State-grown products at Taste From Indiana Farms

BROOKVILLE, Ind. — From canning vegetables to volunteering at Taste From Indiana Farms at the Indiana State Fair, Mindy Orschell is enjoying the final few weeks of summer on — and off — the farm.

She shared an update on her life with AgriNews.

Q: How are things going on the farm this week?

A: This week has been full of ups and downs. Ups consisted of completing our summer cattle work and getting another cutting of hay finished up.

Downs were mainly minor setbacks with some bin repair work and skid steer breakdowns. Summers are spent juggling many balls in the air at once, but this is normal.

Q: What’s been the biggest challenge lately?

A: I would say the biggest challenge currently is time — time to spend with family, time at my off-farm job, time for tending to the crops, making hay, mowing roadsides, weaning cows, time for gardening and time for volunteering.

Most people don’t fully understand what farmers do in the summer. But I can say, in our area, farmers are wearing more hats than they could possibly balance on their heads.

Q: Have you been able to catch up on everything you wanted to get done?

A: Honestly, I very rarely complete my to-do list. It’s like a moving target, and as long as I keep checking things off, I know I’m headed in the right direction, even if I don’t ever get completely finished.

Q: How are the crops looking so far?

A: So far, so good. I hate to jinx it, but in our area the rain has come at just the right times and has been such a blessing this year. We just hope it’s not also a curse in the form of crop disease that can develop in wet years. As we keep an eye on that, we are hopeful for a bumper crop.

Q: How are the pastures holding up this summer?

A: It’s always a positive to still be mowing roadsides and still have green pastures in the beginning of August.

Q: Are you getting ready for fair season?

A: Our county fairs have all wrapped up, but I am heading to our State Fair today. I’m so excited to once again help with Taste From Indiana Farms at the Indiana State Fair.

Taste is a four-day event that the Indiana Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee has hosted for over 30 years.

A lot of Hoosiers may not realize exactly where their food comes from, so at this event we showcase eight different commodities grown in Indiana. Visitors to the fair can taste food and drink samples that contain ingredients produced by Indiana farmers.

We hope fairgoers walk away with a better understanding of the work farmers do every day and our common goal of growing healthy food for everyone.

Q: What’s keeping you the busiest these days?

A: For me, personally, the garden and food preserving take a large chunk of my time in July and August. The last four weeks there has been something to can or freeze every evening. I’m so fortunate that I’m able to raise a large amount of our food on our farm.

Whether it is canning green beans, freezing corn, working up peaches, making pesto to freeze, or canning pickles, it usually seems to all hit at once. But all the time spent is so worth it when my family can enjoy our harvest all winter long.

Q: Looking ahead, what’s next on your to-do list?

A: We have a family vacation scheduled in August that has us all looking forward to spending a few days at a lake with family. After that, the focus becomes transporting the round bales from all the different hay pastures around the county back to our home farm.

This year that small task seems overwhelming due to so many road closures for repairs in our county. It’s amazing how many state roads can be closed for repair at the same time.

Q: Anything else going on with the farm, family or with INFB that you’d like to mention?

A: Indiana Farm Bureau is bringing together Indiana farmers and agriculture industry partners for a day of meaningful discussion around the future of farming and the challenges facing agriculture today at the first-ever Critical Issues Summit.

The following day we will be attending the INFB delegate session, where we vote on policy for our grassroots organization.

To us, agriculture is not only about raising healthy food — we also know that we have to advocate for our industry to ensure that we can continue to safely feed a growing population.