And the winner is...

Congrats to the reader that commented:

glenise.ewalt said...

ah, the little smokies wrapped in bacon with brown sugar are called, Pigs in Leather Jackets ;) Ive several pork receipes we love but Ill have to say, the easiest recipe with the biggest taste comes from my brother-in-law. He marinates pork loin in A-1 sauce and then grills it. Deeeee-lish!!! dish

You won the Guy Fieri Cookbook Giveaway!

Email us at indianafarmers@gmail.com and let us know where to ship your prize.

Our Food, Our Farmers: Grades 10-12 Essay Winner

Our Food, Our Farmers Ag Essay Contest – 2011

Written Essay Winner: Grades 10-12

Morgan Williams, 12^th Grader at Rushville Consolidated High School

Teacher:  Blair Orme

“Food for Thought – Our Food, Our Farmers”

Indiana agriculture has influenced our lives in more ways than we realize. Without our farms, life as we know it today would cease to exist. Agriculture is essential to our lives. Farmers not only feed and provide us with clothing, but they also protect our environment and boost our economy. Farms keep our way of life going.

In recent years, agriculture has come to mean more than just farming the land and feeding our population. Farmers in Indiana and all across the nation constantly develop new ways to protect and preserve our environment. They discover new ways to preserve our soil and farm the land more efficiently. These days, agriculturalists help keep our food safe to eat, efficiently produce more products, and help our economy grow and prosper.

The safety of our food has become a debated issue within the United States. Agricultural research has developed new ways to farm the land efficiently without the use of pesticides and chemicals. Researchers have found ways to keep food safe, while still protecting our crops from harmful insects and other sorts of animals. Regulations on how much of each chemical can be used and how much can be used have been established. Also, we have seen an increase in organic food on grocery shelves. More consumers want to see their food grown in more natural ways, with fewer chemicals.

Agriculture has grown to be more efficient by discovering ways to plant more and harvest more. Nowadays, farms harvest a significantly larger amount of crops within a year. With more being produced, agriculture has stimulated our sinking economy. The food and other goods produced from our farmers are essentials that consumers buy, and this all keeps our economy going.

Agriculture affects our everyday lives in positive ways that we tend to overlook. We take our food, our clothing, and our farms for granted more often than we should. We need to remember that without farms and rural communities, life could not go on. Indiana agriculture improves our lives and helps make this world a better place for everyone.

Our Food, Our Farmers: Grades 7-9 and Overall Essay Winner

Our Food, Our Farmers Ag Essay Contest – 2011

Written Essay Winner: Grades 7-9; Overall

Casey Campbell, 9th Grader at Franklin Community High School

Teacher:  Sarah Rapp

“Food for Thought – Our Food, Our Farmers”

Let’s think for a second. This morning you most likely had breakfast. Eggs? Bacon?

Follow the paths that your breakfast took. Those eggs came from a chicken. That chicken was on a farm, run by a farmer. That crispy bacon on your plate came from a hot, which came from a hog operation. Think of the work those farmers did for you. The care, effort, and time those farmers gave to give you one meal. American farmers feed and clothe us, contribute to the economy, protect the environment, improve our health and so much more.

American farmers feed you and me. They spend countless hours of hard work, effort and time into pulling food on the table, whether it’s the farmer in Florida or the grain producer in Iowa laboring over wheat to make your birthday cake. Your shirt was one of the 1,217 shirts that came from one 500 pound cotton bale! So where would we be without American farmers? Hungry and Naked, But, American farmers do much more than that.

Farmers do more than feed us. They feed the world’s economy. Agriculture employs about 14 percent of America’s workforce and accounts for more than 5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Agriculture and the economy are best friends. The crops fail, prices and demand go up. The economy goes bad, agriculture goes down with it.

If anyone protects the environment, it’s farmers. Farmers care of the land and protect it. They preserve the land by soil and water conservation. Because without the land, we couldn’t farm. They are for controlled and planned urbanization. On their farms, they increase energy efficiency. Farmers do so much to protect our planet.

Farmers improve our health by giving us a continual supply of high quality food and fibers. Farmers give us an abundance of goods to keep us healthy. They care about the quality of their products. They give us adequate nutrition we need for excellent health! Without the supply, we would no longer be here!

