Natalie Schmitt

It is a wrap

It feels like we have been running against the wind these past few weeks trying to complete the harvest marathon. The fall season has lingered a bit longer than expected, creating opportunities and …

Thanksgiving salads, surprises

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There are the standard fares of turkey and pumpkin pie, but it is also a chance to incorporate cranberries into the menu. Once the cranberries arrive in …

Fall decorations

Can it truly be the end of another growing season? It seems like just last month Austin was explaining his tillage and planting experiment on the back 40 as we walked through fields of reduced …

Fall menu

Even though I am a beef girl through and through, I still enjoy a meal with the “other white meat.” I found the recipe for Maple-Glazed Ribs years ago in Taste of Home. It is a family …

Try again

As I was reading last month’s article in the Dairy Star, I was confused. The title was “Cleaning Up,” but the article was not what I had written earlier in the week. I accidentally …

Harvest meal ideas

I can see the signs of fall all around me these days. Early morning school bus routes. Drooping ears of corn. The sound of sandhill cranes congregating for their southward trip. It also signals a …

Cleaning up

I don’t know which is worse — cleaning up little kids or cleaning up big cows? It doesn’t seem to matter how hard you work to get them both clean, they always seem to find a way to …

Fair-winning recipes

After a nine-year hiatus, the Langola Livewires 4-H Club is back. We’re “plugged in” and ready to roll. After Austin graduated, the club became inactive because we had no young …

An expert?

What makes someone an expert? Education? Experiences? Distance? It is sometimes hard to be an exper in your own backyard despite your advanced degrees or life experiences. Some people still see you …

Summer salads

There are some things that are just perfect summer combinations, like a dash of salt on watermelon to bring out the juicy sweetness.   I replace the seeds of a cantaloupe half with a scoop of …

Summer dreaming

What a difference a year makes! I’ve mowed my yard more in one month than I did all last summer. The grass in the front of the house appears to have come back from the dead. It is now soft as …

Potluck desserts

I was thumbing through my sister Nancy’s recipe collection when I came across these special treats. She was known to bring these treats to potlucks to share with everyone. Once you saw her …

Adapt or adopt

What’s the difference between adapt and adopt?   Both are action verbs with the change of one little vowel creating a special moment. Think of this: Adapting old ideas by adopting new …

Beef for breakfast

As a former Tri-County Beef Queen, it is my duty to continue to promote my favorite source of protein and iron: beef. As dairy farmers, we are fortunate to support two commodity check-offs with one …

Goodbye, hello

I have an earworm song swirling in and out of my mind as I decipher the story I want to tell.   The Beatles sang, “You say yes. I say no. You say high. I say low. I don’t know …

Asparagus spring dishes

The sweet sound of robins serenading me during morning chores, heralding the arrival of a glorious sunrise, puts a spring in my step. I can’t help but feel excited and giddy of a new day. The …

Farm junk drawer

What do you do with a winter like ours? Things you could only imagine. Many of the projects on the bottom of the to-do list have suddenly pushed their way to the top of working projects. …

An early rhubarb season

I know the calendar says it is only the beginning of March, but did anyone tell Mother Nature? Golfers are taking swings and walking the greens. Novice gardeners are ready to start digging and …

Family names

Naming calves around our farm is considered a family sport. A mass email goes out to all of the kids and adopted family members for their most creative suggestions for the next generation of Ralma …

Muffins

The idea for this article started with a baking hack I saw on the internet. I like to make muffins, but I hate how the bottoms are always tough and overbaked due to the high temperatures required to …

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