A CraZy Week on the Anderson Farm

It’s been quite a week on the Anderson Farm, from getting spring wheat seeded into the ground to hosting a dinner for Congressman Labrador. Not a typical spring for us, either weather-wise or social wise.

The weather cooperated enough for us to get our Spring wheat planted down at the Tammany Farm. That brought big smiles to the farmers and they moved the grain seeding drill up to the Genesee Farm for Farmer Jay to begin seeding spring wheat up here once the ground dries out enough. Farmer Joe has been seeding garbanzo beans (chickpeas) down at the Tammany Farm, weather permitting. The weather has given us anything from sun to snow all in a week and it has been crazy, not to mention worrisome as our window of planting time is getting smaller as each day passes.

LtoR, Raul Labrador, me, Joe

On Thursday, April 28 we hosted a meet and greet for Congressman Raul Labrador and several area farmers. So the week for me was busy getting ready for the event, as we have never been asked to host this kind of thing before, but hey, we were game and enjoy entertaining. If it's one thing I know, farmers like beef and good home cooked food, so our menu consisted of BBQ Beef Sandwiches, Cowboy Beans, Lentil Chili, Garbanzo/Zucchini Salad and Potato Salad and these recipes will be posted under the “Recipes page”. The desserts were, a pecan tart, chocolate tart, chocolate covered strawberries peanut butter cookies and those recipes will be on the OMG Delicious page of the blog.

Lto R, Joe, back to the camera, Raul, Farmer Jay and neighbor Dan
visiting before dinner was served

While chatting with guests, I didn’t realize Congressman Raul Labrador had arrived and when walking into the kitchen, there he was visiting with Joe.

Daughter, Kaitlyn who helped with the event by
taking pictures and helping with hostess duties

Raul speaking to our guests, it was an honor to have him
in our home, and he has my vote!

Raul was very down to earth and for lack of a better term, “so real” and sincere. After dinner, he gave a brief overview of his time on Capitol Hill and took time to answer our questions. Raul thought the new incoming freshman legislators had a very good grasp and understanding on the true pulse of America. He said many in the Capitol seem to have lost touch with reality and truly do not see how the downturn in the economy is affecting people. There is hope as the freshman representatives are businessman/women, some with no prior political experience, and that many have experienced firsthand the ups and downs of the economy. For example one legislator had lost his car dealership with the GM downsizing of its dealerships, one was a pizza parlor owner and one a funeral director, all real people who understand and connect with Middle America. Finally! Maybe they will get the message the American people are sending and help get us on the right path.

As the evening concluded, someone said something to the effect of "farming is the American dream and we are living it".   It is "the why" that we do what we do day in and day out.  Yes we struggle with high costs of production, hindering EPA and other regulations and environmentalists, but in the end it all comes down to fact that we love what we do.  We are 4th or 5th generation farmers, we are committeed  to feeding our country and we want to hand this legacy down to our children.

As always, thanks for stopping by and email me at idahofarmwife@gmail.com if you have questions. Or leave a comment on the page too.   All my best, Gayle