Planting Time

What a wonderful week! We got most of the corn in the ground. All we could anyway; the rest of the ground was too wet. Now it's raining! Always a blessing. We really like when it rains and then the sun pops out the next day. We're calving the Herefords we just bought right now and my mom is calving so the rain is much appreciated for the crops, pastures and ponds, but it's very nice to get sun soon after the rain for the baby calves so they don't get pneumonia or get sick. I thought I would focus on planting for the blog topic this week.

As I've said before, the price of inputs for farming are very expensive. Making sure that we use them effectively and efficiently is very important. The GPS and Auto Steer we bought last fall is important in making sure that happens. Each kernel is put where it's supposed to go and covered with just the right amount of soil to make it grow the best.

Each white box on the following picture has seed in it. Each one has a system below it with rollers to drop the seed in the ground and then covers the seed up. If one of those rollers aren't working probably, seeds aren't being planted and there is a skip in the field. This means that we're not using the land efficiently to make food for the growing population. Every amount of land that producers have should be used as efficiently as possible to grow the most food we can to feed the world. This is why producers buy such expensive equipment to make everything as efficient as possible. We want to use the resources we have to the best of our ability.

No-till is becoming very popular among producers. This leaves organic matter on the ground. Cattle can be turned in to eat some of the remaining material; however, they don't eat near all of it so there is still not soil erosion into the creeks, streams or ponds. We use the ground as much as we can to be as efficient as possible, but not harm it. Using it too much and not taking care of it would hurt us; therefore, we take care of the land to the best of our ability.

Side picture of the tractor and planter. 

I love rain pictures. One of my favorite pictures I have ever taken is when I was riding on a horse. We had just gotten cows in and the storm was rolling in. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I was focusing so much on the picture that I fell off the horse as soon as I got done taking the picture and Matt started laughing at me, but the picture was totally worth it. 

One of the prettiest sights, I think, is a line of feedbunks with healthy calves eating. The sound they make is about the most comforting sounds in the world. These are my parents calves. 

Just another phto of a storm rolling in. This was actually taken at my parents as well. 

We had a set of twins this week. The mom decided she only wanted one of them.  He took a ride with us in the pickup home so we could take care of him. 

My recipe this week is from my mom again. It's easy to make an a great side. 

Pea Salad

2 cans of peas

Mayo

2 dill pickles

2 cups cheese

2 eggs

Hard boil the eggs and dice up. Dice the pickles up as well. Mix everything together. Refrigerate until serving. 

Hope you are enjoying your significant others or families on this rainy day. Matt and I are resting up for  a busy week. Hope you have a good rest of the day. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Hope everybody is enjoying the holiday and spending time with their families. Remember the true reason for the holiday isn't hunting Easter eggs or the Easter bunny. 

I have a lot of pictures this week, so I think I'll explain the pictures and have a shorter blog this week so you can spend time with your families instead of reading my blog. 

The Herefords have started calving. I checked them a couple times this week on Red.
Since we're feeding the horses, they ought to be used occasionally so they're kept in shape.
Another reason we've been checking the cows on the horses is to get them used to horses.

Such a beautiful view. Horses are great stress relievers. 

My dear Forever grew up on a horse. I did not. We always had horses, but rarely road them. We went horse shopping when I was young. I was riding double on one of the horses we were looking at and my middle older sister, Kayla, neglected to mention a tree. It knocked me off and gave me a concussion. Therefore, I've always been somewhat scared of horses. I love riding them, but am not very skilled. I'm learning and being taught how to correctly ride. An ongoing process.

So yes that's a hair clip in his hair. In his other hand is a pair of scissors. Apparently there was an incident involving the top of a barn door and my dear Forever's head. He didn't trust my analysis of what it looked like so he is trying to clip his hair out of the way so that he can see it for himself. Then when that didn't work he decided he needed to cut just that portion of his hair. Luckily, I confiscated the scissors before he made it very far. 

Okay, Matt has figured out by now that when I get out my phone I'm taking a picture for my blog. So when I got out my phone out to take this picture of Henry and Matt on Burt and Red getting the cattle in, Matt started waving really big and saying, "Ooooo, get me, get me in the picture". He makes me laugh.

And yes that's him on top of a really tall building of ours. When the wind was blowing really hard, the tin on the roof started coming off, so my dear husband crawls up this building and starts putting screws in. The problem? Him getting down. He started yelling at Henry and I when he was ready to get down. I was half tempted to leave him up there.

