Category Archives: 2024

2024, Family, Food, gardening, home, Kids, Uncategorized

Eating it Up!

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“We need to go grocery shopping.”  “We need groceries.” ” We have to go shopping.”  These are very frequent litanies at our house.  YA occasionally cooks (and she’s fine at it) but she prefers quicker meals.  This means she doesn’t recognize foodstuffs that aren’t already “meals”.  She can open the cabinet, see a can of black beans, a can of corn and a can of Rotel tomatoes sitting next to each other and not see a meal.

In my reality, we hardly have room in the fridge, in the freezer or the cabinets for more food.  But if I say, I can make ________ from the cans in the cabinet or frozen items, she is often not interested.  So we go round and round and neither of us ever “wins”. 

She left for London last Thursday and I decided that I would spend her 12 days out of town eatting only what is in the house.  With the exception of milk, I am not going to purchase any food.  Unfortunately it’s not much of a stretch goal.

However after a few days, I realize that I’m running up against a “quirk” of mine.  My mom was born in 1932 and so her formative years were depression years and she came out of them with a “waste not, want not” attitude.  When I was growing up, we had what she lovingly called “goulash” at least once a week – any leftovers saved up and then lumped together when there was enough for a pot-ful.  I don’t remember any of them being ghastly and will admit that as an adult, I have more than once combined leftovers.

BUT, this waste not/want not that she passed to me has morphed over the years into a strong desire to “finish” things.  When I eat the last slice of bread or heat up the last helping of a dish, it makes me feel good, almost lofty.  This can unfortunately lead me to finishing things when I don’t really need to.  No need to eat three slices of bread because there are only three slices left in the bag… that kind of thing. 

While YA is gone, I’m having to balance my desire to finish things with my desire to eat only stuff that is in the house.  So far so good.   Chips/cheese/salsa.  Made a panzanella with a baguette and shaved parmesan I found in the fridge (and tomatoes and basil from the garden).  11 jars of tomato sauce for the freezer.  Ate the last English muffin from Breadsmith.  Got through the pesto pasta with tomatoes that I made right before she left.  Discovered chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers – smores.  A couple of smoothies so far using lots of frozen fruit.  I harvested the rosemary and it smelled to good that instead of freezing it all, I made a focaccia.

This is all a lot of fun so far.  We’ll see how the next week goes!

How do you feel about leftovers?

2024, animals, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Technology, Uncategorized

False Fall

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben. 

First false fall, I believe that’s what we’re in. 
I’ve seen a few soybeans turning color, the leaves are starting to drop, and it sure is getting dark sooner. The temperature has been very nice the last week. I don’t know if the barn swallows have all moved on, or if it’s just because I’m at work and I don’t see them so much. I did notice a couple flying around the other day.  

The deer are really doing a number on the soybeans. It’s surprising how many leaves and beans a herd of deer can eat overnight. Most of my beans are over my knees, but that one field I rent, the beans are barely to my knees there, and the top of the entire field has been nibbled by the deer. It’s a lot of dollars they’re eating.   

I spent a few hours in the tractor Thursday night going over the oat ground a second time. The second time, I worked the field perpendicular to the way I worked it the first time. All an effort to work it up better. And I used the boating app to find my way again.  

I’m hoping to have started planting winter rye by the time you read this. I use it as a cover crop to keep some roots in the ground over winter, and to hopefully provide a little extra nitrogen come spring. 
Daughter and Bailey joined me in the tractor as my tractor buddies for a while. That gave us some nice time to talk about her day and I shared random tidbits about the crescent moon.  

 I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how I have the entire audio recording of the movie All That Jazz in my music library. I hadn’t listened to it for a while and I had it on the tractor that night. I can recite it line for line and every time I hear it I pick up something different. It’s loosely based on the life of actor, dancer, choreographer, director Bob Fosse. He wasn’t a real nice man, but he was a very talented man. In the tractor, and later, wearing earbuds, I could hear subtle background noises I hadn’t detected before. It makes me appreciate him more as a director for the details he added.  

Sometimes while driving down I35 or Highway 52, I wonder how many of my fields a highway like that would take up.  It makes me a little sad, to think about how quickly a bulldozer can change the landscape and erase any memories of a farmstead that may have lasted years and raised generations. It should still be called progress that it doesn’t take as many small farms to produce the food we need, but the lost memories still make me sad.  

