Sunday Reflections

Written on Sunday but posted a few days later…no sense doing two posts in one day.

We finally made it to church this morning.  Getting everything done in time to make it to church anywhere has been a challenge for the last few months.  Adding a new baby means I’m not able to get out and help with chores much.  Even if I’m up an hour or two before the rest of the children.  Then too, Paul often has to go fetch the cows from pretty far away before he can milk them, clean up and take them back out.  And until recently he had to milk them one at a time.  Yeah for a second stanchion!  We didn’t make it to the earlier(10am in Edwardsville) service we had hoped to attend but we did make it to a local church for 10:30 service.

Does anyone else attend a church that covers prayer requests submitted by the congregation?  The church we often go to prints them in the bulletin and then takes any additions verbally during the first part of the service.  So many of the requests revolve around people’s health.  A family member with cancer.  A spouse with heart problems.  Someone recovering from an accident.  Someone giving thanks for a good report from the doctor when they went for a follow up appointment after being treated for something.  I suppose part of it may be due to the fact that this particular congregation is largely comprised of retired folks.  But I often wonder how many of the issues that we pray for could have been prevented with a good diet of clean, unprocessed foods.  Am I the only one who has entertained this train of thought?

It leaves me wondering if the church needs to make a little more effort to talk about the importance of what we put in these bodies that we are told are meant to be holy vessels, set apart for the Lord’s service.  I’ve only ever heard of one church, back in Albuquerque, that did a sermon series on food/diet/nutrition.  So I know I’m not alone in thinking that maybe the church should step up and talk about the importance of what we put into our bodies.  But then you get into the issue of which diet do you endorse?  Do you preach low fat or high fat?  Low carb, no carb or vegetarian?  So many people believe so many different things when it comes to eating healthy that I don’t know that any pastor can say everyone should follow a specific diet.  But I do think it would be fair to say that the body doesn’t run well on diets that include large amounts of processed foods and sugars.  Am I saying it’s a sin to eat a pizza or a Snickers?  I hope not.  Because we’re certainly not legalists when it comes to food.  But we try to eat mostly whole foods and produce as many of them as we can here on the farm.  No drugs, no chemical, no sprays.  Just good clean food grown in the healthiest soils we can create.

So how about you?  Have you ever heard of food as a sermon topic?  Do you think the church should preach about such things?  Do you think we should be doing more than just praying for those suffering from poor health?

One other thought….a pet peeve of mine is how church functions are often a buffet of junk food.  Has anyone else encountered this?  We did a VBS program last summer and the children were given not one, but two packaged cookie/cracker/candy type treats.  With soda or capri sun.  And then told to take a third item home for later.  Seriously?  What happened to a little cup of goldfish?  Or some baby carrots and apple slices with peanut butter….or almond butter.  I’m not saying no junk food ever…but pizza, candy and soda gets old when you know what those ingredients do to your health and the brain chemistry of children.

That’s the end of my rant.  Feel free to share your thought, whether you attend a church or not.  All opinions equally welcome.

The Farmer’s Wife

P.S.  Not to be a total hypocrite or anything…but can someone tell me if any of the local grocery stores carry Blue Sky soda.  I was really wishing I had one last night and probably haven’t had one since we left New Mexico.  Again, we’re not legalists!

June 8, 2016 by psessen 2 Comments

A Day In The Life…

Yesterday morning it was rainy and I wanted to get out and start setting up fences for the cows and sheep.  Paul was about done milking by the time Naomi and Lydia went down for a nap so I set out all sorts of paper and scissors and coloring stuff and let the kids do whatever they wanted with it while I headed out to work on fences.  When I came back a few hours later the mess was all cleaned up.  Can’t beat that!

On my way out to the pasture I stopped in to check on the chicks and give them some more feed.  They are well past the point of being big enough to go out but we’ve delayed in order to let them get bigger.  Bigger should equal less birds lost to aerial predators.  They’ll be moving out to their new home tomorrow or Tuesday.

Momma Lilly and baby Rosie all wet from the wet grass.  My pants were soaked up to the waste in the first 10 minutes of setting up fences.  The dogs had access to the water trailer to go under while it was raining but I don’t know if they did so or not.  They’re pretty tough dogs.

