A Few More Pictures of Our Oklahoma Trip

We took a day trip to the city of Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The main street in the down town area is part of the historic "Route 66". A very quaint and pleasant town. We visited the local historical society's museum, just off the square. In it, we learned some neat history of the area and how the town got it's name. Sapulpa was an Indian who became a respected business man and farmer. Although the people called him "chief Sapulpa" he was never really a chief. Look him up sometime on google, his is a fascinating story.

These photos are some of the things to see on the main street. We took some shots of the old time bill boards that were painted on the side of the buildings, "back in the day". Many of them had been restored to their former splendor.

It almost takes you back in time, doesn't it? We get a kick out history, right down to seemingly insignificant things like signs.

"Phone 804", isn't that something? What a neat town. We recomend Sapulpa as one of your stops if you plan on heading out to Oklahoma.

Do Cattle Eat Leaves?

I was talking with a gentleman today about trees and their value as a forage. It is true and a little know fact that the green leaves of trees supply many trace minerals and nutrients that ruminants need. Trees have the ability to take minute traces of minerals and nutrients and combine them into very nutritious leaves and wood. They are capable of this action even in very poor, nutrient deficient soil.

I have noticed that my cows will reach up as far as they can to get those juicy oak leaves. I was told, once, that that is bad for them, that the leaves are toxic. I believe that animals know what they need and when they need it, and they aren't dead or sick yet.

This gentleman told me of a friend of his that, one year, fought the sprouting persimmon trees that had inundated a 10 acre pasture. He even went to the point of pulling out the disk plow and plowing them all under, only to watch them pop back up in a matter of weeks. I will vouch for the fact that persimmon are near impossible to get rid of, I have plenty of them. In fact, they are quite the nuisance.

After all his efforts failed, he then purchased $600.00 worth of chemical herbicides. He then sprayed the field. The results are unknown to me as we never got that far in our conversation. However, our talk helped me make a decision about what to do with the persimmon problem on our place.

Last year, I had our Dexter bull in the paddock that supplies us with the nasty trees. I had noticed that he had eaten all the leaves off the persimmon trees and when those were all gone, he ate the stem itself-end of problem.

This year I have our mini Hereford bull over there and he isn't touching them. Maybe he's not hungry enough, yet, I don't know. Thus, the problem. Honestly, the only thing you can do with these trees is control them, you can't get rid of them.

So here is what I will do to control the persimmon trees, put the Dexter bull back over there and let him eat them. Sure, I could go in there and work my tail off to try to remove them, like the aforementioned fellow. Or, as I have said in the past on this blog, I can let the animals do the work for me. I vote for the latter. I have plenty to occupy my time without adding persimmon eradication into the mix.

In fact, that would be my solution for the farmer who spent $600 on killing the trees. Mob graze the 10 acres, fenced off in tight paddocks, and let the cattle eat the leaves. If nothing else, without the leaves, they will die. But that's me. I don't believe in the modern way of farming in which we spend our way into astronomical debt and sweat when cattle prices fall.

The ideal is to have, or work toward, a least cost operation. The less you spend, the more you make. So, let the cattle eat those leaves, they'll thank you for it.

NAIS Alert!

R-CALF USA Member Action Alert

(This is not a News Release)

To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates

Date: July 29, 2009

Subject: Urgent Calls Needed: Call your Senator TODAY to urge that NAIS funding be cut.

Call your Senator TODAY to urge that NAIS funding be cut!

Some members have called expressing confusion over our earlier alert. It can be a confusing process, so here's an attempt to clarify:1) The House of Representatives passed the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill with no funding for NAIS. 2) The Senate Appropriations Committee included more than $14 million for NAIS in its version of the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill.3) The full Senate is expected to begin debate on the Appropriations bill this evening (Wednesday) or tomorrow.4) Senator Tester plans to introduce an amendment on the Senate floor to cut the funding for NAIS in half, to approximately $7 million.5) After the Senate votes, there will be a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.Our goal is to stop all funding for NAIS. The Tester amendment doesn't get us all the way there, but it is a step in the right direction. The less funding the Senate includes, the better our chances to convince the conference committee to stop all funding.Call or email your Senators TODAY and ask them to support the Tester Amendment to cut NAIS funding.

What you can say when you call:

"I am a constituent, and I am calling to urge Senator ______ to support the Tester Amendment to decrease the funding of Animal ID (NAIS) in the Appropriations Bill when it comes to the floor. I want all funding for NAIS stopped, and this amendment is a good step in that direction. Will Senator _____ support Tester's amendment to reduce the NAIS funding?"You can contact your Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or go to www.senate.gov Be sure to call BOTH of the Senators from your State!