* * * * * * *
 
I feel fortunate that I’ve made some pretty good business connections over the years and I’m lucky that one businessman has let me borrow his scissor lift for a few days. Kelly and I used it to paint the front of the theater last Saturday.  

A year ago we did this with an extension ladder on a day it was about 90°F And the whole thing was just hot and miserable. This second time around we were much more prepared and it was almost fun. My nephew let me borrow his paint sprayer and we knew how to tape off things a little better (or at all)  and it went pretty well.  I’m also using the lift to swap some lighting in the theater. The Rep Theater was fortunate to receive large grant to purchase a new Lighting Console and some LED lighting. I’ve been having a good time getting that set up, and when I got the lights to turn color the first time I let out a big “YEAH BABY!”.  

At one point I knocked over a riser section and wedged it under part of the scissor lift. I swear, there are days I should not be left alone.  

At home I am rarely left alone thanks to my white shadow. 

Unless she’s on a walk with daughter, she’s not far from me, hoping I’ll be doing something interesting soon.  

DO YOU SWEAT THE DETAILS? I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY’RE NOT IMPORTANT.  

2024, Family, holidays, Uncategorized

Lake Life

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I grew up in Rock County, MN, one of four MN counties with no lakes. We have gravel pits that have been stocked with fish. Luverne has renamed a gravel pit in town as “The Lake” and is developing it as a city park.

My father loved to fish, and “going to the lake” meant a trip to Lake of the Woods where we stayed with my Great Uncle Albert and Great Aunt Ella in their rackety farm house near Baudette. It smelled of decay and mice. There were raspberries growing wild, and I helped Aunt Ella catch her cow and milk it right there in the pasture. Uncle Albert left southern Minnesota in the 1920’s after he and his brother Herman got into an argument over money and Herman shot at him. He didn’t live on the water but was close enough to lakes as well as the Rainy River for my dad to have great fishing.

Husband and I and our son and his family spent Labor Day Weekend in an Airbnb on the northern shore of Ottertail Lake, near Fergus Falls. It was lovely, and the first time I ever experienced “Lake Life”. Grandson caught and released eight bluegills off the dock. It was quiet and peaceful. It was fun to hear people in the stores compare the kinds of fish they caught and the bait and lures they used. People had pontoons, kayaks, speed boats, and paddleboards all over the lake.

I can’t imagine the amount of work and money it would take for upkeep of such a place and a boat or watercraft. After we move back to Rock County, grandson can catch bluegills in the gravel pits.

What are your Lake Life experiences? What is the first fish you ever caught?

2024, Food, gardening, Mysteries

Tomato Time!

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For a couple of years, my tomatoes have struggled and I haven’t had the massive numbers coming off the plants as I’ve had in the past. The same issue (inconsistent watering) came up over and over again when I discussed it with experts and searched on the internet.  But I know my bales and I know myself and my habits and I just couldn’t accept this was the issue.  I did find just a couple of sites that talked about calcium deficiency due to the high nitrogen that is needed in getting the bales conditioned at the beginning of the season.

Ignoring the experts, I changed back to the ammonium sulfate conditioner that I used to use, added some organic calcium-rich Tomato-tone supplement and I really ramped up the egg shells added around the base of each plant.  I’m happy to say that my intuition was correct… with these changes I am now rolling in tomatoes, especially my little cherries. 

That means it’s time to start coming up with tomato recipes. 

I made my favorite pasta/onion/cherry tomato skillet dish.  So so easy and yummy.   Salsa is up next; I have a few hot peppers left to add.   I bought a baguette yesterday for a panzanella salad; I certainly have enough basil for this too. (Made several jars of pesto last week.)  I’m thinking about a nice tomato and corn salad as well.

There will most likely be plenty of tomatoes left after that so I will probably freeze some and maybe make a couple of jars of tomato sauce.  Too many tomatoes is a nice problem to have after the last couple of years!

Can you think of a time that intuition has served you well?

2024, animals, Family, Nature, Uncategorized

Parakeets!

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Today’s post comes to us from Barbara in Rivertown!

I have a friend with a Twin Cities daughter, going through a transition, who needed at least a temporary place for two lovely parakeets. Since my friend travels too often to have any pets, her first thought was to seek info about possible Animal Shelters, etc., that might take them, and I said I’d help her with research. Our PJ gave us a couple of leads (that eventually proved unsuccessful).  

