A day in his shoes.....

I know we have all said it many times....."I can do that, or do what you do!" You know that feeling that you can take on the world no matter how hard it is....you aren't gonna let someone out do u.

My husband had to go to a meeting out of town, and was going to be gone from the farm for three days. And like usual I take over all of the farm duties, plus full-time mom, plus full-time......everything else. And the two days prior he works getting everything lined up for me and the boys to make the days gone run smoother.  

My armor on and my body equipped for taking on the world.....he was gone 30 minutes when it seemed I had so many questions. And as we are knee deep in cutting tobacco I had emails, phone calls,  and text messages from people needing information....(he being one of them on progress) and kids to be shuffled so I could work.  

Not that my work was much different than any day of the year it was that it all fell at my feet at one time.  I called in reinforcements for help moving wagons (my dad and father in law those few days).  And when my head hit my pillow the first night.....it was all zzzzzz until my alarm went off that next morning.  I slept like a rock....and now I know why he does most nights.

The girls also have to go into extra work mode as well, being that we had to check the cows before we went to school....up and at em dressed and out the door at 7 am.  This time of the year we have mama cows dropping babies so it is very important that you check on The herd each morning...... Which is no problem for my girls because they always want to be the first one to spot a new baby.

Day 2 and 3 were more cutting more routine......  The guys are super to make sure to pick up extra when I am here alone.  

Per Scott: Cut, pick up, house (tobacco going up in barn), check barn temps, cows to count and check barns?????

I learned those few days how to manage barn temps and what to do if one seems hot!  You water down the saw dust.....thankfully with a friends help my nerves got back in check!

I am amazed still at what all goes on when the farmer is away! This Momma doesn't clean and pick up or cook....she tends to the flock!  A dirty house is ok, dirty clothes are good too as long as there are more to wear and any food in the belly is good food. My OCDness didn't have time to cover my life because I was too busy with the important things! Now this all explains why my farmer is tired when he walks in the door.....it's not all physical labor but mental labor that runs each day!

What I learned about myself is that it's not that I can't take on the world....it's that I learned I could...... But each day that he is here.....I don't have to! Yes I am thankful!

The reality check of life is good for all of us.....for the love of dirt grows stronger between our hearts!

Just another day in the life of the farmers wife.....

What I have learned....as I am still growing up on the farm

The realization of this picture is so true, it's not about "the hours" it's all about the acres. 

1. You work in acres meaning that when the acres or cut, harvested, finished shall we say, that is when the work is done!

A normal day is 7 to 7... But who has normal days right? 

2. The washing machine work is on overtime! We change clothes sometimes twice or three times a day. I can't stand sweaty or even overly filthy clothes....and this doesn't even count the days working with animals or in a smoking barn.

3. Sometimes we are praying for rain on the crops or just to have a break from work! Then there are days we pray for the rain to stop to get the work done. It's a very tough line when it comes to farming.

4. Dinner time is always soon!  It never happens like clock work and can never be planned on a schedule! One night could be early the next at bedtime.  So you always have to be on your toes.....preparation is key!!! Always having it ready per say is definite!

5. DIRT is my makeup!!! My favorite tshirt says this.....why fix your hair or slather your face in something that is gonna be wiped off.  A Hat keeps a lot of dirt out and sun off your head and face. Sunscreen is the aroma of fragrance during hot times. U will all look the same out here!

6. The farm is always an adventure due to be tested for my kids. Always something fun to ride, drive, or maze through in the fields.  The best place to find your creativity and something to play with is on the farm!

7. Nothing is free around here....work has to be done to pay the bills! Teaching kids at a young age to work for something instills the ability and knowledge that life has boundaries!

8. No such thing as a schedule...weather, temperature, work load.....all can be planned or unplanned due to the day!  Kids/dinner/sleep all is work itself in progress.....having back up baby sitters and a cell phone is how you learn to manage your family and your daily work schedule.

9. Your house is cleaned......um.....when u can get to it!  I eat lunch and clean....or while then girls are getting ready for bed....or how about those mornings before u walk out the door.  U can always tell when it is a busy time of the year for us based on my house. 

10. Never leave the house without toilet paper, a snack and a water bottle.  Those   5 minute trips always are hours long and you never know when you get a chance to potty properly....and this girl likes to wipe!

