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. 

October 12, 2012

Caroline and college

For years, this blog was full of my teenage daughter, Caroline, probably too full for many readers. That girl again?! Caroline went off to college in August and I've been trying to respect her privacy as an adult, and not be a Helicopter Mom. Everything seems to be going well. She lives in the same dorm (by accident) where Bob and I lived and met 30 years ago. The steps of that building are seared into my brain because I walked up and down them so many times as a freshman and sophomore. Dorm life suits her well, and she has made close friends. She joined the college's boxing club and works with a trainer three nights a week. Now she is talking about sparring in matches. I don't like that idea (her face, teeth, and brain, dear God!). But she will make up her own mind. She's not on the farm throwing hay bales or wrestling sheep, so she needs to use her muscles.

Here is a photo she posted today from the dorm lobby (Caroline is on the right). I looked at it and realized, Hey, that's my jacket! I think those are my jeans, too.

You go, girl.

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October 11, 2012

Goodbye, Bus Stop Tree

I came home last night to a truck full of tree limbs in my driveway and the chipper running in the east grove. The "Bus Stop Tree" at the end of the lane is gone. My daughter, Caroline, commented from college with, "Noooooooo! There go all my childhood memories. Right into the chipper." She was kidding. None of my kids liked riding the school bus -- or waiting for the school bus, even if they could climb the tree while they waited.

The cutting, trimming, and chipping continues today while I am at work. I wonder what tree will be gone when I get home tonight?

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October 10, 2012

Miles acreage

Last week I visited a lovely acreage near Dallas Center, Iowa, and wanted to share a photo tour with you. I will put captions under the photos. Enjoy!

David and Loree Miles bought this late 1800s farmhouse as a vacation home, restored it, and then started spending more and more time here. Eventually, they moved to the 50-acre property full-time and put their house in the city up for sale.

David commutes to Des Moines each day for work, and Loree works from home.

Loree has a dozen hens in an enclosed pen. She gives away any extra eggs.

Electrified wire around chicken wire keeps every varmint out.

This huge treehouse is a favorite place for the grandkids.

The property has two ponds stocked with fish. Much of this upper pond has dried up in the drought. The water that is left is home to big bass. The Miles are adding an aerator to keep the water oxygenated this winter. The lower pond, unseen in the trees, is still doing okay.

Loree's garden is done for the season, but the produce has been canned and stored.

Loree has four bee hives, and gathers the honey on a regular basis. She gives away her honey and canned vegetables to friends and family.

A previous owner of the property loved model planes, and even had an airstrip to fly them. David kept one of the planes to show visitors.

 

 

October 9, 2012

Sweet

My childhood friend, Robin Harrington, finally ventured from Maryland to visit me in Iowa last weekend. She expected our farm to be isolated from civilization, but found out we can get to a grocery store and movie theatre in five minutes. We had front row seats to see Les Miserables at the Civic Center -- a great show -- but the most fun we had was digging sweet potatoes in my garden. Take a look at the size of this one (and the shape). Robin decided that she loves Iowa and can see why I live here. But she would miss the beach. There is no arguing with that.

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October 8, 2012

The great sheep escape

I was backing out of the garage this morning when a pickup blocked my path. A man jumped out and said, "Hey, do you have sheep? They are in town." He gave a street name where they had last been seen, but it didn't ring a bell.

I called Bob, put on boots, grabbed a bucket of corn, and ran to the pasture. My cries were lost in the wind. No sign of our 40 ewes anywhere.

Bob arrived from the vet clinic and we drove into town, scanning streets. There are so many new developments, houses, and streets south of our 22-acre pasture, it's almost like being in maze. Finally we spotted the flock behind a house. The homeowner had watered his lawn to a lush green. Our pasture is the color of wool, thanks to drought, so the grass literally is greener on the other side of the fence. If the fence has a hole, there goes the flock.

Bob got out of the truck and called the ewes, rattling the bucket of corn. They followed him back to the pasture and are now locked behind the barn for winter. We have a new project for the fall: Build new fence behind the pond.

This was our pasture in 2011 -- a normal rainfall year. There is nothing green there this year.

October 5, 2012

Farm tours!

Living the Country Life and Successful Farming took guests from Japan and California on a farm tour this week. The visitors were amazed by the technology, loved talking to the farmers, and even walked right up to hog barns and manure storage without hesitation.

I will drop some photos below with captions to tell you about the farming operations. Stayed tuned in a later blog to see photos from a beautiful acreage we visited.

We started out on the McClure family farm in Dallas Center, Iowa. The visitors were amazed at the size of the grain bins and machine sheds.

The farm's well-used ATV was of special interest. Even a corn cob through the radiator didn't keep this machine from working hard.

Mike McClure was harvesting the last of the 3,000 acres he farms with son, Jon. They gave the visitors rides in the combine, tractor, and grain truck.

On a normal year, this field would yield more than 200 bushels of corn an acre. This year, drought cut the yield in many areas to about 140 bushels.

An afternoon stop was at the Rod and Misty Bice farm in Woodward, Iowa. The Bice family feeds cattle and hogs, and farms about 1,400 acres.

The Bices use byproducts from ethanol production in their cattle rations.

The Bice family owns three barns that hold about 1,100 pigs each, fed from weaning to market for Smithfield Foods.

At the end of the day, we stopped at Rube's grill-your-own steakhouse in Waukee, Iowa. Farm to plate in one day!

 

October 2, 2012

Grandpa's big heart

Our family has had one goal for the past week: Get Grandpa Going Again. Bob's dad, LaVerne, had open heart bypass surgery and was finally moved out of intensive care last night. I visited him at the hospital over the lunch hour today and he is much improved. He has less pain and more appetite. It will be many weeks of recovery and rehab, but by next spring he will be on the tractor again. It wouldn't be haying season without him. Get well soon, Grandpa!

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October 1, 2012

Lots of pigs and bacon

You can stop worrying about bacon. There are plenty of pigs in this country.

Every fall I write a story called Pork Powerhouses, a ranking of the 25 largest pork producers in the U.S. The 2012 article just hit the streets at Agriculture.com.

There are more than 3 million sows in production for the 25 largest firms, a gain of about 62,000 from 2011. Smithfield Foods tops the ranking with 862,000 sows (1.089 million worldwide). That’s a jump of 24,049 sows from last year. 

Some farms are cutting back right now, culling sows hard, and sending hogs to market at lighter weights because of rising corn and soybeans prices, thanks to drought in the Midwest. In the short term, and through the winter, there is no need to worry about bacon -- at least in the U.S.

September 25, 2012

Sweet potato pet

I noticed a giant sweet potato pushing up out of the ground, so I dug the hill. What a weird spud. Some people think it looks like a Minoan bull. Potatoes love our soil. Maybe it's all the sheep compost.

September 24, 2012

Cull you, but not ewe

Bob and I sorted the ewes yesterday, a job that has several steps, none of which go smoothly:

1. Run the ewes in barn.

2. Run a few at a time into the chute.

3. Bob reads eartags while I look in lambing book to see what kind of mother they were.

4. Spray the culled ewes and back them out of the chute (I jump in the chute to do this).

5. Worm the rest and run them outside.

We found nine ewes to cut from the herd. Here are the main reasons Bob culled them:

1. Bad mothers

2. Lumpy bag

3. Crazy b...

So far I have not been cut from the herd, but it's day by day.

 

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