Meanwhile, our weekly “happy-hour-healing-group” of four women met at Friend’s house, where the parakeets were staying. We noticed that the more we all talked, the more the birds chattered. I started watching them more closely and sort of “bonded” with them. There was wine. By the time we left, I had decided to give them a trial run.  

We’ve had them for a whole week! The green and yellow female is about 5 years old; the other is a white male with a bit of blue “trim”, 7 years. They’re good friends, keep each other company; I’m told they have had clutches of eggs in the past, but not in the past few years. (Maybe she’s gone through menopause.) 

So Husband and I are now the “parents” of two parakeets.  It’s good to see him curious about these tiny things, and we’re enjoying having something else alive around here. They seem to go through periods of quiet, followed by chatty sessions. If we read aloud, they’re right in there with their opinions! 

 The birds don’t require as much time or hassle as some other pets we’ve had; we’re sharing the chores, and getting to know our way around them. The books from the library are at least 30 years old, but there is plenty of more-current info online. [Wes – I plan on asking you occasional questions – will email you if you’re not on the Trail.] 

Since their former names are both names of close relatives or friends, we’ve decided to re-name them.  

What shall we name the parakeets?   Got any bird stories?  Any advice for us? 

2024, animals, Food, home

Flaming Hot

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You all know I’m of two minds where the squirrels are concerned.  Honestly I don’t mind that when I feed the birds, I’m also feeding the squirrels; I just don’t like when the little rodents get piggy. 

Over the years I thought I had come to some balance – one feeder that I think of as the squirrel feeder and three others that I think of as for the birds.  Two of these feeders have little ledges for the birds can perch on but if a heavier squirrel tries to get on, it pulls down the outer part of the feeder to close up the holes.  The third has very small holes so the squirrels can’t get their noses or paws in.  I was feeling that we had finally achieved equilibrium – until I looked out the window and saw two squirrels shaking the little-holed feeder from side to side so that the seed was spilling out onto the ground.  Aaarrggghhh.

A few days later I was at Gertens to take my terrarium class and I was checking prices in the birdseed section when one of the associates asked me if I was finding what I wanted.  As I was still a bit raw about the squirrels, I made some off-hand remark about something the birds like but the squirrels don’t.  Her eyes lit up and she said “I have just the thing for you”.   She led me over to an section and showed me something called Flaming Hot Feast by the Mr. Bird company.  It has hot sauce in it and this gal explained that birds don’t register capsaicin but squirrels do. 

I was extremely skeptical but since I was still mad I thought I would at least try it.  I bought a small cylinder and because I wasn’t willing to risk more money, I didn’t even buy the cylinder holder; when I got home I jerry-rigged a holder and hung it up on one of the shepherds poles in the backyard.  I was amazed that it lived up to it’s name and hype.  Not only did the squirrels completely ignore it, the birds clearly loved it.  In fact it has led to an explosion of birds on all the feeders.  That first week when YA and I were sitting out back, I counted 35 birds at one point. 

I did eventually go get the cylinder holder and I’ve moved up to the larger cylinder as it’s a better per ounce price.  I also sourced a rain cover.  It’s like a little hat that sits above; rain is the only enemy of Flaming Hot Feast as it washes the “sticky” off and the cylinder kind of melts.  Luckily they sell FHF at Bachmans just down the street so I don’t have to go all the way to St. Paul for it.  I’ve sourced it online and have found it a bit cheaper but to get the better price you have to purchase at least 4 at a time and it hurts my pocketbook to spend that much money on birdseed at one time. Since I had initially jerry-rigged the cylinder holder I thought maybe I should made my own hot sauce for the feeder but knowing myself, this will be much easier.

So the squirrels are still getting fed in my backyard but for now, the birds are benefitting the most, which is more to my liking.  I am sure that with time, the squirrels will figure out a way to get around the Flaming Hot Feast but for the time being I’m happy.

What’s the last thing you “jerry-rigged”?

2024, Family, Food, State Fair

Fair Food Review `24

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Another great year at the Fair.  Five trips for me… six for YA (she did a Grandstand show on Tuesday).  As usual, we had a list of foods that we wanted to try; some of them are new offerings this year and some are our annual favorites.  When we started to work on the list, YA said “where is last year’s list” and was disappointed that I didn’t have it on the computer.  So…  now we have a spreadsheet.  Figures.  What follows is this year’s food review.