Additional talking points:*

NAIS does not address the prevention or treatment of disease. It is only an after-the-fact tracking program, and USDA has not shown that NAIS will improve on existing tracking methods.*

NAIS does nothing to improve food safety because the tracking ends when the animal dies, while the vast majority of foodborne illnesses are due to contamination at the slaughterhouse or during processing.*

NAIS will cost animal owners and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, while benefiting only large agribusiness and technology companies.* It is time to stop wasteful spending for a system that won’t work.

HR 2749, Food Safety Enhancement Act, heading to a vote

HR 2749 is on the calendar to be voted on by the full House of Representatives this afternoon. Since it will be considered under a suspension of the normal rules, there will be no floor amendments and limited debate. At this time, we do not know which provisions of the Farr-Kaptur proposal will be included in the bill or if any other changes have been made to address the concerns of small farmers and local food processors.
The above information is from Judith McGeary, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.
Here is a sample of what Region VI Director/President Dr. Max Thornsberry sent:
Please do not vote to appropriate any funds to NAIS. The USDA has spent many millions of tax payer dollars on a program that has been a total failure. At the many listening session the USDA conducted all over the U.S., and in Missouri, they, the USDA, received a resounding “No” from all classes of livestock producers. We have the best disease control and trace back systems in this country compared with any where else I have visited in the world, and I have been to many different countries on livestock related visits, studies, or epidemiological surveys.

Please do not allow any more money to be poured down this rat hole!!!

R. M. Thornsberry, D.V.M., M.B.A.

More Pics Of Oklahoma

We took one day to drive up to Kansas to visit the actual "Little House On The Prairie" site. My wife and girls are very big fans of the "Little House" books. While there, we met a fantastic homeschooling family from Ohio. We ended up chatting quite a bit. We were very glad to meet them and found it to be a pleasure talking with them. They were toward the end of a great vacation that followed the wanderings of the Ingalls family-what a trip!

We also took some time to visit the Palomino horse show, held in Tulsa. Both girls love horses and this was a great and free opportunity to get a good look at some splendid horses. The one pictured is competing in the "hunt" class.

This is Abigail and Elisabeth in front of the penguin display at the Tulsa zoo. We spent most of a day there. The penguins represented in the rock are actual size. I was amazed at the size of the Emperor penguin (Middle). They're huge!

This shot is also from the Tulsa zoo, from inside the "Rain Forest" house. We were chatting with a group of people while looking for one of the four sloth the zoo has when this Cuckoo crawled up my back onto my head! You can see it has a cockroach in it's beak. At this point, after the bird had been there for a while and everyone was laughing, I was saying to my lovely wife, Take the picture before this thing poops all over my head, please!

Come back tomorrow for a few more pics. Thanks for stopping by.

Oklahoma Vacation Pictures

We made it back from Oklahoma, safe and sound. Praise God! We had a wonderful week with excelent weather, (with the exception of Tuesday night, which I will explain later), and we had a greatime camping and enjoying family fellowship.









This is a picture of our campsight at Keystone state park, just a bit northwest of Tulsa. You can see Elisabeth coming out of the tent.

Here is a beatuiful sunset at Keystone. Kind of breath taking, isn't it? God paints the earth in beatiful colors.

This is one of the many oil derriks that dot the Oklahoma landscape. Most of the derriks we saw were running. Yet, we depend on foreign oil.

This picture was taken at a place called Woolarock. This is the ranch that belonged to Frank Phillips of Phillips Petroleum turned into a history museum. Very fascinating things to see here, but plan on a full day of it, we arrived just one and one-half hours before they closed, so we were quite rushed. I am standing in awe of the massive Colt 1911 .45 collection. This is just a sample of it, it takes up about 5 cases the size of the one behind me. Awesome!

I will be posting more pictures of interest over the next few days, so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by.

VACATION-Got To Get Away......

Whenever I think of the word "vacation", I think of that really stupid song by the Go-Go's from the eighties. But, that is what we are going to do, take a vacation. We're heading to Tulsa, Oklahoma-where the wind comes rushing down the plain-another silly song from the musical by that name that I can't get out of my head.

We are heading out for a week, we'll see some sights, swim in the lake at the camp ground, visit some friends that live in OKC, and a whole lotta loafin'. Consequently, I will not be near my computer to post for a week. I know, I know, stop crying, I will return, Lord willing.

Thank you to all of you who frequent this humble blog. Those of you that are really interested in our boring, little world, I tip my hat to you in gratitude. Please be patient as we are away and I will post some good pictures of our trip after our return on the 25, I promise.

