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!
I was looking around my garden beds yesterday and the word “heritage” struck me. The older I get, the more appreciation I have for heritage and legacy. I can even recognize those qualities in the plants I see this time of year.
The centuries old “pie plant” or more commonly referred to today, as rhubarb has been dug and passed down for generations through some families. My great grandma and grandma made rhubarb desserts on the regular. Infact, I feel like it rhubarb was the star of every dessert my grandma made growing up. I remember because I wasn’t exactly a fan at the time.
My rhubarb plants were dug from my grandma’s and transplanted to my home. The rhubarb plants that create a border alongside my uncle’s shop were also dug and transplanted from my grandma’s home. I also have irises and day lilies dug from my grandma’s yard and now in my landscaping. It is a gentle reminder that it won’t be silver and gold that are the most important things you pass down; it will be the life you pass on.
These perennials in my yard are my window back in time to my own family’s history, their heritage. These same rhubarb plants fed the generations before me and Lord willing will continue to feed the generations to come as we continue to split and transplant.
While I highly doubt that anyone has to “split the rhubarb and lilies equally” in their will, it is these living things that are so valuable to me that I hope my kids cherish more than diamonds and gold.
Have a great day from all of us at this great American radio station!
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 3 daughters 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 current 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 that is broadcast on 60 radio stations with coverage in 9 states, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights R-CALF’s work on 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 ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