New Stuff

  • Cookie Butter Crunch Mini Donuts. Vanilla sugar mini donuts topped w/ cookie butter drizzle and Biscoff crumbles.  Not overwhelmed by the Biscoff taste.  They also dipped the edges of the bucket in the cookie crumbs which was cute but VERY messy.
  • Deep Fried Haloumi Cheese. Cheese wrapped in filo and fried, served with sweet chili sauce.  Cheese had an unusual texture – more like thick cottage cheese.  Very very salty.   Could have been much better.
  • Berries & Cream Nordic Waffle. Such a good idea but the problem with the Nordic Waffle is that to make them flexible enough to fold around different items, they have to be on the soft side of cooked.  Doesn’t take long before they’re a little limp and mushy.
  • Chili Mango Whip. YA tried this, as she’s liked the Whip options before.  This was their mango whip with a  “chamoy and tajin” topping.  She said it was “ok” but a little “fake” tasting.  She didn’t have a better explanation.
  • Patata Frita Focacciawich. Kettle chip flavored ice cream between focaccia bread topped w/ honey butter, kettle chips.  Sounded intriguing and smelled marvelous but the focaccia overpowered everything else and the ice cream on it’s own really didn’t have much kettle chip flavor.
  • Amish Donut. In a surprising turn reversal of roles, YA wanted to try to the Amish donut from Peachey’s – enough to stand in line for almost 45 minutes. (I didn’t not stand in line with her – no way I’m waiting that long for anything, even a donut.)  The donut had a great smell of vanilla and sugar but it was heavy and my three bites sat like lumps in my stomach.  We threw the last 1½ donuts away.  That’s right, VS threw donuts away.

 

Oldies but Goodies

So all the new foods we tried this year were a bust.  Luckily there are plenty of other favorites that don’t disappoint!

  • Cheesy Sriracha Funnel Bites. Hot, cheesy fried bites with green onions and sriracha mayo.  They love me here so I get ranch on the side as well for no extra cost!
  • Roasted Corn. Why does it taste better at the fair?
  • Australian Battered Potatoes. We had them with ranch and cheese this year.
  • Sweet Martha’s Cookies. Most dropped food item at the fair… I always bring a Tupperware but still only get the small serving.  They’re really best the first day.
  • Potato Cheese Crepe. YA’s favorite savory breakfast.
  • Pickle Pizza. I could live without this but YA loves it!
  • Brim’s `Sota Jammy Sammy. Almond butter and Minnesota blueberry jam on grilled cinnamon bread.  Yum-O.
  • Cheese Curds. One day we had the garlic ones, yesterday we had the ranch ones.  We always get the smallest dish.  Too many cheese curds can do us both in.
  • Potato Pierogis. Also another savory breakfast with a tangy horseradish sauce.
  • Hawaiian Shave Ice. What can I say?  Gotta have it every trip!

Guess the spreadsheet will be updated for next year by removing the new foods only!

What’s on the menu for your Labor Day?

2024, animals, Farming Update, Gatherings, Uncategorized

Corn Sweat

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Today’s Farming Update comes from Ben

We’ve certainly gained some Growing Degree Units lately. The Pioneer Seed website shows 2450 GDU’s to date for Rochester. 2288 would be normal. Not as hot as last summer, and higher than 2022.
Sure, blame it on corn sweat…

From an article in USA Today, they state: “During the growing season, an acre of corn sweats off about 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water a day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In Iowa, corn pumps out “a staggering 49 to 56 billion gallons of water into the atmosphere each day” throughout the state, the National Weather Service said. That can add 5 to 10 degrees to the dew point, a measure of the humidity in the air, on a hot summer day.”
Farming always gets the rap.

This year’s crop is pretty much what it is now; outside of weather conditions, not much we can do to either kill it or improve it, but we still need to manage what’s there, and continue to hope for the best, and plan for next year’s crop.

The corn and soybeans honestly look pretty good, and some scouting shows a decent crop, knock-on-wood. Hail or an early frost can still put a kink in that. And the prices are the lowest they’ve been in several years. So the best we can hope for is quantity. Which, of course, makes a surplus and drives the price down.

I went to turn on the chickens fan last week, and it ran for 4 seconds and quit. I banged on it and jiggled all the cords and it wouldn’t go. Dragged out the old barn fan that I used to use, and it ran for 4 seconds and quit. A minute later it would run for 4 seconds and quit again and that’s how that went. Neither of those really was much help then. I found an old box fan under the seats at a theater the next day and hung that up for the chickens.