Working on the fence some more. Almost done!

All done! Or basically done. Ready to turn the cows out!

There isn't much more satisfying in the ag industry to me then cattle being turned out on green grass in the spring. Such a satisfying experience for cattle and human. 

Adoption time on the Pagel Farm. I know no cattle producer that has ever had a 100% calf crop. Therefore, adoptions happen. This is a Holstein calf from a local dairy that got put on this heifer. They took to each other right away. It doesn't always happen like that. Sometimes it takes several days of working with the cattle to get them to take each other. It's always nice when they take each other right away. 

More cattle being turned out. Such a beautiful sight. Sunset in the background. 

Our beautiful house with blooming bushes just in time for Easter. 

Our first tulips are blooming. Just in time for Easter dinner at our house. 

My mother-in-law and her mother-in-law (Matt's Grandma) getting ready for Easter. Margaret helped me decorate cupcakes and some coking to get ready. Estella folded all my clothes for me. So thankful for a fantastic family on my side and my new family. 

The finished cupcakes! Not the fanciest, but they're going to taste yummy!

My project I've been wanting to get done since we got married. Matt and I wrote our own vows for our wedding. We didn't hear each other's until during the ceremony. His made me cry so I wanted a way to remember them and see them everyday so we don't forget them and live out what we vowed we were going to. I'm not a creative person, therefore, I'm super excited that this turned out as well as it did!

My recipe this week is a dish I made for our family Easter tomorrow. My mom made this while we were growing up. It's easy and simple and GREAT!

Pistachio Salad

2 containers of whipped cream (8 oz size)

2 boxes of pistachio pudding

2 cups peanuts

2 cups marshmallows

1 can 32 oz fruit cocktail

Mix the whipped cream and pudding mix together. Stir in the peanuts, marshmallows and drained fruit cocktail. Refrigerate until serving.

Six Months!

My how fast time flies. My dear Forever and I have been married for six whole months. We're practically experts on the art of marriage! Our six month anniversary was on Saturday and true to Pagel romantic fashion we...built fence all day! When we called it a day for that, we went to my parents to spend some quality family time together. When we got down there, Mom had a cow that was having trouble calving. The next time you think that farmers don't take care of their animals you should have seen us. There was five of us trying to beat the storm to get her in to the barn. Then when we got her there, the vet came out in the pouring rain to get her all put back together. When it was all said and done, we got to bed about midnight. Matt was up at six this morning being Mr. Energizer Bunny. So this beautiful stormy afternoon is much appreciated to get some resting and relaxing in.

Me and My Forever in front of a corner post that we put in. We were exhausted and incredibly dirty.  Our six month anniversary photo. 

It's the little things in life that I cherish so much. This week Autumn was here and Matt and I saw her a couple times. It warmed my heart so much to see Matt playing with Autumn.

Kristen, Autumn and I. Such a beautiful day we spent some time on the porch.

Matt and Autumn playing. Yes he's sitting in a chair while she's running all over the place chasing her ball he's throwing. Why don't we have that much energy when we need it?

Autumn and Matt putting a puzzle together. I think Autumn put it together faster than Matt. 

This week we spent quite a bit of time building fence. Springtime is arriving and the grass is getting green. The saying, "the grass is always greener on the other side" comes to mind. This is what the cattle are thinking. Which means they are getting out. Which mean they are at a risk for getting hit by a passing vehicle. We don't want our cattle to get hurt nor do we want the risk for vehicles. That's why we value putting in good fence. It is very costly to buy the posts, wire, clips, labor to do it, etc. but is a necessity to us. It's hard work putting in the fence, but with tractors and skid loaders it's a lot easier than it used to be. Pagel fence building is an art and science all put together. It has to be done a certain way, in a certain order, with a certain side of post, etc. I'm learning a lot about all the different specifications they have. Luckily our Saturday help was here to help so I didn't have to help with the lifting of the posts or much of the tomping the posts in. 

Henry, Matt and Matt Watkins (our Saturday help). It's very important to get the cornerposts set straight and solid. They are tomping the posts into the ground. 

I'm so thankful to be in an occupation that I can be outside in the beautiful days.  And the not so beautiful days. 

We're going to be starting a very busy time of year. All the cattle are going to be getting worked and moved to grass, planting season is here, and the Herefords are going to start calving. Busy, busy, busy. Stay tuned for blogs about planting!

