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2026, animals, chickens, crops, education, Farming Update, Music, Uncategorized

Chickens Love Popcorn 

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This week’s Farming Update from Ben 
 
I mean who doesn’t love popcorn, right? (I know there’s a few of you).  

Daughter went to a movie the other day. It was Tuesday so we did the Large Value popcorn (we usually have the refillable bucket, but this came up spur of the moment).  Shortly after she got home it was already soggy. Dang, we love leftover popcorn. I threw it out to the chickens the next morning. You know, back in the ‘70s, when I was in the hospital for three weeks with my leg injury, my mom would make popcorn, put it in a leftover bread bag, and freeze it. Then she would bring it to me in the hospital. You don’t often hear about people using bread sacks anymore, do you? They worked for boot liners and they worked for leftovers.  

See this video of me calling the chickens; they love leftovers, and popcorn all the more.  

https://youtube.com/shorts/P4e7q77LJ1c?si=dfzfUz5Dq5WL9T67

Finally got the last of the straw baled on Sunday. Saturday, I baled and stacked 110 bales in a wagon for the strawberry farm in the neighborhood. He’ll take them in November just before it gets really cold or snows. He’s got a shredder / blower type machine that he can stack about a dozen bales on, then wife or child feeds them into the chute to chop it up and spray it over the berries while he drives down the rows. Looks pretty slick for that job. On Sunday, Neighbor Craig was over and round baled the rest. Got 18 large round bales, called 5×5’s. Five feet wide and about five feet diameter. At some point I’ll get out with the tractor and loader and bale fork on the front and bale lift on the back and pick them up and put them in a row until neighbor Dave picks them up for use as bedding this winter. As I’ve said before since there’s no under seeding planted with the oats, they can sit there for a bit. If there was something planted underneath, and they were left sitting, the bales would smother whatever was growing. I do want to get these fields dug up and planted to rye, so I need them moved sooner than later.  

I called John Deere to come out and check why the big tractor is overheating. I pulled the side panels off.

Hmmm. Maybe this pipe?

And I decided, yeah, let’s call a guy. I don’t have that much time right now anyway being back at college and all. I bought this tractor used. It has 11,000 hours on it, which is equivalent to 50,000 miles on a car. And I put about 100 hours on it per year. It came from a local farm, so my local dealer might have some history on it. I don’t. I can tell the radiator hoses are soft, meaning they should be replaced, and it probably needs a water pump and new thermostat. I’m guessing $3500 parts and labor. Will let you know in a month.  

Got new lights installed on a trailer, then went to pick up rebar and a 6″x6″x16′ green treated post for a fence down in the cow yard.

Fancy new lights

We’re also prepping for more concrete in the shed. Padawan and I excavated dirt this week. Got two loads of gravel delivered for the base. Rented a plate compactor for the weekend. Padawan was out for a couple hours, and he and I worked on digging out the dirt and gravel next to the existing concrete. Man, I am so looking forward to having concrete in here! Another one of those things I wish I’d have done 20 / 30 / 40 years ago! But, you know, money. And life. And I’ll appreciate it more now. (Padawan 2 is back at college).  

Another project
This looks like work.

I changed the spark plugs in the swather, and then I was tired of looking at it. Remember I said I’d drive it around for an hour so it felt needed? I drove it for 20 minutes and called it good. It worked, it made all the scary noises I’ve come to expect, and I parked it back in the shed for next summer. I’ll try to start it once a month and move it back and forth until winter. I say until winter because usually I have something parked in front of it, so I can still start it, but not be able to move it after that.  

At the college I am taking two classes: Music Fundamentals, and Introduction to Humanities. I don’t usually do two classes. But music only has 11 students and I was afraid it would be cancelled so I registered for Humanities and now they’re both going. I signed up for music because I wanted to learn more about WHY I like the music I like. How is a song created? What makes rock sound like rock and country sound like country? And what do they mean when they say, ‘This is in the key of A’?  

And the teacher for Humanities is a great teacher. I’ve taken 3 of her classes before. Both these are online and so far, so good. From what I’m learning so far in chapter 1, I’m pretty good at the Humanities already. I am mostly open minded, and I use a Socratic method of teaching. (Trying to get others to think and answer questions themselves and not simply lecturing).  

