Scraping the pens!

Hey y’all! Hope everyone is enjoying the nice summer weather! The days aren’t too terribly hot here yet; however, I know it’s coming! This morning we are scraping pens on the JRJ Ranch.  During the winter season we have to feed a lot of hay since snow is on the ground a large percentage of the time and the cattle aren’t able to graze. As a result, a lot a hay wastage accumulates with manure from the cows and the pens must be scraped come late spring/summer.  By scraping the pens,grass is able to come back up in those places where it might have died before. 

The pen scrapings are very helpful to farmers.  Since the scrapings are composed mostly of manure, it is a great natural fertilizer for crops.  The manure is scooped up with a big tractor and placed in a spreader truck that they use to haul it to the fields and spread over the crop. 

Scraping pens is only one of the steps a rancher takes to help take care of and preserve the environment that we have been blessed with.  To check out other steps that are taken and visit ranches from around the United States on a virtual tour go to http://explorebeef.org.

NATIONAL HAMBURGER DAY!

Hello all!!  Hope everyone is enjoying the warm summer weather and has had a chance to get out in the sun!  Today is national hamburger day and with Memorial Day weekend celebrations its a great opportunity to fire up the grill!!

Here is a recipe that you might give a whirl, I thought it sounded delicious! I know my family will be having hamburgers tonight and steak this weekend. Have a fun and safe weekend!

Total recipe time: 30 minutes Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1. 1 pound ground round
2. 1/4 cup prepared thick-and-chunky salsa
3. 4 frozen cream cheese or Cheddar cheese-stuffed jalapeno peppers
4. 1/4 cup prepared salsa con queso
5. 1/4 cup chopped fresh plum tomato
6. 2 tablespoons sliced pitted ripe olives
7. Prepared thick-and-chunky salsa

Instructions

1. Combine ground beef and 1/4 cup salsa in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Lightly shape into four thin patties. Place one stuffed pepper in center of each patty; wrap beef around pepper to enclose, sealing seams and forming ball. Flatten balls into patties about 4 to 5 inches across and 1 inch thick.
2. Place patties on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, covered, 15 to 16 minutes, until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 160°F, turning occasionally.
3. Spread 1 tablespoon salsa con queso evenly over top of each burger. Sprinkle evenly with tomato and olives. Serve with salsa, as desired.

There’s no place like home…

I never thought I would miss the flat, treeless, dirt roads of SW Kansas…but the last two days I have had the pleasure of taking walks and realized that I had.  There are no cars, people or houses…just the wide open skies, an empty road, and cattle grazing the green grass nearby.  This leaves you to walk, sing along with your ipod, or I guess you could even dance in the middle of the road and no one would ever know.  Oh the benefits of a country lifestyle…  As much fun as school is, I will be so glad when I can finally leave the city and find my own quiet haven tucked back in the middle of no where some day!  And of course, there will be cows…