Due dates are a funny thing. They are highly anticipated and rarely correct.  At least that’s been my experience in the cow world. And, dairy cow due dates should be pretty darn accurate because most dairy farms in the US utilize A.I. or artificial insemination (this will be another blog post some day).  Because of the use of A.I. and good record keeping we almost always know when conception should have occurred. Meaning that we should be able to know exactly what day a calf will be born!

 Right?

Wrong.

While people like to have concrete answers and assign very specific numbers, Nature generally has other ideas. Don’t get me wrong, we can count out the days and get close enough to establish some useful management practices like knowing when to dry off each cow and when to start watching the cow extra close but we never know for sure exactly when that magical event is going to happen.

Which, if the last week and a half is any example, this can really get people worked up! As some of you know, we are expecting a new baby calf any day now! Abby, our faithful milk cow is due with her 3rd calf. Which will be the second calf born at Brun Ko Farm. Now, this is obviously very exciting for us, but it is also exciting for our friends and family that have enjoyed visiting Abby and/or have been regaled by all the stories relating to her and her co-horts here at Brun Ko. For a week or so we have received a handful of inquiries of ‘No baby yet?’ each day. And a couple of times I’ve heard, ‘Are you SURE she’s going to have a calf?’

Which to be fair and to my chagrin, I had a lesson in months vs days and relying on computers vs counting on calendars. After we confirmed that 26147, affectionately known as Abby, was pregnant, I simply went back to the breeding date and counted ahead 9 months. At the time, this was a close enough estimation to give us the information we needed.
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At the time.

 But a month is not simply a month. Some months have 30 days and some have 31. And February only had 28 days this year. So, long story short, I never went back and actually counted out 280 days. And I was off by 6 days.  I had her due date on the calendar as last Sunday, October 18. However, when you count out the days (as I should have done in the first place) she was actually due yesterday, Saturday, October 24.  So everybody, ourselves included, have been anxious for a whole extra week!

Because that is how due dates work.  Nobody gets too shook up if a calf (or baby) arrives a few days early but as soon as that due date hits … Oh boy do we all get worked up! NP and I included. We've been checking on Abby every 3 or 4 hours for 2 weeks! 

So while due dates are nice and even useful to a point, they can’t be lived by. I have worked with plenty of cows in the past on other farms that have given birth to healthy, fully developed calves up to 2 weeks before or after their expected due date!

So …

Happy Waiting!

Brun Ko Farm

​Farming is a dirty job. In fact, several different types/aspects of farming have been featured on Mike Rowe’s Dirtiest Jobs T.V. show. Today I am going to share with you ONE of the ‘dirty’ aspects of farming. 

MANURE! And what we do with it:
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Horses and cows eat a lot. And all of that food seems to come out the other end in the form of manure (aka: poo – lots and lots of poo!). So as a result, we have to have a plan as to what to do with all that manure. If we let it build up in the building, our little building would quickly become full! Plus the animals would have a pretty poor quality of life. So, what do we do with it all?? Here at Brun Ko Farm, we haul the manure and soiled bedding out and compost it! 

​Composting is the process of breaking down manure and other organic substances into a nutrient rich product, often called humus, that makes great fertilizer! According to the NDSU Extension Service, and confirmed by my own personal observation, composting reduces the volume and density of manure of 50-65%! Now that has huge benefits of it’s own! Not only do we end up with a nutrient dense product that is great for the soil, we also decrease the amount of hauling and the land space necessary to spread it on!

Also, when done properly, compost should kill most weed seeds and fly eggs and have little to no offensive smell associated with it.

With all of these benefits, composting was an easy decision for us.  But how do we do it? There are many different methods of making compost and it can be as technical or as simple as you want, but there are 4 important components to every method: Carbon & Nitrogen (aka: manure and vegetation), Oxygen, and water.
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So the simplest version of composting would be to just make a pile of garden scraps and/or manure and let it sit until it decomposes. Which it will eventually do but it will take a long time and could get pretty smelly. So because we want to expedite the process and eliminate odors as much as possible we take a few extra steps. Here is our process:
First we have to get the manure from the barn to the pile. For us this means using a pitchfork and wheel barrow. This also helps build muscles ;)  Luckily, the pile isn’t too far from the barn!

