​This year, we started out the day thinking it was going to be a rather brown Christmas. But, much to our surprise, as we walked out of the barn after morning chores, it was snowing! Now, I’ll be honest, I’m NOT a fan of winter. Or snow.  However, the normal freezing temperatures of winter are important for breaking disease cycles, scarifying seeds of native species that will grow next year, and keeping our fruit trees dormant so that they don’t try to bud out in the middle of winter! Also, the mud has been horrendous. So, this Christmas Eve I was pretty happy to see the snow falling!

The snow also meant that I got to spend some extra time with NP. He had been planning on splitting firewood all day but instead we spent some time catching up on reading. However, once the snow stopped in the afternoon it was time to double down and make up for the lazy morning! NP headed out and fired up Ollie to move snow and I got busy making salads and pies to share with family on Christmas Day! We are so thankful to have Ollie this winter. NP tells me the ‘ol tractor makes moving snow a breeze as compared to his 4 wheeler and snow shovel days! In fact, he even had time to move the last newly insulated stock tank down to the barn and switch it out. Here’s to hoping the heifers can’t destroy this one as easily as they did last year’s!!

We knew we had extra work to do in the barn that night so we decided to have supper early. We made broccoli cheese soup and it was so nice to be able to pull homegrown broccoli out of the freezer to make it with. Just a little taste of summer!
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Chore time! The reason we had extra work to do was that pens needed cleaned out and fresh bedding put in! With all of the rain and the mud we haven’t been able to access the compost pile so we haven’t been able to clean out the barn regularly like we usually do. That meant we had far too much manure piled up in the barn and we needed to get rid of it. The colder weather meant that the ground, while still not frozen, was at least solid enough to get to the manure pile. So it was time to CLEAN!

​​The cows were so pleased to have a clean pen and fresh bedding that they wasted no time making a nest and bedding down! I wish I had a picture of 54 all nestled in but by that time of night my phone had died.

Once chores were done it was time to stoke the fire and head to bed! It had been a long evening but it was nice to know that the critters were happy and that tomorrow would be a little easier day!

And with that, Merry Christmas from NP and I and all the critters at Brun Ko Farm!

​As many of you know, we have some big plans for our little acreage! Our little heifer herd is quickly maturing and our dream is to open a creamery and on farm store here at the home place this summer. We have been doing LOADS of research and planning over the past several months and we are soo excited to be this close to putting those plans into motion!  But right now we need your help! We need to have a better grasp on interest and demand. The thing is, we can build the coolest, most functional, efficient, awesome creamery in the world but if nobody is interested in the products we offer, we will never succeed!  To help us understand market demand, we put together a little survey. You can find it on our website –  it’s right next to our blog page! Or, you can just push the button below! The survey really is little – just like us!

 Now, don’t get me wrong, most of those regulations are a really good thing. Because of them, we (the U.S.)  have the safest milk supply in the entire world! However, to meet all of those regulations and requirements, we have to put up a building specifically designed for the processing of milk, which is quite an investment! So, we want to make sure that we do it right and that we have a reasonably good understanding of market demand!

The thing that gets NP and I MOST excited about all of this is that once the building is built, not only will we be able to sell our product but we will be able to share the process with YOU, our consumer! We will have windows between the store and the processing room specifically so you can see us bottling milk and making yogurt! AND, because the processing will be happening on the same farm as the animals are housed on, you will be able to see the whole cycle from grass to cow to finished product right here in one place!

In addition to milk and yogurt we also look forward to offering vegetables and baked goods this summer. And over the next 1-2 years adding beef, pork, chicken and eggs to our offerings! We know that one stop shopping is the ideal situation these days and while we may not be able to offer all that a traditional grocery store can, we want to give you as many reasons to stop in and see us as possible!

So, there you have it. In a nutshell that’s the starting point for our next 50 years worth of dreams! If after reading this, you feel compelled to take our survey, you can get to it using the following button.

​Thank you for all of your support thus far and into the future! We really can’t do it without YOU!

Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin bars are commonly enjoyed at Thanksgiving meals, Christmas meals and throughout Fall and the holiday season.  We grow an abundance of pumpkins in Iowa and we snatch them up as decoration and a carving medium but how many of us have actually made a pumpkin pie from scratch using a real  pumpkin?? I’ll be honest, I have not. But after today’s adventures, that’s exactly how my pies will be made in the future! It turns out it’s really quite easy! 

Now, I don’t have any pie pumpkins on hand, so I used butternut squash and used the puree to make  butternut squash bread, but the process is the exact same! 

​To start, trim the top off of your squash (or pumpkin) and cut the squash in half lengthwise like this.

Then scoop the seeds and ‘guts’ out and turn the squash upside down in a cooking pan. Add an inch or 2 of water to the pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Butternut Squash Bread
Recipe from: Taste of Home

Ingredients:
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 - 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
1 1/4 cup pureed butternut squash
1 cup warm milk (110 - 115 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp salt
7 to 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add squash, milk, eggs, sugar, butter and salt; beat well. Gradually add 3 1/2 cups flour, beating until a soft dough forms. Knead dough for 6-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise until doubled. About 1 hour. Punch dough down, divide into thirds and shape each portion into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise until doubled. About 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans and to wire racks to cool.

​When it comes to pureeing my own pumpkin, the other thing that has always kept me away is the sheer size of most pumpkins! However, I learned that most varieties of pumpkins intended for making pies are much smaller than your standard carving pumpkin!

Pie pumpkins are also called sugar pumpkins and have a meatier, smoother, sweeter flesh than your typical carving pumpkin. Sometimes you can find them at groceries stores and farmers markets. This time of year look for indoor winter markets like the one that will take place in Harlan on Dec. 22.  I can’t guarantee that they will have pie pumpkins but they did at the Thanksgiving Market in November!

*NOTE: Butternut squash is also considered an excellent substitute for pumpkin, so if you can’t find a pie pumpkin give butternut squash a try!

Now it's your turn! How have you/will you use your very own pumpkin puree??

Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm

 Every morning (and night) at 6:30, NP and I don coveralls and sweatshirts and winter boots and we brave the cold and the dark and …… ok, we’re really kind of wusses about it, but we do it anyway. Every morning at 6:30, we head down to the barn for morning chores. Once you make the initial leap out the back door, AND if you're bundled up properly, it’s really not that bad. And we get to experience the sunrise every morning. Sometimes we forget to stop and enjoy it, but it is always there!

Yesterday morning was such a particularly beautiful morning that I thought I’d share it with y’all. Now, I don’t like snow but with the warmth of the sun, the beauty of the lightly falling snow would have been hard to beat yesterday.

​We usually divide up the chores like such. One of us feeds and milks the cow and the other makes sure  the horse and heifers get their grain and hay, fills water tanks, and runs bottles out to the bottle calves.  Then we work together to make sure the bottle calves also have a smattering of grain and water and do whatever cleaning is necessary right then. Not too much extra gets done on weekday mornings because we usually both have to scurry off to work after chores!

Towards the end of the geese video, you can see a couple of the calves finishing up their bottles. After they finish the milk, they have the option of eating fresh creep feed out of the bucket strategically located beneath the bottle holder in each hutch. This guy went straight for it which is the goal!

58 and Rusty teamed up and figured out how to eat hay straight out of the hay loft ... the ultimate self feeder! Naughty critters! So, in the pictures below, NP is rigging up some boards in hopes that 'side boards' on the loft will keep them from breaking into the winter stores again!

The last check mark on the list is always to ensure that everybody is happily munching away at their hay! And now, it's off to work we go!

Enjoy,
​Brun Ko Farm