But before we started raising buffalo, I wrote ten books about Kansas pioneers. Now I’m getting them formatted for ebooks and the first three have become available as ebooks.

 is about my widowed great aunt, Margaret Ralston Kennedy, who moved with eight of her thirteen from Ohio to Kansas in 1855. They were involved with the Underground Railroad during the “Bleeding Kansas” era.

News Release from the National Bison Association

The Baltimore Sun calls it a “Bison Meat Stampede.” The Chicago Tribune says “Lean Bison is a Good Bet for Holiday Grills.”

However you slice it, pure American bison is sizzling this July. Growing popularity with consumers is driving demand for bison meat to all time highs, and is encouraging ranchers to expand their herds of all-natural buffalo.

July is National Bison Month, a time in which American bison producers and marketers promote the delicious taste of bison burgers, steaks and roasts as a summer grilling alternative. According to the National Bison Association, the growing demand for bison meat reflects the desire among many people to enjoy great tasting food that is part of a healthy lifestyle, and a healthy environment.

“There’s no doubt that people are embracing the great taste, the great nutrition, and the sustainable story of bison,” said Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association. There’s nothing more all-American than a bison burger, or a bison steak on the summertime grill…”

We drove over to the other pasture to see the young cows and their calves this last Sunday. It was getting to be later in the evening and they were on the other side of the draw where we couldn’t drive closer to them.

 I forgot the binoculars and Verne forgot a bribe bucket so we just waited until their curiosity get the best of them. 

 Finally, the herd bull Clyde and the younger bulls crashed through the patch of cattails in the bottom of the draw and came across the pasture to check out why we were sitting there. After a little while the head cow brought the rest of the cows and calves but they still kept their distance, which is natural with wild mothers.

 Oh how much the calves have grown in the past month!

 The calves little horn buttons were showing and they were curious about who was in their pasture. Patches of darker hair was starting to show on their faces.

 There was one little two-week old calf in the group and it was so much smaller than the rest of them. Just like all “babies” they grow up fast!

 It was getting dark by the time the herd moved over to us, but I got a few snapshots to share with you. Enjoy the baby photos! 

4th of July

 We’ll be going to Lindsborg’s 4th of July celebration in the park Sunday evening. The local Lions club will be serving buffalo burgers (furnished by Smoky Hill Bison) plus there will be a musical program topped off with a fireworks display.

The weather forecast looks like it will be a nice day to enjoy the outdoor celebration. I hope you get to enjoy the long holiday weekend too.

Wheat harvest finally started last week after the rain delays. Everyone always gets antsy to get it cut and out of the field.

Fields of this winter variety of wheat were planted last fall. The seed sprouts and grows until winter weather sets in, and then goes dormant. When the weather warms up in the spring it grows again to maturity when it sets seed in the head.

The moisture content of the seed must be below 14% before it can be cut. Then it’s a race to get it out of the fields before rain or thunderstorms delay or ruin the crop.

It was estimated by one farmer that his costs were $200 per acre this year. So to make money he needed to get 50 bushels from each acre and to sell it above $4 per bushel. (Right now the price is $3.73 at our local grain elevator so let’s hope for higher prices and high yields.)

Kansas has long been known as the “Wheat State”, and with good reason since Kansas is one of the nation’s leading wheat producer with records of wheat production actually pre-dating its 1861 statehood. There are indications that wheat was produced in the area as early as 1839.

On Aug. 16, 1874, a group of Russian Mennonite farmers arrived in south central Kansas with bags of hardy Turkey Red winter wheat. This variety of wheat, which had been grown on the steppes of the Ukraine, is generally credited with turning the Great Plains into the nation’s breadbasket.

If you’d like to read more about the history of our Kansas wheat harvest, please go to the Kansas State Historical Society website.

Family Tradition

When I was growing up, wheat was harvested with a small combine with no protection for the driver from the blowing dirt, chaff and sun, and we drove our pickup, or tractor and wagon, to the elevator to deliver the wheat.

The combine would auger the wheat into the truck, one of us kids would drive it to the elevator to unload it, and then we’d drive back to the field for the next load. Mom would fix meals and we’d bring it out to the field for Dad. The combine was shut off and we’d sit in it’s shadow to eat and rest together.

When my parents were children there were threshing crews that went around the neighborhood to thresh the wheat. Rarely did every farmer have their own threshing equipment as it was expensive and neighbors just shared equipment. Then women would fix meals for the whole crew that could stop and come into the farm home for a meal and rest before continuing the manual labor of harvesting in the hot sun.

Now days there are air conditioned combines and big semi trucks to cut and haul the wheat. Families still work together but it’s at a quicker pace. My dad stops to come into the house to eat lunch, but my brother and his help usually just eat a sandwich while still working.

Technology has changed wheat harvest just like it has changed everything else, but its still an important crop and family tradition. So please think of Kansas and our current wheat harvest when you eat your next meal. I’m sure it will have something made with wheat in it!

