Bringing Home the Bacon: ohio

Showing posts with label ohio. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sign of the Farmpocalypse

Every issue of Sports Illustrated has a brief quote titled Sign of the Apocalypse, a humorous but true sports news item that makes you wonder--have we gone too far? In that spirit, I present another installment of Sign of the Farmpocalypse, because I just can't make this stuff up.

Dayton media are reporting that four people have been arrested for stealing pigs from a farm and attempting to re-sell them, in a caper headlined 4 Arrested for Bringing Home the Bacon.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Dahling... We Simply Must Go to the Theatre This Evening

I'm not sure what confession I can make on this blog that's worse than not liking cats but today I have to confess that this red-blooded rural American will NOT be watching Super Bowl XLV. I will be attending the theatre instead.

I'm not joking.

A few months ago my good friend and fellow blogger had a great idea to subscribe to the Broadway Series here in Dayton. How could I resist an opportunity to spend time with fun, smart women who wanted to eat at restaurants that don't serve chicken nuggets, followed by a Sponge Bob-free evening of entertainment. We bought tickets at the bottom rung of the season ticket ladder--one row in front of the high school field trip seats. So far we've seen the Blue Man Group and a comedian who talks about the Wonder Bread Years. It didn't even dawn on me that tonight's performance of 9 to 5 would conflict with the year's best night of advertising.

Like millions of other Americans, my interest in the Super Bowl is largely tolerating an NFL game while waiting for the most expensive TV commercials of the season to air. And consuming large quantities of dip.

I imagine the Schuster Center tonight will be full of stuffy, artsy women, many without their men, who wouldn't know a tailback from a tight end. Maybe there will be some empty seats. And there will probably be some men there who dare not disobey the wife this close to Valentine's Day.

I'll be there with a group of Moms who may like football and definitely like commercials and dip, but value their time together even more. And also, all the good commercials will be on YouTube by the time we get home. I'm thinking about smuggling in some dip.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

State Fair 101

I mentioned recently that we were heading out to the Ohio State Fair and many of you wished us well. This year I tried to take some photos of the work that goes into a state fair visit, because for us, there's very little eating of cotton candy (although last year we did have some fun milking a fake cow).

When we arrive at the fair, we back the trailer into the barn to unload the pigs. This involves Husband skillfully backing the trailer and me not helping at all, unless you count when I let the truck hit a guard rail.

Husband enters the trailer and opens each pen to unload the pigs one by one directly from the trailer into their pen, which has already been bedded with wood chips (like their cousins the guinea pig).

After the pigs are unloaded we get the rest of our gear and stow in an empty pen. I am a veteran farm wife and so I know that everything needs to be about six inches from the edge of the gate in case a pig with a long nose gets put in the next pen.

After unloading, the kids and I usually need a break but Husband keeps working hard, washing each pig in a special washing pen, almost like a pig shower stall.

Once the pigs are washed, we can number them. The numbers are for easy identification during the show and sale (auction) that follow. Husband uses metal numbers on sticks dipped in paint to add the right digits. Green for the white pigs, yellow for the black ones.

During the show, Husband is intense. I learned a long time ago that show time is no time for goofing off. This year, Husband and Ryan got to show against each other. I was able to capture this touching moment!

As serious business as our trips to the state fair always are--this is Husband's equivalent of a trade show--we girls do take time to steal away for some shopping. Doesn't every farm girl need pink boots?

Friday, July 30, 2010

Farm Wife Tips: Packing for the Pig Barn

My friend and fellow blogger, SoyBoyMama, is running a weekly series of Tuesday tidbits where she shares great ideas, like a simple way to keep kids puzzles from getting mixed together. Since I'm forever stealing her memes, I have a few tips to share too. Farm wife style.

Tomorrow we are heading out to the Ohio State Fair for three days of pig showing. As a veteran fairgoer and mother, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to ensure a fun and safe trip.

First, you never know what you'll encounter at the fair. Actually, you do: dust, messy food, sweat and manure. I carefully choose the bag I bring to the fair. It needs to be able to withstand spilled water (or pig pee if you're really unlucky) and wipe down easily if it gets dirty.

