May 13, 2010

Mother’s Day weekend is past and now we’re starting graduations here in Kansas. We have two high school graduations to attend this weekend, plus an eighth grade graduation next week. I realize this may be a month early compared to some states, but our local schools start in August and end in May.

Lots of parties going on too to celebrate the graduate’s big day. If you’re planning one, remember we have buffalo sliders- perfect little 2 oz. sliders to broil or grill quickly and serve. These bite-size sandwiches make easy hors d’oeuvres for any party you’re planning too.

May 6, 2010

Since we’ll all thinking about Mother’s Day due to constant reminders by commercials, etc, (and I’ve been working on my Linda’s Buffalo Meat Recipes website), food came to mind for this week’s email topic.

What is (or was) your mom’s favorite dish? Not what she cooked for your family, past or present, but what she liked? It might be something exotic she was served at a fancy restaurant for a special occasion. Maybe it was her own grandmother’s Sunday dessert that nobody has ever been able to duplicate.

If you ask her, she’ll first laugh and say “anything I don’t have to cook myself!” before responding with her favorite food.

So on this upcoming Mother’s Day I hope you can be with her, and either cook a special meal for her, or take her out to eat!

My mom’s favorite meatloaf recipe is the one I made up featuring our ground bison. I’ve posted and passed it out over the years, but it’s still a favorite worth repeating. So if you need an idea for your Mom’s dinner, try my buffalo meat recipe this weekend, or in the future for your own family.

April 29, 2010

How can it already be the end of April?! May will start this weekend and it already feels like spring is going into summer today.

Growing up, May 1st, or May Day meant making and delivering flower baskets to the “older” neighbor ladies in our farming community.

The bouquets were usually made with lilacs, tulips, and irises that grew around the farmstead if they were in bloom. And if not, it may have been yellow dandelions and purple henbit! It was always the thought that counted for these special ladies.

Actually this is a busy weekend of lots of celebrations in our state. Besides May Day, the big Kansas Sampler Festival in Leavenworth showcases small rural towns, and locally, Lindsborg’s Millfest celebrates the history of our local mill and the pioneers of that era. It’s just two of the fun things to do, (besides spring farm and yard work too!)

Whatever your plans, I hope you have nice weekend and weather too. Why not celebrate the start of May?! 

April 23, 2010

It’s been 40 years since the first Earth Day, and I’ve been trying to remember if we did anything special that year at our high school.
 
Growing up in rural Kansas our land, rivers, and streams were in good shape compared to so many other places in the United States. I think we were sheltered to think the rest of the world didn’t enjoy clean air and green scenery like we did everyday.
 
Luckily the Earth Day idea has improved land and life for many over the past decades, even here in Kansas.
 
I know there are constant threats of new problems, global warning, etc, but it’s nice to stop and think of the Earth, both on a special day and every day. We’re lucky to see green trees, feel the clean breeze, and know we’re improving life for many- both humans, animals- now and in the future.
 
Buffaloes doing their part 
 
I always think of new births among the buffalo herds during the Earth Day media blitz because that’s usually the week we’ve always had our first bison baby in the spring.
 
Tena or Lillie, two cows from our original set of heifers, always had their calves this week. Here’s my favorite photo of Tena’s first calf. What a cutie!

April 16, 2009

It’s been absolutely beautiful in Kansas this week. Weather has been mild and near perfect, with various degrees of wind of course. All kinds of flowering trees, shrubs, and bulbs have been popping with color.

Tulips and spirea bushes in town, and wild yellow current and sandhill plum bushes in the country are currently in their best show of color.

Old-fashioned lavender lilac bushes have burst with an exceptional display of color and fragrance this year.

Of course my favorite lilac bush is the one at my parent’s farm that was planted by Kajsa Runneberg, the original homesteader and featured on the cover of my book Looking Back.

It’s got to be over a hundred years old but still going strong. Must be of “strong stock”, just like the pioneer that planted it. 

My mom’s favorite purple flower is the wild violet that bloomed along the creek near her childhood home. I’m sure that was a favorite flower of the early Kansas pioneers too.

 Ankle also Purple

But I was glad I wasn’t in pioneer times this week. Last Saturday I was walking through the pasture looking for some wild yarrow plants to dig up and plant in my flower beds.

I caught my foot in a badger hole that I didn’t see and all of a sudden I was face down in the grass.

Rats. By the time I sat up and got my shoe off, my ankle was swollen and turning as lavender as the darkest lilacs.

Thanks goodness for cell phones (to get me out of the pasture), X-rays (to show I didn’t break any bones) and crutches (to move around this week).

I’m doing much better as long as I keep my leg elevated most of the time. I got a pile of pillows under my desk so I’m doing office work as usual.

April 8, 2010
 
I hope you had a good Easter weekend. We had beautiful spring weather both Saturday and Sunday.
 
While many families were hunting for Easter eggs, we went looking for buffalo instead.
 
After going to church and eating Sunday lunch with family, we took my parents for the drive to see the buffalo cows.
 
