WEBextra Minnesota Diary
WEBextra December/January 2008
“We are in a beautiful spot in southwestern Minnesota, not far from the South Dakota border,” says Suzanne Fairchild. “There are rolling hills, valleys and flat land all around us. We have decent rain each year, but have been a little dry this summer. Recently, however, we’ve almost had too much rain.”
Suzanne and her husband, Ron, run a 450-head cattle feedlot and operate a cabinet shop on their farm near Canby. They have a 31-head meat-goat herd, with 29 does and 2 bucks. At the moment, there are also 22 goat kids being fattened up for sale. Fairchild Farm has a handful of hogs, and Ron and Suzanne are doing something they promised themselves they never would—farrowing!
As if that weren’t enough to do, they sell around 250 broiler chickens that they raise and have butchered each summer. In addition to helping Ron custom-make things like kitchen cabinets and entertainment centers, Suzanne is an artist who paints cow and buffalo skulls, shoulder blade bones, emu and ostrich eggs, cowhide, gourds and old wooden barn doors.
Ron and Suzanne have a blended family. Ron’s first wife died of cancer when she was 30. He had Cody, now 10, and Kara, 8. Suzanne was previously married and had Ashlyn, also 8. They’ve been married 3 years and have had Grace, 2, and Rachel, 10 months. Suzanne is expecting another baby in December.
“Ron and I truly feel blessed for all our kids and our special second-chance marriage,” says Suzanne. “This is a wonderful life we are all spending together!”
Here are portions of Suzanne’s month long diary that did not appear in the Oct/Nov issue of Farm & Ranch Living.
• SEPT. 12—Wednesday. We went to Sioux Falls to sell a trailer load of goat kids. The kids are between 45 and 70 pounds, which is where they should be for sale. We also have a young buck we’re going to sell, plus three does that I don’t think are making the grade.
Back home, Ron and I set up the barn camera then I shoveled up about 130 pounds grain that escaped when the kids took feed out of the bin. Next, we moved some goat manure and took a look at one of our bred gilts, Hot Tamale. Wow, is she getting huge!
We aren’t sure if the other gilt, Lilly, bred. The moment of truth will be the first week in October.
Ron spent the rest of the afternoon out in the shop where he almost has a kitchen ready for assembly. When the kids got home from school, they went to see Ron’s parents.
• SEPT. 13—Thursday. Grace has been talking about her baby sister, Abby Rose. We don’t even know what the gender of our expected baby is, nor have we ever brought up that name. How funny is that? She either calls it that or Plankton from Sponge Bob. Funnier yet is that I really like the name Abby Rose!
Grace, Rachel and I went through Rachel’s clothes today, putting away the ones that don’t fit anymore and taking out some old ones of Grace’s that I saved as hand-me-downs. We are friends with other parents who all share hand-me-downs, which is really neat.
Cody, Kara and Ash get them from older friends in other families. Then, if still in good shape, the clothes sometimes go from Kara to Ash. Ash and Cody give their clothes to the neighbors down the road, and Grace and Rachel get clothes from another friend. Whatever gets too shabby goes to another friend’s quilt pile. We only buy a couple of new school outfits and that’s it. Yet, the kids always have so many things to wear!
Got a call from one of the stores that sells my artwork asking for more painted eggs. There was a fundraiser supper for the Canby Elementary School in the gym tonight. It was super fun to see the other parents, teachers and kids. I absolutely love this community and school district.
• SEPT. 14—Friday. This morning, we took a trip to Watertown, South Dakota to get a few supplies and stop at the grocery store. We usually do all our grocery shopping locally, but sometimes the smaller stores don’t carry what we need. As a rule, we try to do as much of our business locally as we can. After all, we are a local business and depend on our community, too.
• SEPT. 15—Saturday. This morning after chores, Ron had to treat two calves—tonight they looked okay. Then Ron and Cody did some clean up in the cattle yards. Ron also went over to his brother’s body shop to get the tailgate on the pickup fixed. This afternoon, he finished raking hay—he really wants to get it all baled before the weather changes.
Before supper, Ron and the kids worked on the goat barn where we’re adding an extra room for kidding.
Bow season today opened today, but Ron is waiting to go hunting until the first weekend in November. As much as I love seeing and watching deer, we depend on deer meat throughout the year. We have it made into hamburger and ring bologna. We can really make our beef last this way. When you mix deer meat with beef, you can hardly tell the difference. Ron’s burgers are better than straight beef.
On church school nights the supper of choice is macaroni and cheese, and ring bologna. When you have this many mouths to feed, you have to get creative.
This not being a church school night, however, Grace and I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, sweet peas and caramel bars for supper. While washing the potatoes next to me on her stool, Grace whispered to herself, “I love you Mommy” about 4 times. How great is that?
After supper, we hit the 7 o’clock mass at Gary Catholic Church. Then home to bed!
• SEPT. 16—Sunday. Got the yard mowed and weed-whipped for the last time this fall. Ron did some Bobcat work around the goat barn, and it’s really looking good. We had meatloaf sandwiches and peaches for lunch. Afterwards, the kids and Ron went up and put some old carpet in his hunting shack.
We’ve been kicking around putting an addition on the house. We’re waiting for the estimate to frame, roof and side it. We previously got an estimate to have the house completely done by a contractor, and we just couldn’t afford it.
Two years ago, Ron and I built on the living room and our bedroom, and gutted the bathroom. We also remodeled the kitchen. With Ron’s background in carpentry, it wouldn’t be a big deal to finish this project ourselves. Trouble is, it would take precious time. With this addition, we’d have a few more bedrooms upstairs, a new laundry room and a new entry. I’d also have a spot to do my artwork instead of using the dining room floor and table.
About 6 months ago, the laundry room floor dropped about an inch, so we need to redo that, too. The kids are super excited because we would have another bathroom. Then they wouldn’t have to “call bathroom” when they get home from somewhere!
• SEPT. 17—Monday. We they got home, the kids practiced music. After that, I took the girls into Canby to sign up for scouts. Ron worked my new goats for me then took Cody out for supper and boy scouts. We got home and did a mountain of homework, snuggled for two seconds, bathed and put everyone to bed. I went out to check my new goats and gave them some more hay. Ron came in and we both collapsed on the couch! Bed felt great when we
finally had enough energy to get there!
• SEPT. 20—Thursday. Ron’s feed bunks were just about empty in the fat cattle area. One sign the weather is getting cooler is the animals really like to eat. Before he fed them, Ron had to shovel water and slimy feed from more than 200 feet of bunk line. Then he bedded everything down.
• SEPT. 21—Friday. Ron got a call from his brother, Dennis, who said that, due to the rain on his half-remodeled house, they are going to have to replace the parts of the house that got too wet. Dennis said they had 3 inches of rain in his existing bathroom and kitchen. So he wants Ron to build him new kitchen cabinets, a bathroom vanity and storage cabinets. Later, Ron went to pick up a down payment for a bathroom cabinet and vanity he’s building
for another one of his clients.
• SEPT. 22—Saturday. Ron worked in the brooder house, getting it cleaned up and ready for a small remodel job. The project will allow us to put our laying hens in there. Then Ron got ready to receive 15 20-pound piglets on Monday. Later, he then worked in the shop.
• SEPT. 23—Sunday. My parents had some good news: They are trying to sell their house and had what seems to be a serious looker today. They are moving to Canby from northern Minnesota. My mom and I have many exciting plans, so I can’t wait. They are also excited to be full-time grandparents!
You can read more of Suzanne’s diary in the Dec/Jan issue of Farm & Ranch Living that’s now on sale.
