Field 2 Field - Part 4

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021

Farm State of Mind mental health website goes live

Farm State of Mind in recent years can be summed up in one word: stress. While things are starting to turn around due to higher commodity prices, it doesn’t mean farmers are out of the woods yet.

In recognition of May as Mental Health Month, the American Farm Bureau Federation launched a comprehensive, easy-to-use online directory of resources for farmers, ranchers and their families who are experiencing stress and mental health challenges.

The directory, which is on the Farm State of Mind website at farmstateofmind.org, features listings for crisis hotlines and support lines, counseling services, training opportunities, podcasts, videos, published articles and other resources in every U.S. state and Puerto Rico. Listings for crisis support, counseling and behavioral health resources that are available nationwide are also included.

“For far too long, farmers and ranchers have been trying to cope with increasing levels of stress on their own,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Our Farm State of Mind campaign is encouraging conversations about stress and mental health in farming and ranching communities. It is so important to spread the word that no one has to go it alone.

“This new online directory of stress and mental health resources in every state gives farmers, ranchers and rural communities a user-friendly, one-stop shop to find services in their area that can help them manage farm stress and find help for mental health concerns. Whether you’re looking for information about how to recognize and manage stress, trying to find counseling services in your area or are in need of crisis support, you can find help here.”

National research polls conducted and published by AFBF in 2019 and 2021 showed that a number of factors including financial issues and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting farmers’ mental health, highlighting the need to identify local resources that can help farmers and ranchers cope with chronic stress and mental health concerns.

The Farm State of Mind directory lists resources specifically geared toward farmers, ranchers and rural communities in states where these specific services are available, with additional listings for county and statewide mental health and other support services in every state. The listings can be filtered by state and type of resource, including hotlines, counseling services and published information.

AFBF partnered with the University of Georgia School of Social Work to research available resources across the U.S. and Puerto Rico and compile comprehensive information included in the directory.

Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to share the directory with their family, friends and community networks to ensure widespread awareness of the availability of these important resources.

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021

Anoka State Mental Hospital Coming Back to Life

Here’s a complete look at the main campus as it stands today.

“Anoka State Mental Hospital” – It’s been abandoned since 1999. Just saying the name evokes memories of every single scary movie you’ve watched in recent history, such as those Friday the 13^th movies we used to watch as kids. However, like many other abandoned places in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, it seems to be coming back to life.

Here’s the link to the photo album on Facebook

Some of the buildings are still in rough shape, and those are easy to pick out by the plywood in all the windows. Others are in the process of being renovated, and a couple are used now as veterans’ homes. The first thing that jumped out at me was how BIG the campus is. Lots of large brick buildings got built in the shape of a half-circle. It’s enormous!

The brick buildings have every right to look like they’ve been through a lot: they have. A minnpost.com article says the fourth Minnesota state hospital for the insane opened in 1900. The place was quite different from the other three institutions; the Anoka State Mental Hospital was the first to be built in Minnesota according to the cottage plan. The goal was to reduce the institutional feel of the place for its chronic patients.

It was a bright and sunny day when I walked the grounds of the Anoka State Hospital grounds. (Photo by Chad Smith)

They say overcrowding was a big problem at Minnesota’s mental health institutions operating in Rochester, Fergus Falls, and St. Peter. To help alleviate the overcrowding problems, the planning commission chose 650 acres right near the scenic Rum River in Anoka for a fourth site.

Building the hospital got started in June of 1899, and the first 100 patients (all men) were transferred to the facility on March 14, 1900. The facility began to expand in 1905, adding several cottages, as well as farm and service buildings. By 1917, ten cottages, an auditorium, and a new administration formed in a semicircle at the completed facility.

However, like many mental institutions across the country, history wasn’t always a good thing for the facility. A dramatic series of articles exposed some horrible conditions at the hospital in the mid-1900s. State officials became determined to do something about the problem.

Still some work to do at the Anoka State Hospital. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The atlasobscura.com website says, on Halloween night in 1949, they held a bonfire on the grounds of the Anoka State Mental Hospital. It must have been a big fire as around 359 straitjackets, 196 cuffs, and 91 straps, all different forms of restraints used on the patients, were destroyed. Governor Luther Youngdahl and other officials used the event to show the world that the facility was moving toward more humane forms of treatment.