I use this large bag I was fortunate enough to get for free a few years ago. It has survived several fairs and even a few nibbles from the pigs.

Inside I pack a head-to-toe replacement set of clothes for each member of the family. Trust me. When your four-year-old gets so exhausted that he pees himself in the barn, you'll be glad to have not only the underwear, but the socks. I bring a complete change of clothing for myself. Every Mom knows from experience that kids rarely get messy without sharing a little of the filth with Mom.

I pack each person's clothing in a Ziploc bag. First, it helps keep the clean clothes safe from the many perils of the pig barn. Second, in-barn clothes changes are usually happening in an emergency situation. It's great to be able to find the whole outfit quickly and easily. Third, the plastic bag can be a safe storage place for the icky dirty clothes.

Last year we ordered at set of tattoos with Husband's cell phone number on them from SafetyTat. These are a GREAT way to keep kids safe, especially at a place as big as the State Fair. We always keep an eye on the kids, but feel better knowing that if the little ones wander off, there is an easy way for the authorities to contact us. [I am not affiliated with SafetyTat. I just like their product.]

One last tip for all visitors to the fair. Unless you like the feeling of excrement between your toes--leave the flip flops at home!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Dayton Media on Twitter

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Obscure Seinfeld Reference Goes Here

Well, I've really done it now. Dayton Most Metro, an online hub for all things Dayton, has published my submission, obscure Seinfeld reference and all. If headline writing were like Scrabble, I think I'd have a triple word score for getting both chicken and sex in the title. Check it out.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Top 10 Dayton Media on Twitter

I took my popular Dayton Media Twitter list and did another analysis this week to determine the most frequently followed Dayton journalists on Twitter. Here are the top 10.

WHIO TV7 - 1,779 followers
Dayton Daily News - Hal McCoy - 1.522 followers
Dayton Daily News - 1,507 followers
WDTN TV2 - 1,351followers
Dayton Daily News - Ohio Politics - 1,056 followers
Dayton Daily News - Mark Fisher Wine - 927 followers
Greenville Advocate 360 - 903 followers
WDTN TV2 - Kennan Oliphant - 826 followers
WKEF TV22 - JeffBoth - 770 followers
WHIO TV7 - Rich Wirdzek - 729 followers

*Followers as of Nov. 15, 2009.

A few observations on this list:

Dayton Daily News - Mark Fisher Food falls off the list to number 14 overall. Previously, Fisher was the only Dayton journalist to have TWO Twitter accounts in the top ten--and perhaps the only Dayton journalist to have two accounts at all.
The list changed very little since October, with @jeffbooth1as the only newcomer.
WHIO TV7 maintained its lead over Dayton Daily News - Hal McCoy.
Honorable mention on this list goes to WHIO TV7 - Gabrielle Enright who comes in at number 11 and has been very innovative in her use of Twitter to cover the news.
Everyone's Twitter pal, Kennan Oliphant remains the most prolific individual media Twitter account, now with 5,338 updates.

To see how all the media on my Dayton Twitter list fared, see my spreadsheet.

Friday, October 30, 2009

A Tip for Dayton

I can't stand it when people get all indignant and can't see the humor in things. Nothing is more unappealing to me than when an individual or an organization is so self-focused that they can't or won't allow for any self-deprecating laughs.

That said, this farm wife from Dayton HATES, HATES the "cow tipping" shirts that greet visitors at the Dayton (we offer connecting flights to Canada) International Airport.

Oh, you haven't seen them? I tried to take a photo during my most recent trip:

Right after I snapped the photo I was told by the Paradies Shop cashier that I wasn't allowed to photograph the shirts--they are copyrighted, apparently.

The shirts greeting visitors to Dayton--our suggested last-minute gift items to take home to loved ones--they say "Nothing Tips Like a Cow." So you see my quandary. It is sort of funny. It says, "hey honey, look what I brought you back from the middle of nowhere." It's Ohio, nothing here but cows, get it?

Call me no fun, or boring, or unappreciative of our strong agriculture base (of which I am a part), but I can't stand these shirts. So much so that on the way home I snuck up and took more photos through the shop's closed bars, with a friend standing guard.