After getting the first little section set up for the cows I headed back over to the sheep and set up a new section for them.  So here’s a picture of them heading for the newly opened fence.

And a picture of them going through opening in the fence.  Notice the various stages of shedding.  The colorful one near the back is our main ram.  There’s a second ram in the bunch but he isn’t any bigger than the females so I don’t think we’ll be retaining him for breeding once we have something better to replace him with.

And the sheep happily chowing down in their new section.

After finishing up with the sheep, I headed back over to the cows to add a second wire and a few more cross wires for future moves.  We normally only do one poly wire for the cows but since we have a bull visiting I did two wires on the perimeter fencing.  Ya know, for peace of mind.  Really, if any of them decided they wanted to cross the fence, that second wire wouldn’t make a bit of difference.  But it makes me feel better.  So long as they all have plenty to eat they respect the fence no problem.  Which is good, because we still don’t have our boundary fencing completely done.  Paul’s getting there though.  Only a few short sections left and a few more posts once we can borrow a device to locate water lines.  Post hole drill going through a water line would be BAD NEWS.

Sometime we graze the sheep a day or two behind the cows and move them ever day.  And sometimes they are several days behind and only moved every 3-5 days.  It really just depends on the pasture and fencing of any given area.  We like when we can do larger areas less often because it requires less time on our part to move the netting.  Which allows Paul to devote more time to other things.

We’re happy to have the second stanchion done so milking goes a little faster.  Fencing is slowly coming along.  More hay is coming tomorrow and will need to be stored outside, hopefully on pallets and covered with billboard tarps.  Shade structures are coming along.  Little by little we’re getting the infrastructure in place to be able to slow down a little some day.  Or just to free up time for whatever project comes next.  Honey perhaps…

The Farmer’s Wife

June 5, 2016 by psessen 3 Comments

How Did We Get Here?

And why aren’t there more of us?

I can’t speak from personal experience when it comes to trying to find financing to start up a farm like ours with no off the farm income to show the lender.  I would imagine it’s rather hard to come by.  We have thus far been able to finance everything out of pocket.  But I think one of the biggest barriers to entry for this career is enough capital to get the ball rolling.

I have come to realize more and more that we have had so many factors play in our favor along this journey.  We started getting interested in farming in our late 20s which basically means we were still young enough to have the energy to put in long hours but old enough to have saved up enough dough to get us going.

Both Paul and I were raised by fiscally conservative parents.  Even when we had a large income, we weren’t big spenders.  Our goal was to pay off our house in 10 years or less so we basically bought hay and made extra mortgage payments.  We both got through college without debt and by the time our house sold and we were free to farm we had $100,000+ in the bank account to invest in animals and to live off of.  That allowed us to have Paul spend a year and a half interning in Missouri, buy sheep and then later on our cows and all the equipment for the dairy.  Buying cows, hay, milking equipment, the bulk tank, fencing supplies and various smaller items all in a short time frame wasn’t cheap.  Especially after almost 2 years of zero income.

Most people that get interested in farming are either young and don’t have enough money in the bank to get everything up and running or they are older and lack the energy and stamina needed for the initial years.  The fact that we had youth and finances at the same time was a rare combination.

Then too we have been extremely blessed in the opportunities we have had with regard to land and experience.  Finding a farm willing to take on a family with 4(then) children was just shy of miraculous.  We basically swapped food and housing for Paul’s labor, which allowed us to get more experience while living cheaply.  Even though things didn’t go so well sheep wise, our time in Missouri was still beneficial.

When it was time to move on from Missouri we were blessed again with the opportunity to move back to the family farm.  Most folks interested in any type of livestock farming would love to be in our position.  Barns, tractors, some decent fencing, ample water, good neighbors, excellent housing….we’re really quite spoiled(though none of those things belong to us).  When we decided to make a go of it farming we were prepared to live in far worse conditions!

If we succeed, which is far from a done deal, there will be no bragging on our part.  We are well aware that a lot of factors beyond our control have got us where we are.  On our part, we can only claim to have worked hard and read much.  It does make me wonder though, if we can’t make it without an off the farm income, who can?