Conditions did improve for the patients, thanks to the development of new drugs and institutional reforms. Some unfortunate incidents that compromised community safety around the hospital took place here and there over the next several decades. The Anoka State Mental Hospital closed in 1999, and the patients got moved to a nearby facility.

April 17, 2021April 17, 2021

Quarry Park offers great exploring and history

My complete photo album is here.

Quarry Park and Nature Preserve was the latest stop on the 2021 “Explore Minnesota Before I Run Out of Gas Tour.” I’m not sure if that name is referring to my car or my body because, at my age, I run out of gas a little quicker than I used to, but I digress. I jumped in the car early on a Saturday morning because I could no longer sleep, so what was the point in trying?

Here are some of the highlights from the Quarry Park and Nature Preserve exploration. It’s a great place to do some hiking and picture taking! (Video by Chad Smith)

I spent a couple of hours looking for some abandoned places to explore, but that idea turned out to be a dud. I found myself in Waite Park, Minnesota, up by St. Cloud, and needing a pit stop. I AM 50, after all. Coming into town, I happened to glance to the right and noticed what looked like a couple of large gravel pits. Okay, they weren’t gravel, they were granite, but it’s the only thing I had stored in my brain to compare them to.

Quarry Park and Nature Preserve is the full name of the place and covers nearly 700 acres of Stearns County land. At one time, it was an actual granite quarry known as the “Hundred Acres Quarry.” Granite is formed by intense heat within the earth and was the “foundation” of a major industry.

The history page on the park’s website points out that the first granite quarry in Central Minnesota was opened in 1863 by two Scotsmen. In the 130 years that followed, central Minnesota granite became an international commodity gracing several buildings located as far away as Singapore.

Roughly a century ago, a type of stone known as Saint Cloud Red Granite was quarried from land which is now part of the park. The Landmark Center and the James J. Hill House in St. Paul, Minnesota, both contain Saint Cloud Red Granite in their structures.

One thing I can’t figure out is whether or not these quarries are filled with stagnant water? I know there’s fish stocked in there (saw the ripples) so they’d need fresh water circulating through there, right? (Photo by Chad Smith)

Though private ownership of the land by local quarry companies continued through 1992, quarrying operations in the present park area quit for good in the mid-1950s. Companies operating quarries on the site including Holes Brothers, Delano Granite, Melrose Granite Company, Empire Quarry Company, and C.L. Atwood.

Over the years, the land gradually reverted to a more natural state. What did Poison Ivy tell Batman in the Arkham Knight game? “Nature always wins.” In 1992, Stearns County bought the site from the Cold Spring Granite Company and added the land to its County Park System. The park opened up on January 1, 1998.

I spent a solid two hours exploring the place, and I might have gotten through a third of the whole thing. You can hike there, go rock climbing, swimming, and even scuba diving in a couple of locations.

You can check out everything the park has to offer here.

Here’s the bottom of the Liberty Derrick. (Photo by Chad Smith)

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021

Fort Snelling Exploration Goes Quickly

Fort Snelling is quite the place to go exploring, especially if you head to the upper post area. There are some good-sized abandoned (for now) buildings, which includes office buildings, houses for the big shots, and a LONG barracks building.

Here’s a quick video of what I saw at the Fort Snelling upper post. It’s easy to see that there’s a lot of work ahead for the construction company doing the refurbishing. (Video by Chad Smith)

After doing some research, it looks like those big buildings got abandoned around 1997. An MPR article from 2018 points out that the place was considered the “military capital of the Dakotas.” Those once-stately buildings have fallen on some hard times.

The abandoned military buildings in the Fort Snelling upper post were once a hotspot for urban explorers. Now, they’re getting a facelift and being turned into affordable housing. (Photo by Chad Smith)

I’ll be completely honest here; you know I like to explore in places that I’m sometimes not allowed to go. However, even if I’d been able to get in those buildings today (more on that in a moment), I told a fellow explorer that a big guy like me at 260 pounds might find himself in the basement without even walking down the stairs.

Speaking of getting in there: fellow explorers, you can’t. Don’t even try. The military put up a pretty solid chain link fence close to the buildings. Now that refurbishing work is underway, there’s a second chain-link fence set up several feet outside of the first fence. And there are security cameras up there too.

The upper post at Fort Snelling in Minnesota has fallen on hard times. The one-time hotspot for urban explorers is getting redone. (Photo by Chad Smith

Substreet.org says Fort Snelling was first sold off in 1858, a long time after Minnesota lost its status as a frontier state. However, the Civil War and conflicts between settlers and the Dakota meant a military post was needed in the Twin Cities. In 1861, the fort was called into action again as a muster and command station, sending northern troops both to the east and west.

