Hey kid,

This time of year always makes me think of you. Proms, summer breaks and graduations.

High school.

The best four years of your life, they claim.

Do it all. Do it right. Don’t mess it up. Get it figured out. Keep it together. Relax. Have fun. Smile pretty...No a real smile, not a fake smile.

I’m going to be real though.

The best four years of your life? Yea, that’s a load of crap.

Complete crap.

Now some parts of high school can be fun. Most people will look back and have some things they can smile about. You might be blessed to have a teacher or two that pour into you and a friend or two you keep for life.

But some parts of high school just suck. They are really hard. Whether you fit or you don’t, the pressure feels constant. There’s these expectations from everyone around you to live in the moment, focus on your future, be kind, be cool, be smart, be fun...

And you’re tired. Man, are you tired. Your body and brain need more sleep than our “do everything now” culture allows for and a constantly plugged in world means it feels impossible to catch a break.

Meanwhile adults around you keep telling you how easy you have it with their “wait ‘till you grow up and have real responsibility” threats.

Wait ‘till you grow up?

Yes, please. Wait.

Because it gets better. Oh Lord, it gets so much better.

You’re going to discover a big world full of people, places and things. Maybe you’ll stay home or maybe you won’t.

But either way, it’s so much better.

You’re going to find your people. Friends who love you and get you. You’re going to find your person. You’ll realize none of those things you thought mattered for forever love actually do and you’ll say “I do” to someone who feeds your soul.

You’re going to find yourself. Not who the world tells you to be, but who God made you to be.

You’re going to get the job. You’re going to make the move. You’ll buy the house, tear it apart and realize remodeling is not like they show on TV.

You’re going to stop making time for things that don’t matter and start making time for everything that does.

You’ll bring a baby or two into the mix and you’ll suddenly feel the weight of the world and the opportunity of it too.

You’re going to wake up one Sunday morning before the sun is up, all on your own because you can’t sleep in anymore, and realize you’re in a good spot. You’ll sip your coffee next to the person you’ve built a life with and you might think back to those “best four years of your life”.

But you probably won’t.

Because you’ll have lived so much after you left those lockers behind that you’ll struggle to remember much about it. They’ll be so many good things, hard things, fun things, important things between now and then that you won’t spend much energy reliving those glory days.

Hang in there kid. The pressure feels impossible right now but I promise, I promise, this isn’t it. This isn’t all there is. And this is not the best four years of your life.

The best times are still coming.

To check availability of Uptown Farms lamb or beef, visit here.

It's time to stop being intimidated by lamb!  Lamb is fantastic meat to wow a crowd and much easier to prepare than most people think.  Here are a few quick tips for buying and cooking lamb:

• Look for American lamb.  This is not a safety issue so don't panic if you've already purchased imported.  Imported lamb, almost always coming from Australia or New Zealand, actually makes up about 1/3 of the lamb consumed in the U.S., and is completely safe.  But it is finished differently and will have more of a "flavor shock" to US consumers versus American lamb. American lamb will be fresher and more tender, which makes sense if you think about the distance imported lamb has to travel to get here.  Lamb purchased in stores, at a farmer's market, or directly from a farm family like ours will be safe and nutritious - no guilt allowed there!  
• Cook lamb above the drippings. Unlike beef, which can simmer in its own drippings all day for great added flavor, most people prefer the flavor of lamb that has been cooked away from it's own juices.  That's why we love to grill lamb or smoke it (right on the grate).  If we do roast lamb we use a pan with a raised rack so the meat sits above the juices. 
• Don't be afraid of your favorite beef marinades and seasonings! People often try to make seasoning lamb harder than it has to be.  We fall back on garlic, rosemary, onion and mustard but there are dozens of good beef rubs that highlight lamb well.  For simple cuts like burgers, chops and steaks a simple dusting of salt and pepper goes a long way.  

Smoked Leg of Lamb
Directions:

1. Marinade the lamb 4-6 hours.  You can untie or unwrap boneless legs or leave them tied.  ​​
2. Pat exterior dry and using Dijon or regular mustard, cover the lamb with a coating of mustard if you'd like.  This helps the rub stick and adds some flavor but isn't necessary.  
3. Apply the lamb dry rub to lamb.
4. Set smoker at 275 degrees and smoke until lamb reaches an internal temperature of 135 - 140 degrees.  Allow the lamb to rest for 20 minutes and it will rise to 145 degrees, medium-rare. Avoid overcooking lamb.  We prefer apple or cherry wood chips but a lot of people like mesquite with lamb as well.
5. You can also grill or roast the leg with a set temp of 325 degrees.  Doneness will be determined when lamb reaches 135 - 140 degrees. 

