FARMING MAKES SCENTS

                                                      The great cook of "skunk smelling" food.
                                             Article published in Intermountain Farm & Ranch, Sept 16. 2011

One evening I was sitting under the apple tree protecting my chickens from being chased as I let them out of their coop for a few hours in the evening. (Our 7 month old pup thinks the chickens are here for her entertainment.) There wasn’t a breeze but the evening wasn’t quiet – our neighbor was cutting his wheat. That sound is a pleasant one. Got me thinking about the senses used in farming.

We each have five senses: sight; sound; taste; smell; and touch. The sense of smell is one I want to address.

There are some wonderful fragrances that come with the farming business: when the soil is first being worked in the spring; a rain storm; fresh mown hay; wheat when it is ripe and ready to harvest; also wheat as it is being harvested; burning leaves and/or stubble. Because of the Clean Air Act, we don’t have the burning ones very often. The Clean Air Act was necessary, but I always think of fall and burning leaves being synonymous.

The smells of cooking aren’t ones that are limited to the farming community except at noon. On the farm dinner is usually served in the middle of the day. With cooking comes the aroma of fresh baked bread, vegetables, roast or steak, and often cakes or pies.

There are some not-so-pleasant fragrances associated with farming:

            Fuel: Diesel and gas both have strong odors and when fueling the equipment if some spills and gets on clothes, the smell remains until the clothes are vigorously washed.

            Cow/horse/pig/chicken etc. manure. A wet spring can really increase this odor. Most of the time it isn’t bad until it’s loaded into the manure spreader and moved out to the fields as fertilizer. One time we raised some pigs – not many, just 3 or 4 for butchering. A friend visited and the odor of pigs was a bit strong. She asked “doesn’t that smell bother you?” I sniffed the air, looked her right in the face and replied “that smells like money to me.”

            I know our non-farming neighbors often complain about some of the farming scents. But agriculture isn’t the only business with offensive smells. Have you ever walked into a grocery store and the smell of raw fish and meat is so strong it almost takes your breath away? How about some nursing homes, not as much as it used to be – but the smell of urine, sick bodies and disinfectants attacks you upon entering the building. The sewer treatment plant lets off a powerful odor, but you and I contribute to that smell so we shouldn’t complain about it. The smell of the out house wasn’t a pleasant one either, but we learned to live with it.

There is also the smell of wild animals – skunks mainly. That smell is experienced by our urban neighbors also.

Apparently the smells of cooking are not always pleasant at our home. A few years ago when I was a nurse at EIRMC, I was working the 3-11 p.m. shift. One night when I got home, Boyd was asleep. A skunk had sprayed close to our bedroom window. As I was getting ready for bed, the odor of the skunk was really strong. Boyd raised up in bed, looked right at me, sniffed the air and asked “whatcha cooking?” Without waiting for an answer he lay back down and closed his eyes. (He claimed later that he never woke up as he couldn’t remember doing this.)

Our son Jon came home from a scout camp telling me that the meals reminded him of home – all smelled burned. I guess this tells you what kind of a cook I am.

            Scents do affect our lives. We all love the fragrance of flowers, of good home cooked meals, but we need to be tolerant and understanding of other scents connected to living with and around animals and people.

TWO FUN DAYS AT THE BONNEVILLE COUNTY FAIR

                                 Kira showing her chicken at the Western Idaho State Fair in 2010

                                Published in the Intermountain Farm and Ranch on August 19, 2011 

            We spent two enjoyable nights at the Bonneville County Fair this year. On Tuesday, August 2, we watched as the participants presented their beef to be judged. I am always amazed at the ability of our young people, their perseverance, patience, and courage in working with animals. Some of the youth couldn’t see over the animals they were showing, and those animals outweighed their owners probably ten-to-one. Then on Thursday evening, August 4, we observed the sale of these animals. The businesses in and around Bonneville County were most generous in their support of this sale. And it was fun to see the excitement and radiant smiles of those youthful animal owners as their beef, pigs, sheep, and goats were sold.