Our passions drives our willingness to learn and be better stewards of the land! We don't see this as a job but as our life!!! Neither of us being raised on a farm....and yet we get to raise 2 girls on the land by Gods hand!!! And yet we are still growing ourselves....

"Hands in the dirt-hearts at work"

Spiking.....but this isn't a volleball move

After we cut the tobacco the next process of spiking the plants begin.

I Can't tell you enough how labor intensive a tobacco crop is. The first time we handle it we are setting tobacco in late spring, the second time it is handled is when it is cut in my previous blog post, and the third time that we now are handling it is when we are spiking it on the stick. After we have a good wilt we drop sticks to begin the spiking process. 

The stick is dropped between three plants on each side of it which equals a total of six plants that will be spiked on it. 

With one hand the guys will have the spike and the other hand they will bend over and pick up each plant spiking it on the stick making a total of six plants again on the stick and then left in the field for the next time we handle it.

Cutting time.....on the ground she goes.

August brings tobacco harvest....and normally some of the hottest weather of summer! Each plant has to be manually cut with a hatchet and laid down with ease so the leaves do not break. The slump is about all you see of our guys when cutting. You stay bent over at the waist so that you can slightly bend each plant over to cut it at it's base.

Once cut the sticks are then dropped at the groupings of plants in order to start spiking. The sun and heat wilts the plants so the plant becomes in "order" or a limp state to ensure proper readiness for spiking.

During hot weather you have to constantly watch the tobacco from sun burning. Just like you or I would burn, the leaves can burn and injure the tobacco.  

 

Not your ordinary field of wagons....

To some this May seem like a field of tobacco wagons....and yes they are....but to us it is a field of dreams.

Each wagon is pulled back and forth during harvest season to the field....to the barn and vice versa numerous times.  As they do serve a purpose....to transport our tobacco crop.....they also serve an even greater purpose....and that's a memory!!!!

Each hand that touches each wagon has a story....some It's a story of survival...others it's food on the table.

For my family, it's living the dream of working on one of Gods greatest masterpieces....this earth.  One wagon may represent being able to pay for electricity, another wagon represents being able to put food on my plate, another.... knowing that I'm able to feed 12 families beyond myself that live on this farm.  The list could go on every time I look at each wagon, because it is hours spent away from family, it is sweat shed from exhaustion, it's a playground for my children when they have to come to the field.  

And the end of each harvest they all come back empty to be put back in the barn for another year.

Farming as I have found isn't just a lifestyle....it's where you grow up....it's where you look back at how far you have come as a worker....as a family....and where you created your life!! 

My friends...our workers...our family gets bigger this time of the year!

Each year it feels like Christmas eve at this time...... We wait and wait then finally have to head to bed and find out the boys have arrived overnight. Today is like Christmas morning all over again for my girls. I actually heard them stir before their alarm clock even went off and when it did I called their names to come downstairs..... There they were dressed and ready to head out the door before 7 AM. Yes, all this to see their friends that have arrived back to live on the farm and work!

We hear many comments from those in the community the nation and even friends on "how we could hire labor outside of the US when there are so many American citizens that need jobs." And to be honest, really honest........ The simple answer no one here wants to work. But that could definitely start a whole new rant of how I feel about the issue and those that do not understand.

This will be our 9th season to have our friends come in. And most and then have been here as the original crew. For my Sayde was born the December before our two workers Oscar and Leonel arrived in May. Both of them being babies know no difference between us and them.  We all celebrate together, laugh together, and even cried together when we need to. In nine years time we have grown lots of crops, families and the farm all together!  

The Mexies as we call our boys live on the farm next to the house......another reason we are so close as a family!

I personally cannot imagine not having them in our lives especially with all the work that they have committed to us over the years.  We work as a team, we live as a team. For those of you that don't understand and want to judge first, please I welcome you out to the farm to come experience our life and then maybe you can decide. Their money is put back into our community for food and well-being. 

Girls welcoming back our family to the farm!!! 

Each one of them has a family, has a life, and a job back in their country. Most of them have babies while they are here and do not get to welcome their new son or daughter into their life until they are sometimes months old. Imagine yourself leaving thousands and thousands of miles between you and your family......to provide a better life for the ones your love. It is a pretty selfless way of living....... 

