Ag Investigators

 

Walking to work this morning I have realized that I have been horrible about my blogging!  But then I remembered I thought that my last blog was a little “informational” and I don’t have the fun stories of checking the cattle everyday nor do I have the stories of going out to check the crops everyday.  I live in the highheel society not in the cowgirlboot world, but then I remembered one of my blogs before that and it was about my school work.

I brought back Ag In the Classroom in Butler County.  This year, being the second year participating in this program I decided to ask the kids what Agriculture meant to them.  I had a contest to see what the students had learned.  After planning the paragraph contest and taking the idea to the teachers I soon realized I had planned this for the exact WRONG time of the school year.  With State Assessments looming I hoped that the teachers would get this extra little paragraph in the schedule.

In April my hopes and prayers came true!  I was able to read the first set of paragraphs from Remington Elementary!  This brought tears to my eyes because at 25 years old I had touched the lives of about 35 students.  Some of the students were a little off in what agriculuture meant to them, but in their own ways they were telling me how I had taught them a little part of what my Dad taught me for the last 25 years!  The reason for the tears though was that some of the students had written “Ms Toews told us that……….” and they would go on from there.  I did that! I taught them that Agriculture is important in their everyday lives!

I thought that if I got two of the six classes back I was doing great for a spur of the moment idea that was planned at the wrong time, but about a week after finishing reading my fourth grade paragraphs from Remington I was handed the paragraphs from Lincolon Elemntary fifth Graders!  I was super excited to read these because this has always been my test pilot school.  All of these students are at least one generation removed from the farm and this would be my first true test!  After reading these paragraphs I could see the difference but this also gave me new hope and excitement!  I was also impacting and touching the lives of these students!  They remembered that Cheeseburgers were grown in Kansas and that Milk comes from a cow!

I am so thankful to God, and my Family for supporting me in my job!  I had a thought about a month ago that I didn’t need to stick with this job anymore and I needed bigger and better things!  I want to get back out on the farm and work the ground with my dad!  Be that Cowgirl Boot wearing Princess YEE HAW!!!!!!!!! But again as I walked to work in my tennis shoes, and my “cotton” tshirt I realized I am doing a different kind of “working the ground”, I am cultivating the minds of my students and that is what this High Heel Society needs, a Cowgirl Boot wearing Princess to teach them where their food comes from!

(Hopefully I will get better at blogging this summer!)

New Home

This weekend was very special for me, I was able to go home and help work cattle!  My Saturday started out getting up, eating breakfast and bundling up to head outside to help put up the electric fence.  I got to drive the 4-wheeler and place insulators on the fence posts while my brother stepped out the fence posts, and dad pushed the posts in the ground.  We were roping off a Milo stubble field so that the cows and their calves could enjoy some new nutrients plus in return giving the ground back nutrients.  This job only took us about an hour to an hour and a half.

After this was finished along with our lunch, my mom and I headed to town to be the “gophers” (we go for everything!)  Dad thought they might need more hot wire fence (which we found out after we got to town that dad and my brother didn’t need any more wire) plus my brother needed new jeans, (he has not had good luck with his jeans this week!) 

After the fence was all in place it was time to move the seven cows and they’re babies to their new home.  We had 10 people who were ready to help in some way to move the cattle, we had two people in our semi that was on one side of the old home’s gate, a person in my brothers truck that was attached to a goose-neck trailer on the other side of the gate.  (Our idea with this was to funnel the cows and calves to their new home, find out in a few if this actually works!)  I was in our mule (the 4-wheel drive one not the four legged one!) that was supposed to lead the cows and calves to the new home, they placed brome hay in the back of the mule so that the cows would follow me, while my dad and brother followed behind the cattle on four wheelers to make sure none of the cattle break away.

Once the cattle all got outside of the old home the plans began to change.  The first thing that went wrong was the cattle decided to detour to a different route, then we realized that the route the cattle was on did not have a gate, nor was the actual gate even open.  Without any harm to the cattle they broke a section of the hot-wire fence and made it safely to their new home, well all but one stubborn calf that got a special ride in the mule because he didn’t want to walk over on his own to be with his mom!

These are the days I miss about living in the high heel community and not in the cowgirl boot community, but also realize that this fun filled day may be coming to a screeching halt for some minors.  I’m keeping a positive outlook and am going to continue to share my story as the girl that wears cowgirl boots in a high heel world!!! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

Getting ready for bed I have a normal routine that involves talking on the phone, letting the dogs out and checking my facebook page, (not that I don’t check it enough during the day) .  But last night an article caught my eye. 

I love watching football!  I have been a football fan for as long as I can remember and of course I bleed PURPLE for the Kansas State University Wildcats!  The article that caught my eye happened to tie both my love of football and my love for the Wildcats together.  This article was about Jordy Nelson former KSU Football player and current Green Bay Packers player.  Jordy grew up on a rural Ks farm and his love for the farm is still strong!  I would have never guessed that Farm work is harder than Professional Football, but from what I understood in the article Jordy Nelson has to get used to farming all over again when he goes home during the off-season. 

If anyone would have asked me five years or so ago while I was in college if I would ever go back to work on the farm I would have said that it is possible but I think I’ll just teach instead.  I can even remember complaining about getting up at 5am just to chore and break ice and now I complain about getting out of bed by 6:30am to go to work!  I never thought I would say that I love the farm life, nor did I think that I would ever be back working in a Agriculture Job, but here I am and I’m loving every minute of it.

I am getting ready for another round of my Adopt-A-Farmer class again this month and I’m glad I can touch so many young lives with where their food comes from!  Hopefully this month of “Bread in a Bag” teaches them that bread doesn’t just come from the store, but they can easily make a loaf of bread to share with their family.

As I laced up my Double H boots this moring I was thinking that I was sure glad I get to wear matching boots, but also thinking beyond that to the point that I’m glad I was raised on a farm and the values of hard work and paitience were instilled in me while I grew up on my family farm and have a few things in common with a Professional Football player!  Hopefully one day I will have a child that will write about the advantages of growing up on a family farm, maybe one day I won’t be the only gal in cowgirl boots in this high heel society!   

My partner in crime for the Adopt-A-Farmer program, my sister Kristen! Teaching the 5th graders where their food comes from!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching the 5th graders where their food comes from!

Hello!

This was me a year ago in one of our bean fields

Being this my first time to ever blog, I thought I would have all these things to write about but I guess I am at a loss for words!  I guess I will start out with the fact that I have grown up in the farming world and as far back as I can remember I have had a love for the outdoors and farming!  I still enjoy at the age of 25 to ride along in the tractor or combine and love checking on the cattle!  I am going to try and keep this short, but at the same time informational.

My family’s farm is Branch Creek Farms and we grow grain sorghum, corn and soybeans.  We also cut brome and prairie hay for our cattle and to sell.  My dad and brother also have started a small cow/calf pair herd, which I was a part of but sold out BUT would love to buy back in!  My siblings and I also raised hogs and lambs for 4-H projects for about five months out of the year!  My parents also have a chocolate lab, a sheltie (my sisters dog) and when I am out there a boxer and a boston terrier!  We have a crazy group of dogs and cattle!

As I said I would keep this short, but hope you all continue to check back and learn more about my life in cowgirl boots in a high heel world!

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