Best Day of the Year!

Happy Thursday everyone! As most of you baseball fans know, it's time for the season to start again! Baseball is my favorite sport to watch and my favorite day of the year is FINALLY here: St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day! 
(Sorry to all you Cubs fans out there)

In celebrating this wonderful day, I was thinking of a way to incorporate agriculture into it. I came across an interesting flyer on the internet for the Minnesota Twins all about how baseball and agriculture work hand-in-hand! I mean, if you think about it, almost all aspects can be drawn back to natural resources and the earth. Cotton is used in the jerseys, the turf and clay, the chalk, the concessions for the fans and of course the mitts and gloves! 


There is even a team right here in Normal called the Cornbelters! 


Check this flyer out and sit back and enjoy some baseball today! 
Baseball & Ag- Minnesota Twins

Say What?

Tonight, I finally have a night off to write! I have wanting to sit back and relax all week! While kicking my feet up, I was watching some television and I heard a familiar song "Old McDonald Had a Farm" to be exact. This got me thinking about my childhood and where this song originated! I don't know a single kid out there who doesn't know this song! Do you know how the history behind this song?




Where do any of these sayings/songs come from?! 
-  "Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong."

-    "Always drink upstream from the herd."

-    "Life is simpler when you plow around the stump."

- "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

What do you think of these sayings? Have you heard them before? I think they all have their own significance! 

Feeding Japan

In the wake of the disaster in Japan, different companies, organizations and people are trying to help in anyway they can. One in particular that stood out to me were the U.S. Pork Producers and the national Pork Board. A lot of Japaneses residents are living without adequate food, water and shelter. In my personal opinion, it is GREAT that the U.S. agriculture organizations are stepping up to help those in need.
Read More About Effort Here!

What are your takes on the efforts in Japan? Are there any ways you think you can help?

Spring has Sprung!!

Happy Spring to everyone!! I am so happy to see the temperatures warming up that past few days! I feel like the spring season and sunshine makes everyone a little bit happier from day to day! When visiting with my Grandma this past weekend in Carrollton, IL, I learned a little about gardening. My grandparents are avid gardeners and they live on a large lot in the country. My grandma was teaching me how to plant potatoes! Since I learned this weekend, I thought it would be a nice spring treat for you all to learn too! :) I challenge you to go out and plant a potato in your own garden, or even in a pot outside of your home.

A St. Patrick's Day Tradition

Ahhhh one of my favorite days of the year is finally here! St. Patrick's Day! It's just such a fun holiday and this 70 degree weather is just the icing on the cake to a good day!
Since most of us want to be out there enjoying friends and the sunshine here in Illinois, I will make today's post short with a few bits of information on the famous Irish tradition of corned beef and cabbage!


The Irish were the first exporters of corned beef which they continued to export for many years! I myself have never tasted corned beef OR cabbage...looks like I'm on a mission for dinner tonight!

Home, Home on the Range

Hey all! I'm finally back from my amazing trip to Texas! Wow, was it fun! It had to be one of the longest drives of my life though, nearly 23 hours to get to our destination! We made the best of it though and got to experience Texas from top to bottom. I have to say, Texas is a really cool state. The rural life is so much different than Illinois and it's surrounding states. I was almost surprised I didn't see a tumbleweed... On the other hand, I was also surprised to see how many deer I saw (I don't know if it was just me, or I just don't think of deer when I think of Texas!) My brain is always geared towards farms and agriculture in a sense, so a major part of the scenery to me was when we were in the more rural parts: the ranches. 

Bandera Co. is located just west of San Antonio

When I think of a ranch, I think of a cowboy, livestock, trucks and a long dirt road. From what I gathered just driving by these places, I was right. Texas is the state with the ranching roots. Bandera County in Texas is cleverly named "The Cowboy Capital of the World." (if that doesn't say something about ranches in Texas, I don't know what does). Ranching is called the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep in order to produce meat or wool. The landscape is perfect for grazing in my opinion! 


Today, there are many different types of ranches that are available to visit, such as; dude ranches, visitor ranches and working ranches. I, personally, have put that on my list of goals for life: Visiting/working on a ranch. I think it would be so much fun to ride on horses all day, living the life of a cowboy!