Midsummer’s Day in Lindsborg, Kansas

We’ve had a series of storms and over 5 inches of rain since last weekend, causing flooding and now very hot and humid weather. It’s supposed to be up to 98 degrees by Saturday.
 
That will make a hot weekend for our town’s Midsummer’s Day festival.
 
I’ve always wondered what my Swedish ancestors thought of the heat and humidity their first summer in Kansas. It must have been a real shock coming from their northern country.
 
I don’t have a booth this year at the outdoor festival, but I plan to visit to enjoy it as a spectator. If you’re in the state, plan to join in our Swedish fun of celebrating the longest day of the year.
 
Hot Buffalo
 
I think about, and feel for animals when they are out in the open in this heat. The calves still have their baby wool coat on, and they try to stay in the shade of their moms when possible.
 
They prefer to stay out in the open where they can see what’s around them instead of heading for trees, so they are just used to the heat.
 
Buffalo don’t stand in ponds like cattle will but they sure enjoy walking through mud when its hot. There’s a reason they push and slosh the water tank around- to make cool spot to cool down their feet.

It’s a fact: Guys like meat, and they love to grill! 

 So here’s some ideas for this Father’s Day weekend, both for the grilling, and the gift.

For meat may I suggest the new Buffalo Griller Special I just posted on the website. It’s a combination of 6 lbs. of a combination of our brats, franks and German sausage, plus 4 lbs of our buffalo patties.

If you want to use ground burger and make your own patties, try this following recipe.

Sour Cream Buffalo Burgers

• 2 pounds Smoky Hill Bison ground burger 
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions 

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground bison, sour cream, onion soup mix, bread crumbs and pepper using your hands. Refrigerate while you heat up the grill so the flavors have a chance to blend.
2. Preheat a grill for medium heat. Form the ground buffalo into 8 balls, and flatten into patties. Grill the patties for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until well done.

The buffalo shed this time of year to get their old winter coat off and get down to their cooler summer hair. They scratch on whatever they can rub on, and roll in their dust wallows. They really look scruffy until the shedding in complete.
I always find it amazing that for all the hair they shed, and yet there is so little of it to find in the pasture. There are bits of hair tufts on blades of grass but most of it just blows away in the wind.

 Buffalo Shirts

With Father’s Day coming up, please look at the buffalo-theme shirts and baseball caps that I have available on the BisonFarmGiftShop.com site.

There are several good looking designs, AND you get free shipping too. Let me know what you want to say for your Father’s Day message, and I’ll ship it direct for you.

Meat samplers, especially containing buffalo steaks, are always a big hit for Father’s Day too. We can ship them either the week of June 7 or 14th.

We’d love to help you pick out a nice gift for the special men in your life! Please order your gift now for the best selection.

My mind goes into a confused overdrive as I try to figure out and learn all the newest programs, applications (Kindle, iPad, iBookstore, etc) in the internet world. Plus my computer has been updated recently with Microsoft Office 10, so “buttons” have been changed or moved…

I’ve written ten books about pioneer women, and right now I’d love to move back to their simpler life! But… I’ll keep my air conditioning, refrigerator, and my computer….

Okay maybe I don’t want to move back to prairie times, but I’ll vision the view of the open, quiet prairie to calm me down. (Try it, it works!)

So one of this week’s projects has been to learn and post Facebook pages for my websites businesses. I’ve resisted this because it really needed to be more than one, but I’ve figured it out and ready to share them with you.

#1- Linda’s Butterfield Books, Quilts, Prairie Wildflowers Facebook page features my prairie writing and the quilts and flowers that go with it. I’m just starting to update this website but I see a lot of potential here to draw me back to my favorite things.

#2- BisonFarm.com Facebook page is about the unique animals that roam the prairie in the past and again now. This is where I’ll post the stories and photos of the herd.

#3- Smoky Hill Bison Buffalo Meat, Recipes, Cooking Tips Facebook page will keep buffalo meat fans posted on specials, latest recipes, etc.

 So in all, I guess my brain learned something new, I’ve gotten a good start on my pages, and those are both good things.

Please look these new Facebook pages over, join, give me help/comments, post, whatever. They are for you, my readers and customers!

May 21, 2010

 ”Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.” – Anthony Brandt

My sister (the redhead) was here this week visiting from Virginia so it’s been a week of visiting and food. Of course not enough of the first, and probably too much of the last (two birthday cakes, one anniversary, and two graduation parties- besides family meals together.)

It’s been a cool, rainy week, but the sun was out bright and dry for my sister’s drive back to the airport today. Weather is to warm up now in Kansas so our cool weather is about to end with May.

 Next up for the family and our state is wheat harvest. Due to the cool weather, it hasn’t started changing from green to gold yet, but that will happen quickly now. Yesterday I took photos of a wheat field while it was raining. The raindrops collected between the beards making the heads look like prisms of fragile glass. But soon the wheat heads will be yellow, dry, and ready to drop its seed when it’s harvested in about a month.

It will be a time of urgency for Kansas farm families to get equipment ready and the crop harvested before something happens to it due to the weather. I’ll have photos of wheat harvest when the time comes.