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Everyone is all paper straws, and bicycles, and reusable grocery bags and water bottles, and then we’re over here like, “Here’s our dirt.”

Actually, we call it soil. And we have to make that clarification or our college soil professor will drive down here and make it for us.

But seriously. Did you know our soil, when managed right, is a massive carbon bank? That’s right - we are storing carbon right here, right below our feet!

What you’re looking at is a crop field where we grow grains to harvest every year. You’re seeing green cover crop, that was planted in the fall before harvest of our corn to make sure our soil was never bare.

You’re also seeing all the corn trash (that’s what we call the stalks, leaves, and all parts of the corn plant that gets left after harvest). This will not get plowed or tilled on our farm.

Farming practices like no-till and cover crops are one of the ways we keep our soils, and our environment, thriving. These practices allow the soil to stay in place the way it was designed to and keep the millions of living organisms in the soil healthy.

This translates into some really cool things like more carbon stored, less run-off and erosion, better water quality, better habitat for creatures above and below the ground, and better crop production for us!

It really is a a win / win! This is modern farming.

Fun Fact: 20 million acres of cover crops (which the U.S. was on on target to hit in 2020) has the potential to sequester enough c0-2 equivalent to offset 12.8 million passenger vehicles! (SARES)

When we first started raising working Great Pyrenees puppies, our dogs went almost exclusively to sheep and goat farms or occasionally to guard cattle herds. But initially, we fielded no requests at all for poultry dogs.


Fast forward to today, and sometimes as many as half the pups in a single Uptown Farms litter are being sent to farms to actively guard birds. Below are some considerations we share with our customers who are looking for poultry or small animal guardians. Please note, we do currently have birds at Uptown Farms, but this is a combination of advice and tips from our customers through the years who have successfully developed poultry dogs. For information on bringing home a livestock guardian, please refer here.

1. Start with a working dog. Starting with a working pup is the most important step for whatever type of working dog you are needing. A working pup is one that comes from actively working parents, not just parents who have “working lines”. If the parents are not actively working, and the pup is not exposed from birth to livestock, the chances of developing a reliable working dog are much, much slimmer. Although there’s some important steps a working dog owner must take, a working dog is not trained to guard, that is instinct and is already there. A working dog owner simple assists in the development of that instinct. Working pups should have been born and raised outside or in barns with livestock, not in houses or garages. The parents should be with livestock, working as well. Many working pups, including those at Uptown Farms, are raised with minimized human interaction – they are comfortable with humans, but they do not seek out people for attention. Instead, they are more interested in their mother, littermates and their livestock. More human socialization will occur as the pup gets a bit older.

Poultry dogs should come to their farms as close to 8 weeks as possible. We fully understand you will have breeders placing older pups and some breeders may argue that is best, but in our experience most poultry dogs need to be taught that birds are not dinner and if they stick too close to mom for too long, they will learn to hunt. They will also learn more aggressive play behavior with their littermates the older they get, and this will be replicated on the birds.

2. Tell the breeder you are looking for a poultry dog. Almost everyone who contacts us for the first time reaches out with a request for a certain size or colored puppy. Although we fully understand people have certain ideals in their mind when looking for a working dog, you will be much better served to pay attention to things like sociability, temperament towards litter mates , interest in livestock.

Ideally, you will inform your breeder some of the key things about your farm or ranch, and the breeder will assist in that decision. At Uptown Farms, we sort which pups go where closer to 8 weeks of age. This isn’t a science, but it does serve our customers much better in the long run than having people attempt to pick a puppy out from a photo of a litter of puppies that are 2 weeks old.


We try to avoid placing the alfa females on poultry farms and any pups that play more aggressively with their litter mates. When a pup is first placed around birds, they often see the birds as litter mates and will replicate behavior exhibited with their siblings. A pup that was aggressive with litter mates is more likely to exhibit the same behavior towards birds, and that can be time consuming to correct. However, even pups who were not aggressive with litter mates may become more rambunctious in their play with birds. This behavior should be corrected immediately.


