Farming Facts

Well it's day two of 2012 and I've just had a friend visiting who was telling me some very disturbing stories about what her friends knew about food.  Apparently, after telling her friend how fresh her carrots were (dug out of the garden that very afternoon) she was met with the comment "Eww that's disgusting." When told the milk she was drinking came from the cow over the fence, her friend replied with, "I hope you washed it." What? The cow or the milk?  Another friend, she argued with at great length, because garlic could not possibly grow in the ground because it is white.  Laugh if you will, but clearly, as farmers, we have failed to educate the public on some very important issues.

Since this is the Year of the Farmer, and I have not much else to do, I have decided to assist in the education of the public on some facts about food.  I know a little about cattle since I have lived on a cattle property for the last four years, but, alas, I am still city born and bred and know precious little about the rest of the farming world.  In fact, my husband feels compelled to correct me every time I refer to our place as a farm.  Apparently it is not a farm as we do not grow crops.  We are graziers not farmers.  And while we're at it "Cows" is not a generic term which includes all cattle.  At best, it refers to all female cattle but if you want to get into semantics, it does not refer to any beast which has not born a calf.

So these are my first farming facts.  I'm happy to enter into discussion with anyone whether you agree or disagree with me.  As I said, I'm really a city kid playing farmer...sorry, grazier and I know not much.  If you would like to leave a comment, please do.  If you would like to be a guest blogger or contribute your own farming fact, please leave a message for me on my twitter account @fathappycows.

Join me on my quest for knowledge and my crusade to educate the world, as I plan to put up a new farming fact as often as possible.  Let's see if I can find one for each day this year.