American agriculture plays an enormous role in my life, even if I didn’t live on a farm. Farmers keep me fed and clothed, they even improve my health. Not to mention how they protect the environment and improve the economy. So, thank you to all of Indiana’s farmers for doing what you do.

Wordless Wednesday: Moo

The winner of our Healthy Beef Cookbook Prize Pack is...

Facebook Fan Carol Nine! Email us at indianafarmers@gmail.com and let us know where to mail your prize! 

In the Kitchen with Real Farmwives of America and Friend's Ott, A

By Real Farmwives of America and Friends' Ott, A  of A Latte with Ott, A.

NOTE: Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the winner of this week's giveaway.

Whether it’s a special occasion or just your average evening dinner around the table Lamb is a great entrée to serve for your family.  Lamb burgers are great to eat as they are or to break up and add to tacos or spaghetti sauce.  Lamb chops are great to marinate and serve up for nice dinner.  But today I share with you a recipe for Leg of Lamb Steaks. 

This recipe for Mediterranean Lamb Steaks is very versatile as to how you prefer to cook the steaks.  We use it year round but based on your preferences it can be thrown on the grill in the summer months, warmed up in the oven during the spring and fall, or cooked in your crock pot on those cold winter days.  The ingredients stay the same, it’s just what you are in the mood for in terms of preparation.  Serve it with some vegetables and rolls and you will have one tasty dinner.

Mediterranean Lamb Steaks 

This recipe card is for the crock pot version.

For grilling place all ingredients along with the steaks in a bag and marinate for 6-8 hours.  Then place the steaks on the grill and cook till thermometer reads 160 degrees.  Drain liquid off tomatoes and then serve the tomatoes on top of the plated steak.

For Oven cooking: Place all ingredients along with the steaks in an oven bag.  Place bag in baking dish and cook at 350 for 30 minutes or until thermometer inserted into meat reads 160 degrees.

If you haven’t tried lamb before give this recipe a try, I’m sure you will be pleased with the taste.  Also, when you are shopping for lamb in the grocery store be sure to look and see if it’s American Raised Lamb.  There are over 70,000 sheep farms in the US and they produce around 300 million pounds of lamb per year.


You don't have to miss a minute of the fun with Ott, A and the Real Farmwives of America and Friends, now you can join them on Facebook. 

Now for this week's giveaway...

Congrats Jent! 

You are the winner of the skeins of yarn this week. Send us a message at indianafarmers@gmail.com and let us know where to mail your prize!

Hooked

NOTE: Scroll to the bottom of this post for the announcement of this week's giveaway winner.


Guest Post By Beth Gormong of Bag N It All

My dad and mom both grew up on farms in Indiana, but I was raised in town. So visiting Aunt Helen’s family nursery in central western Indiana was exciting to me. There were rows after rows of trees and flowers to wander through, water features to gaze into and decorative pots to hide behind.  But the best part of visiting my Aunt Helen was the day she taught me to crochet. My sister had helped me embroider at the age of three. My mom taught me to sew pajama pants for my brother at thirteen. But my Aunt introduced me to the world of yarn. That first project was meant to be a baby afghan. But when I took over the half finished afghan, my fingers held on a little too tightly to the yarn. Over the course of a few rows, the rectangle had morphed into a triangle. That didn’t matter to me. I was hooked. (No pun intended.)

I crocheted off and on for years. My biggest project was an afghan that grew and grew as I lay a prisoner to my bed while pregnant with my youngest. When the doctor ordered bed rest, the crochet hook and balls of yarn were placed next to me. I crafted my way through the days. I crocheted till there was no yarn left, and the finished project was enormous Though it matches nothing in my house, I can’t bear to part with it because of the memories it holds in each tiny stitch. So it has its own special shelf in my linen closet. And I put away my hooks.

Years later a friend taught me to knit and the obsession began again. Now I have a cabinet full of yarn, needles in every size, and enough books of patterns to knit my life away. Fortunately, bed rest is only a memory now. And knitting is a craft that fills my free time instead. When I’m sitting at the end of a field waiting for my farmer husband to finish the row, I just reach across the seat and finish a few rows myself. When I wait at the school to pick up a daughter, I knit a few more rows. When I’m alone at home during planting and harvest season, I knit more than just a few rows.

