The following article about how my family came to California from Holland and settled in Elk Grove was published on August 1, 2013 in Elk Grove Citizen’s Lifestyle section by Elizabeth Pinkerton. Elk Grove’s Multicultural Festival is Aug. 24 and to celebrate our diversity, today’s focus is on another Supergrad, Margaret van Steyn Duarte (Class of ‘67). […]
Life on the Farm
Oat Harvest 2013, What Goes Around Comes Around
The phrase, “What goes around comes around,” rings especially true on a farm. As does, “You reap what you sow.” Harvest, a Family Affair When we began our oat harvest in April, my first thought was, Here we go again. My second thought was, Finally a return on our investment. Harvesting is a family affair. My […]
Writer Welcomes Mother Nature’s Distractions
Mother Nature’s Distractions Mother Nature speaks to us in a language we can all understand. It’s the most beautiful language in the world, because it stimulates all our senses and sends invaluable messages to help us navigate our life journey. During my morning walk today, it felt as if I were on a Hitchcock movie […]
Sassman Memory Farm
It all started with a single strand of Christmas lights put up by a brother in memory of his sister, who had passed away due to cancer. Now, 19 years later, the Christmas light display at Earl Sassman’s Memory Farm at 3446 Point Pleasant Road in Elk Grove has grown to 150,000 lights and can be seen from […]
Feed for Thought; Grain Corn Harvest
Feed is the largest single production expense on the dairy farm. No feed means no milk. Period. Regardless of all the other factors that enter the equation, such as cow genetics, health and management, the dairy feeding program most affects productivity and profitability. So, from the dairyman’s standpoint, the marketing slogan “Got Milk? easily translates […]
Hungry Cows to Happy Cows, A Never Ending Story
Harvest Time It’s harvest time on our dairy farm. Time to reap the corn of our labors. The irrigation pumps have been turned off for several weeks now–a respite before harvest–just enough time to get the corrals ready for winter. Time to scoop up the dry manure and pile it up for other uses on the dairy, such as bedding […]
