Living the Country Life

Betsy's Backyard Blog

Betsy Freese is the editor-in-chief of Living the Country Life and executive editor of Successful Farming. She grew up on a fruit farm in Maryland (see www.strawberryfarm.com) and moved to the Midwest to get an agricultural journalism degree from Iowa State University. She and her husband, Bob, a veterinarian, have three children and own a farm where they raise sheep, hay, corn, and soybeans. 

August 30, 2012

Safety first

Two weeks ago a 16-year-old girl from our high school, Rachel Pruett, was killed baling hay on her grandparents' farm in Missouri. She was driving the tractor pulling a hay wagon on a hill when something happened and she ended up being crushed by the wagon. I can't imagine anything worse for a family to go through. My sons and daughter have spent many days on the hay wagon.

Safety should come first on farms. If your spouse or kids think you are doing too much nagging about safety (mine do), keep doing it.

Here is something fun for younger kids that can teach them about safety:

Now through October 1, 2012, visit the Safety tab <http://www.kubota.com/safety/TractorSafety.aspx> on Kubota.com to download Kubota’s “Ten Commandments of Tractor Safety” coloring book.

·       Each child, 12 and under, can select one page to color as his or her contest entry.

·       Next, scan and email the child’s entry, along with the parent’s name, child’s name, address and phone number to KubotaSafety@fleishman.com. Or mail the entry with the same information on a 3x5 card to 500 Capitol Mall, Suite 1850, Sacramento, CA 95814.

·       Entries will be judged on coloring skill in each of three age groups: 5 and under, ages 6 to 8, and ages 9 to 12.

·       In each category, one grand prize winner will be selected to win a $100 gift card and Kubota merchandise gift pack. Additionally, one first prize winner in each category will receive a Kubota merchandise gift pack.
 

August 29, 2012

Trading a goat for a car

I came home Monday night to see a junk car parked by the shop. I figured the owner of the dented Geo Prizm was in the barn choosing a lamb to butcher for a Mexican holiday. Turns out Bob traded a goat for the car. A elderly woman wanted to buy our spotted Nubian doe, Hillary. Bob made her a deal and took her old car instead. It still runs, although barely.

Bob says he's going to keep trading up and eventually end up with a new house. (We have two more goats, by the way, if you have something to trade.)

We get more hillbilly every day.

August 28, 2012

BBQ!

For the second year in a row I was honored to be a judge for the Taste Iowa BBQ Contest in Conrad. The Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, and food editor Karen Davis were the other judges. We all agreed that every single sampling of beef, pork, and chicken was delicious. Eric Boone of EBQ in Marshalltown won the beef, pork, and people's choice awards. The chicken winner was Smokin Hot BBQ by Jim Meyer and Blake Bachman. A close second in beef and pork was Runnin BBQ by Troy Thompson. If you live anywhere near any of these guys, you can't go wrong with the product.

August 24, 2012

Goodbye to Julie

Living the Country Life LLC was founded five years ago with Julie Schwalbe as General Manager. Our daily radio show is now on 350 stations nationwide, the magazine is going strong, and our web/social media/digital products are booming. A huge part of that growth is thanks to Julie. Today is her last day here -- she took a job with a major animal health company. We are sad to see her go, but know she will be a success at her new job. My parting gift was a bag of products she can use in her new job, including a sow nose ringer, gloves, mask, and a hog marker. She's using that as lipstick.

We love you, Julie.

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August 23, 2012

Elderberries

Dad's latest venture on his Maryland farm is growing elderberries. This is not a pick-your-own crop like his strawberries and raspberries. Uncooked elderberries are astringent and inedible. They are used in pies, jellies, jams, and wine. Dad sells his berries to another grower who processes them.

Harvest is mid August through early September, and the entire cluster of berries is removed from the plant. The berries contain high levels of phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin C.

Some people like elderberries for landscape planting because they are generally free of pests. 

For more information on growing elderberries, go here: http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/mfruit/elderberries.html

I wonder what Dad will grow next?