Anyone familiar with Rhaphidophoridae? Otherwise known as Camel Crickets?  

Eww!

We have had them in our house the last few years. They’re creepy. We have an exterminator / bug guy that does bait stations outside to control mice and rats, so we had him spray the basement too.  

The ag co-op had me apply for my crop loan for next year. Got that approved. Saved a $250 application fee. Looks like I can farm again next year.  

I’m seeing a few soybeans starting to turn yellow. Haven’t seen anyone chopping corn silage yet, but that will be happening soon. I picked a few ears of corn the other day. It is well dented. Counted 14 kernels around, and 38 long. Usually they’re 16 around, a really impressive ear will be 18. They were both filled all the way to the end, meaning the plant had everything it needed and didn’t need to abort any kernels to survive. Now that was just this one place in this one field. I could go to another field with more rocks and it would look worse.  

Acorns are falling too. They are good sized this year. Must have been a good year for acorns. And it seems like some of the barn swallows have started to leave. The world just keeps going around.  

THINGS YOU USED TO USE FOR LEFTOVERS YOU DONT USE ANYMORE?

41 thoughts on “Chickens Love Popcorn ”

  2. Love the chicken video, Ben. And a great use for soggy popcorn – was probably the humidity that did it…

    I remember an article in a 1972-era Sunset magazine about “réchauffé” – the art of turning leftovers into something completely different (and wonderful). I always try and tweak the leftovers somehow, to make it seem like something new. I fail frequently…

    Can’t think of anything I’ve stopped using leftovers for, yet.

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      1. We have gotten 3/10 of rain. The bales are wrapped with a nylon ‘net wrap’ and that helps shed some of the water. The ends are open, but it’s also wrapped fairly tight so there will be a little spoilage, but not really enough to matter. And since these will be bedding anyway, it’s OK. The sooner I get them stacked end to end, that protects the open ends, except for the last one on each end.

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  3. i butter my popcorn so heavily that moisture never becomes apparent. at the movies i have them heavy butter it middle first. those giant refillables get refilled on my way home too. my wife loves the bucket i bring home. when making it at home i use the giant spaghetti pot about 1/3 cup of oil for 1cup+ of kernals then melt 1 stick of butter and i get out 3 big plastic salad bowels. pour 1/2 the popped corn into two of the bowels then pour the melted butter over and add 3/4 cup of parmasean cheese and a teaspoon or so of salt into the two bowels then pour the first full bowl into the remaining empty one and then the second full one into the one i just emptied and around the circle a couple of times until its mixed thouroughly. debbie usually gets about halfway through hers and i get a little more than half so the combined leftover is about a bowl and that lasts till walkbys on the kitchen counter empty it sometime the next day. i have never experienced soggy popcorn. oily yes…soggy no
    3500 for a waterpump and hoses? i would have bet that would be a ben in the shed jobwith all that heat and light and concrete.
    last year i took architechture to learn about drawning blueprints with computer apps and after teo classes concluded that i simply dont enjoy it. handy yes, enjoyable no. this year im taking horticulture on natives and propagation with a side of start up business plan for perrenial farming and wild flower commercial propagation
    love those courses.
    i am also working with a guitar luthier to learn how to do that mornings between now and christmas.
    life … if a day was 36 hours long i think more could get done

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  4. Love the chicken video!

    I saw video of the line for crop art on Facebook and it was crazy!

    I’m a big fan of plastic yogurt containers for leftovers (or make extras in my case). I also still use the square freezer cartons from my mother’s kitchen.

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  5. If I correctly understand your question at the end of the post, you are asking about obsolete or discontinued ways of storing or preserving leftovers (as in bread bags.)

    We still occasionally reuse empty bags from commercial products for food—especially bready items—storage. Other than that it’s difficult to remember leftover preservation methods ever being much different in my lifetime. I did a little online research via Wikipedia. Saran Wrap was developed in the ‘30s and became a consumer product in the late ‘40s. The formula has changed and there are other plastic wraps but the use for food preservation is the same.

    Tupperware was developed in the ‘40s and became available through Tupperware parties in the ‘50s. There are many other brands of plastic storage containers now and there is also a general trend away from using plastic for food storage but the basic utilization of purpose-designed storage containers for leftovers has not changed.