We try to get a good mix of ‘browns’ (carbon rich materials) and ‘greens’ (nitrogen rich materials) in our piles. The recommendation is to have a Carbon to Nitrogen ratio of 30:1. Luckily, we usually have a pretty good mix of horse manure, cow manure, and straw or cornstalk bedding, so this typically isn’t a problem for us. This paper from the North Dakota State University Extension Service provides a chart of carbon to nitrogen ratios of common composting materials and an explanation of how to use the Pearson Square to figure out the ratio of your mix.

Once we have a good pile, we have to turn it periodically to keep oxygen in the pile. The bacteria that actually do the grunt work of breaking down the manure into humus are aerobic (oxygen loving) in nature. If a pile just sits and oxygen isn’t regularly introduced then the bacteria can’t do their work. We introduce oxygen by using the old Oliver to turn the pile regularly. 

Turning the pile once every 10 to 14 days is ideal. As the bacteria ‘work’ the temperature of the pile increases and can reach greater than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is what kills weed seeds and fly eggs. If conditions are ideal and the pile is turned regularly then the compost should be ready after being turned 3-5 times.
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Once our first pile got large enough, we stopped adding to it and started a second pile. This allows the first pile to finish composting 

The third important factor is moisture. A compost pile should have about 50% moisture.  This is an area that we don’t currently monitor but aim to in the future.
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Well, that’s the basics of composting and how we do it. We like compost so much around here that we actually have a compost pile near the garden too.  

This one is more easily accessible for disposing of food scraps and garden waste. We have found with this pile that it got a slow start because we add little bits to it at a time instead of having a large amount to get it started with. Also, we tend to have more ‘green’ material (nitrogen) in it than ‘brown’ material (carbon). So from time to time we add a scoop of soil or partially composted material from the manure compost piles to help even things out and give it a boost.

If you want to try composting at home, you can find some links below to help you get started.

http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html

http://www.redwormcomposting.com/getting-started/
 
That’s all for now folks!
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Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm

​Those are dirty words in my house. However, there comes a time when you have to face facts and prepare for the inevitable. 

Garden
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The garden is winding down and we have begun moving the plants that are done producing from the garden plot to the compost pile. The most notable items missing from this picture are the zucchini and summer squash plants and our roma tomatoes. The rest will soon follow suit. We do this to help prevent unwelcome bugs and diseases from setting in and taking hold in the garden plot. At the same time we are also looking ahead to next year. This year we mulched our garden as a means of weed control and moisture retention and we have loved it! We intend to expand the garden next summer and have read that if you mulch untilled ground in the Fall, it will be ready to go in the Spring without needing to till so we are trying it. We'll try almost anything once! So we have doubled our garden plots by mulching more ground. We will let you know in the Spring how it turns out!

We will also be adding mulch to some of our less hardy perennials to help them get through the winter.

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The Homestead

Last summer, we installed a new chimney and wood burning stove to help heat this good 'ol farmhouse and decrease the propane bill. It worked like a charm and was probably one of the best decisions we'll ever make! However, the stove we used last winter was hazardous at best due to age and wear. Because we liked the extra boost from the wood heat so much last year we decided to invest in a little safer (new) wood stove for this winter. We picked it up Friday with the assistance of a forklift and then carried all 360 pounds of it down the basement stairs this morning! If that wasn't enough heavy lifting, we then had to carry the old stove back out! And by 'we', I mean my husband, my dad, and my father-in-law did the heavy lifting!! I just opened doors and carried the few odds and ends that could be removed to lighten up the main part of the stove. Thank goodness for the help of our parents! NP and I certainly couldn't have accomplished this by ourselves

After we got the stoves switched out,  NP once again braved his fear of heights and climbed up on the roof with the chimney sweep to clean the chimney so it would be ready to go when we build our first fire! This is important to do as built up ash and soot can easily cause a house fire.