August 22, 2012

Furniture from barn board

 

Glenda Van Woerkom sent these two photos to Living the Country Life, and I wanted to share them with you. Glenda's husband, Jon, used reclaimed barn boards to make these unique pieces of furniture for two of his four daughters. Great job! Glenda says that since the photo above was taken, the wine racks are now full of bottles. Awesome.
 
 
 
August 20, 2012

Riding the trails with Polaris

Lewis and Clark were here. But I bet they weren't driving a Polaris Ranger XP 900 utility vehicle. Poor sods. 

I was lucky enough to attend a Polaris media event last week at the Bull Run guest ranch in Cascade, Montana, a 12,000-acre property full of trails. I drove three different vehicles up and down mountains and across pastures. What fun! I also rode with a guide who took me on even more remote trails where we spotted a huge bear standing on a hilltop, long-horned sheep, and a mule deer buck.

My favorite vehicle was the smooth-riding Ranger XP 900, above. The engine in this new model is now under the rear cargo box, making it a quiet ride. The cab seats three, so there is lots of room. With 60 horsepower, it is a workhorse with get up and go, which would have come in handy had that big bear charged after us instead of going over the back side of the hill. This is a great machine for a farm or acreage.

Here I am driving another fun little model, the RZR. This 570 side-by-side is for recreational use and loved by trail enthusiasts. It is very agile and easy to drive. I am not experienced and it didn't take long to get used to this. 

Here is our lineup of machines for one of the morning runs. Beautiful country! 

Some of the wildlife I saw (sorry, didn't get a photo of the bear in time. I think I was in shock):

August 16, 2012

Moving to college

While I was traveling this week, Caroline moved herself to college. I could feel guilty about missing this important life transition. Or I can celebrate the fact that I raised an independent woman.

Mom found this photo of me in 1980 leaving our Maryland farm for Iowa State University. (Nice hair.) I didn't know anyone in the entire state of Iowa. There were no cell phones or Facebook or email. I couldn't come home until Christmas. What an adventure. It changed my life in every way.

Caroline is living in the same dorms at Iowa State (the crappy old concrete high-rise Towers) where Bob and I lived. The adventure begins.

 

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August 10, 2012

State Fair!

I walked the Iowa State fairgrounds last night with magazine editors from New York City (Ladies Home Journal, More, Family Circle, Parents, and Fitness.) They loved it. We enjoyed bacon on a stick, a ride in Ye Old Mill (100 years old and totally lame, but that is the point), pork chop on a stick, gazing at the Big Boar, a demonstration of lamb fitting (it's wool, not fur), a relaxing sky ride, and tour of the cake entries.

My daughter, Caroline, and her friends are working at the lamb producers' stand tonight if you go to the fair. Good luck to all the exhibitors!

Lone Oak Farm of Indiana won the Big Boar Contest with Reggie, who weighed 1,335 pounds -- a record that topped the 2008 champ: 1,246-pounder Freight Train.

Here is the best cake at the Iowa State Fair. Yes, that is a cake.

 

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August 9, 2012

10 writing tips

I've just returned from a trip to the annual Agricultural Media Summit, held this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is great to spend time with fellow ag communicators and pick up ideas in the sessions and on the trade show floor. (I learned how to use a plasma cutter at the Miller booth, below.)

Non-fiction author William deBuys spoke about technical/science writing and I jotted down a few tips.

1. Don't beat around the bush.

2. Good writing has the rhythm and straightforwardness of natural speech. Imagine you are telling the story to a friend and write it down that way.

3. Use all five senses for vivid writing.

4. Show, don't tell.

5. Never rewrite when you are discouraged. Learn the difference between worrying a piece and revising it.

6. Less is often more. Vigorous writing is concise.

7. Vary your pace and think like a film editor: Use close-ups, zooms, and cutaways.

8. If you have heard that analogy or metaphor before, don't use it.

9. If things don't quite fit, if they resist explanation, pay special attention. You may be on to something.

10. Placement conveys emphasis. Last words, sentences, and paragraphs ring loudest in a reader's ear. First words, sentences, and paragraphs ring second loudest.

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