This week…We put up our corn silage for the year. It will be used to feed the cows and calves all winter long. John, Ron and a neighbor spent two busy days chopping, hauling and packing the silage. I made no-bake cookies & sloppy joes for the silage crew. It was one of my first meals served “in the field.” To me this is a big rite of passage for a farm wife. How the heck do we get that food out there hot? Or cold? I’ll be practicing I guess.  The pile started out like this…Then, it turned into this…And, John drove up and back, up and back for two days to “pack” the silage down and push up the new loads. When they decided they had enough, we covered it with a 50 x 100 foot tarp. We used dirt to hold down the edges.It is really tall! To haul the corn from the field, they used the old red truck. She made it through another year without any breakdowns. I think they used three gallons of oil in two days. She’s a keeper.When the whole process was done, John put tires on top of the tarp for extra weight.

Silage at the Dairy

After we finished our silage, John helped the dairy put up their pile for the year. He helped by packing the pile. He drove around and around and around this big pile for 23 or 24 hours.

Kittens

I finally got a good head count on our kitten numbers. There are six adorable, little fluff balls! Their poor Mama (Mrs. Patches) spends most of the day out hunting for them. Plus, we feed her all the time!

Pouring Concrete

We poured a slab of concrete next to the barn where we have feed bunks. In a week or so, we will get all of the cows and calves up out of their summer pastures. We will wean the calves and begin using this pen & the new concrete. It will be very helpful in the spring when it gets muddy! The rebar provides support for the concrete. They poured it about 6 inches deep.  Four trucks came to the farm today. Busy! They textured the concrete so that the cattle will not slip and fall during icy, bad weather. This was a big job and they had a very hard working crew. It takes a lot of energy to wade through and move the concrete! I made 6 ham sandwiches at 9:30, 4 more at noon and served a gallon of tea to this crew. I also made some Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies for a snack. I am starting to love having an excuse to take a break from writing to make cookies! My role as farm wife/baker/writer/photographer/helper on these “big days” sorta cracks me up! I fumble my way through it all (happily, of course).Ron is OBVIOUSLY pumped about starting on his bunkhouse! They moved onto that project after the pen was done. 

Before it had a dirt floor, but a cement foundation.Now it is one step closer to being a real bunkhouse. 

All of the cement pouring took place on Thursday. It was busy, busy, busy. This whole week has been busy actually – silage here, then at the dairy, lots of meals served on-the-go and pouring cement. We celebrated having all of this work done with delicious grilled burgers and brats. I used our cow platter for the first time! Love, love, love using wedding gifts. 

Thanks for reading!

Why Farmin’ Friday? Recent statistics show that just 1% of the U.S. population considers farming their primary occupation. Since our family falls into that 1% group, I believe it is important to share about our work in food production. Since 100% of American’s eat, every Friday I write to those who may wonder: Where does my steak come from? What does a farm look like? Who are the farmers and ranchers? What do they do?