Note: this was written a couple of weeks prior to posting - it's spring and so we've been hustling here on the farm. 

Last week was a doozy of a week for us here at the farm. We experienced a series of unfortunate events  – it felt a bit like a really bad comedy – a new problem at every turn.  We blew a spark plug in our truck, LOST our truck and trailer, irrigation malfunctioned, well ran dry, woke up to bee hives flying around the yard – not the bees, the HIVES, and then I temporarily lost access to my email service.  

It was a week.

But it left me in awe of the community we have. And reminded me just how interdependent each of us is on one another. I have long believed that it is impossible to do anything great truly on your own and this week showcased that in high definition.
When our truck broke down, it was 9pm on a Friday night and we were a good hour from home. No parts stores or mechanics within walking distance and most would soon be closed.

In an incredible stroke of fate, we were just over 2 miles from a farm whose owners we had met about a year ago. Desperation and wild hope gave me the courage to hit call on their phone number and Matt not only answered but was so incredibly gracious, coming to our late night rescue and after a failed attempt to attain parts, he and his wife sent us home in one of their vehicles so we could get some sleep and regroup in the morning.

When NP & I returned to the side street where we had left our truck and trailer the previous night, both were gone - as if they’d never been there. Our first several phone calls to law enforcement and tow companies were unsuccessful and it was looking like we would need to file a stolen vehicle report. While we were making one last scoop around the neighborhood just in case it might reappear, NP got a phone call from a patrol family member – he had tracked our truck and trailer to a tow service in Underwood.

Thank goodness!

We made it to the impound lot minutes before it closed for the weekend and the owner was kind enough to allow us to fix the truck on the lot. Unfortunately, despite the combined experience of NP & at least 2 knowledgeable friends, our repair attempts were unsuccessful and we had to call in even more help to tow the truck and trailer home. My dad was quick to agree to bring a trailer to haul the truck – even though we later learned he had to first unload a pile of concrete siding that had been on the trailer. In order to get both truck and trailer off the impound lot and home before dark, Gil, another fellow farmer, also drove the hour+ to our rescue to drive the trailer home.

Looking back on this series of events, what stands out to me most is the sheer number of people who were willing to help us. AND just how much worse our scenario would have been without each of these people.
I truly believe that no-one succeeds on their own.

This is just one example of how our community has rallied around us over the years. There are countless examples of shared resources, information, connections, kind words, etc that have ultimately played a part in our success.

In the United States we have phrases like “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” & “self-made businessman” but both of those ideas are downright absurd. Sure, most success stories require hard work and sacrifice but every success story also involves a whole lot of support, kindness, mutual cooperation and a little luck too.

I know that we can never truly repay those who have done so much for us over the years and so I hope instead that at the end of the day, we manage to pay forward the same kind of help and support that others have shown us. And most of all, I hope we never forget just how interconnected we are. 

Your Farmers,
​Emily & Nathan

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite winter time foods. Heck, I even crave them in the summer time. It wasn’t always that way though. When I was a kid, you couldn’t have paid me to eat a sweet potato.

The first time that I enjoyed eating sweet potatoes was when they came as a side dish to my burger at a local restaurant. The experience was transcendent. The sweet potatoes were…. SAVORY. I had never experienced savory sweet potatoes before. I had never even considered that it was a possibility.

After that, I was on a mission to recreate these delectable bites at home. I finally cracked the code and my family and I now regularly eat sweet potatoes. My kids even gobble them up – so long as I don’t accidentally over do the spice level.

In addition to being delicious and filling, sweet potatoes are full of vitamin A, Vitamin C and Manganese. They have antioxidants to protect us from cancer causing free radicals and improve immune functioning. Sweet potatoes also contain both soluble and insoluble fiber which is good for your gut and something all of us could use more of. According to the American Society for Nutrition, just 7% of adults are getting enough fiber each day!

Sweet potatoes are often smothered in marshmallows and branded as a ‘Thanksgiving’ dish – and while that can be delicious, if we step out of that marshmallow/Thanksgiving box for a minute, sweet potatoes can be a welcome addition to our everyday supper table.  

Sweet potatoes can be mashed, steamed, fried, and roasted. They can be savory as well as sweet.
I dearly love savory sweet potatoes and my all time favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes is to dice and roast them with Southwest Seasoning.

Prepared this way sweet potatoes are the perfect complement to burgers, meatloaf, roasted chicken, pork chops or any kind of BBQ. Savory sweet potato bites also go great with omelets and scrambled eggs.

