Meet the Gross Family of South Dakota. They are another example of excellent dairy farmers who's keen attention to detail has allowed them to take excellent care of their cows.
I may be in and out these coming days, as we are preparing for the 2nd cutting of alfalfa for the year. We are also going to be hauling manure tomorrow. Yep, that's right, it's time again to haul out some manure and water from our barn and parlor out to the fields. We have some excellent neighbors who raise peas. These peas were harvest today, clearing the field to be planted with soybeans, but before they plant some soybeans, we will be fertilizing it with cow manure. It's really a great exchange. By hauling manure to our neighbor's farm, we are making sure that we don't over apply these valuable nutrients on our own land and we are also keeping up on neighbor relations....who could really turn down free fertilizer? So, we'll be busy in the fields, but I hope to have some pictures to share when I get a chance in the days to come. Happy Summer & June Dairy Month!
Showing posts with label fertilizer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fertilizer. Show all posts
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Amamzing Strawberry Pie
I had the opportunity today, thanks to the rain to come home (since we live about 10 minutes away from our farm) and bake while Jonathan worked on paper work and financials. Our farm is a business, so we always have to make sure we are staying on top of those darn bills, haha! Anywho...this is a great recipe that I found in my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook for Strawberry Pie, with a couple of changes that I made to it, using my strawberries from my garden. And yes!~the strawberries were grown with fertilizer thanks to the cows...yep, cow manure was used to grow these wonderful berries! YUMMY! Hope you try this recipe out!
Strawberry Pie (makes 2, since one is never enough)
2 single pie crusts (see recipe below for my recipe)
4 pounds of Strawberries, washed and cored, if needed
6 Tablespoons Corn Starch
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Water
2 packages Cream Cheese, at room temperature (I used reduced fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring or extract
Fresh Whipped Cream, sweetened to taste
Use and mash enough strawberries to make 2 cups of mashed strawberries. Mix corn starch and sugar together in medium sauce pan. Slowly add mashed strawberries and water. Stir constantly on medium heat until boil. Boil for 1 minute, and remove from heat to cool. Mixture should be thickened and slightly transparent. Mix cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar together, add vanilla. Spread smooth into the bottom of the pie crusts. Place remaining sliced strawberries on top of the cream cheese, layering if needed. Pour cooled strawberry sauce over the top of the sliced strawberries. Cool for 3 hours in the refrigerator, cut and serve with sweetened REAL Whipped Cream~this is DELICIOUS!!! Hope you enjoy!
Pat in Pan Pie Crust (Makes 2 single crusts)
2 2/3 cups Flour
2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
4 Tablespoons Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt (if desired, but I don't ever bake with salt)
Mix Flour and Oil together in bowl, until flour is moistened. Add water one Tablespoon at a time, tossing flour mixture to incorporate. Make into 2 equally sized balls. Place into 2 greased pie pans. Press up sides. Bake at 475 for 10-12 minutes, until golden, cool and fill.
Strawberry Pie (makes 2, since one is never enough)
2 single pie crusts (see recipe below for my recipe)
4 pounds of Strawberries, washed and cored, if needed
6 Tablespoons Corn Starch
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Water
2 packages Cream Cheese, at room temperature (I used reduced fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring or extract
Fresh Whipped Cream, sweetened to taste
Use and mash enough strawberries to make 2 cups of mashed strawberries. Mix corn starch and sugar together in medium sauce pan. Slowly add mashed strawberries and water. Stir constantly on medium heat until boil. Boil for 1 minute, and remove from heat to cool. Mixture should be thickened and slightly transparent. Mix cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar together, add vanilla. Spread smooth into the bottom of the pie crusts. Place remaining sliced strawberries on top of the cream cheese, layering if needed. Pour cooled strawberry sauce over the top of the sliced strawberries. Cool for 3 hours in the refrigerator, cut and serve with sweetened REAL Whipped Cream~this is DELICIOUS!!! Hope you enjoy!
