the only places where children receive a balanced meal (free, if they qualify).

So which is it? Is our school lunch a great, balanced meal, or is it making our children obese?

First of all, if we’re looking to blame schools for our weight issues, then we better not look at the lunch program and look instead at the rest of the day. Physical education, sports, dance, etc…all sorts of extracurricular activities and physically-demanding activities are being ignored and are losing numbers every year. Hours of homework take place of playing outside after school.

But again, aside from the homework demands, most of the influence on physical activity must come from the parents, not the school.

So let’s go back to the lunch issue. I’m all for expanding our children’s palates. I’m all for offering up greens, and reds, and pinks, and oranges, and browns. Pick a color, any color. Go for it! But there is so much that I don’t agree with.

For example, the calorie limit and how it’s set. I think it’s pretty obvious, but perhaps we need to spell it out. Children’s needs are different. I know, shocking revelation, right? But let’s look at that.

Scooter, 8, and EJ, 5, definitely do NOT eat the same sized meals!

Take for example my soon-to-be kindergartener who is about 46 inches tall and weighs about 50 pounds, he needs a lot fewer calories and a smaller serving size than my 8-year-old who is 61 inches tall and weighs 105 pounds; yet they’ll be served the same meal, same portion.

Another bit of ridiculousness: no more leftovers. Meaning that if the school cooks too much spaghetti on day one, the spaghetti cannot be offered again on day two. Unless it can be salvaged into another meal, it’s wasted. I guess I shouldn’t expect a government that’s full of waste to use resource-saving methods, but cutting out leftovers? I’m not sure that’s where our energy should be focused.

The change that is going to make the biggest impact on our household will not be the increase in the cost of school lunch, the changes to the meal plans or the increased color palate of the food…no, the biggest change will be purely monetary.

Seconds will no longer be offered at no cost to those that need a little more to tide them over through the day. And it doesn’t matter if you qualify for a free lunch or not, every child is charged the same. Apparently if we’re going to feed our children excessive amounts of food at lunch in school, then it’s only fair if we only overfeed those that can afford to seek professional help to lose the weight, right? Sorry, that wasn’t very polite of me.

The one who will feel the pinch the most from the new plan will not be just the student, or the parent hearing the complaints. It will be the teacher that is dealing with lethargic, hungry children who are counting down the minutes until they can head home and gorge themselves on whatever they find in the cupboards. But don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be kale and collard greens and carrots.

Although a package of M&M’s has every color in it, too.

Trust me, I have a lot more to say about these changes…but will revisit this in the future. For more information on the changes, you can read the rules here. I will add other links as I come across them.

Pinke Post: 3 School Lunch Solutions w/ Linky

chrischinn: Does Your Child Fit the “One Size Fits All” Lunch Program?

Life on a Kansas Cattle Ranch: School lunch is not make our kids fat!

whatthehellmichelle: Concerned Mother Sheila Ressler from North Dakota

Slow Money Farm: Are all children the same? Why are lunches?

Crystal Cattle: Raising a family without meat

GOODEnessgracious: Shame

Morning Joy Farm: School lunch soapbox

Our Little Place on the Prairie: School lunch changes – Are kids getting all they need?

This Farm Family’s Life: The Great School Lunch Debate…

The Ultimate Gift

Posted on August 17, 2012 by wagfarms

I’m sure you’ve read about our sweet corn before. We planted it earlier this spring, have watched it grow, taken care of it and waited for the day that we could enjoy the product of our hard work…and now we’ve given the excess of our crop to some pretty deserving people.

Giving our corn through the ND Huger Free Garden Project.

The Great Plains Food Bank arrived on Wednesday afternoon and picked up the remainder of our crop that was ripe and have been able to make it available to food banks across the state of North Dakota.

I have to thank my friends, neighbors and everyone who volunteered to help with this crazy project of mine. Especially those that came from a distance, like my friend JP who flew in from St. Louis, and my friends at the ND Dept. of Agriculture. Thank you all!

So many volunteers, thank you everyone!!!!!

I’m so happy that we are able to share this with those that are down on their luck, or are struggling to put a meal on the table. And I’m so happy that we were able to find a place for it, instead of seeing it destroyed by wildlife, time and eventually, our tractors.

Sacks of corn, ready to share across the state.

It’s been a crazy week, one I’ll have to tell you about later. I’m going to go enjoy a cob of corn, a cold glass of milk and some time with my kiddos. School starts next week, and I’m not ready…even if they are.

WW – Summer vacation, our first ever!

Posted on August 8, 2012 by wagfarms

Yes, you read correctly. Our family took its first vacation together…ever. And it was so much fun!

It started off with buying a camper from my Prairie Mama friend from over at Pinke Post. It’s a beautiful camper, complete with everything I could dream of…and perfect for us!

Our first trip with it? About 9 hours east of us, to a family reunion near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Yes, we ventured that far on our maiden voyage. We’re ~~stupid~~ brave.

The best part of all? No problems. Nada. Zilch. Zip.

And it has me hooked. I can’t wait to go again!

Look, Mom! It’s time to play!

Jumping on the ground pillow with Scooter. George quickly learned that Scooter’s weight was a force to be reckoned with!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Not sure about his first boat ride.

Beautiful scenery!

I caught a fish! Boss Man was nice enough to take a picture…and yes, I bait my own hook.

Another photo

Enough…

with the…

pictures!

Time to go home!

Guess who decided that he liked the boat?

Picking corn

Posted on August 7, 2012 by wagfarms

After weeks of waiting, our sweet corn is finally ready to enjoy…and enjoy it we have!

My littlest helper, George.

EJ is a big fan of sweet corn, too!

After my last post on sweet corn, I received some interesting suggestions as to what we could do with our farm…namely, someone thought it would be best if our farm were to burn down. That wasn’t very nice, now was it?

A good friend of mine found this video clip, and I think it does an amazing job of explaining the exact science behind GMO’s, as opposed to random modifications that are made in plant breeding all the time. (And trust me, I would never consider the Huffington Post as a credible news source, ever…but this one surprised me!)

Scientist’s take on GMO

Every time I think about our sweet corn, this is the image in my head, not a Mr. Yuck sticker: