How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine?  Ummm, not so well...

I do like to garden, or I should say, I like to reap the rewards of vegetable gardening.  However, I have now tried my hand at gardening here on the ranch for the past six years and my results have been, shall we say, below average.  Now I know I can garden and have been successful at it in the past.....maybe my results here have something to do with the gale force winds we experience up here on our little hill almost every afternoon??

We fertilize the soil, so I believe that part is okay.  I've tried planting in the soil, changing locations of the plants every year, sprinkler watering, ground watering and now container gardening.

My poor patio tomato plant I planted at least 2 months ago......

Looks like a shriveled up mess doesn't it?

This is what it looked like 2 months ago.  Much bushier isn't it?

My caged cucumber sprout.  This is the third time this season that I've planted cucumber seeds.  They always pop up but I think we have a pesky rabbit visiting every night.  So I'm trying the cage method.

Heirloom jack-o-lantern plants, also protected by screen mesh.   

The culprit may very well be VERY hungry insects because we also have zucchini planted (2nd time) in the ground and they have definitely been eaten by insects.  Not sure what to do.  We don't spray pesticides and I can't plant enough for everyone.

Okay, I'll quit my whining now.

 

My container radishes seem to be doing good.  But aren't radishes the easiest thing you can grow?  They're like weeds, so I couldn't go wrong there!

Dominic planted three rows of corn and they're doing okay for now.

Gale force winds.......everyday.....which is great for our flag!  But look, I just noticed in this photo - even the flag pole is leaning from the wind.

Any and All tips are welcome!  Help!

Happy Wednesday!

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Tractor Seats

All I have to do is take a little walk around the ranch to find something I find interesting enough to photograph.  Cows, calves, my horse, owls, today it was this tractor seat.

An old, classic tractor seat that is still connected to it's wheel base of steel wheels. 

Where did it come from? 

Who's 'seat' sat on this tractor seat at one time?  My father in law, George, when he was a kid?  Bryce's Great Grandfather, George Sr., when he worked the dairy?  

I don't know.

I'm sure I can find out the answer......but it's almost more fun to imagine or conjure up a story in my head.

So much history goes along with generational ranches and farms.  I want to capture as much of ours as I can....for my kids and for anyone else interested in reading/seeing a part of it.

What seat will Bryce sit in when he can drive?

I'm sure Paige will choose any seat she darn well pleases ;)

Here's a fun video that shows tractors from classic antiques to modern day 'monster' tractors that's fun to watch.  Plus it doesn't hurt that country music artist, Jason Aldean is singing his tractor song to go along with it.

P.S.  I did find out the old classic tractor is a swather that was once pulled by horses for cutting hay, probably 60 years ago.  It still sits on the ranch, awaiting the next generation to ponder it's origin.

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Dairy Day

I had the pleasure of helping at Dairy Day at the Marin County Fair on Saturday.  My job was to help with the cheesecake, butter cookie, baking with yogurt or sour cream and brownie making contests that happened throughout the day.

The cheesecakes were first up, and what an assortment.  The categories were flavored, plain, Marin cheese and the divisions were adult and junior (5-18).

There were only two judges for everything but the brownie sundae competition.  They were good sports about it all but by the end of the day, after sampling EVERY single entry, all they wanted to do is take a long walk and maybe have a taste of something salty.

The cheesecake line-up.

Butter cookie line-up.

The two judges, Lawrence Lavagetto, Kitchen Assistant Ramekins Cooking School, Sonoma AND

Bertha Maier, Gourmet Cook, Fairfield judging the "Baking with sour cream or yogurt" entries.

Towards the end of the day the CA Ice Cream Brownie Sundae competition took place.  This is where a team of two, family members or friends, create a brownie sundae, using all CA grown ingredients that they bring along with them.  The ice cream and whipped cream was provided by Ben & Jerry's and Clover Stornetta Farms.  They had 10 minutes to complete their sundaes.

It got quite messy.

The judges for this competition were Erik Hom from Ben & Jerry's and our District 3 Dairy Princess, Emilie Strand and 1st alternate, Regina Camozzi.

The theme of this year's fair was 'Going Global Connecting Cultures', which could have been incorporated into the brownie sundae design. 

And the winner is...........

A few of the other competitions that go on at Dairy Day are:  Various ice cream eating contests, obstacle course while eating an ice cream cone and The Vermonster Sundae Eating competition - this is where a team of four compete for the fastest time eating 20 scoops of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, 4 bananas, 4 scoops hot fudge, 1 fudge brownie, 3 chocolate chip cookies, 2 scoops of M & M's, 4 scoops sprinkles, all topped with fresh whipped cream.   

About 14,000 calories!

A team of 4 finished it off in 1:55 minutes!  That's a lot of shoveling!

I wasn't able to go over an watch the competition because I was busy taking care of the butter cookies but this is what a Vermonster looks like:

photo borrowed from Bay Area Bites

Dairy Trivia

• Americans eat the equivalent of 10 acres of pizza (and Mozzarella cheese) every
day.