My latest project is yet unfinished. It’s a scarf for the 2012 Super Bowl. Indianapolis hosts the 2012 Super Bowl and is asking individuals to knit up a scarf or two for the Super Bowl volunteer in Colts blue and white of course. Mine is from a pattern from the booklet, “Simple Hip Knit Scarves.” The pattern is Claredon. I’m knitting the blue now. The white will come later. So if you have some free time this month and would like to contribute, check out this website for more information: www.indianapolissuperbowl.com/super-scarves.

And the winner of our $25 Burpee Seed Gift Card is...

Congrats Linda from Parker's Paradise! Contact us at IndianaFarmers@gmail.com and let us know where to send your gift certificate. Happy Planting!

How’s your New Year’s Resolution?

By Guest Blogger: Jeannie Keating of Jeannie's Gym Journey 

Note: Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the winner of this week's giveaway.

Okay, it’s now Day 7 of 2011. How’s your New Year’s Resolution going? 

If you are on track – congrats and keep up the good work!

However, if you’ve already fallen off the New Year’s band wagon, than you are among the 25% of all resolution makers that quit after the first week. 

But why not start again? There are no rules or New Year Resolution police.

Start again.

If you are a little embarrassed that you vowed to make 2011 “the year” you lost weight and by January 3^rd you … well… ate “just a couple” of cookies that turned into fifteen.  And the witness of your misdeed, “the critic,” (Yes, we all have one) was all too happy to give you the “I told you so” look, so what?  Remember…

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

-- Theodore Roosevelt

"Citizenship in a Republic,"

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Start again.  

The journey of weight loss is full of screw ups and you are not alone. Forgive yourself, learn and move on but don’t let “the critic” encourage you to give up.

“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never- - in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

-- Winston Churchill

  

Start again.  

Believe in yourself! And remember your Indiana’s Family of Farmers grows the meats, vegetables and fruit to provide you fresh as well as clean and lean nutrient sources of protein, carbohydrates and fats you need for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Need more nutrition ideas? Don’t diet! 

Before I go, I want you to meet someone who succeeded in this weight loss journey, my friend and client Kim Young.

She began her weight loss journey January 1, 2010.

I was privileged to help her lose 70 pounds (Yes that is not a typo) from January till September 2010 when she competed in her first Figure Competition.

I would encourage you to read Kim’s story. Her story is an inspiration to not just someone who wants to lose weight, but anyone who wants to change their life. Frankly, she has always inspired me.

Start again. 

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

-- John Wooden

The winner of this week's giveaway is "in it to win it"...

Congrats tuttlem99! Here's to your year of change! Contact us at indianafarmers@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Holidays on the Farm: Real Farmwives of America and Friends

Note: Scroll to the bottom of this post for the announcement of the winner of this week's giveaway.

Guest Post by Heather Hill of The Real Farmwives of America and Friends.  

The Real Farmwives of America and Friends -- I know you might be thinking what in the world or even who in the world is that.  Well, we are a group of farm girls and farm wives that offer a glimpse inside the world of growing up and living on the family farm through our blogs along with sharing other aspects of our hectic yet amazing lives.  We live in a world that is consumed with reality TV shows; although, we aren’t on TV, we’d love to you follow along with our blogs. 

In addition to our normal blogging adventures, once a month one of us is featured as the guest blogger on 3 kids and lots of pigs Farmer Fridays feature.  Additionally, the last Friday of each quarter all of the Farmwives and Friends blog about a common topic.  This Friday, we will be blogging about the holiday season on the farm.  We hope you enjoy it and continue to follow along for an amazing adventure. 

Life on the farm can be challenging, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Happy New Year!

Heather

The winner of the Amercia's Best BBQ Cookbook is Audrey Keating! Congrats! Please email us at indianafarmers@gmail.com and let us know where to mail your cookbook.

’Tis the season to be merry!

Note: Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the winner of this week's giveaway.