The Farmer’s Wife

June 1, 2016 by psessen 1 Comment

I Wish He Could See

I often find myself wishing that my dad were here.  He passed away three summers ago and I think it feels like much longer than that to me because those three years have been so busy for us.  The irony of wishing he were here is that if he were here, we likely wouldn’t be.  He would still have his cows in the pastures and still be mowing or making hay from the rest of the areas we graze.  Just the same, I wish he were able to see so many different aspects of life here.

I wish he could see how quickly and efficiently we can move cows around with our hand held reels of temporary fencing.  My dad’s version of temporary fencing required a tractor and a fencing wagon and a helper or two.  Paul or I can do on foot in ten minutes what would have taken him an hour.

I wish he could see the boys head out to go fishing after breakfast.  Of course he wouldn’t watch them go fishing, he would be right there with them.  It sure would be handy to have him here to clean the fish too, given how busy Paul stays.

I wish he were here to meet some of our wonderful customers.  To  hear how much they appreciate what we’re doing and how much they love our milk.  The man loved a cold glass of raw milk.  When given the choice between our milk and store bought he would say, “Give me the good stuff!”

I wish he were here to tell us where stuff is, how it works and how to fix it when it breaks.  Paul is wonderful at fixing all sorts of things but it sure would save some time to have dad here to give some tips.  Would save a lot of time spent on google and youtube!

I wish he could see that we have the same passion for farming that he had for carpentry.  A desire to do things well and to give people the best product he could.  No matter how bad the economy was, my dad was never without work because his reputation for being one of the best in his business never left him without a waiting list.

I wish he were here so we could thank him for all the good fences around the yard and the nice sorting and loading area between the barns.  For refinishing the exterior of the red barn.  For all his old tools that make projects around here so much easier.

We all miss him and wish he were here to walk along with us.  To see the baby lambs, help with building projects and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

We are very grateful that even though my dad is not here with us, my mom IS.  Thanks for sharing your farm mom.  We appreciate all you do and your patience with us.

The Farmer’s Wife and The Farmer’s Daughter – Honored to bear both titles.

May 28, 2016May 28, 2016 by psessen 2 Comments

24 Hours Notice!

Last year we were fortunate/blessed/grateful to find local hay from a guy that fertilizes organically.  He promised us we could have his first cutting of alfalfa this year.  He does the first cutting in big round bales and then switches over to squares as they are far more profitable.  Anywho, we had started thinking last week that we should be hearing from him soon and decided to give him a call to make sure everything was still a go.

Paul called Sunday after lunch and the guy basically said he was baling our hay that night and delivering it Monday(tomorrow) afternoon.  And that he had just told his wife he should call us.  Yes you should call us!  We have barns to clean out and organize and you give us a day’s notice!?  It’s a good thing we really like you, and your hay.

So Sunday afternoon and evening were spent pulling things out of barns and loading smaller implements on wagons and then finding homes for everything in all the smaller barns.  The end result was that we got the largest machine shed emptied out except for two tractors and one wagon.  Yes, dear sisters, you read that right.  We moved lumber and metal and odds and ends and unidentifiable objects.  We also hauled out that old homemade cab for the tractor that has been gone for 15+ years.  What the heck was dad saving that thing for anyway?  I digress…

Here’s the point.  Sunday afternoon thru, well….now, have been insanely busy.  But here’s the end result.

Roughly 40 bales of alfalfa hay that never got rained on before baling, stored for the winter UNDER ROOF!  Hallelujah.  That means far less waste and easier access, even in bad weather.  And it smells yummy too.

That, my friends, is about as good of a smile as you can hope to get from an Essenmacher boy.  It’s hereditary.

Mr. Short Notice was nice enough to throw on an old freebie bale that wasn’t any good as animal feed anymore.  And Paul was nice enough to fluff it up with the loader bucket and fork.  So now mom and I can help ourselves when we need some hay for landscaping or gardening.  It’s the simple things in life that keep us farm girls happy.

If anyone in the area is looking for some good alfalfa from a great guy let us know and we’ll disclose the identity of Mr. Short Notice. He’s up by Litchfield and will deliver for a fee.

Goodnight everyone.  Last night I didn’t make it to bed until it was today so I think it’s time to call it a night. I guess I can say I went to be twice today huh?

