Ice Cream!

Nothing beats ending a long hot summer day of hard work with some cold ice cream. July is the heart of summer so it makes perfect sense that July is National Ice Cream Month. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day. This year that day is on July 19th. There is nothing better than a great excuse to eat ice cream. I will be celebrating with ice cream treats all month!

Everyone loves ice cream and in America the average person will eat approximately 23 gallons a year! Everyone also has their all time favorite spot to get their ice cream from as well. Whether it’s a local ice cream shop, a favorite gas station, or even a well known fast food place. What sometimes gets forgotten is the also delicious homemade ice cream and the great family time spent watching and waiting for it to mix.

Every year I feel like there are always hundreds of new unheard of flavors to choose from. Did you know you can buy cilantro and lime ice cream or sour cream? After making the decision of which new flavor to try, then you realize there are also multiple ways to serve your ice cream, in a bowl, as a sundae, in a shake, a malt, multiple toppings, dipped in flavors, the choices go on and on! Even a simple cone can get confusing as you can also choose a sugar cone, a frosted cone, a waffle cone or waffle cone with frosting and sprinkles. So many decisions!


If you couldn’t already tell, ice cream is one of my favorite treats of summer. No matter what kind you choose, enjoy National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day by splurging on a delicious cool treat at your favorite spot. I know I will! 

~ Kesley Holdgrafer

Talking With Your Hands

If there is one thing I have learned from living on a farm and being surrounded by farmers for seventeen years is that farmers love to talk. They love to talk to each other about everything from the weather to detailed stories about their many farming experiences. From years of just sitting and watching these conversations develop and grow I have noticed that farmers love to talk with their hands. Both hands. No matter what type of conversation it is their hands are always moving. Their hands are the illustration to the great story that they are telling. Some stories even become a complete aerobic workout!

If they are giving you directions their hands are most definitely moving while they are talking, pointing, and describing each and every turn. They are pointing out the turns you will take while the other hand will represent a house or a shed that you will turn by. Before you know it a map was just made in the sky by the motions of their hands.

It’s crazy because even while the farmer is on the phone they still talk with their hands. I don’t think they quite understand that the person on the other end of the phone can not see their silly hand motions. Where things get really interesting is when the farmer is talking on the phone while driving. Somehow they still manage to talk with their hands even if it is just small hand gestures while still holding onto the wheel, and I just hope they are not driving a stickshift! They might need another hand to accomplish all of that.


The next time you witness farmers talking, step back and take a minute to enjoy the entire story. The hand gestures, the detailed directions, the weather forecast predictions, the specifically explained description of the broken part they need right away and of course their opinion on the markets! You can learn a lot by just sitting back and listening to their conversations. I often wonder if they could even talk without their hands? Of course they could, it may just not be as entertaining!



~ Kesley Holdgrafer

State Fair 2021!

As most of you probably know the beloved great Iowa State Fair is cancelled this year. The state fair is one of my favorite things to look forward to all summer. I love exhibiting 4-H projects, watching shows, competing in fun fair contests, and of course eating tons of delicious fair food especially if it is on a stick. Without a fair this year, it means that my to do list for next year's fair will be twice as big as I will have to make up for all the stuff I will miss out on this year.



First thing on the list is getting a bucket of cookies. These fresh, still hot and melting in your mouth delicious chocolate chip cookies are the best thing to eat while walking around the fair looking at everything it has to offer. I’m sure by next year there will be tons of new foods to try since every vendor has a whole nother year to think of new ideas to freeze or fry to put on a stick for easy walking, gawking, talking, and of course eating while participating in the people watching pro-sport which the state fair is famous for. I could watch all the funny people at the fair for days but then I realize they are probably watching and laughing at me also as I just felt a big chocolate chip chunk still stuck to my lip from my snack a few hours ago.



Another one of my favorite things to do while at the fair is compete in the fun fair contests. Whether it’s egg rolling, cow pie throwing, or even a yummy pie eating contest it is so much fun to enter, compete and of course EAT! (However, do NOT eat the cow pie). Last year I was at the fair for twelve of the best days of my summer. I was a grandstand usher and my friends and I tried to enter and do as much as we could each day. I think it came from all the years my parents drove my brothers and I to the Iowa State Fair to enter the pedal pull contest. We have lots of hardware and fun trophies from the sweat, determination, and teeth clenching competition from our pedal power. I am very sad to hear the 2020 fair is cancelled but I do look forward to next year with even bigger and better expectations. The Iowa State Fair has been around for 165 years and only includes 5 cancellations of the event. The last time the Iowa State Fair was cancelled was during World War 2. I realize this was not an easy decision to make. I plan to take this year to practice my egg rolling, cow pie throwing, people watching skills and make 2021 the best fair yet!

 ~ Kesley Holdgrafer

Summer Heat

As we reach the middle of June, we are officially in the heart of summer. Long, hot, and humid days are here and nothing beats coming inside to the cold air conditioned house after being outside working on the farm. The big question though is how do farmers do it? How do they continue to work out in the heat? Farmers love what they do. It can either be negative temperatures with below zero windchill or boiling hot temperatures and they would still choose to be outside on the farm then anywhere else.