Just a couple more pictures that I took this week.

Everybody is burning their pastures to help control weeds and trees.

One of my parents calves saying hi to their dog, JJ. 

Matt leading some calves in to the grain bunks.

My recipe for this week is...

Popcorn Balls

1 cup popcorn

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter

1/2 lb. marshmallows

Pop popcorn the regular way. Put salt, butter and marshmallows on the stove to melt. (Watch carefully because it will get very sticky). Pour over the popcorn. Form into balls and enjoy. It helps when forming the balls to put butter on your hand. Don't have a picture of it, but have been craving them for a while. We made them growing up on days like today. They make me think of our childhood, back before we were all married and before Autumn was thought of. 

It's a perfect day to get your kiddos or husbands or others together to make some of these. They are delicious. Have a great week and enjoy!

Pictures say a Thousand Words

I'm always amazed at how far a simple thank you can take you. After getting back from DC, I sent a thank you email to one of the gentlemen that helped us out a lot in DC (where to go, when to be there, etc) and added my blog link in it. He forwarded that on to Meagan at the State KFB office and I ended up in Kansas City a week later at a blog conference. Never, never, never underestimate a simple thank you. Give thanks and credit to the people that deserve it in your life.

Did you know there are full time bloggers? Like, they make enough money to be able to stay home all the time! In addition to that, they get to do a lot of traveling to do speaking. That blew my mind this week! Blogging is so important to companies that they are willing to pay somebody large amounts of money to do it for them and some places are even creating positions. I met more fashion and food bloggers this week than I even knew existed. Excited to foster some relationships with these. Also had the opportunity to officially meet and get to know the famous Chef Alli. Such an inspirational person, so strong in her faith and very patient with those of us that aren't very good cooks! Also, I met Meagan Cramer from the KFB office and look forward to working with her in the future. She's so great at organizing events and I'm very thankful for her inviting me to go with her to the conference.

I don't have a whole lot for this week, sorry. The week got away from me and I'm not feeling well at all tonight so I think I'm going to let the pictures talk for themselves and hopefully get back in the swing of thing this next week.

This is my parents dog, JJ. I was hauling hay and he decided that he wanted to go with me. He laid underneath my feet for a trip. Trying to convince Matt to let us get a dog. Think I should just show up with one sometime?

Also at my parents, cows have it figured. There were 2 cows babysitting about 25 calves while the rest of the moms were eating. Then they switch. What if we lived like they did and sacrificed unselfishly like that?

My dear Matt and his really expensive toy. Sometime there will be a blog about why we spray and what. 

Just a couple of the views from our hotel in KC. Yes, that is a rooftop swimming pool. 

These blog ladies are more creative than I am. Not a great picture, but a picture of the banner they had made for the conference. 

Right outside the Sprint Center in KC.

Union Station in KC.

This week I had a little bit of time to do some house work. I hung up our first wedding photo in a frame some of my friends made for us for the wedding. I got so excited when I saw it on the wall.  It makes the wall color so much better. It has only taken me 6 months to hang up our first picture, but I'm really excited about it!

Also hung up a P in our freshly painted bedroom. Another gift from a friend. First thing I'd hung up in our bedroom. It's the little things that I get so excited about. It's starting to sink in that this is my forever home and that the dishes, laundry, cleaning isn't going to happen unless Matt or I do it. (unless our moms come over, then they do it). We have real bills to pay that won't pay themselves and have to be paid on time. Welcome to big people world I guess right. You would think it wouldn't take six months for me to figure this out. I can guarantee that Matt isn't going to do any decorating in the house unless you consider decorating the floor with dirty socks and underwear art. So I get really excited about little things like hanging things on the walls or painting the walls.

So sometime this week I had time to do some cooking. It seems like forever ago, but it must have just been this week. I started to make meatballs and three quarters of the way through I found out that I didn't have 3 essentials ingredients that were needed in them so I switched to making meatloaf. Matt said he liked it and we kept it here rather than taking it to his parents like we do when he doesn't like something. Also, he started making some Italian Seasoned Southern Style Hashbrowns that I really like now. I think he got if from his sister, but they are really good. AND I made a pudding pie! For those of you that don't know me, this is an incredible feast for me and my cooking/baking skills. The corn is just out of a can. Not impressive I'm sure to some of you, but an accomplishment for me.

Hope you have a great week and I'm going to try really really hard to get a good blog about agriculture out next Sunday.