Bonus tip: When I cook sweet potatoes, I always make extra because I love them as an afternoon snack. Sometimes I heat them up but honestly I love them straight out of the fridge too.
​
Southwest Sweet Potato Bites

• 2lbs sweet potatoes, cubed, skin on
• 1-2Tbsp southwest seasoning – taco seasoning works well too!
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425F. Toss cubed sweet potatoes with olive oil and southwest seasoning. Place on a cooking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes. Flip potatoes about half way through cooking time.
At my last market, I asked customers how they like to use sweet potatoes and here are some of their favorites!

•  Sweet potato tacos
•  Diced & roasted with rosemary + sea salt
•  Sweet potato curry
•  Sweet tater bites with curry powder
•  Steamed sweet potatoes – this was my go to when the kids were first starting solid foods and although my kids are way past finger food stage of learning to eat, I still frequently make steamed sweet potato wedges when I am short on time.

What's YOUR favorite way to eat sweet potatoes?? Tell me in the comments!

But most of all ....
Enjoy!
Emily

​Chicken legs are seriously underrated. With grocery prices going up, it’s a great time to give chicken legs a second look. Chicken legs are rising in popularity with home chefs and restaurants alike and I can see why! They are juicy, flavorful and the most cost effective cut of chicken we have available.

I roasted chicken legs for supper last night plus extra to turn into burritos which I will freeze so we have something quick and easy in the freezer that I can just reheat on those long summer days.

Prepping the legs was easy and then I just put them in the oven and forget about them until the timer goes off.

Chicken legs has been a recurring dish on our table the last couple of year but this was the first time that I have cooked ‘extra’ legs to use in a dish like burritos and the cooked legs were way easier to debone than I anticipated. I just held the bony end of the leg and used a fork to scrape the meat off the bone. This was a quick & effective way to remove all of the meat and in short order I had several cups of chicken ready to go into our burritos. My summertime self is going to be so happy with wintertime me when I can pull supper out of the freezer at 9pm when the fading sunlight finally forces us in from the fields.

How to cook chicken legs? I like to roast them at 425F for about 50 minutes. Here’s my process + the seasoning I used last night:

1. Turn oven on to 425F
2. Pat chicken dry with paper towel
3. Rub legs with paste made from olive oil & herbs/spices
4. Place legs on a baking rack on a cookie sheet – optional but using a silicone mat under the rack with help with clean up
5. Place in 425F oven for 35 minutes
6. Flip drumsticks and return to oven for 15-20 minutes more
7. Remove from oven and let rest 3-5 minutes before serving

Using a baking rack on top of your baking sheet is totally optional but putting the legs on a rack does make the skin crispier – and who doesn’t love crispy chicken skin??

You can use any seasoning you like but since I was using the leftovers in burritos, I mixed up a southwest seasoning.

Another herb combo I like to use on chicken is rosemary, thyme & garlic.

Here’s my Southwest Seasoning Recipe:

Southwest Seasoning for 8 chicken legs
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp oregano, dried
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Mix together herbs and add enough olive oil to make a paste
​
I paired these with roasted sweet potato bites – I will share that recipe in my next blog. If you have been looking for a low prep, simple supper idea, give chicken legs a try!

Enjoy!
​Emily

I’m always looking for new books to read (ok..listen to - audiobooks for the win!) so I thought maybe we could do a little exchange? I will share a few of my favorite books with you and perhaps you could share one or two of yours with me?

You probably won’t be surprised that food themed books are at the top of my list. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all sorts of books from romance to mystery to fantasy and even suspense on occasion, but these 5 books have a special place in my heart. I’m even planning to re-read a couple of them which is something I almost never do.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, author Barbara Kingsolver shares her family’s year long adventure of eating only what they could grow themselves and/or buy from local farms. Kingsolver infuses her story with humor but doesn’t sugar coat the challenges in sourcing 100% of their food from close to home.

Bet the Farm by Beth Hoffman

Author, Beth Hoffman and her husband moved from city life in California to her husband’s home place in rural Iowa. Although, Beth’s father in law managed to keep the farm going through the farming crisis of the 80’s the farm was losing vitality and Beth and husband, John, had to find a way to keep the farm afloat. Although our farms and our stories are different in many ways, I found myself nodding along at almost every anecdote Beth shared. We have both had to reach outside the traditional ‘agriculture’ model and I feel the ups and downs that Beth shares in her story deep in my soul.