Pat in Pan Pie Crust (Makes 2 single crusts)
2 2/3 cups Flour
2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
4 Tablespoons Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt (if desired, but I don't ever bake with salt)
Mix Flour and Oil together in bowl, until flour is moistened. Add water one Tablespoon at a time, tossing flour mixture to incorporate. Make into 2 equally sized balls. Place into 2 greased pie pans. Press up sides. Bake at 475 for 10-12 minutes, until golden, cool and fill.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Been Busy Lately!
Holy smokes! I can't believe that it's Sunday night/Monday morning and I haven't actually blogged in awhile! It's been a really busy week at Orange Patch Dairy. Even though I did take the time to get our hay video out and a few pictures of the farm, I have been running in circles.
June Dairy Month: As county princess coordinator I am BUSY organizing the month's events! We have the girls visiting everything from grocery stores to day cares. We plan on making a number of visits with consumers as well as some fun parades. In combination we will be celebrating our county princess program/s 50th Anniversary! I will be focusing my time and efforts in June on our new blog http://cowsncrowns.blogspot.com/. Feel free to check it out, starting June 1st, as we will be featuring dairy stories from the past 50 years. I have some great pictures and stories to share!~Thanks to all of the princesses that shared information with us.
Drying off Cows: We dried off cows this week. Yep, its that time when we give the girls a well deserved vacation. We dry them off about 45-60 days before their due date to insure that they have plenty of time to relax and grow their calves. We know that calves grow the most in the last weeks of gestation/pregnancy, so its important that we feed these cows well, offer them exercise in their yard and provide a clean, dry and comfortable environment. We have about 10 cows due to calve in July, and these cows were all dried off these past few weeks.
DHIA Testing: We DHIA tested this week. It was a great test! The cows produced an amazing 92 pounds of milk per cow per day! We DHIA test every month to check each individual cow. We collect samples from each cow to be tested for protein, fat, and Somatic Cell Count (SCC-measure of milk quality). We are able to manage our cows on an individual basis with this information. DHIA also helps us keep track of when cows were bred, had calves, and need to be dried off....it is a great organization system for our farm, allowing us to have more time to take better care of our cows.
Landscaping: I finally was able to steal a few hours each day to attend to our landscaping around our barn. While it's not perfect or done, we finally made some progress. I was able to plant some flower beds, move some perennials, and do some major weeding. The best part about living on a dairy farm is that I have nutrient rich fertilizer readily available whenever I need it. I am able to grow some amazing vegetables, fruits, and flowers with the help of my cows ;)
And I forgot to mention the best part of this past week....it was HOT!!! Ok, maybe it wasn't the best part, it was the most challenging part. We are able to cool our cows with sprinklers and fans, but honestly, for the humans working on our farm its not that cool. We were unseasonably warm (90's and humid) this week and I was definitely thinking about joining the cows under the sprinklers. Hot weather just makes for a long day at the farm and a great appreciation for the AC. Thankfully rain is in the forecast for this week (we are getting dry here) and cooler temperatures!~I know the cows are looking forward to this as their comfort zone is about 55 degrees. Anything over that temp and they are uncomfortable...so here's to cooler weather!
June Dairy Month: As county princess coordinator I am BUSY organizing the month's events! We have the girls visiting everything from grocery stores to day cares. We plan on making a number of visits with consumers as well as some fun parades. In combination we will be celebrating our county princess program/s 50th Anniversary! I will be focusing my time and efforts in June on our new blog http://cowsncrowns.blogspot.com/. Feel free to check it out, starting June 1st, as we will be featuring dairy stories from the past 50 years. I have some great pictures and stories to share!~Thanks to all of the princesses that shared information with us.
Drying off Cows: We dried off cows this week. Yep, its that time when we give the girls a well deserved vacation. We dry them off about 45-60 days before their due date to insure that they have plenty of time to relax and grow their calves. We know that calves grow the most in the last weeks of gestation/pregnancy, so its important that we feed these cows well, offer them exercise in their yard and provide a clean, dry and comfortable environment. We have about 10 cows due to calve in July, and these cows were all dried off these past few weeks.
