Chasing Saturdays

Monday, September 08, 2014

Dine and Discuss at a Jasper County Farm

Posted by Crystal Kellner Monday, September 08, 2014

Tammy and Kendall Culp opened their farm to Jasper County officials. It was called a Dine and Discuss Event. Their gravel road lead us to their home and farm in the middle of corn and soybean fields.

A homestead always quiet was now busy. The Culp's started with a reception with samples of cheese from Fair Oaks Farms and wine from Carpenter Creek Cellars.

After introductions from Kendall and Tammy Culp we were sent to three stations to learn more about their farming operation.

Ken Culp lll is Kendall's brother. Ken and his family live in Kentucky and Ken works for the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. Ken and his family come back to the family farm in Jasper County when it is time to AI (Artificial Inseminate) their herd. They use a synchronization program to get all the cows in their herd in heat at the same time. This is a great tool for cattlemen to use w when they want their cows to calve.

Stu Manchester, Salesman for Channel Seed talked about corn and soybeans and agronomy.

This is a drone, right? In agriculture, let's call it a Quadcopter. The quad is used to scout crops, waterways, and maybe check on the cattle in the pasture. It allows you to cover more area, in a faster amount of time. The battery has a life span of about 20 minutes, and flip a special switch on the transmitter, and it comes back to you, like a boomerang, landing close to the home place.

What's the price of machinery today? What does it cost per acre to harvest in the fall? Let's pencil it all out. Notice, we saw red and green on the Culp Farm!

All the food served for dinner was grown in Jasper County.

Dave and I really enjoyed visiting with our neighbors in Jasper County. It is the third largest county in the state and the leading agricultural producing county in the state with the market value of product sold at $293,544,000. We all join together when needed, and dine and discuss, especially when it is for the good of agriculture.

Crystal Kellner

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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Canning Summer tomatoes

Canning Salsa

Posted by Crystal Kellner Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tomatoes are on! They are on my stove to be exact! We canned this weekend, stewed and salsa. Next weekend we plan to can tomato juice.

There is no exact recipe when we are making the salsa. We add peppers and jalapeno peppers to taste and this was a hot batch! Can't wait to eat this salsa this winter!

Crystal Kellner

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Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Indiana State Fair 2014

Posted by Crystal Kellner Tuesday, August 05, 2014

A new adventure for the kids this summer was to attend the Indiana State Fair. The last time Dave and I attended was in 2009. We went with friends to see Keith Urban and Jason Aldean. We look so young here!

Fast forward five years, to 2014 and back to reality!

This year was the kid's first trip to the Indiana State Fair. They were very excited. But I know they were not as excited as I was. I won't admit it, but I was up early, and very anxious to go.

We had fun at the Glass Barn. I think I have about 30 pictures sent to my E-mail from different poses and different backgrounds. I am only sharing a couple.

Crystal Kellner

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Thursday, July 31, 2014

garden hail love tomatoes vegetables

When Your Garden Doesn't Go As Planned

Posted by Crystal Kellner Thursday, July 31, 2014

A month ago I was blogging about LOVE your Garden! We loved it, pulled weeds and cultivated it! We have had plenty of rain, probably more in June than what we really needed. Things were going great the beginning of the growing season. The garden looked good at the beginning.

Crystal Kellner

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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

4-H fair family friends pigs ribbons Summer trophy

Jasper County Fair 2014

Posted by Crystal Kellner Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Jasper County Fair has come to an end. Our beginner showman has her first year under her belt. The whole family has our first year under our belt. Do you remember trying something out for 4-H and loved it or hated it? Wanted to try something new the next year? If you ask Macie what she thought about her first year, she would tell you she had a great week. We might have signed up for a few more general projects than needed on her first year, but we also learned more about time management! Kids still talk about the fair, showing pigs, playing with friends, battle of the barns, milkshakes, and plans for the next year.

I knew her first trip to the ring might be a little emotional for me. I am not sure how to explain it, but she is a determined, hard worker. She has big plans, big dreams and I hope we can fulfill those dreams for her. One step at a time. One day we will have a house, then we will build the kids a barn and then fill it with animals. So, one step at a time. Try out the first year of showing and see if she likes it. She loves it. It is moments like these when we realize the dreams and plans we have mirror our children's wants and have's (and have-not's).

We are very proud of her. She received Champion Microwave Cooking in her Division. She participated in the Battle of the Barns, and her team ended up in 3rd place. Macie also received 3rd overall in the Beginner Swine Showmanship Class.

I can remember my last year of 4-H like it was last summer. My grandpa Eich was always up in the announcer stand, my grandma's were sitting in the stands, and my mom was always ring-side holding the rope halter and a can of final bloom, not the camera. I also remember my first year of 4-H, and the first trophy I brought back to the stalls and showing my grandpa with pride, and him wiping his tears with his handkerchief. Showing cattle was about family tradition, and working through things one step at time, and raising our own cattle to show.

Challenge yourself and your family. Try something new. Get out there in the ring. Many life lessons are learned in the ring and in the barn.

This post is sponsored by Indiana's Family of Farmers, but all opinions shared are my own.

Crystal Kellner

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Monday, June 23, 2014

Dave fruits garden Mason Ryan strawberries

LOVE Your Garden!

Posted by Crystal Kellner Monday, June 23, 2014

We all heard that from our parents at the dinner table, to eat our vegetables, when we didn't want to finish our meal. I couldn't leave the table until my plate was cleared. There were starving children in the world. And I was leaving food on my plate. When I was a kid, I didn't believe my parents when they said that. Now that I think of it, I have even played that "card" on my kids. Why is it hard to get the kids to eat their vegetables? How can we get them to try new things? I hope by having the kids help us with our garden, they will have more appreciation for it.

I have always wanted to talk about my garden. It's really my husband's garden, but we will talk about that later!

This is a few weeks back; the guys were looking over a few things, and the tomato plants that were just planted. Scouting is important in the fields and in the gardens. Bugs are detected at an earlier state. Any problems with the health of the plant can be closely monitored. I think this picture was taken shortly after a heavy rain we received. We were lucky we didn't lose many plants in the garden.

Our youngest one likes to jump over rows, and test our patience. He doesn't jump much, I mean he steps on the green beans, radishes and onions.

His favorite was picking strawberries this spring.

Go back a few years on this one. August 2009. Must have been a good year in the garden. Kids always seem to be very excited to help out! It took me awhile to dig this picture out. But I had to. Needs to be on this blog. It's one of my favorite and seems every year we put out the garden I remember this picture.

Kids are always very helpful in the garden from planting to harvest. This is the first step to introduce the kids to new ideas and new fruits and vegetables in their diet. We will talk more about what's in the garden, how it's good for you, and what the kid's think about eating their fruits and vegetables!

This post is sponsored by Indiana's Family of Farmers, but all opinions shared are my own.