American Grown by Michelle Obama

I can’t lie, this book almost had me leaving the farm and volunteering myself as tribute to community gardens across Southwest Iowa. Economic realities however, reeled me back in and instead I am doubling down on raising healthy food for my community here at the farm.

In American Grown, Michelle and several others tell the story of the White House garden which Michelle spearheaded during her husband’s presidency. The garden grew into so much more than just a few vegetables for the president’s table. When the call was put out for volunteers to help tend the space, they had to create a waitlist because the community was so deeply moved by the experience of tending the soil. The stories of children connecting with the food and the land were especially touching to me.

How We Eat – The Brave New World of Food & Drink by Paco Underhill

So, this book isn’t exactly local food but it does paint a fascinating picture of our food system in general.

Paco Underhill is a food researcher that has worked around the globe. He shares the nitty gritty of how food companies influence what we buy and therefore what we eat and drink. Eye- opening is an understatement. Despite sharing some concerning details about our food system, Paco still manages to maintain an optimistic undercurrent throughout his book. I don’t often read books more than once but How We Eat is actually going on my list to re-read this winter.

Finding Freedom by Erin French

Erin French is the chef and owner of the world renowned restaurant called The Lost Kitchen. Erin’s journey to success was far from a straight line and her tenacity is inspiring. Her journey with food and the many iterations of her restaurant remind me that we can always pivot. Erin’s unconventional story inspires me to continue bringing community together via good food whenever possible.

There you have it, my 5 favorite local food books. What are some of your favorite books? Let me know in the comments!

Peeling Butternut Squash can be a challenge but if you precook for 3-4 minutes in the microwave or for about 15 minutes in a 300F oven, the squash will soften just a bit, making it easier to peel. Be sure to poke holes in the skin and you may need to allow the squash to cool a bit before peeling.

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients

• 1 1/4 lbs butternut squash, peeled and diced 3/4-inch
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

 
Directions

• Preheat your oven to 400°F.
• In a large bowl, toss the butternut squash with oil, maple syrup, salt and fresh ground pepper. Place in a baking dish, cover with foil and roast in the center of the oven for 25 minutes.
• Remove foil, turn the squash and bake an addition 15 minutes, or until fork tender (time will vary depending on the size you cut the squash).
• Makes 3 cups.

I stared down at the bag on the counter … cucumbers. What in the world was I going to do with all of these cucumbers?

It was 2010 and I was in my college apartment. Mom had sent home produce from her garden- mostly cucumbers.  Now, I liked cucumbers. They were a favorite even.

However, cucumbers were something to slice and put on a sandwich or to eat a few slices of from a relish tray. What was I going to do with FIVE of them??

Mind you, I was grateful. I had helped mom in the garden for as many summers as I could remember and I knew the effort it took to grow them. Furthermore, I was a poor college student, always nervous about making rent and paying the next semesters tuition. So of course food wasn’t going to waste on my watch.

And so, I ate those cucumbers. I piled slices on sandwiches until it was questionable whether the sandwich could really be called a turkey sandwich anymore of if I should just call it a cucumber sandwich. Then I ate them plain as a side dish. For a snack I sprinkled them with salt.

I peeled those suckers and made them my main course. Then I did it again with the next bag of cucumbers that came home with me. I really began to look forward to them. The more the merrier!

Now, 14 years later, I know a few other ways to utilize cucumbers. If I had only known then what I know now. Ha. But I reckon that was a cannon event. And honestly, plain or with salt is still my favorite way to eat a cucumber. 

Looking back those cucumber filled days were the beginning of the shift in my relationship with vegetables. Growing up, veggies were something I ate a token portion of to say I did it. Some things I truly savored like fresh corn on the cob, cucumber on a sandwich or new potatoes but really, veggies – especially raw veggies - just weren’t something I ate a lot of.

Today, vegetables are a big part of what I eat. It’s been a slow but conscious shift.

In America it’s easy to skip veggies altogether and hardly realize it. In a culture where hot dogs & mac ‘n cheese is considered a complete meal, the days can fly by before you realize you haven’t had a vegetable all week. You have to actively work to keep veggies a relevant part of your diet.

Slowly, over the last 15 years, I have learned that I feel so much better when I DO get those veggies in.

