Day 16: Our multi-purpose shed

Congratulations to Lauren, Nicole, Lori, and Donna!  E-mail me through my profile on the right (or just shout across the hall) your jam preference and I will send/bring your preferred jar of jam.  Lauren, include your mailing address in your message and I will get it to you tout de suite!

And to those of you who didn't comment, but instead called or sent me a personal message - Thank you!  Knowing that you are enjoying my posts makes the time spent worthwhile!

Now on to reason #16!

When I was young, our neighborhood (a six mile block in the country) had a standing Wednesday night volleyball game in the summer months.  After it got dark the adults moved into the Pleasure Dome, a barn turned man cave, to talk and laugh. When that family moved, my parents installed a volleyball court in our yard and moved the game to our house.  I played a lot of ghost in the graveyard, caught a lot of lightening bugs, and made a lot of jewelry out of those bugs' lights on volleyball nights.  How gross is that?!

When my farmer started making plans for his new shed a few years ago, I didn't contribute too much.  I didn't have the foresight to see all its potential uses.

So far his shed has become my son's indoor basketball court.

A place for wedding shower party favor and signature drink preparation.

The perfect setup for a double surprise birthday party.

A place to jam.

Somewhere for friends to gather on rainy summer Wednesday or Thursday nights.

The new home of our patio furniture. 

A place to introduce modern farming practices to our non-farming city family.

And finally, a place to store and repair machinery.

Even though its primary purpose is not fun (at least my version of fun), I'm thankful my farmer lets me borrow it for that purpose every once in a while.  Even if it means I have to sweep the whole thing. 



The only thing missing from our fun shed is a fun name. As much as I liked the Pleasure Dome, I'm glad that name is taken;).  Please share some ideas in the comments!

Our multi-purpose shed - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 14 other things I love about my life on the farm and 14 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served
Day 10: He put up my squirrel house
Day 11: Pickup games

Day 12: He's a trend setter
Day 13: Our neighbor BFFs
Day 14: Gardens, farms, and golf courses, and knowing the difference
Day 15: Jam!

Day 15: Jam!

I started my little blog project in 2009 to get more familiar with social media and the role of blogs in marketing and to improve my writing. 

Along the way I've had one faithful reader.  I've learned a lot about social media; taken way more time than necessary to write blog posts; and fallen in love with analytics.

A quick glance at my dashboard shows 465 visits to my blog by 254 unique visitors in four countries and 27 US states since October 15.  My visitors have spent an average of 3:03 minutes looking at 2.33 pages.  Wow!  I am humbled! 

If you know me in real life, you know I make jam.  Lots and lots of jam.  My farmer hates it.  He wasn't brought up on PB&J like I was.  The process happens on the hottest days of the year, steaming up the house even more.  Our deep freeze is full of fruit waiting to be processed.  There are jars, bands, and lids all over my house.  But like the rest of my quirky little ideas, he puts up with it.  He even built me a kitchen in his new shed so I could move the operation outside.

Because I am leaving the house shortly to spend the entire day and night in meetings and won't have much time for a thoughtful post, I am hosting a giveaway to show my appreciation to all who have visited my blog and commented on or liked my Facebook posts about it.

In Pioneer Woman style, please leave me a burning question you have about our farm, a comment about something you've read so far from the 30 day series, or tell me something you love about your job or community. 

I will pick three random people to receive their choice of blueberry, strawberry, red pepper tequila, hot pepper, or strawberry Margarita jam.  If you're local, I'll even let you pick a jar of my favorite refrigerator jam - tomato basil.  It's like bruschetta in a jar.  On toasted garlic bread - heaven!

You need to leave your screen name (not your real name unless you are OK with that) with your comment so I know who to announce tomorrow!


 Jam - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 15 other things I love about my life on the farm and 15 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served
Day 10: He put up my squirrel house
Day 11: Pickup games

Day 12: He's a trend setter
Day 13: Our neighbor BFFs
Day 14: Gardens, farms, and golf courses, and knowing the difference

Day 14: Gardens, farms, and golf courses, and knowing the difference

My garden gets bigger every year.  It's how I deal with stress.

I'm finally at a point where it can't get any bigger.  I just don't have the time. 

