If You Plant It, It Will Grow...We Hope!

So from the moment we came back from Easter in Missouri, we have been goin' strong in the field, either plantin' corn, workin' ground, putting anhydrous one or runnin' around like a crazy lady doin' whatever needed to be done to keep the tractors goin'....can you guess which one I'm doing?

Now that we have slowed down some and are now waiting for a rain...yes its springtime and we want it to rain. It's completely opposite of what it's been like the past couple of years, but that's how the weather is. Anyways now that we are a little slower I have a chance to show ya'll what we have been up to these past couple of weeks.

In the days before planting the anxious farmer is out checking his fields on a daily basis. There is a method to the madness; he will start checking the fields that typically dry out faster.

When it's getting close to go time the shop gets overtaken by pallets filled with bags and bags of seed corn.

(This picture wasn't susppose to be standing up, but blogger thought that it looked better this way....oh well.)

Caleb - "Why must you always have that camera in my face? Can't you see I'm working here?"

Me - "I can, and that's why I always have a camera in your face, cause I want to get pictures of my favorite man hard at work!" 

 Load 'em on up.

Caleb is the designated planter and he loves it. His nice lookin' backend is seated in the planter tractor from sunup to sundown. Since we have 50 million different varieties of corn (ok maybe not quite that many, but there's a lot just the same) Caleb keeps a record of what's planted where, this way we know what can be sprayed and on which field it can be sprayed. I have no idea how he keeps his records on this stuff, but I am sure I would be extremely confused if I tried to figure it out....this is just another reason why I don't want to do any of the planting!!!

We've got green corn and we've got pink corn.

I thought corn was yellow?

It is, but the different seed treatments are different colors, and the treatments are used to ward off diseases in the seedlings.  

Did you put powdered sugar on your corn?

No, no, no...ya'll sure do have a lot of questions to day!

That what stuff is actually talc.

Isn't that what they use in baby powder?

Why yes it is. When Caleb and I were dating I got a call from Caleb asking me to pick up a couple of bottles of baby powder cause they had ran out of talc.

Why do you use talc?

That's a good question. It helps the seeds move smoothly through planter and reduces wear on some of the planter parts.

Before we start throwin' seed in the ground we go over it one more time with a harrow (hair-row, it's also called just a hair).  It is used to smooth out the soil to give the planter a nice seed bed to plant the seed in.

 Now that we have all that taken care of, let's get down to business.

Around and around we go.

Caleb absolutely loves this time of the year. It's like tip-off of the first game of the year, when you've been practicing and working out during the entire off-season just to get ready for this moment. That’s what planting corn is like to Caleb. He lives for this moment.

Now we can't plant all the all the fields without re-filling at least once or a few hundred times.

Since we have three different farms working together here and each farm buys and plants their own corn we have empty out the planter each time we go to a different farm.

Why don't you just plant all of yours before switching over someone else’s?

Well, there are a couple of reasons why we don't do that. First we start on whichever field is ready first and that has to do with what the soil is like not who owns it. Cause if the soil is still to we to plant then we will go to where ever the driest soil is a start planting there. Second, the fields are all spread out and mixed together, so we will also go to whichever field is the closest.

So instead of un-hooking each planter box and dumping it by hand (that is a huge pain) we take along the shop-vac and one really long extension cord...haha...or a truck with a generator and just a regular extension cord and we suck all the corn out with it.

Ya just stick the hose down in there and let the shop-vac do all the work.

That is until you have to empty the tub, then you need a second set of hands to help hold the sack opened.

It's always nice to have someone else there to help load all these bags into the planter.

Why aren't you down there helping instead of taking pictures? Wouldn't three sets of hands be even better?

Ok smarty pants, now your starting to sound like Caleb! I do help a lot, but I want to get some pictures to show you guys so you know what’s goin' on around here. And right after I took this picture I got a call from Calvin to come help him change a tire on the anhydrous rig. So I had to run down the road to the truck with my camera bag on my back and go help change a tire. So I work, I promise. I just don't have anyone following me around taking pictures, like I do to Caleb.

So after they are re-loaded...

...and closed back up...

...it's time to get movin' again.

As of right now we have done all but about 60-70 acres, and as soon as it rains we will be able to knock those out in no time flat!

So what are you gonna do now that the corn is planted?

Well the guys are gonna get the other fields ready to plant soybeans and I am gonna get my house put back in order and I'm gonna plant my garden!

Amazingly Wonderful Blackberry Muffins

Ok, I know it's been awhile since I have posted anything about what’s been going on around here. But seriously do you really want to hear about working ground, dragging anhydrous tanks, planting corn and all the other crazy things that have been going on around this busy farm this past week??? OK, so maybe you do (I hope) and you will soon, but right now it's time for another cooking lesion. It's my new favorite thing to have for breakfast or actually when ever. They are these yummy, delicious, make your head spin blackberry muffins.