That truth was really driven home for me this spring when, thanks to the National Young Farmers Coalition, I had the honor of visiting Washington DC to speak with my congressional representatives about land access. For the 3 days that I was in DC, the NYFC organized most of my meals. Now I wasn’t looking forward to eating out for 3 days. Typically more than one ‘restaurant meal’ in a row has me feeling pretty blah. However, we were served meals from places like The Halal Guys and Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant. These meals were heavy on the veggies and honestly I have never felt better after days of eating out than I felt after that trip.

I came home with a renewed conviction to put the effort into serving both myself and my family an abundance of veggies.

A few things I have learned over the last 10-15 years that help me keep veggies relevant in our meals:

1. Plan/cook the veggie part of the meal first: I have found that when I am tired and in a hurry, I often only have the bandwidth to prepare 2 dishes for a meal. After preparing meat and a carb like potatoes or pasta, the veg often got left out. So now I start with the veggie and occasionally we skip the meat or the carb but more often than not I find that those 2 aspects of a meal fall into place on their own.  And honestly, if we skip meat or carb once in a while, is that really a bad thing?
2. Raw veggies as a side dish to your meal: it took me a long time to realize that I could simply slice a cucumber, carrots, cabbage, bell pepper or even just offer up a bowl of snap peas, cherry tomatoes or even raw green beans as a side dish to a meal
3. Relish tray snacks: snack time has been a struggle for me ever since the kids started eating solid foods. The ‘snack’ aisle at the store is my least favorite place to shop and here I was serving So. Many. Snacks. Aka So. Much. Junk. Food. Figuring out 3 snacks a day and keeping it interesting and not totally bogged down in junk and sugar can take A LOT of mental energy. This bothered me for a long time. Then one day I was looking at a small, cut glass serving tray I inherited from my grandma and lamenting how I wouldn’t have much cause to use it. Then it hit me – why not create a mini relish tray for snack that day? I served up carrot coins, apple slices, cheese cubes and a few crackers and…… The kids LOVED it. These mini relish trays have become an almost daily occurrence and the kids and I both eat more veggies because of it. The trays vary based on what I have in the house but generally always have one or 2 veggies, a fruit, a cheese or meat (most often cheese but sometimes we have summer sausage or ham on hand), and a carb (ex. Pretzels, oyster crackers, saltines).
4. Not every meal has to ‘make sense’: For a long time I thought that I had to serve sides that ‘made sense’ with the main course. For example, many people eat pizza as a standalone meal and if there is a side that does ‘go with’ pizza, it would probably be a lettuce salad. But one day when I was feeling the lack of veggies but also wanted to use up the leftover pizza in the fridge I thought “why can’t I serve steamed cabbage or corn on the cob or anything else for that matter with the pizza?” Who decides which foods 'make sense' together anyway? I decided there was no good reason and so now you may find any manner of sides with pizza in our household. And yes, I know we could just pile veggies on our pizza –and sometimes we do – but sometimes you just want a piece of pepperoni pizza without all the extras, ya know? So for us, serving whatever veggie is available at the time works. Same is true with tacos, spaghetti, chicken pot pie and on and on.

 
Now this is an abbreviated version of my food journey. I didn’t go from suspicious kid asking how many bites I had to eat to vegetable devotee overnight. My journey took me through food courts in college, a roommate with Celiac disease who vastly expanded my ideas of food and cooking, my first garden of my very own at my first home post college, to preserving what I could from my garden, to the farmers market first as a customer and then as a grower, then into motherhood and the journey continues to this day.

Now, don’t get me wrong, vegetables aren’t the only foods we need in our diets but it seems to me, that in my house at least, meat and grains fall into our meals easily enough. I feel strongly that we have to fight to keep fruits and vegetables a daily part of our diets. And my body and my brain feel so much better when I engage in that fight.
​
Well now, that pile of cucumbers that I harvested sure did take me down a path didn’t it? We missed seeing you at market this week but hope you had a Happy Independence Day! We look forward to seeing you at Produce in the Park this coming Thursday July 11th. We’ll have cucumbers ;)
 
Your Farmer,
​Emily

I wrote this blog post in about 15 minutes. Then sat on it for almost a year. Because, even now, it's a hard topic to talk about
 
However, I am eternally grateful to the women who have shared their stories before me and today is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Day. So, I'm finally hitting that share button in case my experiences might help someone else.

I used to cling to the wishes I made when the clock struck 11:11.

Someone once said in passing "oh, it's 11:11, better make a wish!" I laughed as one does at such superstitions but after having my first baby, I began to cling to those 11:11 wishes. And it seemed that I saw 11:11 on the clock alll the time. AM & PM both. Because god knows I wasn't getting much sleep in those days.