Guest Post by Real Farmwives of America's Meggie who blogs over at Hoosier Farm Babe

It's that time of year
When the world falls in love
Every song you hear
Seems to say
Merry Christmas
May your New Year dreams come true
And this song of mine
In three quarter time
Wishes you and yours
The same thing too

Sometimes nothing says it better than a beautiful Christmas song and The Christmas Waltz by Frank Sinatra is certainly one of my favorites, although it's hard to pick just one!

This is an absolutely beautiful time of the year on our farm ... there's no doubt about it. Why is it so beautiful you may ask ...

Not just because of the snow that falls on the Sycamore trees that line the driveway to our farm or the icicles that fall from our barns or the smoke that reaches the sky from our chimney as we sit together as a family watching Christmas classics warm and cozy indoors,  but  because of the reason for the season - to celebrate the birth of the Son of God. Beautiful because it's the season for giving. And beautiful because it’s the time of year when no matter what you're doing you make the effort to be with your loved ones on Christmas Day.

This Christmas will be especially special on our farm because it's baby's first Christmas. And I know for a fact that her grandparents have already bought her entirely too much. But hey ... that's what grandparents are for ...  spoiling their grandkids of course!

Christmas is a bit different for our family than many others. You see - we don't get "off work" on Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day. Our daily chores go on as usual on the farm. The pigs still need fed and checked on at least twice daily to make sure the climate-controlled buildings are warm enough to keep them comfortable. And while I'm not sure ... there's a pretty good chance we'll have a few sows (momma pigs) having piglets on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And the horse needs her fresh water, hay and clean bedding. Ohh … there's plenty to do before we open presents Christmas morning.

But since both Big D and I grew up on a farm - it doesn't bother us too much. I can remember getting up early to go to the farm and help Dad with the morning milking so we could get home and open presents and have our Christmas dinner together. It's all part of making Christmas memories together as a family. Someday when our baby girl Reagan gets older - maybe she'll be in the truck with her daddy checking on the pigs before we open presents Christmas morning. Making Christmas memories on the farm together as a family ... it’s a beautiful thing!

Meggie

And now for the winner of our giveaway of two tickets to this summer's Vintage Indiana...

Congrats to Mandi444! Email us at indianafarmers@gmail.com to claim your tickets.

Merry Christmas!

Finding Fresh Options for Your Family

Note: Scroll to the bottom to see the winner of the $40 Gift Certificate!

Agritourism as defined by Webster is the practice of touring agricultural areas to see farms and often to participate in farm activities. Hoosiers are privileged to have a plethora of agritourism sites varying from lettuce in the spring to Christmas trees in December and wineries year-round. The Indiana State Department of Agriculture has compiled all of these locations into one handy directory so you can find fresh, local food and products with a simple click of the mouse!

While fresh berries, tomatoes and peaches may not be readily available right now, check out some of these locations which offer wholesome, homemade products throughout the year:

The Apple Works in Trafalgar is open through Christmas Eve and offers pies, jellies, and butters as well as Christmas trees.

Binford Farmer’s Market  has a special Christmas market on December 4th and 11th.

Dull’s Tree Farm is open Thanksgiving to Christmas in Thorntown.
The Boone County operation was the pick-up site for the annual Trees for Troops campaign between the Indiana Tree Growers Association and FedEx. Our state’s producers donated more than 200 trees to be delivered to military bases stateside and overseas. This year, the State FFA officers participated in this event. Check out their blog where they share some of their experiences!

Felke Florist & Greenhouse is a fifth generation florist offering poinsettias and wreaths in Marshall County.

Huber’s Orchard, Winery & Vineyards in Starlight offers wine, cheese, ice cream, and unique gifts year-round. Christmas trees are currently available as well.

While this is just a short list, there are many other sites across the state. So bundle up and get everyone in the car for a trip to a local producer. Indiana products make great gifts, especially for those hard-to-buy-for relatives!

And the winner of the $40 Gift Certificate from the Indiana Christmas Tree Growers is....

Congrats to the Haffner Family! Enjoy a fresh wreath from our family to yours!

Please email us at indianafarmers@gmail.com and let us know where to mail your gift certificate.

Check out our blog on Monday for another great giveaway announcement!