Shortly after the Civil War ended, the Army redesigned the upper post at Fort Snelling as the “Department of the Dakotas.” The Army then expanded the complex in 1879 with a new headquarters and officer’s quarters. A long brick infantry barracks building sprang up about ten years later.

But the development didn’t stop there, as it continued through 1907 with more stables, more barracks, warehouses, a hospital, workshops, and other support buildings. The post was a place to train new officers and where the wounded could heal. In fact, Substreet.org says it became known as the “Country Club of the Army” after they added a golf club and a hunting club.

The old barracks building at Fort Snelling sits abandoned at the fort’s upper post. After several years of debate and trying to find funding, Weis Builders has begun to update those buildings that have fallen into disrepair. (Photo by Chad Smith)

I found at least two articles over the past three-to-five years that mentioned plans to turn the old buildings into affordable housing. At least one deal was signed before it slowed down. There’s a sign saying Weis Builders is doing the work to get the old buildings into livable condition.

Here’s the link to the complete photo album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=chad.smith.75685&set=a.4021404441253295

April 5, 2021April 5, 2021

Rescue dogs and the U.S. livestock industry

Rescue dogs and foreign animal diseases are not something I ever expected would combine in the same story. However, a recent assignment for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting brought the two previously unrelated issues face-to-face. The National Pork Producers Council is alarmed at the number of rescue dogs coming into the U.S. from countries currently battling a serious Foreign Animal Disease outbreak.

The potential is there for some of those FADs to ride along with the dogs, either on the coats or equipment like dog crates as the animals enter the country. Liz Wagstrom is the Chief Veterinarian for the NPPC, and she says they’re especially concerned about animals coming in from Asia.

“Rescue dogs are being brought into the U.S. from Asia after being rescued out of wet markets or the meat trade,” Wagstrom said. “They could be contaminated with blood, urine, or manure, which could carry something like African Swine Fever, Foot-and-Mouth Disease, or Classic Swine Fever.”

The dogs themselves aren’t susceptible to those diseases. However, Wagstrom says they could carry contamination on their coats, in their bedding, or even dog dishes and toys they came into the country with could get contaminated.

“Our concern is those rescue dogs could enter the United States, be adopted by someone on a farm, and be carrying a virus,” she said. “The crates they ride in, or other items like dishes and toys could be contaminated. That could lead to disaster.”

Dr. Liz Wagstrom is the Chief Veterinarian for the National Pork Producers Council. (Photo from Twitter.com)

Not only are domestic herds at risk, but if crates or other items aren’t properly disposed of and feral pigs get into or near them, that will also spread disease quickly. “We feel that if these animals are coming in, we need rules in place to do it safely,” she said.

Which government agency has jurisdiction over this is a “confusing issue.” The vast majority of dogs come into the country with their owners, and those dogs fall under the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hagstrom, a long-time veterinarian, says the CDC is “basically looking to see if those dogs have a rabies vaccination.”

Dogs that come in for resale fall under the U.S. Department of Agriculture authority. However, she points out that most of that authority focuses on animal welfare. A very small number of dogs coming into the country get evaluated as a possible risk to livestock.

“That would be herding dogs from certain areas that get evaluated for tapeworms,” she says. “It might also include dogs from the new areas of the world infected by screwworms. We think the USDA definitely has the authority to expand their oversight of the dogs that come in either for sale or adoption.

“A Foreign Animal Disease outbreak in the U.S. will immediately shut down all trade,” Wagstrom said while on the phone from Arizona, “which means we’d have a lot of extra animals on hand.

“Even if it was African Swine Fever that only impacted hogs, we have trading partners that may question milk, meat, and poultry exports,” she added. “The depressed prices for pork will likely put downward pressure on the price of beef, poultry, and dairy products.”

That means a Foreign Animal Disease of any kind will be a multi-billion-dollar hit to U.S. livestock, but it might not stop there. There’s a potential hit to the soybean industry because pork is a big part of its market. “It could have a devastating impact on U.S. agriculture as a whole,” Hagstrom says.

She says NPPC has studied the Animal Protection Act, which gives USDA authority over animals, their conveyances, bedding, and animal feed if they could potentially harm the livestock industry. If the agency was concerned about just dog diseases, then USDA doesn’t have the authority.