A farmer having daughters.....never did I know that I would have 12 sons one day!

Hands in the dirt......hearts at work

Back bends...bridges....and farm moms

One of my most favorable times of the year is when is comes time for field work ......but I become single mommy to 2 girls.  The farmer comes in after the girls go to bed and leaves before our 6:30 am alarm goes off.  And each morning like clock work one of the girls asks like a broken record.."where is daddy".  

So like every farmers wife I get 'em up, get 'em out, check on the farmer, try to get some house work done along with lunch and supper then head back to school......to round em up again.

Getting to see him smile from the back of his head is all worth my long days sometimes.....and when it all works right it's worth that even more!

From running kids to after school activities to coaching soccer and track meets the farm mom tackles house/farm chores and still finds time to cook and prepare the day again for tomorrow.  

It's just not the girls at gymnastics whose abilities can extend to back bends and bridges.....it's the mommies that bend and bridge the farm family together so it all flows! Or it's another day in the life of the farmers wife.....

March Madness

Love how March turns the lights on around here! Not just longer daylight but the electric seems to go up because the shop work increases ten fold.  The tractors are making their way out of the barns and sheds....the planter is dug out to begin it's final preparations for April planting....and the roads seem more traveled with equipment.  The air has become a hair warmer after this harsh cold winter and the wind always seem to be blowing.  The farmer gets up early and stays in the shop til this momma calls him home to eat. Harder on the girls and I because dinner is moved back about an hour due to the longer daylight. 

We all start to get a little quirky because we know Dad will soon be gone long hours.....and sometimes not come home til after the girls go to bed.  

The smell of grease and oil fills the shop...AND MY LAUNDRY ROOM! Our winter hibernation comes to an abrupt end 😞.

But we love routines around here! Not a schedule but the routines of getting work complete. Unlike many we aren't bound by time schedules....we can plan all winter long but until the weather is set we work til the job is done. 

The girls look forward to March madness because they know

•time outside is longer 

•tractor rides become the way of travel to spend time with their parents

•they can watch tv in the office because dad is working in the shop

•more picnic dinners

•and their most favorite.....their boys are due within weeks to the farm!

Welcome spring.....we are sooooo ready for you!

Farm And Fitness

As a farm mom we are like every other mom in the world. We get up start our day with the kids getting them to school and then head to our second job either on the farm or working with the public.  We end our day trying to be mom/wife /farmer and then lay our heads down in exhaustion!  So who has time to exercise and be healthy right?

WRONG!!  

As the most important part of our day is others....why isn't it OURSELVES? I have learned thru my love hate relationship of running the amazing feeling I get when I accomplish something for myself. It's the rise of mental attitude and knowing if momma feels good then my afternoon and night will be better. 

I am like every mother in the sense that I feel guilty when I take time for myself. Or I feel guilty when people constantly say "who has time to workout" or "I work and have to run kids." Well so do I and most everyone else!! I can't worry about your life but only my own. To live a healthy lifestyle it must start with yourself. It takes time to buy and grow the proper foods that I know will be healthy and substainable for my family. Prioritizing what's important for you and not someone else should be your first goal!

Forget those that are jealous you MAKE time to exercise....

A farmer gets the hype that we aren't human. We are regulated in our jobs like you are in yours....I wouldn't feed my kids anything that you wouldn't feed yours. The difference in me is that I research and trust my fellow farmers in food growth. I rock the beat to my own drum. I have learned that properly taking care of my family first comes with me....I am glad you don't have time to workout.  That means there is less at the gym when I go.  

Never feel discouraged or complain there isn't time....if there is a will there is a way!

Why do I FARM?  Because I can Find A Reasonable Mean in anything! Now get out and get busy....

If you GROW it then you will KNOW it

12 years ago we bought our first cattle crop......unknowingly understanding the importance at the time of what "raising your own beef" meant.  As a business venture and our love for animals we spent the first year grooming and raising a breed of animals like no other.  

A city girl myself we always had a freezer full of farm raised beef.  We bought a half of a cow yearly when we could afford it because we knew how it was raised and the quality it would attest too!

Scott and I married young and were green so it was much easier to sell calves and make back our initial Investment money than to hold one back for your own freezer.  