The Farmer’s Wife

 

 

May 25, 2016 by psessen 2 Comments

Moonlight Musings

Sometimes I fear people get the wrong impression when they come out for milk and Paul and I both happen to be around the house.  Like we just milk the cows in the morning and then have lots of family fun time.  And we must certainly be rich to have such a wonderful farm and big beautiful house.  I’m always quick to point out that it’s not ours and that we’re just renting.

What they don’t see is that I was out tonight from 8-9:30 tearing down, hauling and then setting up sheep netting.  By moonlight.  Because I didn’t have time during the day as Paul was out all day drilling holes and planting fence posts with some wonderful customer friends.  It was a bit windy to take the baby out and I didn’t have any leftovers for meals so I wasn’t able to get out much.  Anyway, working by moonlight with no helpers gave me lots of time to think.

Here’s one of the things I thought about…

I was reading an article in ACRES about a farm in Japan that is operated by a large number of people who live in a sort of community.  It said they consume about 10% of what they grow and sell the other 90% at prices that are comparable to store bought conventionally grown food.  I of course thought, “That’s great.  Wish we could do that.”  And then the very next paragraph explained that part of the reason they could do so was because most of the land they used was owned by people who didn’t want any compensation for the use of their land.  I don’t say that to suggest that my mom should let us farm here for free.  We came with the understanding that we would pay the going rates for land rent and have started making payments for this growing season.  The reality is that even if we owned the farm and had it paid off we would still pay almost as much in taxes as we do in rent.  Thank you Madison County!

It bugs me to charge $10/gallon because it limits our customer base to those who already care about their health enough to pay a premium for food.  Some of you might say that it’s not your problem if people who don’t care what they eat suffer the consequences of the standard American diet.  But it is your problem.  It’s my problem.  If you’re paying into any type of healthcare it’s your problem because part of the reason premiums are so high is that so many people are in need of treatment for preventable diseases. Problems that could have been avoided and can often be treated with a diet of clean nutrient dense food.  Yes, insurance fraud and the like drives up prices too, but the poor health of so many Americans isn’t just “their problem.”  It’s everyone’s problem.

You can be the picture of health and eat great and have healthy children but what happens when your child marries someone who was raised on a less than wonderful diet?  What happens when they can’t conceive?  Or they are diagnosed with cancer or heart problems?  Are you going to only allow your child to fall in love with someone who eats like you do?  Maybe that’s far fetched but I’m sure you can think of other ways in which the poor health of the general public affects everyone.  Productivity and creativity on the job?  Family life and stability?

Just something to ponder.  I don’t have a solution really except to keep doing what we’re doing and make good food available to those who value it.  I have yet to have anyone take me up on my “pay what you can” offer.  It still stand though.

Thank you to all our wonderful customers.  We wouldn’t be here without you.

The Farmer’s Wife

(Written last Saturday)

 

May 22, 2016 by psessen 1 Comment

A Walk Down Memory Bridge

This, my friends, is the bridge I walked over to get married.  There are no good pictures of me walking across the bridge with my dad because I spent the whole trip across looking at my feet to make sure my mini-heels didn’t end up going between the cracks in the boards.  But, I made it without tripping and said I Do under that lovely gazebo in front of 100 friends and family.  There was no sounds system so chances are half of them didn’t hear half of what was going on but it’s always more or less the same thing anyway right?  I’m a hopeless romantic, can’t you tell?

In all seriousness it was a wonderful day.  The weather was perfect.  Everyone kept their kids out of the lake.  And I got to marry the greatest guy I know.  Kind, funny, hard working, a fabulous dad and a wonderful husband.  His momma(and poppa) raised him right!  And in 9 years of marriage we have never had a real fight.  Partially because we’re both pretty laid back but also because we’re blessed to agree on every major issue.  We’re passionate about the same things and see eye to eye on money, which I’ve heard is the largest cause of argument within marriages.

The flip side to all those butterflies and rainbows is that if I had to describe our years of being married in one word it would be: BUSY!  When we got married, Paul had a year of school left to  finish his bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering.  A week before graduating our first son was born.  I remember spending a lot most evenings alone that year as Paul was very busy working part time, going to class and working with a group on their senior project.

