Just Farm Life Introductions
Get a snapshot into my everyday life.
This picture explains my kids and our life. We like to have a good time in the barn, but when there is a job to be done, everyone puts on their farm clothes, slips into their boots, grabs their hat, shovel or rake, and gets to work. There has been a lot of laughter and tears along our journey, but I would not trade farm life for anything. So I will pry open our barn door and start with the introductions. is
Farm Location
Welcome my friends, young and seasoned, to our farm in Illinois. We live about 30 minutes from St. Louis on the east side of the Mississippi River. So basically, the Midwest, or as we like to call it, Southern IL. Primarily flat land, good/fair dirt (how farmers judge fields), hot summers, and cold to mild winters. We have three-generational farm locations with grain bins and barns for our cattle, hogs, chickens, and ducks, all within a 3-mile radius of each other. Because we are so close to the river, we haul semi loads of our grain (soybeans, wheat, and some corn) to the terminals. I'll take you for a ride in our semi sometime and tell you all about our grain and its purpose. Stay tuned!
Now that you know the basics allow me to introduce myself. Hi, welcome!
I'm Kim, the city girl officially implanted in 1993, when I married my farmer from Southern IL. We have worked side-by-side for the last 30 years and managed to raise four kids, even with all of our farm shenanigans. But good news, they all survived! I did not realize how moving to the farm would impact my life, positively and negatively. You can dig further into my life in several blogs: Meet Kim and My Cows Are Good Listeners.
My Farmer
My farmer owns and operates this farm with his brother. Tim has been farming with his family his entire life, born and raised on this generation farm. They run a cattle feedlot and also a grain operation. You will probably get to see a lot of this as we truck through this brutal winter, and spring finally arrives, and then it gets crazy on the farm. Planting, harvesting wheat, baling straw and hay, planting again, silage chopping, the combine starts rolling across the fields, and then winter wheat has to be planted. And the cattle and calves fit into their daily chores on top of their fieldwork. We purchase bull calves (males) from dairy farmers and raise them to market.
The Farm Kiddos
My kids and nieces have endured this farm life that they were born into like rockstars. They sacrificed events and invitations, worked before and after school doing chores, and kept up their school work, all while spending countless hours on this farm. It is not/was not an easy life, but if you asked any of them, they would tell you they have no regrets and the farm will always have a piece of their heart.
In birth order: Megan (husband Lee and my grandkids), Emily, Katlyn, and Andrew. Our three older girls have all graduated from college majoring in agriculture and are finally off my checkbook (happy dance!!!). Anyway, Andrew is still in high school and works on the farm right along with his dad and uncle, all while balancing the joy of being seventeen.
Thank you for stopping in; I hope you join in on the fun as I share our adventures in Just Farm Life!
As we always say,
Through our tears and laughter, our clean-cut jeans and dirty boots, and from the drenching rain to the bright sunshine, you will be introduced to our reality in Just Farm Life.
