Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2019 i Farm and Ranch Living

IF THERE’S ONE THING FARM & RANCH LIVING READERS AGREE ON, it’s a love of farm machines. And why not? They’re essential to earning your bread and butter. Now, if we asked if you preferred green, red or blue, we might have an argument on our hands. But an appreciation of old iron is universal. Earlier this year, we asked you to send in your best tractor stories and photos for our My Favorite Tractor Contest, and you delivered. We had a sense—and reading through your entries confirmed it—that restoration work sometimes cements a friendship or a skill. The three stories we felt best illustrated that idea begin on page 52. This issue is full of what you love about ag life, including fields and pastures in their autumnal splendor;…

Our dog was named Rusty, but we all called him Smartdog. My parents, Nancy and Duane, got him not long after Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He brought her so much joy. When Mom was in the house, Smartdog would lie just outside, near or against the back door. He liked it there because it was good for his ego: Mom would stand inside and tap on the storm door to get his attention, then she’d laugh, telling him what a pretty and smart dog he was. Anytime Mom came outside to see what the rest of us were doing, Smartdog came with her. If he was out where we were working, the minute he saw Mom, off he’d go to escort her, staying beside her until she went back…

My name is Shaun Lambertsen. I’m 46 years old and a graduate of Iowa State University. My wife, Valerie, and I live on and manage a family farm near Martelle, Iowa, where we’re raising sons Ivan, Dean, Eli and Charlie (15, 11, 8 and 6). Valerie, an ISU grad who grew up on an Iowa farm, is a full-time mom and partner, a 4-H leader and a Sunday school helper. She also works three days a week at Frontier Co-Op managing regulatory issues and other quality assurance projects. We are seventh-generation farmers and can trace two of our farms to relatives who homesteaded here back in the days of land grants. My father, Dan, is involved with day-to-day operations, and my mother, Marilyn, makes a positive impact every day by…

Growing up on a farm, I loved every aspect of farming life. Well...maybe not removing manure from the chicken house, but pretty much everything else. In college, I studied to become a high school science teacher. But in 42 years of teaching, I couldn’t get farm life out of my system. So, to compensate, I stayed connected to the soil by cultivating a large home garden. With three children, my wife and I decided to plant pumpkins. In the early years, we grew just enough to satisfy our family’s Halloween needs. But each season saw an increase in the number of pumpkin hills, and it wasn’t long before I was growing more of those big orange orbs than the family could use. It was clear we needed to find new…

Back to Life This 1935 unstyled John Deere B has been in my family for at least 80 years. I’m fortunate to have had a grandma who liked taking pictures, so its early history is well recorded in black and white. My Grandpa Carl bought the tractor in the late 1930s and, like many, his family’s livelihood depended on this machine. It had the original steel wheels (with extensions) until the late 1940s, when he switched to rubber all around. His father, Peter, also used the tractor, as did his son—my dad, Marv. They used it to haul hay, wood and pickles and do fieldwork in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. After Grandpa Carl quit farming, he still used the B to haul wood year-round through the ’70s and ’80s.…

Do other farm folks have this problem? You go to the doctor and on the form is a question about what you do for exercise. But how to fit all of it onto that one tiny line? Given enough space (and depending on the day or season) your response might look like mine: Take a peaceful walk through the pasture, and find a large rock protruding from the ground. Walk up the steep hill to the house, lift the heavy garage door, locate the wheelbarrow, turn it around and brace yourself against its downhill momentum. Push it to where you are positive the rock was just a few minutes ago, and walk in circles until the rock is located. Squat to reach it; discover it won’t budge. Return to the…

We hid a drawing of a horseshoe like the one above on page 38 of the August/September issue. Then we drew names at random from all the readers who found it. Each winner received a year’s subscription to Farm & Ranch Living . We hid another one in this issue. It could be hidden anywhere, so keep a sharp eye out. If you find it, enter the contest on our website at farmandranchliving.com. From those submissions, we’ll draw additional names and send those readers a year’s subscription or subscription extension to Farm & Ranch Living . No purchase necessary to enter to win. Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. The sweepstakes is open to legal residents age 18 years or older of the U.S., its territories and possessions,…