“However, because we’re talking about the health of the livestock industry, we believe they have the authority to write rules on how to safely bring the dogs into the country,” she says. “We do understand they’re being rescued from some horrific conditions in many cases. If they’re coming in to be rescued, let’s make sure they’re coming safely.

“Let’s get them quarantined and make sure they get washed,” Hagstrom says. “We also need to make sure their crates, bedding, and anything else that came into the country are properly disposed of. That will make it a win-win for both the dogs and U.S. livestock.”

To give ourselves the best chance of keeping the livestock industry safe, NPPC says we need more agricultural inspectors at ports of entry into the U.S. Last year, the government authorized over 700 new ag inspectors and 60 K-9 teams. However, the Coronavirus put a damper on those plans.

“Those new positions were funded by user fees on international airline tickets and international cargo,” she said. “Those fees went away because of the 95 percent decrease in international travel brought on by COVID-19 in 2020. That meant we had to work through the appropriations process to keep those inspectors funded at the current level.”

NPPC and other organizations are back at the appropriations table and asking for additional funding to continue to increase the number of agricultural inspectors as travel hopefully gets back to normal levels.

April 3, 2021April 3, 2021

Technology Tune-Up for Spring Planting

Technology is as important to today’s farm machinery as the nuts and bolts that held old-school equipment together back in the day. Maintaining your machines is a never-ending task when it comes to farming. When you’re lubricating moving parts, changing filters, or checking bearings, don’t forget to keep the technology that runs your machinery up to date.

Just like the typical equipment maintenance farmers all know and love (and occasionally hate), the technology the runs your machines need a regular tune-up as well. Technology advances quickly, and farmers have to be just as quick to keep up, which can sometimes be an overwhelming task.

Farming sure has changed a lot, hasn’t it? We know have to make sure the technology running those machines is as up to date as the machinery itself. (Photo from agupdate.com)

“As technology advances, you have to keep up to date with the software upgrades,” says Chris Ehman, Case/IH Aftermarket Solutions marketing manager. “That becomes even more true now as 3G is either going away or gone for good, depending on a farmer’s location. That’s why it’s even more important to get connected than before now.”

The new technology brought massive changes to the way farmers run their operations. For example, modern technology now gives farmers instant access to every machine in their fleet.

“The new technology in the CASE/IH Connection Portal frees up farmers to do their work, share data, and to manage their fleet wherever, whenever, and however they want,” he said. “It allows you to gather that data throughout the year and easily visualize what’s happening in your fields.”

The technology gives farmers a better grip on optimizing the performance of their fleet. Computerization helps Case IH owners of equipment made in 2010 or newer the chance to coordinate all of their machines and share their data to a central computer.

“Farmers can see each machine’s data as it’s running, including the location, the machine’s status, engine hours, idle time, acres per hour, and fuel levels,” he said, “so it helps them better track of what the operators are doing with the machines.

“Another way the technology helps farmers is with the security of their machines,” Ehman added. “It can set up geofences and curfews. With geo-fencing technology, you can set up pre-defined working areas for your machines and get alerts if they leave that specific area. And the curfew setting will alert you if the machine is working outside of a pre-defined timeframe. It gives you a lot of peace of mind at the end of every day.”

And if you’re one of those who don’t consider yourself “technologically efficient,” the software will help you know when it’s time to update. You’ll notice error codes and alerts that will get sent via the tech portal.

“That alert will help you understand what’s happening with your equipment out in the field,” Ehman said. “It will help you decide if it’s a simple setting that needs to be adjusted and can get fixed over the phone, or if a tech will instead need to make a trip to the field. If a tech support worker doesn’t need to come out and fix the issue, taking care of it over the phone can be a real time and money-saver.

“And if a tech is needed, they’ll have a much better understanding of what the issue is and what’s needed to fix it,” he added. “That makes the repair move at a quicker pace and gets the machinery back into operation and making money for the farmer. Quicker repairs, less money, and more uptime is always a good thing.”

At the end of the day, Ehman said farming is one of the most challenging occupations in the country. There’s a lot at stake and many difficult decisions to make. The agricultural economy has struggled in recent years, and farmers need success this year without question.

“A profitable operation is possible, and these new technologies help make that happen,” he said. “You don’t have to wait to benefit from the advantages of the new technologies. The equipment you already own can be capable of so much more than you may realize.”

