From the Foreman's Desk - September Update

From the Foreman's Desk is a monthly update from Kaitlyn Kesten (Remi's wife and self-proclaimed "Ranch Foreman.")

We started off the month by celebrating labor day with our church family. Every year our church has a family camp at a campground in Pollo. It's a lot of fun! We play lots of games, have a bonfire, there's a swimming pool, and even a mud run! It's a great opportunity to relax and visit with friends.

That event rolled right into Concordia's Street Fair. I believe I mentioned it in last month's update. Remi's sister Ria comes up every year for the fair, so we go to see her too! She's Kesten kid #5.

Remi and I learned that carnival rides might have to be a thing of the past 😂

They involve a little too much spinning, if you know what I mean. Of course, we had to ride the Farris wheel - it's a tradition.

Later that week, we took a little trip to Powell Gardens (where we got engaged!) If you've never been there, I highly recommend it! There were so many beautiful plants, trees, shrubs, you name it! I saw tons of plants I'd never seen before. One of them is called Mimosa Pudica. It has a defense mechanism. When you touch the leaves or stems, they move or bend away from you! It was so awesome!

Sometimes it's good for farmers to get off the farm for a little bit to have some fun!

Remi's been taking up disc golf. He's pretty good at it. Me? Not so much. We went on a

Saturday afternoon date to play a couple of weeks ago. Let's just say he won by a lot 😂

Our farm tour was so much fun! We love getting to meet people in person. To get to visit and chat about life, animals, food, and what not ♥ Thank you to everyone who made the drive out!

We had a family friend come to intern with us for about a week this month. It was great having him around. He loves to soak up knowledge and ask lots of great questions. He was also a huge hand while loading up chicks and chickens. It's always more fun doing those chores together with friends.

This was after the first morning of loading up chickens. Remi needed a cat nap, and Jack needed some dog snuggles. After this and a quick shower, we started our delivery route! That was a long day.

The second time we loaded up chickens, John wasn't able to make it, so it was all hands on deck. It was Remi, myself, Reeves, Cameron, Kellen, and our intern friend. We had so many good laughs, close falls, and precious memories made. The beauty of working with good friends!

I feel like September went by so fast. I did a terrible job of taking pictures 🤦‍♀️

As I mentioned above, we did get a lot of family time in. And while I might not have gotten a lot of pictures, I do remember each visit. I personally had a lot of out-of-town company coming to visit. That was a great way to start the new season off!

John and Reeves loaded up the first round of cows to be processed this fall! John won't have any cattle on the pasture this winter. Hopefully, I'll get to a blog post soon about his beef process!

The Cox family harvested their pears! Lots of yummy pear butter, canned pears, and a scrumptious pear crisp 😋

Cam whipping up something yummy!

Voila!!

I've so been enjoying this fall weather. It's refreshing. Invigorating. It's also a lot nicer to work outside! This past weekend Remi and I were doing some outdoor tidy-up. Our mailbox has been crooked for a while, so he was able to get it straightened up! We also added our address and last name. Aren't we so fancy? 😉

I was also able to get some elderberry cuttings planted. My spring ones did not take off. Fingers crossed, these will do better. A friend of mine cut them for me and showed me how to start roots. That was a fun experiment!

Of course, Jack loves to help as much as he can. I was trying to see if the dogs would want to play. Jack decided he would rather lay on top of me. Let's just say for a short and squatty dog, he weighs way more than he looks!

Jack and Nala's newfound treasure is sleeping in my strawberry bed. I spread some mulch on top of the berries for the cold weather. Jack seemed really curious as to what I was doing. Sure enough, they were both sleeping in the raised bed the next morning. I mean, I can't really blame them. I'm sure it's pretty cozy.

These naughty pups sure like to get themselves into trouble. They're always looking for the next adventure!

I'm also off to my next adventure - chicken meatballs for a gathering with friends tonight 🙂

Happy Fall!

Kaitlyn