My wish was simple. And it was the same every time. "Please let everything be OK." That might seem like such a general statement but it was a desperate wish.

I knew things weren't good at the time. But I didn't have the words or the perspective to explain or even understand just how bad things were myself. I'm not sure I have the words now either. It was like drowning or suffocating. Or both.

It wasn't until a few months ago when I happened to see the stove clock hit 11:11 (am this time) that it all hit me. I hadn't noticed the clock strike 11:11 in quite some time and when I noticed it that day, memories of all those desperate/suffocating feelings hit me like a truck and I realized for the first time that all those wishes had come true. Everything IS ok now.

Is everything easy? No. Is every moment of every day enjoyable? No. Do I get enough sleep? Still no. Although the night time wakings are so much less than they used to be. And something has eased inside. I suspect that it has a LOT to do with the kids being older and more independent. With being able to work by myself on the farm for at least a part of almost every day. With a slight ease of household chores as the kids learn to take on a few small chores of their own.

There is no doubt in my mind that my 11:11 wishes were fueled by post partum depression. And looking back, I am a bit shaken at just how lucky I am to be on the healing side of things given that I was never treated*. Especially considering that I certainly was not healed from my first post partum period before the second began. In fact, it was nearly 6 years after my first and 3.5 years after my last child that the fog finally began to lift.

I never seriously considered self harm and I think that is one reason that I slipped under the radar. I filled out the depression questionnaires at my post partum appointments but even at the time the questions seemed inadequate. And there's a heavy emphasis put on thoughts of self harm and/or harming one's children and those thoughts are certainly important to suss out but I'm here to tell you that a person can be in a world of hurt without thoughts of causing physical harm to themselves or others. People can even get up and carry out the necessary tasks (and more) every day even though doing so feels like wading through a waist deep slurry of tar.

Now that those feelings are memories, I can see clearly just how dark those times were and how much I was weighed down by it all.

Why did I never get help? That's the magic question isn't it?

There is not nearly enough support for mothers. Period. But especially post partum.

Doctors are overworked.

Therapy is HARD to access. Therapists are swamped. Therapists are hard to find. You don't always connect with your first therapist. Therapy is expensive.

There is a stigma. Whether you choose Therapy or Medicine, there is a stigma. Simply admitting you are struggling comes with a stigma.

Medicine is scary. It has side effects. You don't always get the right medicine or the right dose of the right medicine the first time and the adjustment process can be scary. Or at least that's my perception

So why am I sharing this? I could say that I'm sharing my experiences to draw attention the inadequacy of our medical systems or the lack of a 'village' for mothers. I could say it's to advocate for better post partum support for women. Both at a systemic and a family level. And those statements would be true.

But the most compelling reason for me to share my struggles is that reading others' stories when I was in the thick of it, helped me to understand at least a little bit what I was going through. Those stories gave me something to hold onto and helped me realize that I wasn't alone in struggling with motherhood. They gave me hope that maybe something could be done about it.

More than once after reading a story from one particular college friend**, I would pull up the medical center phone number, on the brink of making a doctor appointment. Unfortunately bridging the gap between *wanting* to talk to a doctor and all the steps it takes to actually be in front of a doctor (and to talk openly with them) took more courage than I was able to muster.

Thank God I somehow made it through anyway. But not everyone is that lucky. And no one should have to struggle through the fog and despair. So I'm sharing my story in case it might be the catalyst for even one struggling mom to find some help. 

For those in the trenches ... take this as a sign to talk to someone. 
For those on the other side of the conversation.... please realize that this is probably one of the hardest conversations your person has ever had. ​

For those that this post might cause worry: More than a year after realizing my 11:11 wishes had come true, I can say that things continue to improve and I finally enjoy being a mother. I love playing Uno with my kids, I am fascinated by the way they take in books and by the stories that they craft themselves. We regularly work in the kitchen or greenhouse together and it's finally fun. 

*After reading and rereading these words that I wrote over a year ago, - I have realized that I DID eventually get help, although it came in the unlikely form of a business coaching program. I signed up thinking I would learn how to grow my business. What I wasn't expecting was the validation and peace I found through group coaching and the mindset work that was part of the program. 

**my friend Amber has recently started a blog of her own to share her journey with farming, depression and motherhood. Her blog is called Caring for Calves and Kids

Wow, these past couple of weeks have been a whirl wind.