The girls, Abigail and Elisabeth, are the most excited I think I have seen them, so this will truly be a memorable experience for them and all of us. Pray for us, if you would, for a safe journey and decent weather. Pray for health and a fun time for all of us.

Again, thank you for reading my ramblings, I hope this blog makes a difference. I will see (or, write) you upon our return. Until then, God bless you all.

(Now, if I could only get those songs out of my head!)

Getting Ready For A Vacation!

Time flies when your busier than a beaver on a giant redwood! My family and I are busy planning, preparing and packing for our vacation next week. We are going camping in Oklahoma, in the Tulsa area, for one whole week. We are very eager to go as we have not been on a vacation of significance as a family since, well, ever. Talk about a great homeschooling getaway! We will visit several museums and indian points of interest and spend some time loafing. Ahhh, loafing. That is a concept which few homesteaders get to experience. It is also one that I am looking forward to. So, pray for us and our safety and for good weather. Some have said that we are nuts, maybe we are, but we are going to get away for a week!

Anyway, because of our preparations, I haven't posted much. Here is a small article from Alan Nation of the Stockman GrassFarmer . Mr Nation gets full credit as the author of this article.

May I add, GO JOEL!



Joel Salatin Featured On Bloomberg TV

Saturday, 11 July 2009
Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in Virginia is the featured entrepreneur on the show Venture on Bloomberg Television today (Saturday). This show runs throughout the day so try to check it out. Joel does an excellent job showcasing our industry.

The Every-Once-In-A-While Fertrell Highlight

Here are some very helpful hints from the fine folks at Fertrell . Use the link to visit their website to learn much more, or, you can drop us a line at sppowers@iglide.net and we will be glad to assist you in any way we can. Or, if you're already sold on Fertrell's outstanding products, find a dealer near you .




Grass clippings can be a great source of nitrogen for your compost, but they can smell awful. Blend your clippings with dried leaves, sawdust, straw or hay. The carbon in these materials will help aerate the clippings and reduce the smell.

Bugged by mosquitos?
One bat can eat over 3,000 mosquitos in a single evening. Attract more of these creatures by installing a bat house. You can build one yourself for about $20, or purchase a house for about $50. That’s still less than the cost of most bug zappers.

Go organic without going broke. Get your food from a local farmers’ market or a roadside stand. If you can’t find one nearby, grow your own organic produce. Even a few potted radishes can save you money in the long run.

Need garden ties? Use panty hose. The flexible fabric holds soft-stemmed plants like tomatoes and peppers without damage or breakage.

Praise God! It's Raining!

It started about 6:00 a.m. and woke me from a nice sleep with a down pour, around 7:30. I know, I can't believe that I slept that late, either.

This is a significant thing because it has not rained more than 3/4 of an inch in over a month and a half. Yes, that wonderful grass I had boasted about in the pastures is all but fried. So this rain comes at a very crucial time.

Outside of the down pour this morning, it has been falling at a gentle, beautiful, wonderful, soaking pace. (Can you tell I was stressing over the lack of rain?)

I do see two downsides to this rain, however. One is that I left the ply wood for the kids bunk beds outside, not expecting any rain. This fact has put a crimp on the one major task I had planned for today-finishing the beds. The other downside is that I will, more than likely, have to cut the lawn again, something that I have not had to do in three weeks.

I am willing to joyfully over-look these minor set backs in lieu of the rain. Thank you Lord for the life giving rain! Praise be to God who reigns forever in glory above! Thank you God!

Let me know what the weather has been like around your area. Leave a comment and share what different weather conditions affect your homestead and how. Thanks for stopping by.

Eating Fresh Is Where It's At

I have discovered a really neat blog that I think those that frequent this blog, will enjoy. It is called Surviving the middle class crash.

Start by reading the article entitled "Fresh: How We're Supposed To Eat". A very nice piece written by Rady Ananda. (I have no idea who that is, but, it is a very good article.)

It is a short article but it does express some common thoughts we have as far as local farming and eating local food. I would like for us to get to a point that none of our food comes on a truck. You know, that means that we may have to revert (OH MY!) back to seasonal foods. Eating seasonal, I believe is heathier for us anyway, IMO.

So, use the link and check out this great blog. Enjoy.

Trouble In The Organic Industry?

I am not a fan of "all things organic". Don't get me wrong, I do believe that we need to eat whole foods, even organic grown at home. My dislike has to do with the lax regulations on the organic industry, which even allows 10% GMO food.