            Doing some research to find out more about the 4-H program these youth are involved in, I discovered that in the late 1800’s, researchers at universities were aware that farmers did not easily accept new agriculture methods being developed. However, the young people were open-minded and willing to experiment with new ideas and then share these things with the adults.

            The idea of 4-H using practical and hands-on learning came from the desire to make public school education connected more to the country life. A.B. Graham started one such youth program in Clark County, Ohio, in 1902, which is considered to be the birth of the 4-H program in the United States.  That same year, T.A. “Dad” Erickson of Douglas County Minnesota, started local agricultural after-school clubs and fairs. Jessie Field Shambaugh developed the clover pin with an H on each leaf in 1910, and by 1912 these clubs were called 4-H clubs.

            Those four H’s on the clover pin stand for: Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. The motto of the 4-H club is:  

            I pledge

            My Head to clearer thinking,

            My Heart to greater loyalty,

            My Hands to greater service,

            My Health to greater living,

            for my club, my community, my country and my world.

            I was especially touched both nights we attended the fair by Mason, a young man who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy. Mason showed his steer on Tuesday night, and walked him around the ring on Thursday night. He had a friend who helped him, but Mason was the one who held the halter most of the time. The friend was there in case of problems, to help when needed, to use his Hands for “greater service.” The night of the judging, the judge acknowledged Mason and his helper, saying that they were true examples of the teachings in the 4-H program, emphasizing service. Mason showed courage in ways many of us can’t understand. In his struggle to walk, he walked tall and proud. And not only did he show and sell, but he had worked with the steer for at least five months. He persevered; he did what he wanted to do even if it was hard.

            Mason, maybe you can’t run and play liked the other children your age, but you have shown a maturity beyond your years in your ability to accept your limitations and your desire to push yourself as much as is physically possible. You are an example to all of us.   

            My hat goes off to the volunteers who lead this youth, encouraging them, teaching them, and spending time with them. What a tremendous service you do, not only for the youth but for the community, country, and world. You are training future leaders to take responsibility, to realize that to gain anything work has to be involved, and to give them self confidence.

            Also, the parents must be recognized. They work side by side with their children, drive them to meetings, encourage them, push them, nag them, and then spend hours helping them at the fair. I saw many tired but proud and smiling mothers and fathers those evenings.

            Yes, we had two evenings that were wonderful, enriching, and educational. I hope I remember the lessons learned there.

THOSE LAZY, HAZY, CRAZY DAYS OF SUMMER

Lunch at the ranch.
Published in Intermountain Farm and Ranch on August 5, 2011

“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,

Those days of soda and pretzels and beer.

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

You’ll wish that summer could always be here.”

Do any of you remember hearing Nat King Cole sing that song? He was one of my favorite vocalists back then. The words of that song, as I look at summer, make me wonder who has a “lazy, hazy, crazy” day when living on the farm. Let me take that back, there are a lot of “crazy days.”  But once the tractors pull into the field in the spring, there is no such thing as a “lazy” day on the farm.

The long days and the warm weather when you can do so much more outside, are something to look forward to, yeah those things are good. But lazy? No such word in a farmer’s vocabulary

            As we drive home from the ranch in the evening with a load of hay, we pass a lot of our urban cousins in vehicles towing boats either to or from Black Tail for a “lazy, hazy, crazy” summer evening on the lake. Is there a touch of envy in this for me? Sometimes. But there is also contentment in our way of life.

            I’m transported back to my teenage years and the fun and “crazy” things we did. Mother used to make homemade root beer. (Those bottles have been known to explode on the fruit room shelves on a summer night. Maybe that’s one of the “crazies”.)  When we worked in the hay, she would have a quart or two of that special brew in the fridge at all times. My mouth waters right now as I think about that cold homemade root beer.

            As kids we would work in the fields and then spend our evenings running around with our friends. We had endless energy, but no money. Of course, gas only cost $.20 a gallon so we didn’t need much money. We would go swimming in Sand Creek, play volley ball at Tautphaus Park, or sit around and visit. Sometimes we would be out late because of the long days. Then it would be hard for us to get up in the mornings so we could get our work done.