The beef lovers that we are took the opportunity over the last few years to cull and groom some stock of our own for our table. Why??  Because each calf we raise is fed with quality hay and all natural feed. I don't just have the title of farmer but as mother too. I know exactly what goes in and out of each cow and what to expect when my husband brings the beef home.

My advice....don't gripe about your local stores and gossip over the latest news on meat. The medias job is to publicize news true or not for a thrill and a public rise. Find a local trusted farmer who KNOWS what they GROW! Or GROW It YOURSELF! To many use their mouth to try to solve an issue finding that they have only paralyzed their hands at fixing it.....time wasted and energy. 

Along with our farm raised beef we raise home grown veggies (salsa too) and chickens for organic style eggs!

3 P's of Farming and Me

PURPOSE
I have heard for a lifetime that we were all created with and for a PURPOSE............well that is easier said than figured out, because sometimes it may take a lifetime to figure out our purpose.  It wasn't quite a lifetime but it took many years for me to see where God had led me.
 1.  A mother...........not just the ability to give birth to my 2 blood children but the motherly ability to love those that need the unconditional love of others.  The ability to reason and nurture the ones that I work with.
2.  A wife......because its learning to join or unite with another person that believes in what I do and where we shall serve.
3.  A farmer...........taken in consideration #1 + #2 yes you get a living......or choice of life.  I believe all these together have given me the opportunity to build the living where we work the land, care for the animals he created and feed his people not just by mouth but by deed!

PASSION
If you have followed any of my blog you will know that I am a 1ST GENERATION FARMER !! At times in my life I thought we were crazy to keep pursuing a dream that is costly and so physically and mentally challenging. But a spark was lit years ago and the fire continues to burn brighter and longer each and every day.
"You will never make it.....You do not have the finances to start or grow such a business......You can never touch so many people by being a farmer."  Just as cruel as it was then when I heard those words....it still is today.......BUT that spark lit the fire beneath 2 young, you will never make it off love hearts......that continues to oil the fire that passions my soul!!
It is the individuals that criticize you that can make you stronger!!
1.  The mother in me that would stay up long hours to make sure a calf made it thru the night......the mother in me leaves the house in the middle of the night to tend to a sick worker who needs medicine....the mother in me takes care of the flock by day and night.....the job has never clocked in hours. Its the idea that watching every animal like my child......will nourish from the care.
2. The wife in me makes sure the work is complete at home and on the farm so that the table can be used......the wife in me listens in the wind and watches with her heart to see where I am needed most!
3.The farmer in me delights in the smiles from families that I know are able to eat and from the seed that is planted.............watered, sheltered and harvested because we know no different.
Not just the occupation as a farmer but also the biblical meaning of farming when God said "the Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few."  Learning to sow a seed spiritually.....educating and being a joy to someone who needs you!

PRIDE
Pride in the bible I understand is a sinful thing, so before you assume..... listen to my meaning....
The Pride that ignites me.....inspires me.....makes me better.
It is the self respect, hard work that I have personal worth to make a difference and learned to be humble. It is my hands that have been left to his decision in where to take me next.....

For it's the "hands in the dirt, hearts at work" for it's the 3 P's of the world that made me."  The friends that have shared in my endeavors and understand our passion and the family that keeps us stable!  For if no one reads my blog I know that one person will.....thank you Grama.....

Going to be a voice....

Had the most wonderful opportunity to hear from the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) Krysta Harden at the American Farm Bureau Federation conference. As a woman it is so exhilarating to see her stand proud from the farm to the city.....sharing her story and love for the land!

I myself am living this dream backwards....coming from the city to the farm.  Deputy Harden states, "Its not our livelihood but our way of life!" If we don't share our story no one else will.

Some do not understand my story that why it's important to share it.....especially as I am still writing my personal book. 

The daughter of two school teachers....my morals and tradition runs deep!  Just like the farm tradition does for most. I grew up under street lights and by the sound of vehicle traffic. So many say "when I grew up a farm...." Something that I can never say......but live for the day when my two girls will share that phrase. I can't wait to hear "my parents started their own farm and I grew up in agriculture and understand the viability of hard work, taking care of your resources and learning what feeds the world really means."Each day I learn more my feet may move me but my voice is what will grow me. 

