Almost everyday, at the breakfast table one of our kids will ask us what we plan to accomplish that day. Lately, the answer is usually one of the following:

1. Cut, bale and/or wrap haylage. It’s officially hay season and we spend a lot of time in the fields, when the weather permits. The wheat and rye fields are beautiful and its rewarding to see the tubes of haylage grow. Sometimes we don’t finish wrapping until late at night.

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2. Work in the gardens and the greenhouse. Thankfully, it has been warm enough to get some things planted outside recently. This year, the need to raise our own food feels a little more serious than in years past. We’re also thankful our greenhouse has been producing wonderful results. About half of my days are spent tending to plants and starting seedlings. Dustin and the boys help me with jobs that I can’t complete by myself. The boys have really been enjoying seeing “their” seeds sprout and grow. I must admit, I’ve enjoyed the process, too.

3. Work on fences. Stormy weather has caused us repeated bouts damage to our fences. Trees fall when we get bad storms, and they often find themselves on top of a few strands of our fences. We are also moving several head of cattle this year, and its always a good idea to have a sturdy fence in place before introducing a new herd to a different piece of property. New catch pen facilities have also been built this spring. We use these for “penning” our cattle on various properties. We sort and load out the calves from these pens. A reliable catch pen facility is very important to our safety as well as to the safety of our cattle.

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4. Take care of the animals. Of course, this happens everyday. We often spend part of a day feeding minerals to our cattle. The kids and I sometimes enjoy a brief ride on a tailgate. Also, Titus has continuted to raise his hogs from his 4H project. Although the project was cancelled, like so many other things have been, he has enjoyed the experience and now the hogs have been delievered to the processor.

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5. And occasionally we spend a couple of hours doing some fun things. Like fishing. Throwing rocks in a pond. Catching insects. Picking flowers. Or admiring a sunset.

Life has been different lately, even for us, in our somewhat secluded farm life. But life goes on. And we always know “what we’re doing today.”