“I'd rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” ― George Washington
We started combining corn early. Drought has affected both our corn and beans. Wherever the soil is less than deep black dirt, plants are stunted and show stress because of lack of moisture. We are thankful that we practice crop rotation, where our corn is planted on last year’s bean ground. With extreme drought crop conditions crop rotation is one of several ways to raise a better crop.
Continue reading “Harvesting During a Drought”
Today’s recipe is Corn on the Cob! There are people who think it’s weird that we will eat corn on the cob exclusively for some meals with nothing else on our plates. I’m sure to the average person that is kind of different. But there’s a reason.
Continue reading “Iowa Sweet Corn”
The request was for Snickerdoodles. I had to fulfill that request, as the Ford mechanic had fixed my car’s key fob for free. (Note to everyone-make sure the newly installed battery is THE RIGHT SIDE UP! My face is still red.)
Continue reading “Snickerdoodles”
I stand under the shade of a grain bin to escape the searing sun, waiting for the signal to push in a gate lever over the grain bin sump to cut off the flow to the bin’s unloading auger. I then move to the control panel to turn off the power to that unloading auger. I’m here to save my husband from having to climb in and out of the grain bin multiple times for each wagonload of grain.
Continue reading “Dealing With Drought”
Looking out at the farmyard I see a sea of yellow; with neon-yellow dandelions against the neon-green of the grass in our yard. No one would call the area around the house and buildings on our farm a lawn.
Continue reading “Dandelions and Violets in My Yard”
A clump of rhubarb is a given on any older farmstead. Our farmstead is no exception, and it features two rhubarb clumps. I could divide them, and expand my rhubarb holdings, but my two clumps are enough.
Continue reading “Rhubarb Cobbler”
Lila wrote this thought-provoking poem on the back of an envelope in 1984.
Continue reading “Breaking His Heart at the Used Book Sale”
Yesterday I published The No Egg Chocolate Cake from the 1940’s, in response to Dollar Tree eliminating eggs from their store offerings. The 1960’s Coca-Cola Cake swings in a completely different direction from the 1940’s rationing of eggs, flour and sugar. The 1960’s was an era of extreme ingredients in comparison to twenty years prior. And this Coca-Cola Cake is a good example of that. This recipe will have you licking your fork AND plate, it’s that good!
Continue reading “Coca-Cola Cake”
Dollar Tree has announced it will stop selling eggs because they are losing money offering them at a flat price. Eggs are now too expensive to sell in their stores.
Dollar Tree offers most of its products at a flat rate of $1.25, with a selection of items for $3 and $5. It appears that eggs aren’t fitting Dollar General’s price-conscious outlook right now.
The No Egg Chocolate Cake from the 1940’s is a recipe that reflects high prices of all food during World War II. There was little sugar and flour during that time, so this recipe would be made only for special occasions.
Continue reading “The No Egg Chocolate Cake”
According to Andrew Van Dam’s recent Washington Post article, The happiest, least stressful, most meaningful jobs in America, farmers, lumberjacks and foresters love their jobs the most. Lawyers self-report that they are the least happy profession in the United States.
Why in the world would the whitest of the white-collar professions have less career happiness than the bluest of the blue-collar professions?