Ranch Raised

Last week I unplugged and completely shut out the rest of world. It allowed me to focus on what was right in front of me. I observed a lot of great things like kids playing in the sandbox next to the show arena, jumping in bounce houses, and eating snow cones. I saw teenagers playing card games in the beef barn and helping their friends exercise goats. I saw swine kids offering their pigs for practice sessions and advice to kids who made it to the Elite Showmanship contest but did not have pigs of their own to practice on. I saw what I would consider heroic displays of sportsmanship, humility, and grace in and out of that dirt arena.

Thanks for tuning in to Fun, Fact Friday, right here on Ranch Raised! Let’s start off the first Friday in August with a product you probably were not expecting!

Boy are you in for a sweet treat this week. All year long, my girls scour the internet looking for 4-H baking ideas, which is just fine with my husband, but because he has a big sweet tooth! I guess a perk of being a girl dad is being their official test taster.

Today we celebrate National Horseradish Month, so let’s learn about the root vegetable that adds a kick to meat and side dishes.

Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!

It’s our midweek check in, right here on Ranch Raised. The majority of my days, I think to myself, “I wonder what I could talk about tomorrow on Ranch Raised.” Then as they say, “life happens”, and I experience something that I just have to tell you about.

So many, like us, are in the thick of country fair season, so you are going to have to stick with me while I do a lot of reflecting on what I am seeing going in the 4-H and FFA worlds.