Green Acres

What a week we had at the Eastern Michigan STATE Fair!  Our first time raising and showing pigs turned out to be a satisfying and successful endeavor and although we talked about taking the next summer off the boys are gung-ho to get at it again with a new strategy to improve on what they've already accomplished.  While I knew that the chance of winning in the market categories was pretty slim I put out an incentive to the boys that if they both placed in Showmanship I would purchase their ride tickets for them.  They both had money saved to buy their own ride bands.  Benjamin placed 6th for Showmanship in the Pre-Junior class up against some very good showman who already had a few years under their belt.  His barrow (Rocky) took 5th in his market class and his pair came in 3rd, he also got 2nd Place for his Record Book.

Ethan really surprised me by receiving the Champion Beginner Showman award.  He had great energy in the ring, stayed by his pig and kept her off the fence, and what the judge like most when he spoke with him in the holding pen was his confidence.  Great job, buddy!  His gilt did not receive any recognition in market class but she was great to work with for showmanship and the friendliest of all three hogs.  Ethan also won an iPod Touch for getting the most trophy sponsors and ads for the program book, which probably meant more to him than any other ribbons he could have won.  Auction was the other unknown going into this adventure.  The day was rainy and they started earlier than they had in past years so the buyers trickled in.  Ben went up 11th and was lucky to get $2 a pound, more buyers came in by the time Ethan, who was 68th, got up there and his went for $2.40 a pound.  These are both legit prices and from what I'm told our county is very blessed by the support of families, farms, and businesses in the area; at many other fair auctions the kids are lucky to get $1 per pound for their animals.

There was a bit of disorientation in the indoor open project area this year due to new people being in charge of various categories.  I honestly think my paper articles and plastic articles didn't even get judged.  They didn't get ribbons and yet I saw no other projects in those categories.  One of my photos from the capitol building got 2nd Place and a wildflower arangement got 3rd.  Besides watching my own boys show I always enjoy watching some of the dairy and beef showmanship, this year I watched the Cloverbuds who are all kids under 9 years old that work with mostly dairy calves.  The woman who oversees this program deserves super kudos for her time, patience, expertise, and the fact that all the kids did great.  Happy, confident and so proud to be in the show ring was the vibe they exuded.  Silly to some, but my other Fair week highlight is always watching the elephants get washed.  This year I chatted with some tough, burly guys that help run the fairgrounds, who were just as fascinated with the task as I was.  Ethan enjoyed watching the Super 8 race Wednesday evening too.  Four calves were born in the FFA tent and a very uncomfortable sow finally began to deliver on the last day, two piglets were out this morning but more were still to come as they carefully relocated her in the farrowing crate back to the Ed-Tech Center.

It is so fun to see everyone at load up time heading out with new animals, we came home with 6 chicks, another family from our club brought home a goat to be a buddy for their mini-horse, I saw lots of chickens, geeseand rabbits being put into trailers and they didn't even have enough quails for all the people who wanted some.  We were hoping to add another rabbit to our menagerie but I didn't win one in the silent auction, however, in selling off some of our rabbit cages I hit it off with a family that is breeding Holland Lops and will stay in touch to purchase a baby when they're ready.  Ethan wants to show rabbits next year in addition to swine and we found a club to join for that.  Benjamin is VERY interested in working with cows so we're seriously discussing him getting involved with FFA (Future Farmers of America) to learn about them at their facilities without having to have them on our property yet.  I told him if he continues to raise hogs and sell them he can have a beef steer when he has enough money to purchase it himself and gets a set-up on our property that is adequate to take care of it properly.  We'll see how it goes.

As soon as the pigs were trailered off to Fair I got busy and rototilled the field area. My three sons helped me get it raked out and put down boards for paths and I planted a late season garden on Monday.  Just went back to check things out once I got the van unloaded and chicks settled in.  After several days of rain followed by warmth I already have beans, peas, rutabaga, spinach, and lettuce popping up!

So Robert is still in Chile for work, the boys are off for a week of camping in Port Crescent State Park with their grandparents, and I am going to tackle some more house projects and enjoy the quiet.

Hope you're enjoying your August days as much as we are!