Tiger Lilies on the Farm

Tiger lilies also known as Ditch Lilies are blooming here in Northern Indiana! Tiger lilies are very special to me because the ditch near my parents house was always full of them growing up as a child. I remember riding my bike up and down the road admiring the flowers. Sometimes I'd look for garden spiders living and nesting near the flowers. I enjoyed picking a bloom and putting it behind my ear.

Between Old Mcdonald's Farm and "Factory Farms"

Agriculture is a huge part of mine and my husband's lives. It controls our schedule, where we work, our finances, where we live, our interests, and the people we share some of our time with.

And it controls our thoughts and our emotions.

We're just small Hoosier conventional soybean and corn farmers but I couldn't imagine living our life without farming or being involved with agriculture. I think about where we would live, what our landscape would look like or what we'd do with the extra money we've invested into keeping the farm going.

I don't think about it very long because it's well, just something I. don't. like. to. think. about.

We have so much invested in agriculture.

If you're married to a farmer or you are a farmer or both, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Recently, it seems like many others off the farm have taken an interest in agriculture as well.

They're concerned with the seeds we plant, the chemicals we APPLY, the ground we use, the taxes we pay, the fuel we use, the income we make, the roads we use and where our crops go post harvest.

Some think it's a sin that we grow grain that could possibly go towards feeding the animals that we eventually consume. Some think it's a sin that we grow genetically engineered crops even though they have no reasoning to back up that thinking. Some think it's a sin that we are tearing up their roads and wasting their tax dollars. Some think we are sinning by poisoning their air with the pollution from our tractors.

They've never worked on a farm let alone even visited a farm.

But for some reason, they think they know exactly how we should farm.

DIY: Pallet Flag With Barn Star

I am dedicating this post to my brother in law, Mr. Adam Smith who is running for Kansas State Representative in this coming election! Be sure to check out Mr. Smith's website for more information and like the Smith for Kansas Facebook page to stay up to date on their latest news and campaign information.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I have started a few projects around the house. I am excited to share another one with you! I have been dying to make a pallet flag similar to the ones I've seen on Pinterest but with my own design and twist.

This is a project I gathered all the supplies for last summer but never got around to doing it. I am so excited that I was able to get this fun pallet flag done and displayed on Flag Day! I am even more excited to share the tutorial so you have plenty of time to make one before the 4th of July. Okay, maybe not plenty of time, but if you get on it now, it can be done! 

Sometimes I Struggle

I am a farmwife.

As simply defined in Webster's dictionary dating back to 1874 : a farmer's wife

That's it. 

That's all Webster and his posse could come up with. 

Some of you might find that definition quite offensive.

Not me. I get it.

You see, we farmwives all have one thing in common: We are married to a farmer. 

But that's mostly it, folks. That's all we have in common as farmwives.

You see, my life as a farmwife is different than yours and your life as a farmwife is different from mine. That's why Mr. Webster's definition couldn't go into much more detail. He'd have to create a whole new book just to define us farmwives and all we do.

But there is one more thing we have in common as farmwives and that is, we struggle. And within those struggles, there are differences.

My name is Kelly. I'm a new farm wife. And I struggle.

I struggle because, I have a powerful title to live up to. Not everybody gets to be a farmwife. More than likely not everybody wants to be either. 

As newer farmwives, we have stereotypes, legacies, traditions and our own lives to sort through. We want to do things the way our grandmothers, mothers or mothers and grandmothers in law did, but sometimes we just can't. What may have worked for prior generations, doesn't always work for us. 

Sometimes the modern feminist way of thinking in farm communities doesn't gain a lot of popularity with the less modern generations. 

Genuity® RootWorm Manager App Review

This post is sponsored by Genuity® but all opinions and writing are 100% mine.

When the iPhone and the iPad were first making an appearance in our world of technology, I honestly thought farmers including most of our farm friends would be the last if at all to jump on board when it came to purchasing this technology. I never thought twice about how the technology of a smart phone or tablet could be used on the farm. 

I thought they would at least jump on board to check the weather, though. And taking selfies in the tractor and the field, of course.

I began seeing various agriculture apps come out and some farmers even use an iPad in the tractor to navigate various tools and engage in field mapping. As I worked at an equipment dealership for a few years, I watched the relationship between farmers and smart phones and tablets grow more and more everyday.

As farmers grow more comfortable with mobile devices, they are using them for more than just checking the weather. 

In fact,  between 2010 and 2011, mobile device usage increased by 30 percent on the farm. Today, it's estimated that 94% of farmers are utilizing a mobile device of some sort on their farm. Where that statistic comes from and how they know, is beyond me. But I believe it.

Staircase Vignette Makeover with Barn Junk

I have been doing quite a few projects around the house and I feel a little guilty keeping them from you guys! Recently, I finally put together a little vignette display underneath my staircase. It's a simple project that has been weighing on my mind for this space the last two years since we moved in. Every time I walked by this space, which was like 3 million times a day, I'd cringe.

Our friends had an antique drop leaf table finished for us as a wedding gift. Supposedly I had pointed this table out at an antique store. My friend went back shortly after our visit and picked up the table. She had a friend refinish it. It's a very special gift and I had a spot for it the moment we moved in. I just never really put much effort into decorating it.

I slapped a table runner, an enamel washtub filled with burlap and light up grapevine balls and called it a day.

BEFORE

BEFORE

Can you say, B-O-R-I-N-G. It just wasn't working for me. And I left it like that for TWO YEARS.

Mason Jar Monday: Ball® Sip & Straw Lids

Welcome back for another Mason Jar Monday! Today I am featuring another gadget to turn your jar into a fun drinking glass for the summer. I know I've featured some others in the past, but I am particular excited about these Sip & Straw Lids because they're put out by Ball®. You can find these lids and straws just about anywhere Ball® jars are sold. They come in both wide and narrow mouth.

 I am not sure how long this little collection has been in stores, but I discovered my lids and straws at a Hardware store in Shipshewanna, Indiana. I picked them up for around $5 for 4 lids and 4 straws. Once I found them, I started seeing them everyone! Friends were sending me pictures as they came across them.