DHIA Testing: We DHIA tested this week. It was a great test! The cows produced an amazing 92 pounds of milk per cow per day! We DHIA test every month to check each individual cow. We collect samples from each cow to be tested for protein, fat, and Somatic Cell Count (SCC-measure of milk quality). We are able to manage our cows on an individual basis with this information. DHIA also helps us keep track of when cows were bred, had calves, and need to be dried off....it is a great organization system for our farm, allowing us to have more time to take better care of our cows.
Landscaping: I finally was able to steal a few hours each day to attend to our landscaping around our barn. While it's not perfect or done, we finally made some progress. I was able to plant some flower beds, move some perennials, and do some major weeding. The best part about living on a dairy farm is that I have nutrient rich fertilizer readily available whenever I need it. I am able to grow some amazing vegetables, fruits, and flowers with the help of my cows ;)
And I forgot to mention the best part of this past week....it was HOT!!! Ok, maybe it wasn't the best part, it was the most challenging part. We are able to cool our cows with sprinklers and fans, but honestly, for the humans working on our farm its not that cool. We were unseasonably warm (90's and humid) this week and I was definitely thinking about joining the cows under the sprinklers. Hot weather just makes for a long day at the farm and a great appreciation for the AC. Thankfully rain is in the forecast for this week (we are getting dry here) and cooler temperatures!~I know the cows are looking forward to this as their comfort zone is about 55 degrees. Anything over that temp and they are uncomfortable...so here's to cooler weather!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Manure Management Meetings on Friday
It's been a busy weekend, but I wanted to take some time to recap some of the things that we worked on Friday. We had a BUNCH of meetings on Monday at the farm with the various professional that we work with to help us make good choices for our land and resources. This year we are planning to grow our 1st crop of corn! Previously Jonathan and I purchased all of the feed that we feed our cows from my father in law. Growing our own crops (at least part of our feed needs) will allow us to save money as we can work to grow feed at a lower cost than we can purchase it...not that my father in law ripped us off, but now we can use our own labor instead of paying him and our own manure instead of giving it away to neighbors.
We work with our local cooperative's agronomy department, which helps us mange our soils and crops. We pulled soil samples a few weeks ago to determine the quality of the soil in our field. The good news is that with the management of manure in the previous years resulted in some very fertile soils that will only require a small amount of commercial fertilizer to get the corn started. The remaining nutrients are already in the soil thanks to cow manure from last fall! Another excellent bonus is that this lower level of commercial fertilizer will not only reduce the total cost of growing corn but increase the biological activity of the soil microbes (bacteria) which break down cow manure and crop residue (leaves and stalks left over from last year). We were excited to hear this news and even more excited to get into the fields to get that corn planted!
We also work with a private practice agronomist/manure management specialist. His name is Al, and he helps us keep track of so many things on our farm regarding manure. Al has been sampling our manure for the past few years, making sure that we don't over or under apply manure to our soils. This insures that we will always apply our cow manure at the appropriate rate. We have even calibrated all of our manure spreaders so we know how many pounds/tons of manure we apply per acre. One project that we have our friend Al working on right now, is recalculating our manure management plan. Our manure management plan is a document of many pages which accounts for the amount of manure that our cows produce each year and how many acres that are required in order to apply that manure. A series of manure samples, soil samples, and calculations are included and used to determine those acres. As our herd has grown this past winter, we have to re-calcualte the manure management plan, making sure yet again that we do not over apply manure.
Maintaining our soils is our number one goal. Manure is not a pollutant when used properly, but instead a GREAT fertilizer which grows some of the best corn in the area! I even use manure to grow my flowers, fruits and vegetables....and I have an amazing crop each year!
