Golf Course turned into Corn Field

True Statement

The 2010 corn field beside
the Boy's house

During the last year I have learned a lot about corn. The Boy is from Iowa, and although cattle are his passion his family also plants a lot of corn. And I find it fascinating. One of the biggest lessons about corn I have learned is that corn has the opportunity to make you a lot of money. 

In this case, so much money that Kelly Tilges is tearing up the Whitemore Golf Club, Algona, Iowa, to plant corn.

I have heard a lot of farmers talk this year about planting over roads, closer to ditches, taking our fence line to make more room – every acre counts. But tearing up a golf course, maybe that is going a little too far.

I can't wait for summer days like this.

According to the Des Moines Register a doubling in the price of corn since mid-2010 has caused Iowa farmland to rise 25% in price, now averaging $5,700 an acre. Iowa is also expected to plant about 500,000 more acres of corn this year compared to 2010.

That’s if they can ever get it in the ground. Iowa farmers are getting a touch impatient. Typically, seeders would be going a full blast right now, but cold weather, and too much rain have delayed planting.

I know that it is going to take a lot of acres to grow enough food to feed the world, but I know how much golf courses can mean to small community. In the town I grew up in of 300 people there are two 9-hole golf courses, and last summer I enjoyed playing with the Boy at their course. 

I understand that we might not have all the facts here. It seems like in any journalism stories these days that only one side of the issue is presented. The golf course maybe wasn't a money making business, and this gentlemen knows how to get a few more dollars out of it. Regardless, those bright emerald greens and fairways are now going to be field of gold. 

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I’m thankful for roadtrips

101 in 1001

We survived our 2nd
Calf Fry together. 

Time to give a little gratitude on the blog as part of my 101 in 1001 project. This past weekend I headed to Stillwater for my annual Calf Fry trip. This time my co-pilot was the Boy. It is hard to believe that is was at this event last year our relationship really kicked off.

We arrived at Miss Northerner’s trailer house (I mean what would a weekend of Red Dirt Music be without a trailer house). The Park West Palace would be home to eight people during the next three days. Eight people staying in a trailer = someone is going to have to sleep on the floor. It also means it takes approximately three hours to get everyone showered. Water tanks are not that big.

Randy Rogers was the musical highlight for me. Yes, I was that girl belting out Kiss Me in the Dark, and I was in great company. Throughout the weekend there were too many inside jokes to count, Eskimo Joes, my slowly becoming famous Shrimp Gumbo, a pitching contest, in which I made a hole in one, Zebra Cake races, dancing and a terrible rendition of Fancy. I am really not a good singer.

Dana can literally eat a Zebra Cake (similar to a Little Debbie) in 30 seconds.  This has become an annual tradition.

Now that is great form.

What I am most grateful for is the friends that accompany me on this trip every year. Sometimes we don’t see each other often, but it doesn’t matter because we pick back up from where we left off. And each year I seem to leave with a few new friends in tow. I mean the Montana Boys seen to your right probably know more about my personal life then they ever planned too. My Alberta heritage quickly gave me street cred, and they quickly declare I was just a norther sister. The bottle of Canadian Rye I bought with me probably didn't hurt.

Throughout the weekend I saw friends from 10 different state and a bunch of Okies, all gathered for a little fun in Stillwater. 

Pretty girls. Great friends.

Dana was the further traveler again, this year flying in from Detroit.

So thanks friends. I hope that you have people you can count on like these awesome people. Can't wait to do it all again next year. 

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