Stay up on Ag issues with the Farm Bureau's winter report

The Illinois Farm Bureau's winter edition of its "Partners" magazine recently arrived and it's filled with interesting agriculture related articles. I always enjoy learning about agriculture, and a favorite winter pastime is daydreaming about what next year's garden might look like. 

The publication's winter edition helps me do both. Much of its content is available online, and here are a few of the reports I found particularly engaging:

Celeste Huttes tells us about the Richardson and Helmig farms in her cover story about Illinois Christmas tree farms. The report includes tips on how to care for a fresh tree after its set up in its new home.

Columnist Joanie Stiers details how technology helps farmers collect data involving everything from planting to harvesting. Stiers says many farmers (herself included) spend the winter months analyzing the data to determine how best to use the information next season. 

Farmer Aaron Mitchell explains the steps farmers follow to ensure cows are warm and healthy during harsh midwest winters. Did you know farmers can tailor coats to keep calves warm during winter's coldest weather? 

Insects play an important role in providing protein to animal feed, and soon will also provide jobs for Illinois workers, according to a report from Carisa Ownby. Construction of the world's largest insect protein facility is scheduled to begin soon in Decatur and is expected to create more than 200 jobs. 

Jan Phipps offers advice for selecting and caring for Poinsettias, a favorite plant during the holiday season. 

And winter is a good time to start planning a garden for next spring. Seed catalogs, both print and online versions, are available in January, reports Carisa Ownby, providing veteran gardeners and newbies food for thought on what flowers, fruits and vegetables include in next year's effort. 

If you enjoy learning about agriculture as much as I do, be sure to take a look at the Illinois Farm Bureau's offerings.

--Thanks for reading, and I always welcome your comments and feedback.

Oh, the bounties of November in the upper Midwest

 

Here are my Top 10 reasons why November is my favorite month of the year:

10. If October didn't give us an overnight frost, November will, and that means those of us suffering with seasonal allergies can enjoy breathing again.

9. Geese and other migrating birds take flight. I love the "honking" sound geese make as they fly overhead in November. I live near a river and geese frequently fly so low over my backyard that I hear their wings flapping. It's music to my ears. 

8. Autumn continues its magic. The last of the leaves fall from the trees. Backyard firepits beckon, and daytime temperatures still reach the upper 50s, sometimes the mid '60s.

 

7. Beautiful sunsets. November in the upper Midwest offers azure skies late in the afternoon and startling sunsets. I wait all year for such sights.

6. Illinois High School Association football playoffs continue, culminating in the state championships games Thanksgiving weekend. Great days indeed. My local high school was eliminated during the second round of games, but I'll continue to follow the games right through the championships. 

5. In anticipation of the start of the high school basketball season, I watch "Hoosiers" (1986), my favorite basketball film. My Dad played high school and college basketball, and enjoyed watching "Hoosiers". I enjoy watching basketball, but was never any good at playing it. I enjoyed watching the movie with Dad and made a tradition of kicking off the basketball season with a viewing. The movie always reminds how much I enjoyed attending basketball games during my high school years, and I never tire of the film. Pass the popcorn, please. 

4. IHSA and NCAA basketball begins play, mostly non-conference games and tournaments. I enjoy sitting in a high school gym and taking in the sounds and sights of a game - ball bouncing off the hardwood floor, the horns and buzzers. The crowd in the gym always sound so different from those at football games. I attend few college basketball games these, but I enjoy watching them on TV or listening to one on the radio. I follow Illinois and the Big Ten closely, but enjoy the action in other conferrences. Give me a bowl of fresh popcorn and a cold soft drink, and I'm ready for some roundball action. 

3. College football's regular season winds down and that means the traditional rivalry games that appear last on the schedule. For Big Ten Fans, that means Illinois-Northwestern, Michigan-Ohio State, and Minnesota-Wisconsin. It's a great way to close out the season.

2. Our diet shifts to winter mode - Our meals during the summer months when I was child (and today) were heavy on vegetables, fruit, hot dogs and hamburgers. Good stuff that was easy to prepare and serve. But late autumn and winter were the months we shifted to roasted meats, sausages, soups, fresh bread, and baked goods. It's a dining tradition I follow today. Vegetables and fruit remain a key part of our meals, but we do fewer salads and more roasted squash or roasted brussel sprouts. Chili is a good Sunday dish, and nothing says a hearty fall meal like a roasted pork chop, sauerkraut, red cabbage and potato wedges

1. Thanksgiving Day holiday and the feast - Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday. The act of giving thanks for all the blessings I enjoyed during the past year is important to me. I spend as much time as possible during the week leading up to Thanksgiving Day reflecting on all that God has provided me and my loved ones. I think it's important to acknowledge these gifts and offer thanks. And it nice to be able to do all of that and enjoy a traditional holiday meal, too.

-- Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment here, or email me at kbotterman@gmail.com.