Everybody knows that on a hot day you must continue to drink lots of water in order to keep from getting dehydrated. For a long day in a baler or anything else, farmers are sure to bring several full, plastic water bottles or even a big jug of water, pop, or Gatorade. Sometimes though, farmers are in a huge hurry and they rush out of the lane so fast they forget their water or they only grab one, which will definitely not last them a full day. As soon as the farmer realizes they forgot something to drink, they usually become super thirsty and begin to search the whole cab for a hidden bottle. Truck and tractor cabs can fill up with many empty water or pop bottles if not cleaned out regularly. If they are lucky enough, they might find one with some old water still in it. The problem is that water is always warm and you have no idea who drank from that bottle before you. If you are extremely lucky, there just might be an old can of pop that has rolled around so long it has no label left and the aluminum is covered in dirt. Without a label you can not tell if it is a diet or regular Pepsi, or even what year it expired. At that point though, it doesn’t really matter because you are super thirsty and it is better than the alternative of not drinking anything at all.


I hope everyone has a safe and amazing summer, and farmers, do not forget to bring plenty of fresh cold water and pop for a long summer day in the field. 

~ Kesley Holdgrafer

The Art of Saying Goodbye

The art of saying goodbye. When you think of saying goodbye you probably imagine a quick hand wave, a hug, or a few words and out the door you go. There’s tons of different ways you can say goodbye to someone after a visit, however when visiting with a farmer, saying goodbye is really a fascinating journey.

If they are visiting inside the house they will probably sit at the table for a long time talking about stories and this year's crop. Then when they eventually feel it’s time to leave, they will start heading to the door and saying goodbye. Once at the door they will again begin to share another story that leads to another and starts a whole new conversation. If they bring up the weather then you're really going to be there a long time because farmers can talk about the weather forever. Talking about this spring's weather, upcoming weather, remember the weather that year, imagine if the weather was like this instead. They can go on and on. Once you finally say goodbye again and reach the fresh air outside it might actually be goodbye unless it’s nice out and they follow you. Then you might end up telling more stories leaning against your truck until you officially say a final goodbye, start your vehicle and actually leave. Saying goodbye in the Midwest truly is an art. You can actually say the words many times, but until you are officially in your vehicle heading down the lane and onto the road, this process can take hours to accomplish.


Farmers are cooped up in the tractor all spring planting and doing tons of other things alone. They have been pretty busy and haven’t done a lot of chit chatting with neighbors. When the time does come when they meet up again, a lot of stories can be shared. It can take awhile for the final goodbye to be said. With that being said I am super excited to say goodbye to spring and hello to summer. Bring on the hay equipment, balers, tedders, and rakes. It’s going to be a great summer!


~ Kesley Holdgrafer

Tractors

A person always has a favorite possession. This can be anything. Sometimes for people it’s a picture, or a piece of jewelry, or honestly anything you could probably think of. Farmers however usually all have the same, yet different prized possessions. That is a tractor. When they were kids they also had their favorite tractor that they used and played with all the time. Farmers simply love tractors and more than likely now have a favorite big one compared to all the rest.

A tractor to a farmer is like their best friend. If you ask a farmer anything about their tractor they can tell you in full detail all about it. They can tell when they got it, where they got it, any and all details about its hours, and if you're lucky they will even give you a funny background story of all of it’s previous owners if it has any. It is crazy how much they can really remember about all these tractors. They probably wouldn’t be able to tell you the year they graduated and maybe even not the year they got married, but they can tell every year in which they purchased a tractor without hesitation. Farmers have different types of tractors as well. They have their favorite, which is usually the workhorse, the one they use everyday, it’s newness has faded and it rarely gets power washed. The next type of tractor the farmer has is what most people would call their fine china. These tractors are stored away most of the time. These can either be a big four wheel drive that only comes out for a certain season or two and would never be put on a manure spreader. This can also be the prized restored tractors that are always shining sitting in the shed, parade ready, to be shown off on a nice summer day.

A farmer would not want to be anywhere else this spring then sitting in a tractor working up the ground or planting. It’s their happy place. I hope everyone is having a great planting season and that the rest of it goes smoothly as well. Our planters have been dancing across the fields with a few new drivers in the tractor seat this year. My big brothers, the college boys, have been home since March. Spring is sprinting by with all the extra help around the farm! 

~ Kesley Holdgrafer

    

Hats

When being a farmer you have to make a lot of decisions. You have to pick whether you are going to plant corn or beans on a field. You have to decide what type of seed you want and where you are going to get it from. Now there are many deciding factors that help with this decision. One factor though that you can never forget about is the hats that the place you choose from will supply you with. All farmers love their hats and have many types of hats for any special occasion hidden at home.



My brothers do not hang up a lot of their shirts or coats but they have a huge hat hanger always filled with tons of their favorite hats. There's nothing worse than a squished flat farm hat but a wrinkled shirt really doesn’t bother them much. Farmers have certain hats for certain occasions. The first type of hat most farmers have is their work hat. Now this type of hat is used to the max! It is probably covered in dirt and if it has a logo it’s either worn off or also covered in dirt. This hat fits perfectly on the farmers head and the bill is also a rounded perfection to keep the sun from his eyes.



The next type of hat a farmer has is his good hat. The farmer has many of these hats around the house. Picking a hat to go out in is a bigger decision then picking which plaid shirt to wear when they go somewhere. These are the types of hats farmers wear to farm shows, farm equipment auctions, and banquets.



The next type of hat is the sports outing hat. Now this hat isn’t your typical sport hat that is Nike. This is the type of hat that is a specific color to match the team they are cheering for. The logo however is still anything farm related. If you’re lucky you might find a hat in their stash with a small team logo on the side, but on the front it is still a farm hat.



I wish you all the best this spring and be safe hopefully with little to no problems with your equipment. I hope you also get some cool hats or other apparel from the places you choose to do business with this spring. Happy planting! ~ Kesley Holdgrafer