• Just ate spicy food? Milk is better than water for cooling your mouth A protein in milk
called casein cleanses the taste buds.

• Cheddar cheese was first developed in the town of, yes, Cheddar Gorge, England,
more than 400 years ago.

• A gallon of milk weighs 8.59 pounds.

• A cow has four stomachs and 24 teeth.

• The most common breed of dairy cow in the United States is the Holstein; Jersey
cows produce milk with the highest butterfat content.

• Plastic milk bottles were first introduced in the United States in 1967.

• McDonald’s® and Wendy’s® introduced single-serve plastic milk containers in the
summer of 2004.

• The tradition of making Swiss cheese in 200-pound wheels began in the Middle
Ages, when the Swiss government taxed cheese makers on the number of pieces
they produced, rather than according to the total weight of the cheese they made.

• To get the same amount of calcium provided by 8 ounces of milk, you would have to
eat 2 1/4 cups of broccoli, 6 3/4 oranges or 6 slices of wheat bread.

• If you open the refrigerator in 96 percent of all households, you’ll find a container of
milk; 94 percent of all households have cheese.

• Total cheese per capita consumption was 31 pounds in 2004.

• Forty percent of all cheese is served at restaurants and cafeterias.

• An average dairy cow weighs 1,400 pounds and consumes about 50 pounds of dry
matter (e.g., hay, grass, grain) each day.

• The average cow drinks from 30 to 50 gallons of water each day — about a
bathtub’s worth.

• Cows have an acute sense of smell, and can smell something up to 6 miles away.

• Most cows chew at least 50 times per minute, and spend 10 hours a day chewing
their cud in order to aid in digestion.

• Cows arrived in America with the Jamestown settlers in 1611.

• Tank trucks for transporting fluid milk were first introduced in 1914.

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Do You Know?

Our flag this morning on the 4th

THE FLAG

1. When was the Stars and Stripes authorized by Congress as the national flag?

2. The flag has 13 stripes. How many of them are red?

3. Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star-Spangled Banner after witnessing what?

4. Where and when was the first 50-star flag flown?

5. On the first U.S. flag, why were the stars displayed in a circle?

6. True or false: When the Pledge of Allegiance was published in 1892, the words "Under God" were not included.




THE DATE


7. Which three presidents died on July 4?

8. Which president laid the cornerstone for the Washington Monument on July 4, 1850?

9. What was the title of the 1969 Broadway musical, written by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, that told the story of the founding of the United States?

10. What city in the American South fell to Ulysses S. Grant and Union forces on July 4, 1863, after a short siege?

11. What twin advice columnists were born on July 4, 1918?

12. In one of the wildest baseball games of all time, the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 16-13, in how many innings on July 4 (and 5), 1985?



THE PRESIDENTS

13. Which president served the shortest term?

14. Which president, to show his disdain for ceremony, would greet ambassadors in his pajamas?

15. Which president was the first to throw out the season-opening pitch for professional baseball?

16. To whom was the first telephone call made from the White House in 1878?

17. At 5 feet 4, who was the shortest president?

18. Which president's pet parrot had to be ejected from his funeral for screaming obscenities at mourners?

19. Which president had the most children?

20. Eleanor Roosevelt made news in 1939 when she served what dish to visiting King George VI and Queen Elizabeth?

21. Which president, when short of funds, offered White House china as the ante in poker games?

22. Which president's election was marred by charges of electoral vote corruption in Florida and other states after he lost the popular vote to his opponent?

23. Which well-dressed president was rumored to own 80 pairs of pants?

24. Who was the first chief executive to appear on television?

25. Which two presidents were signers of the Declaration of Independence?



Answers


1. June 14, 1777. This date is observed as Flag Day.

2. Seven.

3. The bombardment of Fort McHenry

4. Philadelphia, 1960

5. So no one state would be above another.

6. True. The phrase was added in 1954.

7. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (1826) and James Monroe (1831)


8. Zachary Taylor. He became ill with cholera that night and died five days later.

9. 1776

10. Vicksburg, Miss. It came a day after the Union victory at Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the Civil War

11. Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren (real names: Esther "Eppie" Lederer and Pauline Phillips)

12. 19 innings. The game ended at 3:55 a.m., and the Braves then fired off their Independence Day fireworks, leading many local residents to believe the city was under attack.

13. William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia shortly after his inauguration. He served only 32 days, from March 4 to April 4, 1841.

14. Thomas Jefferson

15. William Howard Taft, on April 14, 1910, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.

16. Alexander Graham Bell (called by President Rutherford Hayes)

17. James Madison

18. Andrew Jackson

19. John Tyler (15)

20. Hot dogs

21. Warren G. Harding

22. Rutherford Hayes, in 1876

23. Chester Arthur (also the first to employ a full-time valet)

24. Franklin Roosevelt (April 30, 1939)

25. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

 
I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe 4th of July ! Pin It

TJ's Broccoli Beef & Lactose Free Tofutti Cuties

Do you ever shop at Trader Joe's?  I was so excited when we had one open in our town a couple of years ago.  I usually shop at TJ's twice a month or so.  They have such great prices on things, it's hard to pass up.  I like to keep some frozen, easy to prepare food on hand at home for those nights that  A) I  forgot to pull something out of the freezer to thaw or  B) just don't have much time to prepare dinner.

