Kansas crop losses are high

I am grateful not to be a large production farm. This year especially.  However I do rely on the smaller farmsteads close to me to help feed my livestock.

Normally we can produce 80% of our food needs here on the homestead (that's human food needs) and around 55% of the small livestock's needs. However this year has been exceptional in the terms of loss. Meat isn't a problem, we have 100% of those needs met and have even superseded that.  However when it comes to our fruit and vegetable needs, I only was able to save 1 1/2 pints of sweet corn, 3 cucumber, 2 zucchinis, and 12 acorn squashes. That doesn't go very far. The few carrots and spinach that didn't bolt, we ate as soon as they were dug up, and 1 basil plant and 1 mint plant thrived. We are finally getting yellow bell peppers and some hot and mild peppers that more than meets our needs, and the small tomatoes have changed to white. But this isn't enough to live on. (no edible weeds right now either)

My flour source is gone, as is my pumpkin farmer.

The cooler weather does help you think a bit more enthusiastically though.

The sunflower sprouted a bit randomly this year, but it will be enough to supplement our laying hens on for 4-6 months. (have yet to harvest them to know for sure.)

I haven't been able to milk since spring because of the drought. Without the fresh greens, my girls can not put on the weight they need to sustain themselves through the winter if I am taking the milk. I allowed them all to stay on calf, and gave them the freshest of cut hay I could.

I am hoping that next year things will get back to normal. This year has been a famine year. If I was unable to go to the grocery, things would be very bad for us. We could sustain ourselves on the few things I was able to harvest and the meats for only a bit. Then. . . it would only be meat for the duration of the winter.

I digress, I was going to talk about the crop losses. The estimates are out

We lost 36.4 million bushels of wheat. 137.9 million bushels of corn, sorghum 31.3 million bushels loss, 22.7 million bushels of soybean. They do not give me the estimates of feed, but looking at those numbers that are a typically irrigated crop and feed isn't, you can see where it may stand on losses.

3/4 of our state is still aggressively dry. I got my info from KSN>>>

I know, I have it better than my friends in Texas. And I do feel for you guys. And if you need a place to stay, ask. But Texas isn't directly effecting me right at this moment (though in the future it will) The losses here are. Winter has to have massive amounts of snow for us to be able to sustain a spring. Fingers crossed.

Making your own small scale silage

Now is a good time to start making and storing your own silage. It is rather easy on small scale.

The simplest is for those that mow their grass. Simply mow, allow to wilt, bag in a large zip type plastic baggy, or trash bag, and press out as much air as possible. If mold grows on it, the silage is ruined and should never be fed to your animals.

Depending on the animals that you are making silage for, you will need different plant materials. Crops suitable for silage are non-leguminous fodder crops rich in soluble carbohydrates, such as maize, oats, sorghum, pearl millet, and cultivated grasses are most suitable for ensiling. Materials can be grasses, legumes, fodder crops (sorghum, maize), crop residues or by-products. These items need to be harvested in the young age, before flowering, to help ensure that you have enough sugars for proper fermentation.

And don't forget your tree and shrub fodder. Just restrict the amount of tannins. And be cautious of the type of plants you are harvesting for your animals. Tannins has been shown to help with worm problems in sheep and goats, still restrict the amounts though.

If you are growing legumes, harvest leaves before your dry season, allow them to dry in the shade, then mix in with your silage.

If you wish to do it on a slightly larger scale, a pit works good for storage as well (cover with black plastic and weight it down with tires), as does a buried deep freezer. Place your silage in it in layers, then walk on it, pressing the silage down removing as much air as possible. Keep it cool and dry (plastic and weights work here as well).

Come winter, you can feed a nice nutritional "fresh" meal to all your lovely critters.

It's all about the frogs

My middle child turned 5 years-old on labor day. What better way to celebrate than with frogs! Of course he loves frogs, so we stuck with that theme.
I made a Devil's food cake topped with white chocolate almond frosting. Using black colored gel piped icing my husband drew out the frog, log and flies. I couldn't draw a stick figure if it saved my life. I used green decorator piped frosting to fill in the frog, and crushed walnuts for the log. Click link if you want the recipes.

We had a great time, and even allowed the birthday boy to start a small camp fire {that boy loves fire}


Our strawberry popcorn harvest has come in. The early rains cause some of them to mold, so it is a small harvest {that and my husband tilled under our white popcorn} Even with the small crop, we still get to enjoy warm popcorn on a snowy night.



The decorative sunflowers that I did NOT plant a few years ago, has over ran my peppers. We removed a half acre of these renegade flowers in the spring, but my husband thought to leave a row as a wind block. I did ask him if he remembered how these things grow and that they were too close to the peppers. When will he remember I am right?



I finished up my pear project this weekend. Pear Preserves, and pear Jam. I made a mistake on the pear jam {will post that tomorrow}
The preserves were easier than I thought they would be. More waiting than cooking.

We also opened up a jar of the pizza sauce I canned. It turned out great. Everyone was happy with it. I must say that I can't help but smile when I taste the "fruits" of my labor that have turned out so well. It's called pride, something that anyone that knows my life history, knows I have had little of.

I have also been listening to gun fire the past few days. I need to check if hunting season has opened, or if I have poachers roaming the roads.