I had the incredible opportunity to visit Washington DC and talk with “the people who make the rules of America” (as I have explained it to my kids).

The National Young Farmers Coalition asked me to join a Fly-In to Washington to discuss 3 amendments to the farm bill that would provide crucial support to young and beginning farmers.

The whole experience was phenomenal. I flew into Washington DC early Wednesday morning and experienced the Metro for the first time. I may have taken the wrong train on my first attempt – those of you who know me well won’t be surprised that the first thing I did in DC was get lost. Ha.

Luckily I had plenty of time and eventually got turned around and made it to the hotel with time to spare. Wednesday afternoon was set aside for a training session with my fellow farmer advocates from across the country. The training session began with introductions and I was both humbled and inspired by the amazing work each of these farmers and aspiring farmers are doing in and for their communities.

Patrick serves as the principle of Chattahoochee Hills Charter School, a K-8 ag school in Georgia. https://www.chatthillscharter.org/

De’Andress both farms and runs a non-profit called New Cahokia Commons Urban Farm which provides it community with fresh foods and also “helps BIPOC individuals address trauma through entrepreneurial enterprises nurtured through real access to land” https://www.newcahokiacommons.farm/home

Zoe is involved with the Minnesota Land Stewardship Project, Pesticide Action Network, Rootsprings Retreat Center whose mission is to “To foster healing, learning, and connection for individuals, community and Earth centering BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists, activists, and healers.” https://rootspringsmn.org/who-we-are/

Monika is an urban farming, growing for mutual aid and community fridges in Des Moines

And the list goes on and on…..Ana, Alberto, Jeremy, and more….. all doing phenomenal things within their communities.

To sum it up, I was in a room chock full of outstanding individuals who were both farming and serving their communities and also setting aside time to advocate for their fellow farmers. I was truly humbled.
​
During the training, we learned who each of us would be meeting with the following day as well as how to tell our stories of farming, land access and conservation in a concise yet compelling way. It can be challenging to whittle down a life story into concise digestible chunks and so this opportunity to work through our stories with other farmers and Young Farmer staff was invaluable.

The next day began with chilly photos on the steps of the iconic capital building. I had packed for 50’s & 60’s but the temps were more like mid to upper 30’s. You win some, you lose some ;)

Following photos, Monika from Sweet Tooth Farm in Des Moines and I were tasked with meeting with the offices of Zach Nunn, Charles Grassley, Joni Ernst, & Randy Feenstra. We would also be attending the meeting of the Senate Ag Committee. Our mission: garner support for LASO the Land Access Securities & Opportunities Act.

Despite the training the day before, I truly didn’t know what to expect at our first meeting of the day. Until we reached each office, we didn’t know if we would be meeting with the representatives and senators themselves or if we would meet with staffers that served them. We were told there are pros to both scenarios. I learned that staffers are typically assigned to one or two areas of policy and are expected to be experts in their fields. Each lawmaker has several staffers. It is the staffers’ job to sift through alllll of the information coming in from their area of expertise and take recommendations back to their bosses (i.e. the Rep or Senator that they work for).

I want to take a moment here to say that I had never put a lot of thought into the role of staffers. In fact, prior to this trip, I had only the most basic understanding of how the legislative process truly worked. Before the meetings I was a little disappointed that we might ‘only’ be meeting with staffers but now I have a great appreciation for the roles of the staffers and I am honored they took the time to hear our concerns and to consider the bills we are asking them to support.

Our first meeting was with Zach Nunn’s office. Rep Nunn is already a co-sponsor of the LASO act but legislators can change their mind at any time and so our job was to thank him and his staff for their support and reiterate just how important it is to continue to support and champion the bill.

The next 3 meetings were all about asking our legislators to add their support to the LASO bill. We were kindly received in each office and felt like we were able to provide valuable perspective on both land access and other issues facing farmers in Iowa like the need for more meat processing facilities and all of the unseen things needed to support those facilities like adequately trained inspectors. Other things that came up in conversation included the LFPA or Local Food Procurement Act, the Choose Iowa program, the need for more formalized farmer to farmer learning opportunities and the capacity for small farms to implement conservation practices and how the government can be supportive of our efforts.

Did we make an impact? I think we did. Young Farmers staff was upfront with us that there is no easy way to measure the response. Support can wax and wane as the farm bill progresses through the legislative process. A Rep that supports LASO or any other bill now might drop their sponsorship later in the game. Or someone may sign on late in the game after marinating on our stories. While LASO and the other bills include an allotment of money to fund programs, I learned that even a mention or acknowledgement of each bill in the final Farm Bill would be a win. A mention is the ‘foot in the door’ that can lead to stronger support and hopefully funding during the next farm bill.

