my favorite brand!

So I spent my long weekend with my family in Whitefish Montana. We had a great time catching up with friends, relaxing and of course, shopping!!! whenever we go anywhere my family has to stop at basically every western store along the way. I got some super cute clothes, especially some by my favourite brand Farm boy/Farm Girl brad. Check out some of the great stuff they have here at: http://farmboybrand.com/

Favorite Food Friday: Death by Chocolate

I am a self professed chocoholic, and this is my absolute favourite desert, here is how you make it:

ingredients:
1 pkg                     chocolate cake
1pkg                      instant pudding
2 cups                   whipped cream
1 pkg                     crushed Skor bits

Make up one chocolate cake, pudding and whipping cream

Crumble half the (cooled) cake and pack it in the bottom of a clear bowl

Put half the pudding on top of the cake

Next layer half the whipped cream and sprinkle half the Skor bits

Repeat the layers one more time

Chill and serve

Don't Steal A Farm Truck

 For all of those who have ever had to help us out and drive the old blue ford that is around our place you will definatly understand this little joke:
top ten reasons not to steal a farm truck:
10. They have a range of about 20 miles before they overheat, break down or run out of gas.
9. Only the owner knows how to operate the door to get in or out.
8. It is difficult to drive fast with all the fence tools, grease rags, ropes, chains, syringes, buckets, boots and loose papers in the cab.
7. It takes too long to start and the smoke coming up through the rusted-out floorboard clouds your vision.
6. The Jack Russell on the toolbox looks mean.
5. They're too easy to spot. The description might go something like this: The driver's side door is red, the passenger side door is green, the right front fender is yellow, etc.
4. The multiple levels of haybales in the back make it hard to see if you're being chased. You could use the mirrors if they weren't cracked and covered with duct tape.
3. Top speed is only about 45 mph.
2. Who wants a truck that needs a year's worth of maintenance, u-joints, $3,000 in body work, taillights and windshield.
1. It is hard to commit a crime with everyone waving at you.

hope you got a laugh out of this one!

Farming: More Than Just Crops and Cows

So far in this blog I have talked about the major types of farming and ranching in my area, I have mentioned beef cattle farms, dairies, the production of corn, wheat, canola, and hay but there is a type of farming that does not fit into these categories.  This is wind farming. Wind farming is the gathering of wind turbines in one location to produce large amounts of energy. Right now wind farming supplies about 2% of Canada’s total electricity (this is still enough to power over 1 million households) but is a growing industry. Because of their large size (see the video below, note how small the truck is beside it!)  there needs to be many acres to put up a wind farm, this is why wind farms are usually put up on farms or ranches.



There is a large upfront cost of putting up a wind turbine, but once it is up the main cost is maintenance, unlike crops it does not have to be replaced every year, and unlike animals it does not require daily attention. Wind Turbines use no water or fuel and produce no air pollution. One of the main concerns about wind farming is the high mortality rate of birds due to them flying into the blades. Although birds do die because of this more die by running into the windows of buildings!



some of the wind turbines around
our pasture



So here is just the basics on wind farming, I was intrigued when windmills started popping up all around our pasture so decided to check out more about them, for more info you can look at:

http://www.canwea.ca/farms/index_e.php

http://www.whatiswindfarming.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/common_misconce.php





The Boy Scouts Are Coming!

If you have been driving through the country side lately you might have seen something strange out in the fields.  You may be seeing many orange and blue tarp tents. No, these are not (as my best friend and I once convinced her then 7 year old sister) boy scouts. They are actually bees! These bees are moved onto crop land (especially hybrid canola in this area) to pollinate the plants. According to the Canadian Honey Council over 80,000 colonies are needed to pollinate all the hybrid canola seeds in Alberta.  They also say that plants that are pollinated with bees have a 3-8 times increased production and this increased production is valued at over 2 billion dollars a year. So as you can see these bees are very profitable to have around. And although the ‘boy scout’ tents may look awkward and out of place on a big, open field, they are actually housing the busiest workers on the place!
info from: http://www.honeycouncil.ca/index.php/honey_industry_overview

Mythbusting Monday: Beef; A Healthy Choice

I’m sure that at one point or another we have all heard that red meat is bad for you. Weather it is the latest fad diet or some TV show it seems as if everywhere is encouraging you to give up red meat because it is ‘too fatty’ or ‘bad for you’ in some other way. I am going to share with you some startling truths about beef that just might have you thinking differently.

·         There are 12 cuts of meat that are leaner than a skinless chicken thigh

·         Beef is a great source of protein, phosphorus, zinc, iron, b-complex vitamins, selenium, and riboflavin (all of these are needed to maintain healthy body function)

·         1 serving of lean beef can contribute less than 10% of calories to a meal, but has over 10% of the required daily value of the 9 essential nutrients

·         It would take 3 cups of raw spinach to get the same amount of iron that is in one serving of beef,  

·         A fatty acid found only in meat (conjugated linoleic acid) has been shown to reduce the chances of cancer because it slows tumour growth.

·         Conjugated linoleic acid is also shown to help decrease body fat and increase lean muscle mass

·         One serving of T-bone steak has only 3 grams of saturated fat

So there you have it, if enjoyed in proper serving sizes meat is a very healthy addition to a diet!

info from: http://www.beef.org/
picture from: http://tipdeck.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/How-Long-to-Cook-Beef.jpg

A Busy Day

Yesterday was quite the hectic day around here. We are just starting to halter break (or teach to lead) the calves that will be shown as part of our summer show string. The day started off bright and early with my dad yelling up the stairs to wake both me and my sister up. After getting dressed we shuffled down stairs to join him for a quick cup of coffee before heading out the door.

Grandpa's Horse Jelly Bean

From then my mom, dad, sister, and I all climbed into the truck, hitched up the trailer and headed out to my grandparent’s house. By the time we arrived my grandpa had his old reliable horse tied to the front end loader of the tractor and was not-so-patiently waiting for us. As soon as we pulled in the yard you would have swore we were a pit crew with how fast my grandpa loaded up his horse and jumped in the front seat.  

After that we headed out to the Pasture on the other side of town. Once we got there we walked through all the cows, checking to make sure none of them were sick or hurt. Once we made sure everything was ok it was time to get to work, we found the two pairs of cows and calves that are coming to Olds in the next two weeks. We sorted out these two pairs and loaded them into the trailer and left for our place once again.

The cows came to visit when we drove up!

Upon arrival the cows were all outfitted with haulers and led into the pasture that would become their new home. This was quite easy as the cows had both been lead many times before. The more challenging part is working with the calves that haven’t been lead before. After only a few minutes of working with them the calves were doing surprisingly well! They even let us scratch them and would stand when they were tied to a post. After about an hour the cows and calves were turned loose in our pasture with grass up to their bellies. There is still a lot of work to do to get them ready for the show in two weeks but so far they are doing great!