That's because I'm pretty much an organic gardener.  I have a compost pile I turn a couple times a year, then screen and spread the organic matter in the fall.  Some years, I spade it up in the spring rather than using the rototiller.  I mulch.  I weed by hand.  I rarely use pesticides to kill weeds or insects.

It's not because I have anything against pesticides.  It's because I love the process and I need time by myself to reflect.  My kids miraculously disappear when I head out to the garden.  

It's also because I'm a bit lazy.  I grew up eating out of the garden.  I want to be able to grab a bean, pea, cucumber, pepper, or tomato and take a bite.  Without having to washing it.  I want my kids to be able to do it, too.

This labor intensive system works for my garden, not so much for our farm. 

In order to be organic, we would need access to organic fertilizer (i.e. manure).   We would need to do more intensive tillage (i.e. more trips across the field with equipment by more people using more fuel in small window of time).  We would need to produce a portion of our crop that couldn't be sold as organic to provide a buffer against neighboring non-organic pollen.  (i.e. lower commodity prices with higher organic costs of production).  We would increase our exposure to insects, weeds, and disease (i.e. fewer tools to manage that risk).  We would have trouble finding a market for organic commodity corn. (i.e. no one to buy it). 

It would also assume we have a problem with commercial fertilizer, biotechnology or pesticide use in commodity crops.  We don't.

Tomorrow I get to spend the day at a farm.  Well, maybe once upon a time it was farm.  Now it's a Golf Digest top rated golf course. 

I'm glad I know the difference.

Gardens, farms, and golf courses, and knowing the difference - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 16 other things I love about my life on the farm and 16 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served
Day 10: He put up my squirrel house
Day 11: Pickup games

Day 12: He's a trend setter
Day 13: Our neighbor BFFs

Day 13: Our neighbor BFFs

Several summers ago I was tearing the plaster and blow-in insulation out of the second story of our farm house, by myself.  My farmer had pulled a loader tractor up to one of the windows to haul away the debris.  Then, he left, promising to return in a couple of hours. 

It didn't take long to fill the bucket.  My farmer was long gone, doing more important farmer things and not responding to my calls for help.  It was early June and they were probably spraying. 

My work came to a stand still.  I've spent my fair share in the buddy seat of our tractors, but I've never learned to drive.  Nor have I wanted to learn, until that day.  Needless to say, I was frustrated.

Then he pulled in the drive, our neighbor, like an angel from heaven.  I poked my head out of my son's window with my dust mask, safety goggles, and hat on, looking like an alien, and asked our neighbor if he had seen or heard from my farmer.  He said yes and he was there to borrow my tractor.  WHAT?!

He giggled, emptied the bucket, pulled the tractor back up to the window, and said he'd be back for the tractor after lunch.

His wife and I were friends before they moved a half mile up the road six years ago.  She has since become one of my BFFs.  We've spent many nights listening and dancing to our favorite band and laughing in each other's kitchens.  I've gotten to know her California family very well.

We've learned that when calls to our spouses go unanswered, to ask the other's husband to call.  They always respond to one another.  It's helpful when trying to plan a night out.

Being neighborly and helpful goes both ways.  One night, I was driving home from class.  It was about 10 p.m.  When I drove by, it looked like our neighbors were moving out.  I noticed, but didn't want to be nosey.  I kept going and told myself not to worry.

The next morning, I saw I had missed a call from my neighbor BFF.  We weren't able to connect until later that day when I was on my way home from work.  She needed a favor.  She needed me to come smell her house.  

A skunk had made its way in from an old cistern on the edge of their property up through the drain in their basement.  The animal control person they had called caught it, but not before it sprayed.  She had cleaned and cleaned and was worried the smell was still in the house.

Of course I'll come smell your house.  Isn't that what rural neighbors and friends are for?

Our neighbor BFFs - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 17 other things I love about my life on the farm and 17 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served
Day 10: He put up my squirrel house
Day 11: Pickup games

Day 12: He's a trend setter

Day 12: He's a trend setter

When my farmer and I were registering for wedding gifts a long, long time ago, we made a deal.  He got to choose and purchase anything that plugged in.  I got the rest. 

I think I won that negotiation.  I just don't have the patience to compare ratings and reviews for toasters, vacuums, or cameras.  Plates and linens are much easier.  If you like the design and it's within the price range, you scan the bar code or you buy it.  Simple enough.

One of his first corded treasures was a deep freeze. 