The other thing about wood stoves is that you need firewood ...

We had the best of intentions all summer of gathering our firewood early but other tasks always seemed to take priority. As a result, we now have a large job ahead of us and, now that colder weather is clearly here and the new stove is installed, we are out of time and excuses! We bought a load of logs from a local tree trimming service and this week we will get started cutting, splitting, and stacking. Piper, our cattle dog, is loads of 'help' with these types of projects ;)

Animals

And last in this discussion but definitely not 'least'! The animals generally take care of 'winterizing' themselves as the days get shorter and their hair gets longer. However, there are things we can do to help them out too. Right now is prime time for cows. Their thermal comfort zone is 45 degrees F to 60 degrees F so they are loving these cooler days! However, as the temperature dips below freezing we will up their feed and adjust accordingly. They also have  the barn and a windbreak for shelter when they need it. Other things we will have to do in the next few weeks is move the calf hutches to a more sheltered location and insulate the stock tanks to help prevent the water from freezing. NP has plans to not only insulate the tanks like we did last year but also to utilize the solar power of the sun to help warm the tanks. But that will be a separate blog post so keep your eye out for that in the next couple of weeks!!
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*Fun Fact: Most other breeds of cows struggle with heat stress and handle winter just fine. Jersey cows on the other hand actually handle the heat better than they do the cold

That's all for now! I better go help NP with the firewood since I'm always the first one to start shivering when it gets cold!!

​Enjoy! Brun Ko Farm

​This is not a cooking blog and I promise I won't post a thousand recipes. However, it IS a FOOD blog. From the ground up. Essentially, over time, I hope to touch on everything from our soil, to the food that comes from it, to ways in which to use that food! AND I love to cook, it's a big part of who I am. Sooo, from time to time I WILL share a recipe that is either one of my favorites and/or that showcases a great way to use some of our produce. This particular recipe does both! It makes for a delicious appetizer and would be a hit at any football party. AND it uses our cute miniature bell peppers!

Recipe credit goes to my fantastic husband! He is the one that introduced me to these Cream Cheese Chicken Poppers! For a printer friendly version click here.

Before we start preparing these bad boys, you need to decide if you want to bake them in the oven or cook them on the grill. I highly recommend the grill but both ways are good and if you prefer the oven, now is a good time to preheat it to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step one:

Wash the peppers and cut in half lengthwise leaving the stem intact. The reason we leave the stems intact is to keep the filling from pushing out as we proceed. Once you've cut the peppers, clean the seeds out of the middle. Don't get too hung up on this step. Remember, these are sweet peppers and the seeds aren't going to set your mouth on fire and so if you miss a few it's not a big deal! Once you've got this done, set the peppers aside.

Step two:

Mix 2 tsp of herbs into your cream cheese. The beauty of this recipe is that you can use any combination of herbs that you like! And you can use as much or as little of them as you like. Two teaspoons is a guideline to help you get started! We recommend garlic and chives because that is what we like but feel free to experiment! You're going to want to make more than one batch of these chicken poppers anyway ;)

Step three:

Cut a thawed chicken breast into small cubes. We are going to use the cubes to stuff the peppers so make sure they are small enough to fit inside these little guys! While you're working with raw meat, go ahead and cut your bacon strips in half and set them aside as well.

Friendly reminder - anytime you work with raw meat make sure to prevent cross contamination and check internal temperature of the finished cooked product. Here is a good reference with tips for handling raw meat and promoting food safety!

Step four:

​Once you have all of the components assembled,

fill the peppers with cream cheese mixture and then place a cube of chicken into each pepper half. Once all of the peppers are filled, wrap each one with the bacon slices you prepared by cutting in half earlier.

Step five:

If you chose to bake these in the oven, place them in a baking dish and into your preheated oven and bake them for 30 minutes. It's always a good idea to take the internal temperature of a couple of them using a meat thermometer to verify that the chicken is done. Chicken should reach at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. As you will see in the picture below, mine actually reached 195 degrees Fahrenheit.