MYSTERY TOOL This tool was found in the remnants of a building that had been torn down. Most recently, the building housed a restaurant, but at various times it has also held a grocery and a feed store, among other interests. The triangular-shaped part turns independently of the threaded part. I placed the pen beside the tool for size comparison. Please let me know if you know what it is. Thank you! EMMETT MACHANDE SABULA, IOWA Trick or Peat My husband works for the local co-op. Our son heard us discussing possible Halloween costumes for him, and he said, “No! I wanna be like Daddy.” His desire at such a young age to be like his father was so sweet. So, a coffee-drinking, phone-talking, fertilizer hauler it is! RHONDA WHITNEY…

Our story begins with a dream of a ranch—and a bolt of lightning. In 1965, my wife, Sandy, and I moved onto a 5-acre parcel of land with hopes of building a horse farm. After it was constructed, our farm saw the birth of more than 100 horses, including many Quarter Horse show champions. We had cows, cats and dogs, and our three children grew up there, too. We loved the scenic area, especially all the trees. A neighbor had a beautiful old Bartlett pear tree. It had been struck by lightning, but he’d repaired the damage with bricks and mortar, and the tree was thriving. When I asked about the pears, he said he canned them. As the years went on, he would let us buy some of the…

More than 3 inches of rain fell, and there was mud everywhere. Horses and wagons, people and tractors trudged through deep gullies. As the day wore on, it only got muddier. Still they came, young and old—to husk. This was my third year at the Indiana State Corn Husking Contest. The first year, I went because I was curious. I remembered hand-husking corn as a kid to open up the fields so Dad could get his corn picker in without knocking any of the crop down. Initially, I wanted to try my hand at the contest and see what kinds of memories it might bring. In the end, I met a lot of nice people, had fun and felt I was helping to preserve a bit of history. Husking contests…

CHIPPING IN Our son, Makai, helped collect firewood during our last family camping trip at Utah’s American Fork Canyon before it closed for the winter. ANNIE THOMSON PROVO, UTAH 1 A MODEL HORSE Gypsy is the friendliest and most outspoken of all our miniature horses. One fall evening I spent some time grooming her and decided that she might like to try on my jacket. I think it suits her! SUMMER LACKEY STONY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA 2 DEN MOTHER EXTRAORDINAIRE There isn’t an animal my friend Dagne Wesley wouldn’t help. Her barnyard consists of one Hereford bull, six cows, two Belted Galloways on loan for breeding, 16 hens, six sheep, three dogs, two cats, one beehive and five fish. BONNIE MARK WHITMORE, CALIFORNIA 3 BROTHERLY LOVE My…

When I returned from a trip out West, I pondered how the landscape inspired the food. When you eat this treat, think of plains pouring into the blue sky. LEAH WALDO JAMAICA PLAIN, MA PREP: 45 min. + chilling • BAKE: 45 min. MAKES: 8 servings 21/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 cup cold butter, cubed 8 to 10 Tbsp. ice water FILLING 2 Tbsp. butter 8 medium ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced 11/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/3 cup apple cider or juice 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 Tbsp. coarse sugar 1. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a…

Warrens, Wisconsin, is cranberry country, where the fruit grows wild and the flat wetlands and acidic soils create ideal conditions for cranberry growers. Wetherby Cranberry Co. has been in the business here for more than 115 years. The farm consists of 200 acres of producing vines that are managed by third-generation growers Jim and Nodji Van Wychen, along with their son Henry, son-in-law Mike Gnewikow, and their families. Wetherby specializes in selling fresh fruit direct to customers nationwide and to grocery stores throughout the Midwest. If you want to see how cranberries are harvested, consider visiting the farm this Oct. 5 for Public Harvest Day, when folks are invited to tour the marshes, enjoy cranberries and cranberry goods, wade into a sea of berries, and witness the process from start…

After each husker is finished, his or her corn is weighed. Next, from a 20-pound random sampling, all attached husks and silks are removed and weighed. There is no deduction for up to 1 ounce of husk. From there, 3 pounds of corn are subtracted for every pound of husk left on the ears. For example, if the remaining husks weigh 2 pounds, 6 pounds of corn are deducted from the husker’s total. Even though it takes a lot of husks to make a pound, the deduction system serves as an incentive for thorough husking.…

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