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www.thelandonline.com — “Where Farm and Family Meet”
THE LAND — FEBRUARY 5/FEBRUARY 12, 2021
Perils of home repairs: “Clean-up on aisle five!” There comes a time in every homeownWe started in cleaning up sewer water er’s life when something breaks or doesn’t — hauling rugs up the steps and outside; work the way it’s supposed to work. putting old towels underneath doors so it Some repairs take just minutes, while wouldn’t run out all over the basement; others gobble up our time and leave us as hosing down the room and scrubbing the wide-eyed as laborers without pantlegs floor with plentiful amounts of strong tied shut on corn shelling day. bleach water. It’s the woman of the house who often That mop no longer lives here. brings household problems to light. She When peace and calm had returned, my TABLE TALK typically stands next to the man of the husband began to clean himself up. He house, handing him the tools he needs to By Karen Schwaller peeled his socks, t-shirt and jeans off, wave over a clogged garbage disposal or a and stood right out in the front yard in broken vacuum cleaner and bring them his underwear in the middle of the afterback to life. noon, hosing the sewer water off of those clothing But it sometimes comes at a high price. items. This past late winter, my husband discovered a Our mail carrier must wonder what goes on drainage issue in the house. Something wasn’t right; around here. and upon the several investigations that followed, it When he would talk about it after he showered, he turns out there was some kind of issue that was strung those familiar expletives together again keeping the sewer line from flowing. before saying, “…I had toilet paper in my teeth.” Given the job ahead of him, my husband spewed Truth be told, he did not experience that. But his his usual string of curse words and started in on the point about grossness was made. job of fixing that problem. He checked every place Here’s a guy who raised hogs for 25 years and where he might gain the easiest access to the line, but eventually it led him to the basement where the never once flinched at the thought of having his jeans splattered or even caked with hog poop. They sewer pipe protrudes from the wall. just came off at night and went into a pile of chore And here is where our story begins. He grabbed a five-gallon bucket and placed it underneath the end of the pipe and slowly began to unscrew the plug. He turned slowly and the conAMES, Iowa — Practical Farmers of Iowa’s 2021 tents ran just as slowly out of the pipe and into the winter webinar series, referred to as “farminars,” are bucket, which he would periodically dump into the offered through March 16 on issues relevant to sump pit. This tomfoolery continued for a few minbeginning and experienced row crop, livestock and utes until it happened. He turned the plug a little horticulture farmers, as well as landowners. too far, he guessed, and the pressure behind it was All farminars run weekly on Tuesdays from 7-8:30 released. p.m. and are free for anyone with an internet connecMy husband was in perfect alignment for the bath tion to participate. Attendees are able to ask quesfrom you-know-where. tions in real-time using a chat box while they listen And it didn’t miss. and watch a slideshow. Each farminar is recorded and archived at practicalfarmers.org for later viewing. Of course, he was as grossed out as the person feeling the ‘brains’ at the haunted house, not to Feb. 9 — “The Top 5 Questions About Pastured mention furious. Finishing Pigs” — Dayna Burtness has been raising pastured pigs since 2015 and will ask Steve Deibele, an experienced pig farmer, her top five questions NICOLLET COUNTY FARM SALE around finishing pigs on pasture. Steve owns Golden Bear Farm in Kiel, Wisconsin, and has 20 years of All in Section 5, Township 109, Range 28 experience. Both farmers will discuss planting and feeding perennial and annual forages. Parcel 1: 56.10 +/- acres North of Highway 14 Parcel 2: 72.04 +/- acres South of Highway 14 Feb. 16 — “Contract Grazing Cover Crops for Winter Feed” — Father and son team, Jon and Jared Luhman, INITIAL BIDS DUE ON OR BEFORE operate Dry Creek Red Angus in Goodhue, Minnesota. FEBRUARY 19, 2021 AT 5:00 P.M. Each winter they contract graze their cattle on cover crops and crop residue – whether it’s on their neighContact Jeremy Berg or Kelly Karels bors’ fields or hauling cattle to Nebraska to overwinat Blethen Berens in New Ulm ter. The Luhmans will discuss their winter grazing arrangements and how they work out the finances to 507-233-3900 or benefit both the landowner and themselves. kkarels@blethenberens.com Feb. 23 — “High Tunnel Storm Protection and for property brochure and sale procedure.
clothes that were my responsibility to deal with. Apparently, I handle mounds of clothing that has seen the back end of a farm animal better than my husband handles household ending stocks on his person. It took me back to the days when our children were babies. My husband managed to change a dirty diaper once or twice, but listening from the other room during the process, you would have thought he had just stumbled home from a college frat party — with the dry heaves, he would broadcast — and all at the very thought of getting some on his hands. He has never been a fan of people doo-doo — especially as a fashion accessory. I do have to hand it to him — this time especially — for taking one for the team. A sewage bath was a poetic symbol of how 2020 had gone. I bet he trades places with me the next time I say, “Hey dear, the toilet won’t flush.” But I’ll have six years of baby diaper experience behind me to give me the strength. Karen Schwaller brings “Table Talk” to The Land from her home near Milford, Iowa. She can be reached at kschwaller@evertek.net. v
Practical Farmers’ farminar season starts Routine Maintenance” —During this farminar, Adam Montri will draw on his experience building hundreds of high tunnels to share tips for building a strong tunnel, and routine tasks farmers should do to keep their tunnels performing as expected. March 2 — Spanish-language farminar, planning in progress.
March 9 — “Using EQIP to Improve Wildlife Habitat on Private Lands” — Kelsey Fleming, a private lands biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, will talk about how programs like EQIP can provide landowners with financial assistance for wildlife conservation on their farms. Also hear about other technical and financial assistance opportunities available to farmers and landowners. March 16 — “Pollinators and Climate Change: Making an Impact on the Farm” — Learn more from Xerces Society climate change lead, Angela Laws, about how climate change impacts pollinators; as well as cost-share and technical assistance programs that can help you sustain pollinators on your farm. To participate: Go to practicalfarmers.org/farminars, click the “Join in” button and sign in as “Guest.” A schedule of all upcoming farminars – as well as recordings of archived farminars – is also available at that link. This article was submitted by Practical Farmers of Iowa. v