My last visit to TJ's, I picked up a box of Broccoli Beef to try out. 

It looked promising.

In the package you'll find some frozen, coated beef.  In which you brown for a few minutes.

Also in the package is the broccoli, which you add to the beef and heat for a few more minutes.  When finished cooking, just add the heated sauce to the mixture.

I served it upon a mound of brown rice.  All in all, it was pretty good.  At first taste, I sensed a very faint fish flavor that I wasn't very fond of.  But after eating a few bites mixed in with the rice, I thought it was pretty good (not great).

For dessert, we had Bryce's pick.  He loves these little mini ice cream sandwiches.  This is another TJ's item that Bryce just discovered (see what happens when I take the kids grocery shopping!).   And since they are dairy free and with Bryce being slightly lactose intolerant (can you even believe that!), these were great!

A note on lactose intolerance, allowing Bryce to drink raw milk from our dairy totally removes any lactose intolerance symptoms he has! (more on this later).

I also like their small size.

HEAVEN!

Happy Saturday!

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It's a Bull, It's a Bull, It's a Bull!!

So, remember yesterday when I was talking about freestall barns and snapped a few photos of ours to show you?  Well, in the far alleyway of the barn, there happened to be a few cows hanging out so I walked over, through (under) a freestall to see what they were up to and maybe snap a few more photos. 

Cows in general are very curious animals, they normally just stand back and watch me when I'm around.  But yesterday, while I was standing in the center of the alleyway, a "cow" started walking towards me in a , I felt, strange manner.  She had her head down low, almost like she was going run towards me at any moment.  At second glance I noticed........

It's a BULL, It's a BULL, It's a BULL!!!   

OH DEAR!  OH DEAR!  OH DEAR!

I high-tailed it SO quickly back under one of the freestalls, but not before I snapped a quick photo....he was really close!

If you've read my previous posts, you know how terrified I am of bulls.  Especiallly the Holstein bulls (we have two).  I don't know what it is but these two bulls always seem to find me.  There's over 200 cows around and two bulls and they always find me!  I'm usually pretty good at remembering to ask Dominic where the bulls are before I venture out on my own through the ranch, but I forgot to do so yesterday.

He probably looks pretty tame to you in this photo, but trust me, with all the snorting and head movements and all, I was shakin' in my work boots. 

I don't know if he was showing off, or playing in the sand or what, but he was making a big mess.

Keeping his eye on me the entire time.

He's giving me the 'stink' eye.

Or maybe he just didn't want his photo taken?  What do you think?

Happy Friday!  Cheers!

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Freestalls & Taco Thursday

What are freestall barns you ask? They're our dairy cow's own, personal sand beds.  Just as we I like to lay on a sandy beach, cows like to lay in the sand, under shade, in the comfort of their barn. Our freestall barns have a roof overhead and are open all around for great ventilation and fresh air.    Our cows are able to walk around and choose their own bed at their own free will (hence the name 'freestall').  During the day, the 'girls' are outside where they are fed throughout the summer.....at the outdoor manger. 

The barns are cleaned daily and more sand is brought in every 4 weeks or so.  The girls poop in the isle of the barn (usually not the sand) and the barn is scraped out with a tractor.  Cows are very leisure animals.  They like to rest up to 14 hours a day with up to 3-8 of those hours sleeping.

I wanted to snap a photo of our freestall barn while the cows were outside, to show you all.

But I turn around and what did I find?  Most of them wanted back into the barn....they LOVE their barn!  So I opened the gates and they all came walking in.

If it's hot outside, we leave the barn gates open all day long and the cows can come and go as they please.

This is where one of their outdoor feeding mangers is.  There were still a few stragglers that preferred to be outside.  This is the area that the dry cows (cows that are not milking) hang out as well. 

I'm not sure why most of them wanted in today, it certainly wasn't hot out, only 73 degrees and pretty breezy- as it always is.

We wear ponytails or hats quite often to keep hair from flying about, but not today..

 It's TACO Thursday!

I found this Taco Salad recipe on Eating Well and it looked SO good, I wanted to share with you.

                      photo by Eating Well

Ingredients

1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound 93%-lean ground turkey
2 large plum tomatoes, diced
1 14-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese


Preparation

1.Combine salsa and sour cream in a large bowl.

2.Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add turkey and cook, stirring often and crumbling with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans, cumin and chili powder; cook, stirring, until the tomatoes begin to break down, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in cilantro and 1/4 cup of the salsa mixture.

3.Add lettuce to the remaining salsa mixture in the bowl; toss to coat. To serve, divide the lettuce among 4 plates, top with the turkey mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

Nutrition

Per serving: 361 calories; 16 g fat (6 g sat, 1 g mono); 86 mg cholesterol; 25 g carbohydrates; 33 g protein; 10 g fiber; 583 mg sodium; 718 mg potassium.



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