That summer, he filled it.  With local meat.  Before local was cool.

See that tiny speck below?  That's where our beef comes from.  It's a family feedlot.  Our families have been friends for generations (Sound familiar?).  For as long as we've been married, one of their kids has chosen a steer to enter in the county 4-H Fair Carcass Division.  The top animals are auctioned Friday night of the fair.  It's quite competitive for the kids and the bidders.  And, it's a win-win proposition.  The kids receive a premium for their animal and their hard work.  We get a freezer full of beef and the joy of supporting a local young person.

Our pork comes from the 4-H auction, too.  We can't see their houses or operations from our yard, but the kids we typically buy from are kids we've watched grow up. 

If local kids don't win, or we get out bid, we go to them anyway.  They often have halves or quarters to sell.  If they don't, it's not hard to find someone else to split a steer or a hog.  

A while back I started reading a blog which chronicled the author's research and journey into whole foods and the like.  It led me to read Michael Pollen's books and watch documentaries like King Corn. I was disturbed on so many levels. 

It also made me realize how lucky I am to know the people who raise the animals we eat.  It's easy to distrust the production practices of some huge, ominous, far away farmer.  It's a different story when they sit in the pew in front of you at church on Sundays.  Buying local, from people we know helps cut through the sensationalism and elitism of the food movement.  It also benefits people we care about.  And it's not a new thing.  It's something farmers and people with rural roots have always done.

A couple years ago, after reading the foodie blogs citing the health benefits of free-range chicken, I bought two from a neighbor.  We weren't wild about the flavor.  We quickly went back to the grocery store for our poultry.

Two out of three isn't bad.

He's a local food trend setter - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 18 other things I love about my life on the farm and 18 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served
Day 10: He put up my squirrel house
Day 11: Pickup games

Day 11: Pickup games

I don't really like sports.  I'm not and never have been athletic.  My grandpa used to make us watch Cubs baseball.  I think watching baseball on TV is like watching paint dry.  Listening to it is even worse.  It may also have something to do with my lack of coordination.

My farmer doesn't mind sports, but it's never been his first choice of activities.  He not a die hard fan and he doesn't have a fantasy team.  He'd rather be in the tractor, in the shop, talking to other ag people, or reading ag stuff online.  He really likes what he does.

Our son, on the other hand is a sports fanatic.  He memorizes stats like my farmer memorizes tractor and seed numbers. 

Our son started playing soccer and basketball when he was three, baseball when he was five, and tackle football when he was seven.  He did his first 5K with me at five.  He is currently a three sport kid who runs an occasional race.

Even though my farmer may not share our son's extreme love of the game, the basketball hoop was one of the first things installed in the shed.  He even takes an occasional time out for a pickup game.

It could just be a guy thing.  I see it as encouraging our son's passion.

Pickup games - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 19 other things I love about my life on the farm and 19 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served
Day 10: He put up my squirrel house

Day 10: He put up my squirrel house

My paternal grandma was a bird watcher and deer lover.  My maternal grandpa had two squirrels that lived in a house nailed to a tree in his backyard - Frick and Frack.  My grandparents would have been great livestock farmers.  Unfortunately, they lived in subdivisions. 

When I told my farmer that I asked my dad to build me a squirrel house, he looked at me funny.  He wasn't quite sure why I wanted to encourage squirrels in the yard.  He didn't understand, yet he produced an old fence post for me to mount my house on.  He even helped me mount it.

I think he knew better.

See that golden beauty?  His sole purpose (beyond being a fluffy, lovable companion) is to keep critters out of the yard.  Squirrels may make it up the post and into their house, but they rarely make it back down.  That golden beauty is a vicious squirrel hunting machine.

He put up my squirrel house - One of the 30 reasons why I love being my farmer's wife.

Stay tuned for the 20 other things I love about my life on the farm and 20 more things that converted this Sycamore girl into a small town girl:).

And, check out my friend Holly's blog and the list of the other 30 day bloggers at 30 Days on a Prairie Farm.

Day One: Grandma Millie

Day Two: My clean car

Day Three: He's helped me be more flexible

Day Four: Our little church

Day Five: His servant heart

Day 6: Farmer humor

Day 7: The first weekend in December - friends, food, & Farm Bureau
Day 8: His fourth grade girlfriend

Day 9: A community that respects those who served