Nope they weren’t out, we just had to find them in their big pasture.
 
They were lying down, snoozing in the sun when we saw them. I walked up to the fence to take some photos and then they stood up, “on alert” (meaning their tails were  slightly raised) because I was encroaching their boundary.
 
I noticed they are ready for their “spring outfit” too, just like all the little girls in their Easter dresses on Sunday. Their hair coats are now dull and they are starting to shed their winter fur.
 
No baby buffaloes yet, just bulging middles. It will be at least a month before I report the first born of the season.
 
It was good to see them happy and content on this sunny Sunday and I’ll look forward to the next “hunt” to find them again soon.

April 1, 2010

It’s the 1st of April and spring is here in central Kansas today! I have my office window wide open for the breeze and to hear the birds happy talk.
 
The trees are budding out, the daffodils are in full bloom, and everything is enjoying this 80 degree day.
 
Just the perfect weather for Easter weekend.
 
Thinking of photos to share with you today, I thought of one of my favorite buffalo photos I took of my bull herd.
 
The front young bull seems to have his eyes closed and inhaling the fresh clean air while the other animals are enjoying the new pasture growth.
 
I think the bull is thinking “Ah, Spring…”

March 23, 2010

We got the idea of raising bison after attending the National Western Stock Shows that are held each January in Denver. On the last weekend of the show there is a bison show an sale, and the buffalo always seemed like fascinating animals to us.
 
Stocker steers were currently utilizing our pasture, but we wanted to get into a niche market as a way to make more money per acre. So why not buffalo that used to roam right here in Kansas?
 
We joined the National Bison Association and the Kansas Buffalo Association and went to their meetings and conferences a year before we bought our first animals. Verne and I also toured bison ranches to see fencing, work facilities, and how the bison and ranches interacted.  
 
That next spring Verne and my dad built holding pens and we were ready for our new livestock.
 
I had just bought a new digital camera-the kind that you slipped a floppy disk into, so had it along to record this event.

(I had started my first website, FarmKansas.com, and was going to post photos and a “farm diary” of what was going on in our farming community.)
 
Our first forty yearling bulls arrived by semi truck on March 23, 1999. The weather was cool, the grass greening up, and we were excited. My parents even came up to watch the unloading of our new livestock.
 
We borrowed a loading chute from a neighbor to unload the animals from the semi, reinforced it a little since it was buffalo we were dealing with instead of cattle. We were ready when the truck arrived and raised its gate on the back end of the truck!
 
Those buffalo calves shot out the truck so fast it was a blur, until a calf got the point of his hoof stuck in between the little gap where the truck ended and the top of the loading chute started. Oh no!! The buffalo kept coming, crashing and jumping over the trapped calf!
 
And just as quick, my dad ran up and slammed his gloved fist up underneath the caught hoof, freeing the trapped animal to tumble down from his trapped spot. Dad’s many years of raising animals had taught him how to react. (I wish I had a photo of that moment but in the frenzy I was thinking about the animal, not the camera.)
 
The little calf had a swollen foot, but it healed without any more intervention from us. The herd adapted to their new pasture and we learned A LOT about buffalo from these first animals.

It sure was a good thing we were unloading 400 lb. calves instead of 1000 lb. bulls looking back at our “flimsy” start. Over the years we’ve learned the strength and quickness of these wild animals and have built accordingly – 7 1/2 ft. high solid steel sided work pens- but we all have to start somewhere.
 
So that’s the story of our first day as bison owners. Eleven years later I’m still taking photos of buffalo and posting their stories on my websites.
 
I think I’ll keep reminiscing in my future postings as there are so many stories to tell about our herd. I hope you’re game for more adventure with these wild animals because I got lots of stories….

March 12, 2010

The sun hasn’t shown all week, but boy the “green” is starting to show in the landscape of our farming community. 
 
Winter wheat is a prominent crop here in central Kansas and is planted in the fall. It grows a little until winter hits, and then goes dormant until spring.

Between the warmer weather and the moisture we’ve had recently it’s starting to grow again, giving a welcome green blanket across the countryside.
 
We’ve planted fields of wheat and oats in the past for the buffalo so they get early fresh greens. It’s a treat for them after a long winter for dried grass.

March 7, 2010
 
It’s been a busy week as we’ve moved our office, set up the new computer and internet phone system (sorry if I missed your calls) and I’m still looking for files and “stuff” that was right at my fingertips before.
 
I love my new office space, but will like it much better once everything is put in place. At least everything gets a good cleaning this way!
 
Yesterday we moved six cows and heifers to a new pasture. This is a big native grass pasture where they will have lots of room to roam, and that’s what they did, checking out the perimeter to figure out where the heck they were.
 
After watching them a while, we drove around the section to the other side of the pasture and they came running over since they recognized the pickup and trailer.
 
There were ten buffalo already in the pasture so this group met them with some sniffing and tail raising, but no fighting so they will all settle in their new home in a few days.
 
Just like me in my new office, it will get familiar again soon.