The last couple nights I’ve been out digging up the oat fields. I wanted it done before it rained again. (We got an inch of rain Thursday night.) The grasses have gotten ahead of me and it didn’t work up as well as it might have had I done this two weeks ago. Foxtail mostly, comes on fast and thick and it doesn’t flow through the digger too well.


Kelly came with me one night. This tractor has the ‘buddy seat’. Kelly was my buddy for a change.


Man, so many bugs! I hate turning the lights on…sure glad I’m inside the cab!


I put the alternator put back on the swather, got it running again, and mowed the weeds along the road and over at the edge of some fields. I’ve backed it into the shed and will worry about it next July I guess. I got the generator put back on the ‘C’, but haven’t got it started again yet.
One day I had to drive to St. Charles, about 20 miles East of Rochester. I had lunch at Del’s Café and sat at the counter and had soup and a cheeseburger.


From St. Charles, I was head to Plainview about 20 miles to the North. I didn’t want to take the old, boring route up to Plainview, so I went through Whitewater State Park to Elba, and then that great gravel road through Whitewater’s lowlands, to Hwy 30, and through Beaver to Plainview. I had the road to myself, and I sighed contentedly several times. It was a great drive.


Back when I was ‘only’ farming, this was a good time of the year to take some day trips. Oats and straw are done. We’d be between hay crops, the crops are growing, and we’d drive to Wanamingo and look through the machinery dealerships or something fun like that. (machinery dealership lots; the farmers friend) Then we’d find lunch in a diner someplace.
We attended another wedding on Saturday. Kelly’s cousin. Second wedding for each, and they’ve been together 13 years, with 6 kids between the two of them. From Junior in high school to finishing college. The kids have pretty much grown up together, and they’re such a fun family and all get along, and it was a happy, fun, beautiful wedding. Bride and Groom read vows to each other, the kids read vows to both of them, and they gave all the kids their own rings. Everyone cried. It was a great time.


Here’s a photo of Luna trying to encourage a rooster to play more. They did chase each other back and forth a few times before Bailey, the peacekeeper, would break them up.



I’ve been listening to jazz lately. I have a subscription to Jazzradio.com, and Modern Big Band is my go-to.
https://youtu.be/hNbsnBZOwqE?si=IiyHaWbD2oDMslRY

HOW QUICK ARE YOU WITH THE CAR HORN?

2024, Family, Food, home, Kids, Theatre

He Made Me Ice Cream

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I brought a crate of peaches to Brookings, and for some reason, I started thinking about peach ice cream. That led to the memory of a friend of mine telling me about some ice cream she had made with a special ice cream maker she had just bought-a Ninja Creami.

Well, wouldn’t you know that the Brookings Walmart had one of those, so I bought it, and Grandson and I have had the best time this week making ice cream. He assisted in making all the mixes and running the machinery. The mixes were mainly cream and flavorings, but no eggs.

The whole premise of this contraption is that you can make a small amount of ice cream quickly after the mix has been in the freezer over night. The mixes are easy and don’t need to be cooked. Then, you put the container in the machine, which sends a whirly blade into the frozen mixture and tuns it into ice cream or sorbet.

We made lemon sorbet, coffee ice cream, peach ice cream, strawberry ice cream, vanilla ice cream, and mixed berry sorbet. Grandson quickly figured out how to get the thing set up. He was so proud and happy seeing his parents eat the ice cream he had made. He said the coffee ice cream was his favorite.

I remember family members struggling with ice, salt, and noisy electric or hand cranked ice cream makers. Boy, it tasted good, though, but it was quite a production. This was easy. Too easy!

What are your favorite ice creams? Memories of ice cream making? Ever seen the musical She Loves Me?

2024, Family, Kids, Uncategorized

Solitaire

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My Boomgaarden relatives were inveterate card players. My Uncle Alvin played poker all his life, and my grandparents loved pinochle. My grandmother really liked to play Solitaire. My dad could take it or leave it. My cousins were all card players and gamblers.

I must confess that I am an obsessive Solitaire player on my phone. Grandson got a glimpse of me playing it, and so I had to teach him how to play, too. He has only miniscule screen time a week, so being on Oma’s phone, with his parent’s permission, is quite a treat for him. It sure seems a better option than most video games!

I plan to teach him Solitaire today using real cards to help him get a better feel for the game. I sure don’t want him to learn to play poker! My maternal grandmother’s family immigrated to the US because my great grandfather lost all his money playing poker! Solitaire seems pretty harmless.

What card games do you like to play? What were your family attitudes about gambling?