I know I was certainly impacted. I understand government and the legislative process in a way now that I did not before. I am honored to have been involved in the legislative process. And most of all, I am encouraged both by organizations like Young Farmers and by the incredible farmers who are working everyday to create opportunity for farmers and those who wish to farm, to protect our environment, and to strengthen our food system.

Ok, cool but what is LASO? And why do I care?

LASO or the Land Access Security & Opportunities act addresses what is arguably the number one problem facing farmers and aspiring farmers today. Accessibility and affordability of land. If you can’t buy or rent land, you can’t grow crops or raise livestock and so all other problems are mute until you find land.

 As Nathan and I found out when we were thrust into the land market, needing not only a home for ourselves and our then newborn baby, but also our livestock, farm land is incredibly difficult to find. And incredibly expensive when you do.
And if you do manage to find a piece of land that fits your needs (ie. Has a livable house, water, septic, electricity, the right number of acres and maybe if you are really lucky a stable outbuilding or 2), you’re likely going to be bidding against the neighboring farmer who’s been doing this a few decades  and has much deeper pockets than any of us that are just getting started.

While Nathan and I did ultimately find a home for our farm, our “diamond in the rough,” if you will, I can't emphasize enough just how much luck was wrapped up in finding this piece of land. Opportunities for new farmers were limited then and they are even more so now. We have many peers waiting in the wings, hoping for the day that they too will find a piece of land that fits their needs and that they can afford to buy or even rent. Young families are leaving Iowa and rural communities are suffering.
So what does LASO do to help with all that?

The  creators of LASO recognized that the US and the needs of its farmers is too diverse for a one size fits all solution. So the exact details of how LASO will function will likely look different across the nation. LASO allows for community based solutions, meaning that farmers in Arizona can create solutions that will fit their land access needs which are likely different from the solutions that Iowans might come up with. And urban farming communities can develop solutions for their communities which will likely look different than the solutions that rural farmers will need. LASO, if enacted in full, would work with local non-profits to “provide funding for direct assistance and services to help farmers and ranchers afford and acquire land, cover closing costs and down payments, secure clear title on heirs’ property farmland, capitalize infrastructure and site improvements, acquire business technical assistance and farm viability training, and other activities.”

If you want to dig into LASO some more, I have included a summary of the bill at the end of this blog post.

At the end of the day, I'm just so grateful to have had the opportunity to advocate for myself and for my fellow farmers in this way. Nathan and I want to express our gratitude to you, our supporters. Without you we couldn't do this work of farming and we certainly wouldn’t be in a position to advocate for farmers and rural communities. Every sale, every word of encouragement sustains us for another day.
​
Your farmer,
Emily

Below is the summary of the bill prepared by the National Young Farmers Coalition
Legislative Summary
The Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities Act would address the interrelated challenges of land access and tenure, as well as access to capital, markets, and technical assistance to help producers start and grow viable farm businesses, retain access to land, and transition land. The bill would authorize and expand USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program with appropriations of $100 million per year.
Specifically, the bill would:
● Make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, State and Tribal governments, non-profit service providers, community lending institutions, farmer cooperatives, and other eligible entities to strengthen land, capital, and market access outcomes for historically underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest owners and for producers operating in high-poverty areas.
● Provide funding for direct assistance and services to help farmers and ranchers afford and acquire land, cover closing costs and down payments, secure clear title on heirs’ property farmland, capitalize infrastructure and site improvements, acquire business technical assistance and farm viability training, and other activities.
● Prioritize projects that provide direct financial assistance to producers, involve collaborative networks or partnerships, utilize innovative land access and farmland protection and affordability tools, facilitate transition of farmland from existing producers to the next generation, and incorporate other factors that will compound the program’s impact.
● Establish a stakeholder committee to develop a process for evaluating applications and distributing funds to ensure the program is responsive to the needs of farmers and ranchers.

Middle of the afternoon yesterday it hit me, chicken noodle soup would be PERFECT for supper.

The problem?

It's 2:47 and I have no chicken thawed out. 

But I needed chicken noodle soup today. The damp cool day was begging for chicken noodle soup.

Tell me I'm not alone? Chicken noodle soup just hits the spot on a rainy day, doesn't it?

