Sylvan Sundays
Refresh your week with your free subscription to Sylvan Sundays, arriving with a beautiful farm or nature photograph and some … Continue reading Sylvan Sundays
Refresh your week with your free subscription to Sylvan Sundays, arriving with a beautiful farm or nature photograph and some … Continue reading Sylvan Sundays
Granted, my original stint was only for a summer, but that definitely counts.
Some background:
During my senior year of high school, I visited with Gary Truitt, a long-time farm broadcaster who had just started a new company called Hoosier Ag Today. I had been interested in radio for a little while and used the news source while studying for FFA competitions. I asked Gary if I could job shadow him, and he said he’d need to make sure I could visit when he went out and about to interview people.
Continue reading “I’m Back in Farm Broadcasting”It’s been two-and-a-half months since Toby, our black Labrador retriever, died. The house seems empty; “not enough fur to vacuum up,” as Jeff says. I especially noticed it when Jeff was at work during the day and there was no fuzzy companion lying next to my chair as I wrote or licking the bowl after I was finished with my ice cream.
Toby was a black lab with gray–no, silver–on his paws and nose. His thick tail wagged frantically and his eyes brightened when his human walked in the door. At night, he would keep all the monsters away with his hoarse, baritone bark; if there were 100 dogs talking in a park, you’d easily be able to pick out Toby.
Continue reading “All Toby, All the Time”Here it is! Our “Small Town Big Deal” episode! It’s a fun episode, and it was so exciting to watch … Continue reading See Our “Small Town Big Deal” Episode
Calving season has continued to have its bumps, but there are 11 calves on the ground.
And now, lambing season has begun!
The rain pours today. Sheep hunker down, round balls of wool with faces. Cattle munch on hay. Horses enthusiastically chomp on grain. The dog curls up on straw piles in the barn, tail wrapping around ears.
Calving season started last week, two weeks early. Four calves have been born; only two have lived. Most of the mothers have been heifers, first-timers.
I ride a quad bike through the cow pasture, counting to 31 to see that everyone is present.
The number was 32 for a little while.
But when I made my rounds Thursday night, looking for signs of new or about-to-be-born calves, I found a heifer lying to the side. She wasn’t breathing hard, but she didn’t move when I approached, either.
Continue reading “The Start of Calving Season”Last October, a film crew from Small Town, Big Deal visited Parke County to tape an episode about our covered bridges and rural attractions. I was interviewed at the bridge where Jeff proposed to me, and the show hosts, Rodney Miller and Jann Carl, talked to my great-aunt on the farm. I couldn’t hear all of that interview because I was working with the horses in the background, so the first time I’ll really hear it is on TV.
Continue reading ““Small Town, Big Deal” Episode Filmed Here Showing Next Week”I just finished Thinking Like a Prairie by Maurice Telleen. It’s a book of three essays by a former editor … Continue reading Book Recommendation: Thinking Like a Prairie
The New York Times features rotational grazing, regenerative agriculture, and a former NRCS employee (a USDA agency I have worked … Continue reading Regenerative Agriculture in The New York Times
I wrote this announcement on Facebook and Instagram and wanted to share it here, too.
The 16th of each month is special for Jeff and me (Elise), as the day marks how many months we have been married. So it only seemed fitting that today be the day for a Special Announcement.
As we began our new life together, we knew we wanted to farm. We also knew that we wanted to both preserve my farm heritage and incorporate Jeff’s specialties, creating a new path with an exciting future.
So today, we wanted to share the name we have chosen for our farm and agritourism endeavors:
Continue reading “A Special Announcement”