Data protection is a big deal for farmers, and Ehman says companies like Case IH are taking good care of that vital information. The company is upfront in saying that farmer’s data belongs to each individual farmer and that farmer alone.

“For our dealers and our partners to access that data, they have to get permission from the farmers,” Ehman said. “That is a move in the right direction for Case IH as a company and a brand.

“The technology we use to analyze that data has come a long way as well,” he adds. “We’ve gotten much better at collecting and aggregating the data from multiple machines on the operation, and then overlaying that with yield data and field maps to allow farmers to see all the conditions that may be affecting their yield. It’s moving past the machinery data and into more of the farming and agronomic data.”

Any farmer can then use that data to help improve their yields and return on investment. A 4G update will get farmers into the Case IH Connect Portal with an AFS Connect subscription. That will let farmers take advantage of the new 4G technology and the benefits that come with it.

April 1, 2021April 1, 2021

Planting predictions and grain stocks numbers

Planting crops and grain stocks were a topic of conversation in the markets this week. The USDA issued its Prospective Planting and Stocks Reports, with the biggest surprise coming from the planting numbers. Corn planting is estimated at 91.1 million acres, up less than one percent from a year ago. Mike Zuzolo is the President of Global Commodity Analytics in Atchison, Kansas. He says the trade was expecting more corn acres in the report.

“I think that’s right. Look at the news wire estimates. The lowest number we saw was down around 91 million acres. I don’t publish to the newswires anymore because the algo-traders use them to position themselves before the numbers come out. I send stuff out to the producers and investors that I work with. So, I was below 92 and having a really tough time going above 91.5.”

He says one reason farmers may be shying away from more corn acres is the quickly rising cost of inputs. However, corn wasn’t the only surprise in the planting report.

“What was surprising to me is how did the soybeans come in at 87.6 million planted, when the trade, including myself, were closer to 89 and 90 million. What happened was most of the other producers in other parts of the country, including the cotton producer, the sorghum producer, and the rice producer all ‘stayed in their lane’ this year and they kept planting what they normally produce. I think this brings with it a little more questioning, especially with that Deep South looking wetter than normal from the Tennessee River Valley down to Louisiana, so we’re going to have to keep an eye on that because soybean acres could grow, similar to the way corn acres could grow because the of the way the weather is shaping up.”

He says the Deep South weather picture looks wet, while the main corn and soybean areas, especially in the Plains States, are leaning toward a drier pattern.

Zuzolo was disappointed in USDA’s prediction of 46.4 million all-wheat acres, the fourth-lowest planted area since records began in 1919.

“I think the big thing we saw in the planting that I’ll wrap up with, and this is where we have a leader to the downside, and that is the wheat market. We wanted it to be the leader to the upside with the drought in the High Plains and Central Plains and in the hard red wheat belt specifically, driving prices higher and make corn that much more expensive, not allowing wheat to get into a feed category. But unfortunately, we are seeing the wheat-corn spread dip into the 50-60-cent per bushel range. Soft red wheat minus corn, that is feed category for wheat, that is the lowest since late 2017.”

Corn planting totaled 91.1 million acres, up less than one percent from a year ago. Soybeans are estimated at 87.6 million acres, up five percent. All wheat acres are 46.4 million, up five percent. The all-cotton planting projection for 2021 is 12 million acres, one percent lower than last year.

The Stocks Report showed corn stocks down three percent from last year, soybean stocks down 31 percent, and all wheat stocks were seven percent lower than 2020.

“I was glad that the soybeans came in a little bit higher and would rather have it that way, and the wheat a little bit higher than the corn. The corn came in at 67 million bushels, 37 million bushels light, versus the average trade guess. And so, that keeps your old crop corn well bid.”

Corn in all positions totaled 7.7 billion bushels, down three percent from last year. Soybeans stored in all positions were 1.56 billion bushels, 31 percent lower than last March. All wheat stored in positions totaled 1.31 billion bushels, seven percent lower than last year. Durum wheat stocks in all positions were 42.7 billion bushels, 17 percent lower than last year.

Again, that’s Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics in Kansas.

March 13, 2021March 13, 2021

Gardening and getting ready in 2021

Gardening is something you might be getting excited about after a recent spurt of warm weather in March. If looking through seed catalogs and running your hands through the black dirt gets your heart pumping, you’ve been bitten by the gardening bug. However, I talked to a gardening expert who says don’t jump the gun on planting your garden because it could lead to problems.

