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!
We are rolling through the week, thanks for joining me today on Ranch Raised!
April is National Gardening Month, so if you’re not already a gardener, now is the perfect time to try your hand at developing a green thumb. Experienced gardeners, in addition to “spring cleaning,” may want to learn a new skill or expand the scope of their gardens.
There has certainly been an ebb and flow to gardening over the decades. As a little girl, I remember my great grandma’s being this grand plot of land on her ranch that had rows upon rows of tomatoes, peppers, and green beans. My grandma usually only had a few plants out in front of her house, but she loved her time hoeing weeds in the early morning hours and I loved her strawberry patch. My mom didn’t spend much attention on vegetable gardening but always loved having beautiful flowers. And now there is me. I love a garden with all the things that my family loves to eat!
I have two pieces of advice for someone to start enjoying this activity. First of all start simple! Truly, you don’t have to have 10 kind of tomatoes or 20 kinds of veggies to ring the gardening bell. Start with 2-3 vegetables that you and your family love to eat!
Secondly, utilize your local greenhouse. Not only will they be a source of great plants and seeds, but lean into their knowledge. They have a passion for helping their community learn and be successful growing plants!
Ready, set, go! With the rhubarb, chives, and my irises coming out of hibernation it has my girls and I giddy to start getting some taters in the ground! So let’s get to gardening!
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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