            Dad made homemade ice cream – well actually Mother stirred up the mix for the ice cream and Dad and the kids did the work of turning the handle of the ice cream maker. We would go into Idaho Falls to get the ice and then each of us six kids would take a turn turning the handle. We looked forward to when the paddles were taken out of the can and we could get our first good taste of that cold, smooth, treat. No store purchased ice cream has even compared with Dad’s homemade.

            If it rained enough that the farm work stopped, we would pack up and go to Mack’s Inn in Island Park, rent a cabin, and spend a couple of days. Uncle Lawrence, Aunt Zola and their family usually went with us. Dad and Uncle Lawrence fished while we kids played in the river. This tradition of a rainy day activity carried over into our married life. Our youngest son, Jon, mentioned just the other day that he never remembered going to Mack’s Inn during good weather, it was always raining. Maybe it’s because of these memories that I love to travel in a storm!

            Summers are full of hard work on the farm – early rising, many times late retiring; and if irrigating there is the nocturnal work that goes with it. But there’s usually is time for a picnic out on the deck, or a ride to see the wild animals in the evening at the ranch. These are our “lazy” times. We are blessed to be farmers!

TAKING THE BITTER WITH THE SWEAT

                                           Not quite dandlions, but at least yellow!
                                     Published in Intermountain Farm & Ranch, July 22, 2011

            There are a lot of memories that come with the cutting of hay. Having been born and raised on a farm, at a young age I was expected to be out in the field helping with the raking of the hay. I love the smell of fresh mown alfalfa and the sight of the neat rows lying in the fields. Even though there have been a lot of changes in farming with bigger and more efficient equipment, those big machines don’t eliminate that fresh-mown hay smell! And there is the good feeling of getting prepared for the long winter months by having enough feed for the cattle.

            As with all farm jobs, cutting, baling, and hauling hay is hard work. Before we had some of this newer equipment, neighbors used to work together at the ranch at haying time. And I would be expected to cook for the extra crew. Boy could those men eat. But there was one time, a number of years ago, when they didn’t eat everything on their plates.  

            It was time for the first cutting of hay and we were running a bit short on cash.  The previous year’s grain and calves had been sold, but that money had been used to pay outstanding bills. We raised our own cattle for meat; ground our own wheat into flour for bread; had a garden and I canned large amounts of produce from that garden. These things really helped. However, the first cutting of hay comes before the garden starts to produce much of anything except radishes. 

            One day I wanted to serve a green salad with the dinner being prepared for the hay hauling crews, so I asked Boyd if there was money to buy groceries. “Don’t have any,” was his reply. (He’s a man of few words.) That was as close to a “no” as could be and never being one to accept “no” for an answer, I decided to take things into my own hands. I remembered hearing that dandelion greens, when young, were edible and could make a good, but different, addition to any salad. However, as the dandelion plant matures and flowers appear, the greens become bitter. First cutting of hay comes after the dandelions have matured and flowered. 

            We certainly had a good crop of dandelions that year. Going out into our yard, I picked a bowl full of dandelion greens. Washing the greens, I combined them with radishes from the garden. I didn’t have any lettuce to dilute the dandelion flavor, so the dandelions weren’t an “addition” to the salad, but the only greens in the salad. But this salad looked right pretty with the red radishes and green dandelion leaves.  

             I watched closely as the men dished up and sampled their salad. No comments were made, though I noticed a lot of strange looks on faces as they ate this exotic salad. Even a liberal application of salad dressing couldn’t take the bitterness from those greens. There were no requests for seconds on the salad and all of the plates had salad left on them when the meal was over.

             As they left the table and walked out the door to head back to the hay field, the always courteous farm helpers thanked me for the meal and complimented me on my cooking. My husband, however, walked past me and through the door. He stopped. Turning around, he pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans, opened it and handed me some money. “Get some groceries,” he said as he left the house and joined his crew.

            Not only are farmers hard workers, but they are quick to learn. I never had to resort to the dandelion trick again.  In fact, if I ever mentioned that I needed money for groceries, I would be told there he would find some somewhere. 

