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!
2022 certainly won’t be noted as the “Year of the Mulberry”, but might go down as the “Year of the Cauliflower’ here at the Jones Ranch! Thanks for tuning in to Ranch Raised.
The weeks of June usually bring us great delight hunting and harvesting mulberries all over our ranch. Eating fresh mulberries is truly one of the rewards for living the way we do out here on the land. I mean you can’t exactly get a mulberry muffin or pie anywhere in town. But, the land tells you a lot, if you just listen. And our land was so parched that our usually bountiful mulberry season was scant at best. No baking, very little fresh eating, a lot of disappointment from our little ones, and entrusting the great rainmaker with more hope that next year will be a better year.
But, there has been a surprise bounty in the garden. As I watched my rows of brassicas grow this spring and summer, I began to question my own sanity. What should have been developing into dark green heads of broccoli was progressing into milky white heads of cauliflower. My middle daughter who loves working beside me in the garden, affirms my intentions that I bought a 4-pack of broccoli and a 4-pack of cauliflower.
So, what does one do with 8 heads of cauliflower the size of volleyballs?!?! My family seems suspicious that I will be dreaming of ways to put it in pies, breads, maybe even brownies. I’m thinking of trying to pickle some. I have already roasted one head and it went over well. But, I need your help! Send me your best cauliflower recipes on the Ranch Raised FB page! Can I make that elusive cauliflower pizza crust without my family catching on to my tricky ways?
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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.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