I work as a produce manager and I watch shoppers buy expensive produce because it is "organic". As this article about Horizon relates, I am skeptical of the label. I greatly promote buying local, getting to know the farmer and building a trust with him, so that when he says that it is organic you can bank on it.

If I don't know the farm my lettuce came from, how can I trust that it is, in fact, organic. We have seen in the past that labels can be deceiving so I can't go by just that.

In other words, I have little reassurance that the "organic food" is any safer than non-organic, other than the label that says "organic". Then they charge a higher price, to boot. Anyway, read the linked article and judge for yourself. Thanks for stopping by.

The Mouse Trap

Mouse Story ...

A mouse looked through the
crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered -

he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard,
the mouse proclaimed the
warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap
in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and

said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me.
I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a
mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said,
"I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.
Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a
mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse.

I'm sorry for you,
but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected,

to face the farmer's mousetrap-- alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house --

like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the
darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake
whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife.

The farmer rushed her
to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's
main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued,

so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer
butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.

So many people came
for her funeral, the farmer
had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you,
remember --

when one of us is threatened,
we are all at risk.

Independance Day-An Essay

Over the last few years I have taken a journey. I have come, what some might say, full circle. I don't know what it is, other than disgust and distrust. I will try to explain.

I used to have a heart full of pride to be an American. I used to cry when I heard the "Star Spangled Banner". My heart lept for joy at saying the "Pledge of Allegiance". I used to look forward to these types of holidays in which we expressed our sense of pride and paid our respects to those that paid the ultimate price. Somehow, though, I can't anymore. I don't seem to be able to muster those feelings any longer, which causes pause for reflection.

Independence Day (for I refuse to call it "the Fourth"), is a day that had been set aside to remember one thing. The day we declared our Independence from Great Britain. Somehow, it has morphed into a day of many meanings. I dare say it has become just another day off from work and an excuse for excess.

But, I began thinking on this and found myself reflecting on the word "Independence". We used to call "the Fourth" that, you know. Memories come to mind of my wife's and my honeymoon out east. We took a day trip to visit Valley Forge, you know, the place where Washington and his men spent a winter, nearly starving to death, if not freezing to death? Forgive my sarcasm, but, I can't help feeling a bit dismayed at the lack of knowledge on this subject and the importance of it. Back to Valley Forge. As we walked around the grounds and viewed the crude huts the men lived in, and visited the homes that had been commandeered by the generals, I got a serious pang in my stomach and lump in my throat. That was even before we saw the monument with all the names of all the men who served their country on it during that winter. It was a very tough time, indeed.

Yes, many men abandoned and went home, but, many more stayed to fight on, including Mr. Washington, himself. Why? What kept them there? I can come up with no other reason than they had committed themselves to a cause that they believed in. One that they decided was worth starvation and frost bite, or, a bullet. Stout men, all of them. I doubt that I would have the courage and commitment they had. They stayed to be free. Free from the heavy hand of a government that thought of them as merely slaves to make them more money, taxation without representation. I can almost see them crying and longing to be home with their families who needed them, but, determined to carry on so that those very families might live in peace, on their own land, making a way for themselves. The selflessness is very apparent.

I can't celebrate Independence Day in the way I would like. We are no longer independent, as a nation, but, dependant. Dependant on a nanny government, fully willing to let that nanny feed us and clothe us and fulfill our every need. We are complacent, at best, and indolent, at worst. Lulled to sleep by the hand of provision and the gentle rocking of the cradle.

So, on these types of holidays, I choose to reflect on what my country used to be, praying that the men of Valley Forge and the Revolution did not die in vain. Yet, I fear, they have. Now that brings a tear to my eye. I pray that our nation's leaders would be saved from their sin and flesh, repent, and restore what this great nation used to stand for, freedom. The freedom to worship an Almighty God and honor those around you and build a life for your family and leave a heritage for posterity.

I like to think that the "American spirit" is not dead, but it may be on life support. Wake up from your slumber, America, your home has been looted and your treasured possessions are gone. God will only bless America to the degree that we obey Him. His Word is truth and His Word is perfect and His Word will save your soul from eternity in hell.

I will not be around this weekend to post here, so thank you for reading these vain ramblings and for frequenting this humble blog. I'll see you Monday.

Our Garden, Using Fertrell (or) The Every-Once-In-A-While-Fertrell Highlight

Elisabeth by her sunflower.

Some Rhubarb.

An incidental squash/cukcumber.

Winter squash.

If you would like information on Fertrell and thier outstanding products, please drop us a line at sppowers@iglide.net

Thanks for stopping by.