    The only once-ubiquitous product for food containment you seldom see anymore is waxed paper. I remember in my very early years of home-packed school lunches having a hard-boiled egg rolled in waxed paper with the ends twisted. There is a specific method for wrapping a sandwich in waxed paper that stays tightly closed. I Googled it once out of curiosity. I have a roll of waxed paper with my bookbinding equipment. A sheet inserted between two pages or surfaces will prevent any stray glue from sticking them together.

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  8. That’s a great video of calling the chickens!

    I’m talking Spanish I through community education this fall.

    I use and re-use bread bags until they are needed for picking up after Maggie. My mom used to put bread bags on our feet over our socks and then we’d put on our boots.

    I wash and re-use all plastic bags until they’ve got holes in them. I also wash and re-use most of the plastic containers that come from the grocery store. They’re great for freezing foods.

    I re-use food items too. I’ve put leftovers in soups or casseroles (for myself), if they seem compatible. I try to compost vegetable scraps.

    I need to whine a little about how lousy I feel. My ribs are sore from coughing. I’m congested and my eyes are sore. My head aches. No, don’t offer to come help me. I have all I need. I just need to whine about it. Maggie has been so sweet to me. She keeps sniffing my nose! Thanks for listening!

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  10. Ah, now I get the question! I still even use wax paper occasionally, and I use everything mentioned above. Wash out zip-lock bags unless something gross has been in them.. Bread bags are often the right size for the compost container.
    Plastic grocery bags become our trash bags. Zip-locks from, say, granola are good for things like chicken bones.

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  11. Rise and Save that Leftover, Baboons,

    Remember those little plastic/elastic bowl tops that fit over a bowl? They look like shower caps. I found those by chance recently and bought a set. Those are so useful for storing leftovers. I had completely forgotten about those, so I had not used them in years. I now am trying to transition from plastic to glass storage which works well for many things, but not tiny amounts. There are only tiny plastic jars for that.

    When we went to Grandma’s house, she had hundreds of plastic bags that had held things like rice, beans, and bread stuck between the wall and the refrigerator, as well as a ball of saved string and a rubber band ball. She used all those things to save leftovers. She would tie twist ties together in a string to save those as well. That generation endured the Great Depression with such thrifty strategies.

    I have a Shaker box that my American frontier ancestors used to store sugar and flour in canvas bags. My understanding is that it was very difficult to keep anything fresh and edible while living in a covered wagon. Everything had weevils in it. Cringe. Now I use it for light bulbs.

    Ben, I love the chicken video–what fun that is.

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    1. Yes, I actually was given a set of those bowl covers, and know they’re available online, at least.

      I’ve been trying to use pint jars, too, for storage – or spice jars. Baby food jars work, from thrift shops… I have a few tiny glass jars, maybe from the spice section of our co-op.

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    2. I inherited a set of those plastic bowl covers from my mom. I’ve used them, washed them, and re-used them so many times that the elastic is worn out around the edges. Those things are great for storing something in a bowl that doesn’t have a cover.

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  12. OT – I think it was MIG who asked VS to record the numbers for the largest pumpkin at the Fair. Here’s some information that was posted on FB above a photo of a young man standing on top of a giant one:
    ‘Congratulations to Patrick for winning the youth giant pumpkin at the Minnesota state fair this year at 1671 pounds. Although his massive pumpkin was entered in the youth category, it was the heaviest overall and not only that….this is the 3rd heaviest pumpkin ever weighed at the great Minnesota get together. Quite the accomplishment and something to be very proud of… hats of to you Patrick, I see a bright future ahead of you.”

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  13. I’ve seen those round bales wrapped tightly in white plastic, lined up end to end, and stacked two or three high. I saw this done near Kenyon once. The owner spray painted right wing political comments on them after the 2020 election and left them there for a few years. They must not have needed the hay. Would the hay get moldy?

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      2. It was. I asked for a cricket, but apparently AI doesn’t get the difference. If we ever find a grasshopper like that in the house things have seriously gotten out of hand.

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  15. My WordPress is acting weird and won’t let me add my like to responses. No idea why, it just flashes then returns to the way it was. No idea why or what changed.

    Sounds like we are all keepers of leftovers!

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