Then came 3 years of grad school and 2 more children.  Our third son was born a few months before Paul finished his thesis.  I remember thinking that the first semester of grad school wasn’t too bad but the next 2 1/2 years often left me feeling like I was raising the children on my own.  Paul worked 25-30 hours a week at an internship and spent the rest of his time in class or working late into the night on homework or his thesis.  It was a LONG last couple years.  Way too many family outings(his family) attended without him.   The last year was especially miserable for all of us, but we survived and he did in fact finally finish his Masters in EE.

Being gluttons for punishment we bought our first house within a few weeks of Paul finishing school.  I had spoken for a milk cow that some friends of ours had for sale, so less than a month after moving we had our first cow.  Paul worked 9 hour days and rode a van pool which meant he was gone about 11 1/2 hour a day 9 days out of every 14.  Add in some chickens, a garden, outdoor projects and a 4th child and we never really slowed down.

Then came the decision to farm full time and the move to Missouri.  Long days with lots of walking for Paul.  Milking 6-7 mornings a week plus plenty of other assorted ranch chores.  Our 5th child born.  Blah blah blah….busy busy busy.

And now here we are, with 6 children, trying to start a business at a pace that will allow us to scale up to a large enough size to not need an off the farm job.  Before our savings runs out.  Needless to say we haven’t slowed down at all.  I guess the upside is that we’ve become somewhat accustomed to this crazy life of being busy and working all day every day.  But I sure do hope that things slow down a bit in the next 9 years.  I don’t know that either of us can maintain this pace for too many more years.  And I would eventually like to spend some part of every day getting to rest and enjoy this wonderful man that I am blessed to be married to.

For better or for worse, in sickness(don’t you dare get sick now!) and in health, for richer or for poorer….Happy Anniversary dear.  I think you’re the best!

The Farmer’s Wife

P.S. Paul – You bought me a bracelet from Noonday as an anniversary gift.  Thanks!

May 19, 2016 by psessen 2 Comments

What Grass-fed Is Not

There’s been a lot of hype among the health conscious about meats and dairy being grass-fed.  Studies have shown grass-fed to have a healthier fat balance of Omega 3&6, among other things.  If you want a more complete idea why grass-fed is supposedly better, google it.  I don’t put a whole lot of faith in studies because I think that whatever the issue is, the study is usually done with the hopes of proving a preconceived idea.  In other words, the person funding the study wants to prove they are right.  In the process they might fudge things a little or just straight up lie and omit results that don’t agree with their agenda.  The big area where this is reportedly happening now is vaccines….but I digress.  My point is simply that we don’t base our choices off of studies.

We have chosen to be 100% grass-fed with our sheep and dairy cows.  We believe it is better for the cow and results in a healthier product because the cow’s digestive system isn’t designed to handle substantial amounts of grain.  We generally believe that allowing an animal to function on the diet that God/nature intended is best.  That means no grain beyond what they might find out on their own in the pasture.  Grain is, after all, simply the ripened seed of a plant and there are often mature plants to be found in our pastures.  But not annuals and not in large quantities.

But to say that grass-fed is simply the absence of feeding grain is the equivalent of saying that organic is simply the absence of pesticides and herbicides.  If the farmers who tends my mother’s crop fields decided he wanted to be organic and that he was going to do so by simply not spraying the fields…well, that wouldn’t work so well.  The weeds would take over and the bugs might do some significant damage.  Or he would have to put a lot of work into manual weeding.  They spray all those lovely chemicals for a reason.

Similarly with grass-fed we can’t just say cut out the grain and everything is hunkey dorey.  If you know any commercial dairy farmers and can find a kind way of asking – ask what would happen if they stopped feeding grain/silage to their animals.  Production would decrease drastically, reproduction would likely drop off and a good deal of them might end up dying off.  So how do you do dairy(or meat) without the extra energy provided by grain?  You can’t just throw your cows out in a pasture and hope for the best. You have to in some way provide them with enough protein and energy to produce milk while maintaining good health and body condition.  Animals can’t do that on just grass if they are constantly grazing short little baby grass.