So what's my problem? Why does the farm wife, of all people, dislike these shirts? Because I also work in public relations and branding. Because Dayton is struggling. We are struggling to grow our business base. We are struggling to retain the companies we have. And when companies leave, what is their excuse for leaving--that no one sees Dayton as a business destination. You know, it is rumored, that the non-Dayton CEO of a certain Dayton-founded company calls his employees in Ohio "the corn people."

WELL MAYBE IF WE DIDN'T REINFORCE THAT WITH COW TIPPING SHIRTS AT THE AIRPORT IT MIGHT HELP. Sorry.

I did a mini-interview with the Paradies Shop cashier and asked her, since the Dayton Airport is owned by the City of Dayton, who decides what goes in the stores. She said that Paradies has a Dayton-based manager who does the purchasing.

Let me just put forth a crazy idea. What if we invested a lot of money and had an out-of-town branding company come up with a unique way to graphically represent our current vision for Dayton with also a nod to the past. If they came up with something good, it might catch on and become the basis for a city branding campaign.

Nah, Dayton would never do that...

Yeah, it's just too bad we don't have ANYTHING better to graphically represent our city than an up-turned cow.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Token Farmer

The fact that I straddle the worlds of corporate America and agriculture is a theme of this blog but it has really come home to me this week with the number of friends and family who have stopped us to get our opinion on Ohio Issue 2.

Some have been apologetic for "bothering" us about this, but really we're the only farmers they know. I have been happy to help via Facebook message or e-mail but at the request of a good friend and fellow blogger, I decided to post about how we are voting and why.

First, let me summarize by saying that we are voting YES. We have the sign in our front yard proclaiming our intentions. Second, if you disagree with me, then fine. I'm not writing this to change anyone's mind--only to reach people who are undecided and value our opinion as real farmers.

I'll start by pointing out that the vote-no-people, the Humane Society of the US, is a vegan organization who (by their own admission) have the end goal of eliminating consumption of meat and dairy. One tactic is to make farming so difficult and food so expensive that people look for alternatives. Also, they are NOT affiliated with any actual humane societies and spend only token money on helping dogs or cats.

Even though some materials say small farmers are opposed to Issue 2--that is simply not true. We are a very small farm but we are in favor of Issue 2. It's true, as the critics note, that this board was rushed into existence chiefly to keep the HSUS from imposing some draconian rules on Ohio agriculture (see motives above). But we truly believe that consulting large animal vets, the head of agriculture education at Ohio State and Ohio consumers (all on the proposed board) would be a better way to manage our livestock care issues.

Here's a real-life example of how the changes proposed by well-meaning animal lovers could affect pig farms... They want to eliminate gestation crates that don't permit the sow to turn around. Husband doesn't use these partly because we would have to build an entire new expensive barn to accommodate and we don't have the volume of sows to justify. BUT since he doesn't use them, he has to stay up all night, almost every night from December through February to make sure that the sows don't squish the babies as they are born and so they don't freeze to death (gestation barns are climate controlled). If Husband had hundreds of sows like a farm that provides meat to the grocery, this would be impossible to manage and every day piglets would be getting stepped on by their mothers--which is very painful and usually rips them open.

This is my long-winded way of saying that farmers came up with these methods not out of meanness but out of a desire to raise as many healthy animals as they can quickly and economically--something we enjoy every week at Krogers.

So tell your Facebook friends and your crazy neighbor who e-mails you about the evils of "factory farms" that you heard it straight from a farmer--vote YES on Issue 2.

Monday, September 14, 2009

What Farm Kids Do for Fun

I was just watching an episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (I'll keep my opinions on the whole thing to myself.). Anyway, in this episode the Gosselin boys went to a dude ranch. They had never seen a horse in real life. Or a goat. And they giggled the whole time about the poop.

What a different life my kids lead. Different than the majority of kids in this flyover State of Ohio, even. I have written before on the theme: What Farm Kids Do for Fun and the things they do are so foreign to people, that I may make this a regular feature. Plus, my little farm kids are very cute while they entertain themselves.