Could I do it? 

Remember to remove the metal clip sealing the bag shut. This can be tricky to do straight out of the freezer but I simply ran that end of the package under warm water for a few seconds and it loosened enough to cut away the metal clip and the rest of the packaging easily peeled away too.

Next place the block of chicken backs in a microwave safe dish and use your defrost settings to thaw the chicken. Turn every couple of minutes and separate the backs as they begin to thaw. In total, thawing the chicken backs took me 20 minutes but I lost time by not being present each time the microwave paused and insisted that I come turn the backs ;)

Once the back were thawed I put them in my insta-pot along with 2 small yellow onions, 3 cloves of garlic and some herbs (my favorite for chicken noodle soup are rosemary and thyme) and salt and pepper. I used the onion and garlic skins too because I knew I wouldn't be canning this batch of broth.

Once everything was in the pot, I fill it with water to the fill line. Now I was ready to start up the insta-pot! I used the soup setting for 1 hour with natural release which adds another 15-20 minutes. By this time it was approaching 4pm and I headed to the living room to sew with my oldest daughter. 

Now, I chose to come back to the kitchen around 5 and make homemade egg noodles but if you have egg noodles on hand, you can absolutely use them for this soup.

Once the insta-pot had done it's work and released pressure, it was around 5:30pm. I used a strainer to strain about half the broth into a large stock pot and placed it on the stove over med-high heat. Once the broth was boiling, I added the noodles and 3 or 4 carrots that I had chopped earlier when chopping the onions and garlic. While the carrots and noodles cooked, I sorted the meat from the bones and added the meat to the soup.

Voila! The best chicken noodle soup and I turned the burner off right at 6pm which is our normal supper time.

Bonus: We had enough soup left over for tomorrow's supper AND about 1.5 quarts of extra broth that I stuck in the freezer for future use.

Moral of the story: keep a package or 2 of chicken backs on hand for when a Chicken Noodle Day just sneaks up on you!

Ingredients

• 2.5lbs chicken backs (1pkg)
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3/4-1 gallon water
• herbs to taste (I used about 2 tsp each of dried rosemary & thyme)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 12 oz dry egg noodles

Directions

• remove packaging, especially the metal closure
  
• thaw chicken using defrost settings in microwave
  
• place chicken backs, onion, garlic, herbs into insta-pot and fill with water the the fill line
  
• use soup setting for 1 hour and allow to naturally release pressure
• use a strainer to separate meat and bones, etc from broth
• pour about half of the broth into a stock pot and bring to boil on stove top over med-high heat
• add noodles and carrots to stock pot and simmer until carrots are soft and noodles are done - 15-20 minutes
  
• while noodles and carrots cook, remove meat from the bones and add meat to the noodles
  
• allow remaining broth to cool and then put in fridge or freezer to use at a later time*

*if you use the garlic and onion skins, DO NOT CAN your leftover broth. It is perfectly safe to freeze but do not can it 

Enjoy!
​Emily

Today I am going to share my all time favorite fried chicken recipe with you. ... But it's not my grandma's fried chicken.

Don't get me wrong, my grandma's were both great cooks, but I didn't get the chance to learn much from either of them. One grandma did not allow others in her kitchen. The other we just didn't see as much.

So where did I learn to cook?

Well my mom of course! And she does make some pretty good fried chicken but this is not her recipe either.

Mom's fried chicken is the kind that you fry on the stove top with lots of oil and while it's delicious it's also time consuming, a bit messy, and most importantly it requires me to stick close to the pan and monitor it. And I'm just not good at that. I can't help but drift away from the stove and start on the side dishes and before you know it, there's smoke rolling through the kitchen because I've forgotten all about the chicken in the pan.

So, learning to 'fry' my chicken in the oven was life changing. And skipping all that oil has it's pluses too.

I've tried a number of recipes and here's my favorite. This one is good for our 'cut up' chickens where you have wings, legs, breast, thighs all in the same package but it also works for our packages that have only legs or  thighs or wings. 

When I make this recipe using our 'cut up' chickens, I typically set the breast aside to use for a different meal but you could also slice it into strips and 'fry' it too.

Because I have the oven going already, I like to serve my fried chicken with smashed potatoes and roasted veggies. I just use whatever veggies are in season. Right now, I like to serve squash, sweet potatoes, cabbage or the brussel sprouts or snap peas that I froze last fall. Soon we will have fresh salad to add to the table as well!

Enjoy!
​Emily