Thursday, June 20, 2013

Fresh Prince Fresh from the Farm

Remember those good old Kansas farm boys, the Peterson Brothers, that made headlines with their I'm Farming and I Grow It video? Well they are back and this time they are sharing a little more about what happens on a typical farm. The Boy and I rap all the time like this too ;)
Now this is a story all about how 
Our life is spent wiping sweat off our brow
And we'd like to take a minute just to stop and say
What goes down on the farm in a typical day

So you might not see a musical performance like this from the Boy and I, but with Instagram now hosting video you certainly will see more video from see. Can't wait to get home and start making our cows even more famous. To find me on Instagram search CrystalCattle.

p.s. To watch more Peterson Brothers video click here

Monday, June 10, 2013

I have fluffy cows too!

Have your heard the Fluffy Cow buzz? It started of Reddit, and then stories showed up on Yahoo.com, and Today.com.


This is the orginial Fluffy Cow. He is actually a bull named Texas Tornado owned by Lautner Farms in Iowa. 

My family also owns some Fluffy Cows. 


This heifer (female cow that hasn't had a baby yet) is named Symphony. We sold her to some people in Tennessee in an auction last February. If you've heard me talk about Parker the Bull Calf, Symphony is his aunt. Yes, cattle can have aunts and uncles. 

So what makes Fluffy cows different from regular cows? Well Symphony was halter broke (broke to lead) when she was a baby so we could show her at the Iowa State Fair. We spent a lot of time washing her, blow drying her (with a giant hair dryer just for cows), adding conditioners to her hair and even giving her hair cuts. The people that now own Symphony are continuing to show her.

So why do we show cattle? 1. It is a great way for us to market our cattle. Obviously by showing Symphony and making sure she looked her best we were able to attract a great buyer for her. 2. Symphony is a breeding heifer so her purpose in life will be to produce other top of the line genetic offspring. 3. Sometimes we do eat Fluffy Cows, these are mostly steers that are shown in 4-H or FFA. These two youth programs teach a lot of responsibility and that hard work is one of the most important pieces to success. 


In this picture you can tell where the different cuts of beef come from. If you are looking for a great beef recipe we dug up this Beef Kabob one that we found last year. The combination of beef and vegetables with the honey & soy sauce glaze is amazing!


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Corn Report: It sprouted!

The corn is above the ground! We were wondering if it was going to ever happen to be honest. First of all it was a long, cold spring. And corn doesn't come with mittens so that means that the tractors sat idle. And then it rained, and rained. Which was needed, but again slowed us down. Finally, the conditions proved to be right and in eight days we planted nearly 6,900 acres of corn and soybeans thanks to the help of the Farmers United Network (that is what we call our farming group).

It wasn't until we got back from my sister's bridal shower that the corn finally broke through the soil. 


This was the dress I wore for the second of ten weddings we have this summer. (It is this season from The Limited, but I couldn't find it online.)

Now, I don't check corn in my party dress all the time, but it does happen. If you are a longtime reader of this blog you will know that the Boy has fed the cows in a tux and I have worn my heels to feed more than once. 

I hope each week I can take a picture of the corn to show you its progress over the summer. Although, we have had lots of moisture (we are now out of the drought) some parts have had too much moisture and many low laying areas are under water. Also, the fields are too wet to get into right now so we can't spray pesticides or herbicides. I've noticed a lot of weeds growing in fields and those weeds are taking away nutrients to the corn plants. 

To follow along with all the Corn Report posts check out the Watching the Corn Grow tab at the top of my blog. 


He cleans up pretty good too. 


Monday, June 3, 2013

A Bridal Party and Ag More Than Ever

During the long weekend the Boy and I flew home to Canada for my sister's stagette and bridal shower. We were welcomed warmly as we purposely brought much needed rain with us. We have control over those things you know.

The weekend was was full of lots of laughs, family, friends and cattle.

Saturday was the day of bloopers you could say. Nothing went terribly wrong just one funny mishap after the other. Everyones $85 spa pedicures were smudged and wrecked within two hours. We went to a Blo Dry Bar, which I was really excited about. The idea is it is a place you can go get your hair styled without a hair cut. You get to select from five different styles and most the girls in the group, including me, decided to go with the Hollywood a glammed up, big hair, lots of curls look. In the end we got a ton of hair spray, half curled heads and half straight, bangs going ever direction, the worst teasing I have ever had and my hairdresser had to be shown twice how to use a flat iron to curl hair. I really shouldn't call these characters hair dressers as come to find out they only have to go through a two week training to work there. One girl promised she could talk to cowl licks. I think she must have forgotten their language after seeing on of the bridesmaid's poor bangs.


Luckily, Stacy's hair looked the best. However, within an hour of leaving Stacy told me mine looked like I had been playing hot mess out on the dance floor for the past four hours. Lots of laughs but I wouldn't recommend the Blo Dry Bar (or at least the one in Edmonton). 

On Sunday we showered the bride to be with gifts. I played hostess and made some of my favorite recipes that have appeared on the blog including Corn Chowder, Pretzel Sticks, Raspberry Delight, Jalepeno Dip and Ugly Dip. Who knew so many of these recipes were both tailgate and bridal shower approved. 


Stacy and her lovely ladies. This is one of the dresses I bought in Oklahoma City from Ann Taylor. 

On our way down to the shower I saw this really cool sign that said Ag More Than Ever. A pretty true statement. Then just by coincidence Ag More Than Ever tweeted me. 


You can actually buy these Ag More Than Ever signs as well as all kinds of other sign wraps and apparel. I guess there isn't a day go by without me finding something cool in agriculture. Makes sense when you think there isn't a day that goes by that we shouldn't be thankful for farmers. 


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