So let’s get started cause I am hungry and would like to eat!

OK, here's the line up: Flour, Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Buttermilk (or milk), Baking Soda, Blackberries. Pretty basic ingredients, besides the blackberries and buttermilk but we will cover those later.

Ok, so to tell the truth I took the basic batter recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. In it she has this amazingly wonderful recipe for these Marmalade Muffins. I first made a batch of them and boy are they good. I gave one of these ooey-gooey delicious muffins to my wonderful hubby.

Well he took one bit and then proceeded to tell me 'they would be a lot better without the orange stuff.'

What!?!?! That "orange stuff" is what made them so delicious.

So since my farmer husband only likes "farm like" (whatever that means) food I started thinking about what I could do to make something he might enjoy. Since I really liked the batter of the marmalade muffins, I thought how about making another batch and make some blueberry muffins (cause I had a bag of them in the freezer that I needed to use up).

While making them I thought "Hey, how about putting some blackberries in there?!?! I bet that might be good too." (After all I am, what Caleb would say, addicted to blackberries. They could be fixed just about any way you would think and I would just devour them.)

So, while making the blueberry batch I pulled a little batter out and threw in some good ol' blackberries. After they were done cooking, I had to try the blackberry ones right away and they were amazing....so much better than the blueberry ones. And to make it even better, Caleb loved them too! So since he liked them soo much I thought I would share this wonderfulness with all of you to enjoy as well, so here we go.

First preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Now cream together 2 sticks of butter (softened) and 1 cup sugar in a mixing bowl.

Next, crack in two eggs and mix until well combined

Now on a sheet of waxed paper, sift the 2 cups of flour.

FYI: I really hate this sifter and would rather have the old school sifter, but I have this one and I will have to live with it until I find the one I want at a garage sale or thrift store! There you have it! Now I will stop whining and get back to cooking.

Now, dump your sifted flour into the mixing bowl without making a mess....haha yea right, I’m the queen of making messes!

Gently stir the mixture using as few strokes as possible to keep the muffins from getting tough.

Now the recipe book calls for 1 cup of buttermilk, but I don't have any buttermilk so I use plane and simple whole milk and they still tasted wonderful.

Now combine 1 cup of milk / buttermilk add 1 tsp of baking soda in a small measuring cup or bowl.

Add the milk mixture to the muffin batter and mix just till combined.

Now it's time for the blackberries and this part I do by hand....well actually I use a spatula or a spoon and not really my hands.

Now throw about 2 cups of blackberries into the batter...

...and mix.

Now spoon the batter into the muffin tin....about two-thirds or so full. You can either put paper liners down, silicon liners, or nothing....if you use nothing make sure to grease the muffin tins.

Now it's time for the crunchy, yummy topping that makes these even better.

Now in most circumstances I use the good stuff, real butter, but for the topping I use margarine cause it makes a crunchier topping.

So in a small bowl add about one tablespoon of margarine and add 3-4 tablespoons of sugar. Then with a fork, cut it all together.

It will look like this when it's ready. Some times you might have to add some more sugar or butter to get it just right.

Now sprinkle some of this buttery - sugary goodness right on top of each muffin.

When they are done this is what they will look like. Let them cool....but not too much cause when they are still warm they are the best. They will just melt in your mouth. So enjoy them with a tall glass of milk.

Now let's talk about options....

I have used blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and they are all wonderful. With the strawberries I cut them into small little chunks...

…and mix them just like the blackberries.

Some other thoughts of what might be good would be raspberries, peaches, maybe even mangos, but I don't think my hubby would go for that. Just use your imagination.

As for the orange marmalade muffins instead of fruit add in the zest of two oranges. While the muffins are cooking juice the oranges you just stole the zest from and mix the juice with 1 cup of brown sugar. Once the muffins are finished spoon this gooieness onto each of the muffins and let it soak in. These are marvelous!

Bake for 18-23 minutes or until light brown one top. Make sure to watch that they don't get too brown.


Amazingly Wonderful Blackberry Muffins


Muffin Ingredients

2 - sticks butter (softened)
1 - cup sugar
2 - large eggs
2 - cups all-purpose flour
1 - cup buttermilk / milk
1 - teaspoon baking soda
2 - cups (1 pint) blackberries (or fruit of choice)

Topping

1 - tablespoon margarine
3 to 4 - tablespoons sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and mix until well combined. Sift flour onto sheet of waxed paper and pour into mixing bowl. Gently stir using as few strokes as possible, so muffins aren't tough. Stir in blackberries (or fruit of choice). Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins and fill about two-thirds full.

For the topping fork together margarine and sugar.

Sprinkle topping on each. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes, until lightly brown.

Cool, then enjoy.

Lots of Love
Janet