"If your not at the table, then you will be on the plate!" A phrase I heard in a leadership class a couple of years ago is so very true today. If we don't sit at the issues then we will not be able to stand for the solution.  I want to be the voice for us farmers because we all can't.....especially if we are tending to the fields. I use my voice....louder and prouder........as Neale Donald Walsh said....Life begins at the end if your comfort zone.

Another job on my list of already too many things to do right????  For it's all another day in the life of the farmers wife.....

Me and Deputy Secretary

It's not what I do....it's who I am

Everyday we all get complacent in our ways and our works.  I myself fit into that sentence.....but have to say not 100%. Every day is still anew day in our house and on the farm. The weather in KY changes as often like you change your underpants it seems. 

We get up, go out....well in the winter my husband does....he breaks water, feeds the hay etc.  I take care of kids, the house, and TAXES. 

We travel in the winter to meetings and leadership conferences.......and my most recent trip with Farm bureau I realized again I am exactly where I am meant to be.

The woman in the airport started to stir conversation and asks, "why are you traveling?" I simply said for a meeting....and she ask then "what do you do?" I then went into my spill of owning a farm and being a farmer myself.  The look on her face was priceless as she pondered her next statement...."wow I would have never guessed that because you do not look like a farmer." (Not sure if she was stumped by my dress, age or maybe it was the long blonde hair.)

My story was then simple....it all started with a dream....the ability of health to tackle that dream, and the willingness to work to live that dream! Obviously 30 minutes later she heard my life story.....and I realized again it doesn't matter what you look like, or what you do......it's really who you are!

I don't farm for a living.....I am a farmer and I work for a living!

Farming, Friends and Fun

Each year we look forward to our winter meetings, mainly the time off from home/farm responsibilities but most importantly the chance to catch up with our farmer friends around the state!!!

This becomes the place where more corn is grown, the tractors are always bigger and the yield could honestly feed the world!  Men farm, women talk babies, and the kids......well you can always hear them!!

We educate ourselves on new processes, discover new ideas to expand, and lastly hug and love everyone we have missed since the last meeting.

Winter months can be just as hard as the working field months.......it's the planning and conditioning phase.  It's the time set aside for family and education!  

We dig in the mental dirt and farm the best and worst options Mother Nature could possibly hand us.  

In the end, we have more information to take back to our farms and a stronger understanding of community and why friends are so important......mentally or physically....hands in the dirt...our hearts are at work!!

When my Farmer is GONE, the work is ON

My husband got to take part in a super opportunity of hunting in Argentina, South America.  Yes a fabulous adventure but a stressful time as it approached for me.  The farmers wife (and yes Farmer herself) becomes, a single mom, tax accountant, audit contractor, and farmer ALL AT ONE TIME!!!

Most of you will say what does all that mean.......hey I do this everyday.......but for me my responsibility level just WENT THRU THE ROOF!!  Gladly we share lots of jobs and responsibilities here on the Farm and house. The days leding up to his trip he took on many of the Farm jobs himself.

Day 1, we were all a mess...............between calming down my girls emotions of missing their daddy, trying to attend my Grandfathers funeral, and dealing with airline issues for them as they were on the road, I wondered if SUPERMOM was gonna shine thru.  Every breath got easier and finally I realized it would all be ok.  Flights changed and managed.....CHECK, Girls nerves calmed.....CHECK, family funeral attended and witnessed one of the best ones ever.....CHECK, animals checked and fed.................OH NO......NOT CHECKED!! 

Realizing that the cows, horse, donkey, and chickens now depended on me along with my kiddos, plus life in general...................I had begun to plan for a long week.

Needless to say my routine became apparent.......girls up, dressed and taken to school, animals fed and waterers checked, farm checked for intruders......yes I am cautious, I move vehicles to show someone was around (ha ha and that can be a job in itself)...........and then mom duties and an audit to finish.  This is where is becomes a real job when I have to learn to control my ADD and OCDness and separate job and house duties.  Working from home can be a challenge some days.

9 of the longest days of my life it seemed I thought would bend me......but in return it only made me stronger!! AND TIRED......because I heard every creak and every parcel of grass blown at night.

The city girl that 12 years ago this would have broken........came thru with flying colors that surprised herself!!  And in the end........"It's just another day in the Life of the Farmers Wife"