Agriculture is built on the pillars of community. Strong families, long traditions, and helpful hands. When something happens to one of “us,” it doesn’t take long for the news to be shared and the word to be spread that something isn’t right. A quietness seeps into our barns, blankets our fields, and holds heavy on our hearts. The diagnosis gets made and whispers are heard across…
It’s been a sanding-and-refinishing-floors kind of week here at the Ziehm house. There’s never a good time, but sometimes you just have to dive in and do it if you are ever going to get ahead. I live in the village of Greenwich, in the old church rectory. I bought our home almost 7 years ago. A work in progress, it has definitely been a labor of love.…
I was never given the talent of working with horses, or the body for them either. My legs are too short, and I am structurally built more for durability, with heavy bones, and lots of muscle to go with. 🙂 So swinging my body up on top of a horse has always been a bit of a challenge for me. Growing up, horses felt foreign to me compared to the…
Last Monday I shared this video of Admiral McRaven’s commencement speech on my LinkedIn account. Many of my connections reached out to say what a great speech this was to kickstart their week. You aren’t going to hear it on a Monday, it will be Friday, but maybe there will be one point that hits a chord with you that you can think about all weekend and carry…
The 2018 dairy show season has begun! It is the week of the Spring Dairy Carousel Show at the NY State Fairgrounds. The animals are back in the ring after a winter of growing, and it is always great to see the transformations. It is also spring vacation week for the kids. So, for those of us who don’t travel out to the Spring Show, it means we…
When I was young Easter meant spending the night at my grandparent’s house. My sisters and cousins and I looked forward to the Easter Bunny visiting us there. It became a tradition started when my mother’s younger sister, Alison, was still living at home. She was and always will be just a big kid who likes to play Easter Bunny to her nieces and nephews. Oh how…
Have you sold, or normally do you sell, more than $1000 worth of agricultural products in a year? If you can answer yes to this, or know someone who can, it is your duty to fill out the 2018 USDA Agricultural Census, or remind another person to do it. In the big scheme of things, it takes a short amount of time. So, make a date with yourself and your computer, fill…
When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was to go out in the pasture and clear leaves and debris from the pasture stream. Hours and hours on end, my cousin and I would be occupied there, dislodging sticks and leaves, with an occasional big log added to the mix. Oh, how we loved the spring water flow, so much water to work with! Years…
I think it’s safe to say that Facebook is here to stay, in full force, and I need to get on it. So here I am, beginning again, for real this time. Believe it or not, I have had 2 Facebook accounts. Yes 2! Neither of which I embraced, but instead, hid from. 8 years ago, my sisters ambushed me and decided I needed to get this thing they called…
Dear Dairy Farmer, I know, it’s bad… I just finished the book Shoe Dog, a memoir by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. The book sat quite well with me and had many passages that I could relate to, forks in the road where I have stood or where I stand. I find myself going back to paragraphs and reading them over and over. I share this with…
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