Here are Justin and Morgan making up some sort of barnyard parade that looks wacky even to other farm kids. But this is what you can come up with on a Sunday afternoon when you have a gravel circle behind your house large enough for a semi-tanker to manuever in.

Here's Morgan on the swingset, enjoying a Saturday sunset. She shares her neighborhood only with wrapped hay bales, the odd hay wagon and a soybean field that's looking a little weedy.

Here is Justin in his tree house. It's actually in a split tree trunk two feet off the ground. Even though he has a swing set nearby--that took his father nearly four days to assemble--Justin prefers his made-up hideaway.

So don't feel sorry for the farm kids. Even though they don't have neighbor kids to run around with, or sidewalks for their bikes, they have developed the ability to explore and use their imaginations. And let's face it, they've long ago finished laughing about the poop.

Speaking of poop (we were?) and farm kids having fun, see below, by popular demand, more photos from our fun-filled exhausting week at the 2009 Montgomery County Fair. Enjoy.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Bonding Over the Fake Cow

Once again the worlds of PR, agriculture and motherhood come together!

After I tweeted and blogged about the fake cow in the Agriculture & Horticulture building at the Ohio State Fair and all the great exhibits provied by the Oho Farm Bureau, I received this @ reply.

They had a previously unidentified photo of my kids riding pedal tractors in the Farm Bureau Booth! Kudos to Ohio Farm Bureau for using social media to sow the seeds of loyalty among its membership. What a great case study for any association.

Click on the photo.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Hueston, We Have an Ohio Beach

Over Memorial Day weekend, when we weren't chasing pigs through the barn or cows down the lane, we thought it would be nice to get away for an afternoon of summer fun.

So we headed over to Hueston Woods State Park to the beach on man made Acton Lake.

If you are looking for a summer hot spot that offers pristine sandy beaches, high class amenities, crystal clear waters, good smells, and people wearing appropriate swim attire, then this is NOT the place for you.

But guess what, we had a great little redneck holiday and the kids LOVED the sand.

While we were the only family unit on the beach who didn't have at least one adult, child, dog or granny with a tattoo, people were friendly. For instance, when I laid down on our beach blanket, they didn't splash water on my thighs and try to drag me back in the water to rejoin my pod.

I guess it was a classy place after all.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Reaping What you Sow

Last spring we ambitiously planted seeds in homemade egg carton starters. The plants grew up tall and spindly and even though we replanted, they all died.

This year, I invested in very cool green starter kits that included biodegradable containers and really fun dirt pellets that expanded when wet.

If nothing else, Justin and Morgan had a wonderful time making the pellets expand and they did a nice job planing their seeds.

Yes, she is wearing her princess swimming suit. After a long winter, don't all Ohioans spend the early part of May just sitting around in their swim suits waiting for spring? They don't? I need to go talk to my husband about something he told me a long time ago. I'll be right back.

Anyway, we planted our seeds in our eco-friendly containers and somehow even managed to take a decent photo of Justin. The biodegradable container proceeded to mold on top of my filing cabinet for a few weeks until the seedlings were just tall and spindly enough that we thought we better plant them.

Tuesday evening we planted our seedlings in pots and in the flower bed. Most of our seeds were flowers, but here you see the apple trees we are attempting to grow with seeds from an apple Justin ate.

While we may not be enjoying bouquets of zinnias or home grown apples any time soon, we will have some great family memories and a better understanding of nature.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Rainbow Connection

UPDATE: It was a fire rainbow.

Sunday, we were outside at my grandmother's house and we saw this crazy cloud rainbow.

My photos don't do it justice. The colors were bright and beautiful--like the ingredients of a rainbow were hiding in the clouds.

It even seemed to move around and change as the clouds changed.

Then, right above us, there was a circle of rainbow.

I had never seen anything like this. A powerful reminder of the beauty of Mother Nature.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dayton Media on Twitter

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Pork and PR

We get a lot of publications at our house that feature many, many pictures of pig balls. Get your mind out of the gutter! These are serious publications that include ads from boar studs (a boar stud is exactly what you think it is) that are showing the males they have for sale.

We also get a number of earnest publications put together by the Pork Producers Council and the Farm Bureau featuring swine manure management strategies or perhaps stories about farmers and how they plant the exact grasses in their pasture to maximize the digestive process of their goats (an actual story that I read).

