from freeze to thaw to freeze to arse up
Almost. Arse up. Maintaining ones dignity as a farmer in a landscape covered in a thick layer of ice is no small feat. Watch my brain freeze slowly over in today’s farm walk about!
If a person can’t laugh at herself she has no business laughing at all. But laughing at the weather - that is another category altogether. A step too far. The weather is seriously, serious business to a farmer. Farmers are always going to talk about the weather. It means life and death for a farm so we are watching the changes in the climate very closely and adjusting our farming practices in anticipation of the changes. For a number of years the winter weather has been mild. But this year it has plummeted back to its old ways (as it does) because no-one gets to depend of the weather in Illinois. It can go either way. In fact Illinois is one of the few states that has not had its zone changed in recent years. It has remained pretty steady. That is not to say any area is safe from the changes in the climate but Illinois being so vast, and right in the center of the country and flat as a die, is slow to change.
Old farmers (the ones who have not escaped to condos in Florida for the winter), gather at Casey’s every morning, watch other people pump gas and buy cold sugary drinks (sugary, fizzy drinks drunk before noon - only in America) while sanctimoniously drinking execrable bottomless coffee from huge urns and complaining about the price of corn and the weather. They wear flannel and denim overalls and worn out boots. They drive dented pick up trucks that line up like a funeral procession outside the service station. And sadly many of them think the changing climate is a political construct. Though I don’t argue. I just nod in a farmer-ly fashion as I pass.
“Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest.”
— King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4
There is wisdom in restraint, true understanding doesn’t always require speaking or convincing those unwilling to hear.
But still they are a font of knowledge. It is tough for an organic farmer to get to know these farmers. They have a very set way of thinking. I find the best thing to do when faced with this kind of stubborn behaviour is to say nothing at all. Just listen. Nod Smile. Listen some more. Then. Just do it. We let our actions, our organic, clean, weed free fields (and the price of our organic corn) speak.
These farmers would never give a woman farmer much time though- not to mention a woman farmer who is an immigrant and grew organic crops, and would not feed her cows corn on concrete.
But we always have the weather. Maybe not the climate! But we can always talk about the weather after I fill my old dented truck up with gas. Bless them.
The Farmy Walk-About (I know you are only here for the walk about!) 😂
With the promise of the warm summer temperatures of Australia and New Zealand teasing me. (I leave again in 20 days ). I think I might survive the next bout of deep cold. It was 9F when I shot this vid and going down to -4F tonight. I call it cold when we go below 0. Anything that has a minus before it, is cold in my book! And any minus with wind attached is just plain Bad.
The Farmy round up.
Cows
The cows are pissed off and moaning their arses off about the hay situation. They get a first-cut bale every other feed. As you know first-cut is not the cream of the crop.
You can’t just eat alfalfa every day of the year I tell them. You’ll get fat. Fatter actually. Plus you have to leave some good hay for the pigs.
Chickens
In three weeks I have to leave the farm for about six months - maybe more -and leaving in the middle of winter means leaving a lot of work for the summer helpers. The chook house is a case in point. Everything is frozen solid in there. All the bedding frozen down by the chook poo.
And in this weather, the chickens seldom go outside, they really don’t like to step in snow. They much prefer to stay inside pooping generously as the chicken shit freezes on contact.
Farming and poo go hand in hand. They don’t tell you that in the romantic movies where farmers sit on the stoop shelling peas and chatting with the neighbors. There are no neighbors who chat here anyway.
Hogs - American Guinea Hog
It is hard to drag hogs through the winter. We don’t do it as a rule and probably won’t do it again. There is too much time in the barn for them with the ground frozen solid and covered in snow. I just don’t think it is healthy.
I have trained them to come right out of their winter quarters to eat in the quad. This gives them a run around and a chance to be nosy and have a bit of fun.
Jude and FreeBee
Are delightful and more than happy with their living arrangements.
When the thaw arrives they will be moved back into their summer field and their winter quarters will be sown in beans.
Tima and Wai
Nothing fazes Tima. But Wai absolutely and completely refuses to come out when it is snowy and cold. He practically goes dormant that pig.
Tima on the other hand hurries from gate to gate testing for weaknesses, screams at the top of her piggie lungs if it looks like someone else is being fed before her and generally makes a nuisance of herself.
Farm Dogs and Barn Cats
TonTon who is very old now and quite blind still manages to take himself for a walk past the barn and around the house a couple of times a day. Boo who has gotten quite chunky in my absence is quite happy to lay in his bed by the fire and point out his advancing years, too. The barn cats are inching their way in by the fire too!
Travel
In a couple of weeks I fly out to California, then on to New Zealand up and down the North Island visiting family, friends and gardening; then out to Australia. So you and I have some miles to cover and some sights to see.
Thankfully my next family base is in a warmer climate. In Australia. As doula and nanny for my daughter. Because the cold out here in central illinois is not fun. The family here are joking that it will warm up the minute I am gone. Which would not surprise me. But I am the Mama. Have coat. Will travel.
We have not had a recipe in a while!
Individual Scalloped Potato Cups
Into a bowl, I threw four thinly sliced potatoes. I added a sprinkle of salt, a grind of pepper, and a generous handful of grated white cheddar cheese. Then, finely diced onions, garlic, parsley and (optional bacon) joined the mix.
With my hands, I gathered small stacks of potatoes and the other ingredients, shaping the pile and then arranging them carefully into the hollows of a hot cast-iron muffin tin. A splash of heavy cream went in with each little stack.
They cooked at 350°F (or whatever temperature the wood-fired oven decided it was) for a good hour—half the time covered in tin foil, half without.
Simple, golden, and utterly delicious.
Chapter Three of Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
(If you missed out on Chapters One and Two)
Wind in the Willows
If you would like to have me read your stories here on SubStack: DM me with an offer.
Love ya!
And so happy to have you here today.
Take care
Talk soon
Celi
Wow, it really does look cold there. We have happily escaped any ice. We got about a foot of snow from the two go-arounds last week but some of that melted yesterday. But more cold single digits, teens and twenties until maybe Thursday. I've only been out for short stretches today to pull the. garbage cans out to the street, to take the kitchen waste out to the compost pile, and a couple of short forays out to scatter bird seed on the patio. The wind is wicked out there. Looking forward to spring one of these days. I've got all my seeds ordered and delivered just need some warm days to get some winter sowing done.
love the potato stacks and I would not be able to stop eating them! the cold sounds brutal and it's that way in michigan also, at least for the next few days. sounds like some change is coming and that's how l life goes. enjoy your warmth and family down under and it must be hard having your heart in two places at once