Tracing the Origin, or Not.

With canning season just about through, at least for me, I decided to trace my home grown produce all the way back to the very beginning. By that I mean the origin of the jars I like best, and the farm that my favorite bean seeds come from. I’ll go ahead and start with the jars.
I’ll admit, I have used all three common brands of jars, Ball, Kerr, and Anchor, however my favorite is Ball. No real reason for this except they have the most stylish jars with pretty cornucopia designs. Anyway, Ball jars were created by the Ball brothers in 1880. They created all sorts of new inventions for jars, including the idea of rubber sealing rings. If you are interested in the history of canning lids, here is the link to the Ball Timeline, http://www.freshpreserving.com/sites/all/themes/freshpreserving/library/TimelineOfLidTechnology.pdf
As hard as I dug to try to find where the materials come from to make the jars, I had no luck. Ball, claims to be US made and so I hope they are honest! And for those concerned of BPA, Ball jars and products are “BPA free.” American made and BPA free. Double win.
If I wanted to be here all day, I would go through all the seeds I use in my garden. But an entire book on seeds does not sound very fun, so I’ll stick to my favorite garden plant. Drum roll… Green beans! Being relatively new to the whole garden thing, I did not have a very “fruitful” harvest. My bush bean plants produced like a charm though! I even had enough for food storage, freezing and to eat. It was delightful to have fresh beans for dinner, especially since I have never had fresh green beans before.
My husband and Mother-In-Law, prefer to use Blue Lake Bush beans. They are known for being hardy, quick maturing and to produce season long. They weren’t kidding when they meant season long! We buy bulk seeds from Mountain Valley Seed, located in Salt Lake City, Utah. My bush bean seeds came from Idaho. Now the frustrating part comes in. I could not find a farm listed that supplied these seeds. When researching Idaho bean farms, I had no such luck either. At least I know they came from US soil. What I did find out, is that Organic seeds are ridiculously priced. One pound of commercial Blue Lake Bush Beans, is $4.95. It is the same price for treated bean seeds as well. A pound of Organic Blue Lake Bush Beans? A whopping $18.42. Almost four times more in price.
Why is organic so much more? There is no use of pesticides, herbicides or any chemicals used. Sure that can be a good thing, but not protecting crops from bugs, fungi and weeds creates lower crop yields. And thus, the outrageous price.
What does treated seed mean? Typically it means that the seed is coated with a substance that will protect the seed from developing fungus and rotting in the soil. It is not commonly used in home gardens, as it is easier to plant all the seed at the correct time. Treated seed is used mostly by farmers who have lots of ground to plant, and have to start earlier than recommended, in order to get all the crop in the soil by the right time.
Whatever your preference is, there is no difference in taste between the three products, it just comes down to personal preference.
Tracing products back to the very original origin, is rather difficult and can be frustrating. Personally, I am not very concerned with where my food comes from, but I prefer it be from the USA.



"Bean Bush, Blue Lake." Mountain Valley Seed Co. Mountain Valley Seed, 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. <http://mvseeds.com>.

"Canning Lids." Ball. Hearthmark, LLC Dba Jarden Home Brands., 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. <http://www.freshpreserving.com/>.

Farming is in the Blood

Farming runs deep in my ancestral line. Both on my mother’s side, and on my father’s side. If I wanted to write a book, I would start at the very beginning of my ancestry line! But to make this more reader friendly, I will stick to the most recent generation.

My Grandpa on my father’s side, owned a barley farm, and raised his five kids on the land. Growing up, my grandparents raised their five kids in a “bomb shelter.” As my uncle puts it, “It probably wouldn’t have withstood a bomb, but was more of a basement.” It later on would be added on to, and the ground level added much needed room and comfort. As kids, we loved playing in the basement of that house. It had its own kitchen and so many little crooks and crannies to hide in. Perhaps my most memorable feature of that basement, was the blue, green and brown carpet in the bathroom. A typical early era design, which my dad swears was the same carpet he grew up with.

Along with a new addition to the house, my grandpa installed an irrigation pivot on his farm. As my uncle says, “It was the first one in that area of Idaho. All of the neighbors showed up from miles around to see it run the first time.” Pivots, are a system of pipes and support terraces on wheels. Hooked up to a well, the pivots allowed for more crops to be watered, creating greater crop yields. Even though the pivot my grandpa installed was the newest design, it still had a long way to go before it could be as efficient as the pivots seen today.

Let me expound on what I mean here. The first center pivot was created in 1938, by a man named Frank Zybach. His invention started out with a lot of flaws and not many farmers saw any potential in the design. But in the course of 25 years, there was over 10,000 center pivot systems in Northwest Nebraska alone. Because of the increase in water, U.S. Astronauts could see the lush, green crop circles in Nebraska from 270 miles in space. In 1976, Scientific American magazine called center pivot irrigation systems “perhaps the most significant mechanical innovation in agriculture since the replacement of draft animal by the tractor.” Pivots created higher crop yields, less manual labor, and more acreage of land available to water. The first pivots, consisted of a series of Rain Bird sprinklers lined up in a row. A great invention for the time, but as my dad put it, “Those Rain Birds, sat so far up on the pivot that when the water hit the ground, it packed the soil down until it was as hard as a rock.” Great for not letting the top soil blow away, but not so ideal for plants trying to push through the top layer of soil. Today, center pivots have sprinkler heads that allow low pressure water to spray uniformly across plants.

As well as the center pivot did, tragedy still struck the farm. A hail storm pounded the barley. The crop was ruined, and because it happened the year my Grandpa decided to not buy crop insurance, he had to take out loans to keep his operation going. Debt came crashing through the roof, and the farm was sold while my dad was in college. And there you have it. Farming is not for the faint of heart, and is a constant gamble, but once you are a farmer by heart, you are always a farmer.

Ganzel, Bill. Wessels Living History Farm. Living in the 1950s & 1960s. York, Nebraska 2006. Web. 9 Sep.      2015

The Purpose of Faith Family Farming

To be honest, I have never considered starting a blog post and so this is a whole new experience for me. My purpose of starting a blog came from a college assignment. However, I hope to make this blog interesting and more than just an obligation. As the title states, I will be focusing all my attention to faith, family and farming. Why those three subjects? Because they are the three most important things in my life. Faith is what ties my life together, not only in God, but in the people around us. Farming relies on the integrity of our community and of our buyers. We try our best to keep our products safe and healthy. It is not easy to please society and that is where integrity from our neighbors and our buyers come in. Our neighbors see how we take care of our crops and we hope they will pass on the truth to their friends and family.
 In order to be happy in the hard gamble of farming, God plays a huge role. Our family depends on him for the survival of our crops and for the guidance needed in our business decisions. God gives us the foundation of what type of person we are hoping to become. I can be a better person to my family, my husband and to my community. That is where our faith comes from.
As for family, isn't that what life is all about? Being married to someone you love, raising kids, and enjoying the simple joys in life. Children are not a current part in my husband's and my life yet, but when they are, I know they will bring a new found happiness.  And so there you have it. Faith, family, and farming. The three concepts for a happy life.