So we, and other grain free dairymen and cattlemen have to allow our animals to graze older, taller grasses.  We still have a ton to learn and implement with regards to what the optimal stage of growth for grazing is.  But for now we move our cows and sheep around the farm one small section at a time.  The dairy cows go first and get dibs on the very best a particular section has to offer.  Then come the dry cows and calves and then the sheep.  We have been trying to move the dairy herd twice a day as each move stimulates their appetite which results in more milk for us.  We still have so much to learn and so much fence to build to be able to do what we do more efficiently.  For now we move our animals with polywires for the cows and netting for the sheep.  Both are electrified and can be powered from our main charger in the barn or hooked up to a smaller solar charger.  It’s time consuming but it gets the job done and allows us to take good care of our animals and our pastures.  While one small sections is being grazed, the rest of the farm gets to rest and grow and break down all the manure and trampled forages left behind by the animals.  This also allows for a much greater diversity of plant species, each with different nutritional benefit and protein percentages.

I could write more but I think that’s good for now.  Come pay us a visit if you want to learn more.  Please do be considerate of the fact that this is a working farm and our time is limited.  The best tours are given when you’re willing to jump in with whatever we’re doing and tag along.

The Farmer’s Wife

 

May 18, 2016 by psessen Leave a comment

The Good Ol Boys Club

Paul took a load of sheep once to United Producers.  They’re a farmer owned co-op something or other and we had been told by several people that we would be better off to take sheep there than to the nearest auction.  After coming back, Paul remarked that he felt pretty out of place.  Like everyone there was in the Good Ol Boys club and he was not.

I thought of that comment tonight while we were at the local Firemens’ chicken dinner.  A neighboring farmer was sitting at the next table over with his back to me.  He had on a hat and in back it said something like, “Stine Has Yield.”  Maybe it was gets and not has but the point is that it was a promotional product for a seed company.  This guy is a bonafide member of the good ol boys club.  He has the hat to prove it.

It got me to thinking.  We don’t buy seed(except to plant pasture) and we don’t buy fertilizer or pesticides or herbicides so we don’t get any free hats.  No worries, we still have plenty of hats.  But I want one that says, “Nature’s Best Apple Cider Vinegar – Let us help make your animals shine.”  Or “Free Choice Enterprise Minerals – Give only what your animal needs.”  I should look to see if Premier Fencing Supplies sells hats and shirts.  They just might.  Maybe that will be Paul’s birthday present so we can start our own club.  Wanna join?

The Farmer’s Wife

May 16, 2016May 16, 2016 by psessen Leave a comment

Grow Garden Grow

I’m a big believer in choosing to be humble because I figure if you don’t then God might see fit to humble you.  And choosing to be humble is always far less painful.  But I can’t resist bragging on my garden.  We had everyone working the past week or so on planting and hauling wood chips and weeding and man does it look good.

Don’t ya think?  The walkways look so big now that the mulch is up over the edges of the planting rows.  I try to shoot for just enough walkway to walk on…

Of course I still need to weed the asparagus and do a bit more planting but we’re off to a good start.  And the earthworms are everywhere.  Love me some earthworms.

Having a mostly weed free garden for me is a peaceful thing.  In the midst of the chaos that is 6 small children I enjoy being able to walk through a tidy garden and let some of the stress melt away.  Walking through a weedy garden just makes me frustrated that I don’t have the time to go rip out all the weeds and put down some mulch.  So thank you dear husband for helping me haul mulch for a few hours.  And to my boys for helping load the wheelbarrow and for helping pull weeds.

The boys have been rocking it in their garden too.  That big one in the background.  They’ve planted a lot of my extra tomatoes and peppers along with a bunch of seeds.  Their watermelon and winter squash are up and their hopes of having lots of produce to sell are high.  I’m praying that by some miracle all our summer and winter squash don’t get wiped out by squash bugs. They have been my gardening nemesis every year no matter the location.

I once asked a Master Gardener at a Saturday farmer’s market what their advice was on squash bugs.  She said to not bother growing squash at all but just buy it at the market and let someone else battle the bugs.  I was not impressed.

It’s still early in the season so if you’ve got a spot to grow something get out there and plant some seeds.  It doesn’t have to be big or fancy or perfectly mulched.  Just give something a try to see if gardening is something you might enjoy.  If it is, be warned, it’s addicting!

The Farmer’s Wife

May 15, 2016May 15, 2016 by psessen Leave a comment