APPRECIATING OUR FREEDOMS

                                               FIRE WORKS ON THE 4TH OF JULY

            Just this week we have celebrated one of our biggest holidays, the 4^th of July. Amid the parades, ball games, picnics and fire works, how many of us have taken the time to stop and think of why we celebrate July 4^th? I’m going to give you a short history lesson.

            Unrest was prevalent in the colonies in 1776. The people were upset as Great Britain kept trying to make them follow more rules and pay higher taxes. These colonists no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, they wanted their independence.

            In 1776 Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and appointed a committee to write a formal document that would tell Great Britain that the Americans had decided to govern themselves. They wanted the citizens of the United States to have a document that spelled out what was important to our leaders and citizens so they committee asked Thomas Jefferson to write a draft of the document. Jefferson worked on this assignment in secret for days. On June 28, 1776, the committee met and read Jefferson’s paper. They made some changes and declared their independence on July 2, 1776. This was officially adopted on July 4, 1776. That is the reason July 4^th is called “Independence Day.”

            The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece of paper signed by men.  It is a symbol of our country’s independence and commitment to certain ideas. The people who signed the Declaration of Independence could have been hung for treason by the leaders in Great Britain.

The Constitution was written in 1787 and amended in 1791 to include the Bill of Rights. Some of the items in this were adopted from the English Bill of Rights.

So every July 4^th we should think about all the effort and ideas that went into the writing of these documents and about the courage it took for these signers to stand up for what they knew was right – Independence.

How many of us appreciate the freedoms we enjoy because of what these men risked their lives for so many years ago?

As I just recently drove over to Jackson, Wyoming, I thought of countries where travel is restricted. Going across the state line into Wyoming, there wasn’t a gate or a guard checking my credentials, making sure it was legal for me to cross that border. Not all countries have that kind of freedom. WE DO!

When I read the letters to the editor in the newspaper, I realize how blessed we are to be able to publically voice our opinions, even criticize our government officials, without the fear of being severely punished, even executed. Not all countries have that kind of freedom. WE DO!

I don’t always agree with our elected officials, but I appreciate the fact that I have the freedom to vote for whichever ones I feel will do the best job. Because I take that opportunity to vote, I feel free to voice my opinion on how those elected are doing their jobs. Not all countries give their people the opportunity to vote. WE DO!

I have the freedom to worship as I choose. I have the right to bear arms, I the right to a fair trial with a jury when accused of a crime. Not all countries have those privileges and freedoms. But WE DO!

Let’s all of us take time, not just on July 4^th but every day, to appreciate what this wonderful country has to offer us. Maybe we should quit complaining so much and become more involved in order for us to maintain our freedoms and independence.

WRITING HISTORY OF OUR LAND

                                              Published in Intermountain Farm and Ranch on
                                                               Friday, June 24, 2011

This is the time of year for family reunions. We sometimes enjoy these, sometimes not. But they are important. It is a time to reunite, thus the word reunion. Many times family members are only seen once a year – at reunions or maybe at funerals. As we get older these times mean more to us. We start thinking of histories, where we came from and where we are going. What are we leaving our children in terms of their historical background? Do our children know where their grandparents came from, do they know what occupations their aunts and uncles have, do they even know their cousins?  So I would like to address the idea of writing histories.

            Writing history can be fun. The more one researches, the more one learns and the more one wants to learn. The first thing in writing a history is to determine what type of history to write. One area I have found interesting is the history of the land. What makes this type of history so interesting is that as farmers most of us refer to the fields we farm with the name of the original owner. At the ranch we have the “Anderson” place, the “Doman” place, the “Rushton” place, “Cal’s and Eli’s”, etc. With some research, it is often possible to find some descendents of those people. Most are willing to share life histories of their parents and grandparents. When you get that information you have a treasure as the land starts to reveal its secrets to you! These histories will contain information about droughts, price of products grown, illnesses, celebrations, and many other things the people recorded.  Let me quote a couple of things from my book, Dehlin, A Forgotten Community:

Joseph Olsen wrote: “I filed a squatter’s right on land across Willow Creek, what is known as Dehlin or Horse Butte. Later we filed a homestead on 240 akers.”[original spelling]” (Dehlin, p 13)

“The Thomas Joseph Pearce told how, during the years of the depression, the people struggled to make a living. Prices hit rock bottom. The price of wheat was down to twenty cents a bushel. It became difficult to make it on the dry farm. Gradually more and more of the Dehlin dry farmers moved to the valley to try to find employment elsewhere.” (Dehlin, p 109)

            This type of information makes history come alive, helps us understand what our ancestors went through, and why they sometimes lost their land and moved on.