Nancy Kreith is an Extension Educator specializing in horticulture at the University of Illinois. She understands the excitement to get that garden growing but wants you to check your calendar first, specifically relating to the weather forecast and the final expected frost date. Most gardeners in the north are likely a couple of weeks away from working in the dirt.

“We could have as much as three weeks to go yet, depending on where you’re at,” Kreith said in a phone interview from her office in Matteson, Illinois. “You’ll want to find your local frost-free date, either through the National Weather Service or your local weather forecaster. That’s the last day they’re predicting frost.

“For example, the local frost-free date here in the Chicago area is on Mother’s Day, May 15,” she added. “For our cool-season crop varieties such as lettuce and root crops, you can plant those anywhere from four-to-six weeks before the frost-free date. We might be starting to plant in my area during the first week of April.”

The crops built to handle the cold weather include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, leek, onions, peas, rutabagas, spinach, and turnips. Those are the hardiest crops you can plant in a garden, so as soon as a gardener can get out and work the soil, they can go in the ground.

What makes these hardy plants so tough is good genetics. She’s seen ornamental kale planted in gardens during the fall for decoration, and the kale held up with snow sitting on top of it. The plant won’t be actively growing in that case, but rather it tolerates the cold and will sit in the garden until the weather perks up and the kale grows again.

What about the garden crops that don’t like frost?

“The best advice I can give you when planting the less-hardy crops in your garden is to give yourself a little wiggle room,” Kreith says. “I mentioned that the frost-free date in my area is May 15, but you never really know with the weather, so a little extra time doesn’t hurt.”

Kreith says she tries to wait an extra week past that last frost date when planting the warmer weather garden crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Those kinds of garden crops are very tender and won’t tolerate any frost. Plus, waiting a week or two after that date will still leave you enough time in the growing season to get a good crop from your garden.

In between the hardy and the tender crops is what she calls the “half-hardy” garden crops. That includes a lot of root crops like beets, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, mustard greens, parsnip, Swiss Chard, and radishes.

“Those plants can go in the ground two or three weeks before that frost-free date,” she says.

Soil temperature is one of the most important factors in deciding when to plant your garden. (Photo from gardeningknowhow.com)

Gardening crops are like traditional commodities because you need to consider soil temperatures in deciding to plant your produce. “For example, the half-hardy vegetables will want soil temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit,” she says. “Get an inexpensive soil thermometer, stick it in the ground, and document the soil temps for around five days in a row.

“That will give you an idea of how the seeds will germinate,” Kreith added.

While it’s still too early to plant, it’s more than all right to get out and do some work on the garden soil. General cleanup of the garden area after winter is a good place to begin.

“Go ahead and remove any debris from your vegetable garden,” Kreith said. “If you’re starting new, you want to kill off any existing vegetation where the garden is going to go. If grass and weeds are growing, I use a method that doesn’t require any chemicals to remove them.

“I use cardboard from shipping boxes,” she adds. “I remove the tape, but you don’t have to remove the label. Once I’m out gardening, I lay the cardboard down as a weed barrier, get it wet, and then put compost on top of the cardboard. I then allow it to decompose for one to two months.”

If she runs into areas of the garden that are hard to dig, Kreith cuts through the cardboard with a knife and then plants into that spot.

It’s important to remember that cardboard is rich in carbon, so she recommends adding some nitrogen to balance that out in the soil. While the compost will add a little to the soil, it’s important to put down some nitrogen fertilizer. “As the cardboard breaks down, it robs some nitrogen from the soil,” Kreith said.

“If all the weeds and plant debris are removed from your garden bed, go ahead and spread about two inches of compost on it,” Kreith says. “That’s something I recommend you do every year in your garden to get it ready to go.”

February 27, 2021February 27, 2021

Minneapolis and the Basilica of St. Mary’s

Here’s a quick video of what the outside of the basilica looks like. It was a beautiful day in Minneapolis to be outside.

Here’s the link to my complete photo album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=chad.smith.75685&set=a.3902583753135365

Minneapolis is one of my favorite places to explore. It’s nice to see the city trying to get back on its feet after drawing national attention due to the days of rioting that hit the downtown area hard. Driving down 394 East and heading into the city regularly, I kept passing this giant structure that really got my blood pumping.