3. Establish home base before pup arrives. Home base is our term for where the dog will eat, rest and consider his home. For a successful bonding, home base should be as close to the animals as possible. However, unlike with other types of livestock, we do not recommend direct access to the birds for the pup. (A livestock dog will need direct access to his animals upon arriving at his farm). We recommend setting up a small crate that the pup can be housed in at night for the first few evenings at home. The crate will provide additional security as well as direction on where home base is. Working pups will take great comfort being near their animals, even if the birds are a different type of stock than what he was used to before.

The most common mistake people make when bringing home their pup is thinking the puppy is too small to be left at his home base. Instead, they bring the pup to the house or garage. This makes it difficult to transition the pup to where he belongs and impedes the bonding process. You are actually putting a puppy under more stress moving him into an unfamiliar area like a garage or house as compared to putting him into a barn that has sights, sounds and smells much more familiar to him. The cold is not an issue for a Pyrenees pup as long as he can get out of the wind.

4. Make arrangements for food and water. We recommend free choice food and water for working dogs and always away from where livestock or birds can access it. If a working dog thinks they have to protect their food from their flock, it will alter the relationship between dog and stock. On our farm, we keep self feeders in the aisles that always have dog food in them.

5. Start to work on the bonding process. In addition to the dog not having direct access to his flock, developing the bond is the next biggest difference between poultry guardians and livestock guardians. You will start the process of bringing the pup to the birds supervised only. Most producers start supervised, on leash visits. Any sign of mouthing or playing with birds needs to be sternly corrected. This is expected behavior – because of the size of the birds, pups will most often associate them more with their litter mates than their livestock. They will learn quickly though and the more supervised time they spend with the birds the more they will understand correct interaction with them.


Discourage any bad behavior with scolding and encourage behavior such as ignoring the birds, calmly walking among the birds, or lying down in the pen and ignoring the birds, with rewards and praise.


Eventually, people remove the leash but continue supervised visits with the birds. Most poultry producers do not recommend unsupervised access to the birds until the pup is 18 – 24 months of age. This does mean your birds have no protection until that point. Most poultry farms are small enough acreage that the scent and sound of the dog offers ample protection. The dog should still be guarding outside the bird areas and is only limited in direct, unsupervised access to the birds.


6.Human socialization begins within a few days of bringing a pup home. Poultry dogs, by nature of their development, tend to have more frequent human interaction than many of their livestock guarding counterparts. We still encourage all early interactions (before 6 months of age) to happen near home base or in with the birds to allow bonding to happen with the animals. If human interaction happens away from home base and the birds, the dog is likely to bond more strongly to his human companions and in the absence of his humans, wander off looking for them or become very nervous when he cannot see them. Instead, by properly allowing him to bond to his animals, he will be very happy to see his humans, but his guarding instincts will be reflected onto the animals, and he will not be under stress when he cannot see his people.


Ultimately, developing a working dog into a reliable poultry guardian takes a few key things - start with a dog bred and started right, supervise the dog with the birds well past his puppy stages, and give yourself and him plenty of grace and patience. Guarding poultry is not as natural to the Pyrenees as other types of livestock, but if you understand the dog’s instincts and work with them, you’ll have yourself a guardian worth his weight in gold. 🐓

It’s fall! Around here that means harvest and our harvest isn’t just corn and soybeans, but pumpkins as well.

Below is one of our very favorite pumpkin recipes. Two things to note regarding this recipe - the extra work of using fresh pumpkin purée is 100% worth it and although this is a great dish for your cast iron skillet, it can also be prepared in a cake pan.

Enjoy!

Fresh pumpkin purée recipe can be found here.

Fresh Pumpkin Filling:
2 cups fresh pumpkin purée (You can substitute one 15 oz. can of pumpkin purée)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup milk or heavy cream

Crisp Topping
2 cups flour
1.5 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray and flour a cast iron skillet or cake pan.
2. Whisk together all filing ingredients except the milk. Slowly add milk, whisking as you pour. The mixture will be very runny. Pour this into your prepared baking dish.
3. In a clean bowl, mix together dry topping ingredients until well mixed. Add butter and mix with fork until crumbly. Topping will be dry but crumbly. Evenly spread this on top of the filling in baking dish.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. Crisp is done when firm set.