These early homesteaders were not rich. With the use of a metal detector we have found old farm equipment, a bent tea kettle, parts to stoves, a bed frame, a saw, and many nails, bolts, and pieces of harnesses. That in itself is history. 

We have also located the foundations to many of the homes. There are a couple of the old homes still standing, one is about ready to fall down and probably isn’t safe to go into anymore. But they tell a story about the lives lived in them.

The Bureau of Land Management has a website that enables you find the names of homesteaders. You need the legal description of the land you are interested in, or just the name of the person you think homesteaded your land, and this website will do the search for you. The web site is:  http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ . 

This is an exciting website! Not only can you get the information on who homesteaded certain pieces of land, but you can print a copy of the homestead papers.

            A quote I have in my files, but I’m not sure where I got it from, says it all: “family history is not just delving into your past, but it is preserving your future.” What better gift to give our children than a sense of belonging, a sense of importance because of where they came from! And what fun to have the history of the land we farm!

FAMILY TOGETHERNESS

Published in Intermountain Farm and Ranch June 10, 2011

About a year ago, the women’s auxiliary organization in our church challenged all women to have their family sit down together for five meals a week. We received that directive on a Sunday. Well, by noon on Tuesday I had fulfilled that goal for the first week. I wondered if now I could quit cooking for the rest of the week.

This did make me stop and appreciate the advantages of living  on the farm/ranch. Yes there’s a lot of cooking, but the family does sit down together for meals, and not just five meals a week. There are also other advantages of this life.

We lived at the ranch during the summer when the kids were all at home. As soon as school was out in the spring we would move up. We would come down to the valley on weekends and attend church, buy groceries, and then head back up Monday mornings.

Many mornings, after chores were done, I would pack them a lunch and the kids would take off exploring. The old Cutler house was a fun place to go, or up to the foundation of the old school house, maybe to one of the groves of trees near by. They would usually arrive back to the ranch house in time for dinner, our noon meal. They liked to take their bikes and ride over to Hell Creek. Once a summer on a Saturday morning, I would pack a lunch and the older ones would ride their bikes from the ranch to our valley home. This was approximately twenty miles which took them most of the day on a bike.  

Every afternoon about 3 or 4 o’clock, I would get the kids in the car and we would go out to the field to take their dad a treat. Then we would head to Hell Creek where the rest of the afternoon was spent swimming. The water wasn’t deep nor the current swift, but it was water and a chance to play in it. Home again and they would play their games, sometimes Anti-Eye-Over ( or Anti Over), or play on the old equipment. We had an old combine that they especially liked to play “Love Boat” on. There always seemed to be something to do!

We didn’t have a TV as there was no electricity. We did have a battery powered radio which was turned on every morning to get the news, and Boyd listened to ball games in the evening on it.

For quite a few summers we had “Red” the hired man. He was an older man that Dad Schwieder would hire in the early spring to help get the ground ready and he usually stayed through the fall harvest. We only have two bedrooms in the house and “Red” had to sleep in the back bedroom with the kids. He didn’t like that and would get grouchy with the kids if they were too noisy. I don’t think “Red” liked me up there. He wanted to do his own cooking. I never spiced things enough for him. When I would serve a meal he would put so much pepper on his food that you couldn’t tell that he was eating anything but pepper. But he and I tolerated each other as best we could. In fact, we integrated him into our “family” as best we could. I think he was always glad to see us depart for the valley on Saturday afternoons.

The first day of school would see us settled again in our valley home. Now as the kids are grown and some of them have moved away and have their own families, they often talk about the memories they had of those days at the ranch.

Even though the kids have moved away, the cooking is still being done for those family members that help on the farm. And more than five times a week we sit down as a family and eat together.