We work with our local cooperative's agronomy department, which helps us mange our soils and crops. We pulled soil samples a few weeks ago to determine the quality of the soil in our field. The good news is that with the management of manure in the previous years resulted in some very fertile soils that will only require a small amount of commercial fertilizer to get the corn started. The remaining nutrients are already in the soil thanks to cow manure from last fall! Another excellent bonus is that this lower level of commercial fertilizer will not only reduce the total cost of growing corn but increase the biological activity of the soil microbes (bacteria) which break down cow manure and crop residue (leaves and stalks left over from last year). We were excited to hear this news and even more excited to get into the fields to get that corn planted!
We also work with a private practice agronomist/manure management specialist. His name is Al, and he helps us keep track of so many things on our farm regarding manure. Al has been sampling our manure for the past few years, making sure that we don't over or under apply manure to our soils. This insures that we will always apply our cow manure at the appropriate rate. We have even calibrated all of our manure spreaders so we know how many pounds/tons of manure we apply per acre. One project that we have our friend Al working on right now, is recalculating our manure management plan. Our manure management plan is a document of many pages which accounts for the amount of manure that our cows produce each year and how many acres that are required in order to apply that manure. A series of manure samples, soil samples, and calculations are included and used to determine those acres. As our herd has grown this past winter, we have to re-calcualte the manure management plan, making sure yet again that we do not over apply manure.
Maintaining our soils is our number one goal. Manure is not a pollutant when used properly, but instead a GREAT fertilizer which grows some of the best corn in the area! I even use manure to grow my flowers, fruits and vegetables....and I have an amazing crop each year!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Manure for Fertilizer
Removing the Manure from the compost barn-Fall 2009 Check out my latest post to YouTube. While its old it is relevant as we are prepping to plant our first field of corn this year. Learn more about how dairy farmers care about the environment at Dairy Farming Today!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Corn planting continues
Corn planting continues at Orange Patch Dairy. My father in law was able to put in about 65 acres of corn in today and yesterday. He was having his usual early season problems with our 8-row John Deere planter yesterday, which slowed him down. The planter was skipping in a couple of rows...making for very uneven rows of corn. SO.....we brought it home, got it in the shop and fixed it. Back to the field. The weather forecast looks good for the coming days, so we are hoping to apply the last little bit of fertilizer, work that in, and finish planting our 250 acres of corn for the year. Since we work with our agronomist on nutrient management, we are able to utilize our natural fertilizer (manure) first for our fields. Our agronomist pulls soil and manure samples to calculate the amount of commercial fertilizer we need to apply each spring. Usually we only need to apply a "pop up" fertilizer. This fertilizer is used to help the corn plants get a good start on the growing season, after that the plants will rely on the organic matter, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous of our cow manure!
Del Monte Foods delivered the packer for the pea field but no drill yet, so I guess that means that the peas will be planted soon! I love peas from the field! We usually plant about 30-40 acres of peas each year to be harvested sometime in mid-June. This allows us to have an empty field in the summer for manure application. Once the sweet corn is harvested in July/August then we move to applying manure on that field and seed the old pea field in with alfalfa. If we time it just right, we get a good rain in August and the fall seeded alfalfa is off to the races! The beauty of farming is getting the most from each acre without depleting it of nutrients. By rotating our crops and planting different types of crops like alfalfa, peas and sweet corn, we are able to better utilize our soils for our cows and our farm.
Del Monte Foods delivered the packer for the pea field but no drill yet, so I guess that means that the peas will be planted soon! I love peas from the field! We usually plant about 30-40 acres of peas each year to be harvested sometime in mid-June. This allows us to have an empty field in the summer for manure application. Once the sweet corn is harvested in July/August then we move to applying manure on that field and seed the old pea field in with alfalfa. If we time it just right, we get a good rain in August and the fall seeded alfalfa is off to the races! The beauty of farming is getting the most from each acre without depleting it of nutrients. By rotating our crops and planting different types of crops like alfalfa, peas and sweet corn, we are able to better utilize our soils for our cows and our farm.
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