Best served warm, with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Making fresh pumpkin purée is easy and delicious. It can be frozen for long term storage as well.

Different pumpkins will have different tastes, color and texture, so if you feel adventurous, try a few different types. The seed flavor and texture can vary as well, making for a fun and unique snack if you like roasted pumpkin seeds.

The classic pie pumpkins are smaller, orange pumpkins as pictured above. If you are buying from the farm, ask the growers what their favorites are!

What you need:

Pumpkins
Sharp Knife
Spoon
Baking Sheet

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.
2. Remove pumpkin stem and slice in half.
3. Clean the middle of pumpkins out. Set aside seeds for roasting if you’d like.
4. Lay pumpkins meat side down on pan.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
6. Clean skin off pumpkins.
7. Use a food processor or blender to purée pumpkin.
8. If pumpkin is too try, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. If pumpkin is too wet, drain excess water.

“There’s always fence to be fixed.”

People say this all the time about life on a farm.

I don’t know if I heard it before I married a farmer or not. But if I did, I didn’t get it. Much like a lot of the people who say it, I wouldn’t have understood just how true it is. I didn’t know it wasn’t an over exaggeration in the least. If I had understood that, I might have thought twice before I said , “I do.”

But true it is. Fence isn’t a one and done kind of thing. You put it up. You fix it. You adjust it. Weeds and trees grow into it. You tear it down and build it new. Just when you do that a crazy cow comes along and rips it all down.

So, you put on your gloves and put it up again.

Fence goofs up all sorts of plans when it doesn’t work right. It makes a person sore, and tired when they have to fix it. Only a handful of people are left in this country that are willing to deal with it.

But that handful are unlikely to give it up for much of anything. It’s in their blood. They need the work. The sweat. The sore.

A few years into this life and I hated fence. I would have told a woman to run like hell from a man who thought he needed it around.

But time has a way of bringing perspective.

And now I’d tell you this.

Hang on tight to any man with the patience, the strength, and the sheer grit to lead a life of building, fixing, and redoing fence. It’s a job that never ends, never gets any easier, and often leaves you exhausted and sore. The only reward comes from knowing you’ve done what you could, in the time you have, for what you’ve got.

And if he can do that for fence, you’d better believe he will do that for you too.

Monday morning I was curled up at my desk, and glanced down at my hand.

My heart stopped.

My diamond. Gone. What?

My mind started racing to where it could be. The morning before at church, I remembered spinning my ring around my finger while our preacher was challenging us. The diamonds were there.

But since then? Oh Lord help me.

I’d been picking pumpkins in a 3 acre pumpkin patch. I’d been all over the house, the farm, in with the calves and the lambs, the goats.

I’d gotten up and run 5 miles around town and been back to work around the house.

It was hopeless. There was no way I’d find it. Feeling that weight, I closed my eyes and I prayed.

And instantly felt foolish. And guilty.

Who am I to pray over a lost rock?

Here I am, sitting in almost new house on a farm we’re blessed to call ours. My family is healthy, our crops are good, I get paid to do work that I love. Our bellies are full, our bodies are clothed.

And I have the audacity to ask God to be concerned with my diamond?

There’s a global pandemic. An election. Injustices. Cancer. Hunger. Slavery.

And I bothered Him with my diamond.

Now granted, it’s not just any diamond. It’s the diamond that the man of my dreams spent an entire summer stashing cash away in a safe to be able to buy. A rock he gave me when we were to young and dumb to have anything figured out beyond the fact we loved each other. It’s the rock that sits on the ring I’ve only taken off three times since he gave to me: once when it was getting attached to my wedding band, twice when I swelled up from carrying his children so much that it wouldn’t fit.

But still. It’s a rock.

And God has bigger problems to be concerned with than a rock.

I text Matt. I made a note to call the insurance agent. I cried. Then I got up to get some more coffee. I’d have to worry about it later.

On my way upstairs I swung into my bedroom to grab a notebook. On the way back out I noticed I’d left the lamp on, so I went to switch it off and a small glisten on the floor caught my eye.

There, deep in the carpet, was my diamond.

God.

I laughed at myself. Thinking this was too small of a problem for Him. Thinking that he couldn’t balance carrying the weight of the world with also helping me find my diamond. Thinking that he didn’t have time.

That’s not God.

That’s me, projecting my human inadequacy onto God.

“But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

Every situation. Even a lost diamond.