Promoting Sustainability: An Intern’s Perspective

One of my good friends and roommates, Leslie Lewis, is a Public Relations Major and Environmental Studies Minor here at Illinois State University. She is currently an intern at the Office of Sustainability at ISU. I think that taking sustainable actions in our everyday lives is SO important, so I just asked her to share a few words and talk about the office she currently works for.

Kayla: Can you describe what you do for your internship and what your department at ISU is for?
Leslie: I monitor all media relations (Facebook/press releases/news letter) for the department of sustainability. I work on promotions and help organize and plan special events including earth week 2011.

Kayla: What kind of sustainable projects is your office working on?
Leslie: I am currently promoting the campus hertz rental cars - campus recycling/composting - working with the $45,000 sustainability fund which is new to campus this year.

Kayla: What kind of things do you do within the community?
Leslie: I am currently working with the community radio station WGLT to promote the
Good to Go Commuters Challenge week in April; a competition of individuals, teams, or businesses who work to see how sustainable they can be through alternative transportation to work and daily activities. (bike/bus/walk/carpool) http://wglt.org/goodtogo/commuter-challenge/

Kayla: How can students make a sustainable difference in their daily lives?

Leslie: Students can start by recycling, using their vehicles less, walking to class, buying less new and re-purposing old goods, or taking old clothes to Goodwill instead of throwing them away.

Kayla: How has this internship changed your views about the environment?
Leslie: This internship has given me a better understanding of how I can incorporate sustainability into my daily life and help teach others to do so also.

Preparing for Ag Week

Next week is national Ag Week! This year, national Ag Day is on March 15th and will be held in Washington, D.C.The website for Ag Day is a very useful tool for anyone interested in National Ag Day/Week!

Teachers can use it for events within the classroom; other can use it for topic conversations and fun facts!I also encourage you to check out the Ag Day blog! http://www.agday.org/

Texas Roadtrip!

Well friends, I'm off to Texas! It's Spring Break and I am taking a vacation! I was thinking this morning (throughout all of my excitement), that I have never been to Texas before. Ok, ok maybe I drove through the top of the state when I was younger, but I don't think that counts, and since I was young, i don't remember much of anything about the state! Even though I wish you were all accompanying me on the trip, since I'm sure we could all use a little vacation! 

I thought I would use this time before I leave to relay some facts about the great state to refresh my own memory! I feel like I need to know a little about the state before I go!

Well to start, I know the capital of Texas is Austin!(That's about the extent of my knowledge!)

Here are a few facts I found about things I think are important about the state:

1. Petroleum and natural gas, farming (cotton, livestock), steel, banking, insurance and tourism are their main industries

2. The official state flag of Texas is called the Lonestar Flag and the state is referred to as The Lonestar State

3. Willie Nelson was born in Texas :)

4. It's the second largest U.S. state!

Remember "Everything is bigger in Texas!"

Leighton Meester- Popular actress and country musician from the recent release of "Country Strong", is also from Texas!

For a Fresh Change, Try a Green Pepper

Today, I was asked what my favorite food was. The first things that came to my mind, like probably most people in the world, were junk foods. I didn't respond immediately because I know there are a lot more ingredients in all of these junk foods that I like more than the combination themselves. 

After thinking about this for a few minutes, I knew I had my answer: Green Peppers. Odd..I know! I put green peppers on EVERYTHING. That isn't even an understatement. Oddly enough, when I buy a frozen cheese pizza from the grocery store, I also pick up a green pepper because I know I won't eat the pizza without the peppers! 

After being asked this, I made my way to the grocery store to make something for lunch, and you'll never guess what I bought!? As I was grazing the produce section though, I realized how I have never known how to pick the freshest and best produce from the store! I think this may be a problem with a lot of shoppers, which could also be one of the reasons (American's especially), skip over the produce section! I have attached an website that I looked over and found helpful for these types of dilemmas! 


Green peppers are a somewhat popular veggie that you, yourself can grow in your own backyard, also! This is definitely something I will do to challenge myself when I have a back yard! 


                         Click here: Picking Fresh Produce!