The point I'm getting to is that in looking over the farm literature that comes into the house daily I'm starting to see a trend. Farmers, at least when talking to each other, are tired of lying back and letting others shape their image.

I participated in my first #agchat on Twitter tonight. For two hours, I watched over 130 tweets roll in from people all over the world who are concerned about the image of agriculture and the way certain groups have gotten ahead of us in framing a conversation based on emotion rather than the science most farmers are more comfortable with.

I helped Husband tweet about the Ohio Pork Tour, a print, Web, YouTube campaign to show that Ohio's pig farmers are real people who care about the environment, taking good care of their hogs, and supporting their families. As a PR person and a hog farmer, I find this to be an interesting campaign at an opportune time. I encourage you to check it out.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Happy Blogiversary

One year ago today, at the urging of a friend, I decided that other people would like a behind-the-scenes look at farm life from the perspective of a person who spends her days in corporate America and her evenings saying things to her spouse and children like Don't store your s&men collection supplies on the kitchen counter--put them on top of the washer.

I really have to dedicate this blogiversary post to the person who has been my inspiration, my blogging muse: my husband. A never-ending source of humor and unique situations, Husband never fails to shake his head when he reads this blog. And that is only when I leave it up on the screen for him. He and his faithful AOL browser don't know how to get here on their own.

ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more

But in spite of all the mild ribbing he takes here, he still remembered my blogiversary and commissioned this cake. (HA!)

I also have to thank our parents for raising us in such bizarre families and providing me with much interesting fodder, like appliances and furniture gone bad.

I don't have a million people visiting this blog, but I have been able to share my tales of farm kids and PR industry commentary with people from 47 states (Wyoming, Vermont, Rhode Island--where are you?) AND 37 countries. The most important statistic I found is that one-third of visitors have returned 50 or more times.

So thank you loyal readers and perpetual lurkers. Here's to another great year.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Last year at this time we were recovering from a blizzard. Today, the temp was 70, so the kids and I were able to turn the hay field into our own kite flying range.

Morgan and Justin had never flown kites before but they were quick learners. Morgan even assembled a very special farm girl kite flying outfit.

We had to be careful of all the usual kite-eating trees and power lines, but on the farm there are additional hazards. Corn stalks are not good for kites; neither are cows but the one on the far right was behind a fence.

Kitty, Kitty are you OK? Get up Kitty, you can do it! Morgan and I found it helpful to shout words of encouragement to her kite.

Once she got the hang of it, she had a blast.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Benefit Bank

Let me highly recommend that those of us with computer savvy help our friends and family members who have adjusted gross income less than $56,000 with their state and federal tax returns. [State filing available only in Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, and Pennsylvania]

The Benefit Bank offers free step-by-step online tax preparation support, plus e-filing.

I am a trained volunteer for the Benefit Bank, which also helps low income families apply for state and federal aid programs. It's been a tremendous experience for me to apply my computer skills to directly helping people in need in my community.

Many people are losing their jobs and finding themselves hurting for maybe the first time in their lives. If you know someone who is unsure about their eligibility for aid programs, I encourage you to help them with a "Quick Check" of eligibility at the Benefit Bank Web site.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Agriculture in the News

As a public relations professional, I am always following the media in my industry. I also enjoy following agricultural articles, both by reading the farm magazines that come to my house (some day I'll show you the one that mostly features hog butts) and by reading about how agriculture is covered in the mainstream media.

I highly recommend the The Rural Blog as a great source for agriculture articles from around the country.

This week, who could miss the front-page feral hog story in the Dayton Daily News.

Yikes! We live very close to the Germantown MetroPark but have not encountered any wild boar. A feral pig could really cause some trouble on the farm, including jumping in with our prize State Fair gilt and doing the wild thing.

As the lone agricultural person ever known to many of my Friendly Suburban-Dwelling Co-Workers, I often get questions about ag in the news. I usually take the opportunity to answer thoughtfully and educate them on the issues.

Then I go home and find out from the real farmer that I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm going to have to study the pig butt magazine more often.