That giant structure is the Basilica of St. Mary’s. Anyone who knows me or follows my explorations, knows I love architecture. It’s one of my favorite things to photograph, especially in the big city where styles can vary widely, sometimes from block to block. St. Mary’s is considered one of the finest examples of Beaux Architecture in the nation.

The big structure was built between 1907 and 1915. They laid the cornerstone of the building was laid at the intersection of 16th Street and Hennepin Avenue. While I don’t pretend to understand exactly what this means, the building was elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1926. The basilica was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Church leaders have done a lot of restoration work as time went by, a costly task because of the structure’s enormous size. By the 1980s, water had begun to leak through dome and into the roof after each snowfall or rainfall. By the mid 1980s, repairs were obviously needed as copper blew off the dome during a storm and plaster chunks fell into the rectory.

St. Mary’s Basilica in Minneapolis. How long did it take for the craftsmen to do something that intricate? (Photo by Chad Smith)

The copper dome and roof were replaced from 1991-1992. The church also restored the paintings and the plasterwork in the dome’s interior.

One of the other highlights of the restoration projects over the years included Christmas Eve in 1998. New church bells forged in the Royal Eijsbouts Foundry in the Netherlands. Christmas Eve was likely the perfect time for those bells to ring out over the city for the first time. I managed to capture a little bit of the bells at the beginning of the video.

My only disappointment with the Basilica had nothing to do with the church itself. I couldn’t get inside and do justice to the interior renovations because of COVID, of course. But I’ll get in there and show it to you someday.

The front doors at the Basilica of St. Mary’s in Minneapolis. (Photo by Chad Smith)

February 4, 2021February 4, 2021

Chicken Wings and the Super Bowl – we love them both

Chicken wings and the Super Bowl go together like Abbot and Costello, socks and shoes, and w(h)ine and cheese (that last one is mostly for Packer fans – but I digress). The National Chicken Council says when Americans get together to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, February 7, a lot of us will chow down on chicken wings. The good news is there will be plenty of wings available for everyone.

Tom Super is the Senior Vice President of Communications for the NCC, a 16-year-veteran of the position. He says America’s obsession with chicken wings and the Super Bowl has grown a lot in recent years. They are projecting Americans will scarf down a record 1.42 billion chicken wings to celebrate this year’s Big Game.

“That’s up two percent from last year,” he says, “and that’s despite the complications brought on by COVID-19. When we put together our recent chicken wing report for the Super Bowl, I thought for sure we’d see a decline in the number of wings Americans will eat.

“COVID has been very hard on restaurants,” Super said. “When talking to folks in the industry, when looking at the demand numbers, and when looking at the price of wings and all the other factors involved in consumption, they’ve never been a hotter product.”

Chicken wings had an advantage over a lot of other foods served at your local restaurants. Super points out that restaurants like wing joints and pizza places were built around takeout and delivery. When indoor dining was limited or shut down, those places didn’t have to change their business model as much as other establishments. They kept right on going with carryout and delivery orders while other restaurants completely shut down.

“Wings travel well, and they hold up during delivery conditions,” he said. “They also align with consumer desires for comfort food during COVID-19.”

Chicken farmers did a great job maintaining their production through 2020, and Super says there wasn’t much of a production drop-off compared to the previous year. There should be an adequate supply level to accommodate Super Bowl fans across the country.

So, let’s put some perspective on how many chicken wings make up that estimated 1.42 billion wings that we’ll eat on Super Bowl Sunday. In simple terms, that’s a lot of chicken.

“If you were to line them up end-to-end, it would circle the entire circumference of the Earth three times,” Super says. “If you laid them end-to-end from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, they’d stretch back-and-forth 19 times.

“Let’s look at it another way,” he added. “Let’s assume that Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid could eat three wings in a minute – and yes, the actual number is probably higher – but if he ate three every minute, it would take him more than 900 years to eat 1.42 billion chicken wings.”

Some Americans are bone-in chicken wing eaters, while others prefer the boneless wings. What type of wings do the majority of football fans prefer?

America’s favorite sauce for our wings might not be what you think it is.

“We should let people know that there will not be a shortage of wings this year,” Super said. “Restaurants, food service, and retailers started pulling wings out of cold storage as far back as November to prepare for the big day.”

If there is a rush on chicken wings in the days and hours before Super Bowl Sunday, Super has this bit of advice: “Don’t wait till the last second,” he says. “That’s my advice.”