Sickness
One of the worst things about having 7 kids is that the family is a disease magnet. With 4 kids in different classes in school, we are exposed to half the germs in the school.
It is a long 4 weeks as the bugs slowly filter through the kids. I think we have had at least 1 kid home from school every day over the past two weeks. For example, my two oldest are at home today – one with a bad cough and the other with general not feeling good which this season is enough to warrant a day off.
The rule is either on the couch/bed reading and resting or helping mom with all the household chores. It is a nice test to guage how sick the kids are.
Lori and I, on the other hand, seem to linger in this state of sickness as the kids bring home new and exciting germs. For me, it has no been 3 weeks with a cough that will not seem to go away. If I could crawl in bed and sleep for 2 days I am sure I could beat this, but life doesn’t stop and there are things that need to get done.
Lots of exciting things going on regardless of the illness.
I am trying to get a video together about swath grazing so hopefully I will post that soon enough.
The geek in my bough a nice little Koday Zi8 1080p video camera for $200 and have been carrying it with me to video little clips of things. I am hoping to use the camera to record more of farm life so people in an urban environment can see what a organic farm is like. If there is anything you would like to see and learn about, leave a comment or send an email and I’ll see what I can do.
Sunday Morning on the Farm
It was a beautiful morning when I walked out to check the cattle today.
Here is a picture looking north. You can see some cattle swath grazing across the road.
You Are a Wimp
And no backtalk, you hear me?
Three must-visit foodie Oases
Very nice to see some local people make the list. The people from Ravenwood Farm Fresh Meats have a very nice shop. I haven’t been in Caroline in the last year to go see the shop, but I defineitly want to stop in and check it out.
These folks are another example of farmers working hard to do things differently to make their farms profitable.
Check out their website at http://www.ravenwoodranch.com/
Homemade Pasta Sauce
Homemade Pasta Sauce from Tim Hoven on Vimeo.
You saw the pictures of the ripening tomatoes. Here is a short video about what we did with some of those tomatoes.
Homemade pasta sauce made with home-grown organic tomatoes on our home-grown certified organic ground beef.
I love the taste of fresh homemade food.
Vine Ripened Tomatoes
Lori, my wife, planted some tomatoes this year and finally we can enjoy her hard work. Before the frosts came, the tomatoes were not green so she searched the internet, found out what to do. She put the tomatoes in covered cardboard boxes, and voila, weeks later, we have our very own vine ripened tomatoes.
Awesome…
As you can see, some of them are not ripe yet, but I am a patient man. Like many things in life, you have to be patient. If you eat something too soon, it’s going to taste like crap. A little patience makes the tomato sweeter!
Vegetarians make great speed bumps #bwe09
I disagree. Vegetarians make great ex-vegetarians.
From the Fatburger Van.
Cow FAIL
If you don’t own a cattle squeeze, you may not get the joke.
Eat Real. Eat Local
I was very surprised by this website.
Why? First thoughts… it is awesome. The video is excellent and drives a few important points home. It goes through the reason why we need to eat local and support local food production.
Please go visit the site and see what I am talking about. Watch the video.
My second thought was.. what the hell?? Hellman’s mayonnaise?? What? How local are they?
But as I thought more about the website today, I think this is what it is going to take. A large corporation realizing the bigger picture and putting their money behind it. I am sure the people at Hellman’s hope that people will associate their mayonnaise with local food.
And I am okay with that.
This website makes me feel like if Monsanto decided that GMO canola was a bad idea. And that would feel pretty good.
20 Food Rules by Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, asked readers for advice on the rules they use when choosing their food. 2500 submissions later, Pollan made his list of his favorite 20 food rules.
As a meat producer,the vegetarian responses always beg me for comment. Usually, I don’t say anything. I understand vegetarians reasons for avoiding meat protein; I just disagree with their reasoning.
The vegetarian food rule for today?
‘Don’t eat anything you wouldn’t kill yourself.”
I do live by that rule. I do not have a problem killing things and eating them. I hope you do not find me insensitive by saying that. We are part of a larger ecosystem that most of us want do not want to believe in. The reality of the harshness of life makes us uncomfortable. Nature is nasty and very unforgiving. I am in my warm house and outside my walls it is cold and snowing. But if I was stuck out there overnight, only a mere 20 feet from where I now sit, and froze to death, the first animal that found me would lick the carcass seeing if there was something to eat on me, even herbivores like cattle or deer. That is how nature works. Eat or be eaten. Yes, it is harsh. It isn’t nice. Welcome to reality.
Please follow the link and check out the article. A very good read.
