Good questions. I think I can make some good guesses, except maybe for the french fries.

TM

Hmmmm, I think I know #4 but the rest will be a guessing game.

Annette

So, this farmhouse we looked at is about an hour from us and sort of southwest. Chuck wondered how far we would be from Charlottesville. I think about an hour and a half. Nice town. Talked to our agent today and she is going to stop by tomorrow evening. Yikes! We were going to go to a movie this afternoon, but maybe we should stash the piles of stuff that always seem to build up everywhere. Jeepers, when I look around with a buyer's eye, I see so much to do. :(

I am also wondering if our local dairy (in Maryland actually) will deliver to Fauquier County. Not too many farms do that these days. I love having a milkman! If not, maybe there is a family-owned farm out there that does the same. Lots of family farms nearby, but most seem to be horse farms rather than dairy farms. I always think of agriculture being big business these days, but thank goodness most aren't corporate. Not too many farmers, but the ones there are sure do provide for us!

I might even convince Chuck to become a veggie farmer. He might like that-growing his own broccoli, lettuce, etc. TM, do you have a vegetable garden? Nancy, how about you? Bobbie? Annette? Just curious.

Cynthia

Well, these are intriguing questions - I think I know 1,3 & 4 - I have a good guess for 5.

Cynthia, small as our yard is, I definitely have a veggie garden. In true Cottage style I mix flowers and vegetables in as pleasing a combination as I can manage.

lol - your remarks on the little piles brings back memories for my open houses - those little piles that hadn't been vanished ended up in the oven, the dish-washer, the buffet - there are papers that I never have found!!

Nancy.

Just thinking out loud, sort of.

1. I'm sure this number is low nowadays. I'm leaning toward A or B for answers.

2. Since we're talking about numbers of farms, I'm wondering if this number could actually still be fairly high. Maybe even C or D?

3. Pretty sure I know this one, so I won't say anything while we all chew on it for a while.

4. Does it rhyme with I dunno?

5. Not a clue. Yet.

Yep, Cynthia, I definitely have a veggie garden. I grow the usual stuff for around here: sweet corn, squash, peas, beans, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and maybe a thing or two I can't think of right now. Wait til you buy that place in the country and you can bust loose with a huge garden.

TM

Cyn, when our kids were still at home I had a fairly big veggie garden, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, beets, carrots etc., lots of herbs. When they left home I turned to the decorative side of gardening, at different times specializing different plants, namely fuchsias, begonias, dahlias, brugmansias, michaelmas daisies etc. etc. etc.

Now-a-day I'm involved in searching out heirloom beans, ones near extinction, helping in a small way getting them back into circulation, I think I've got over 175 different beans in my stash right now and it seems to be growing by the week.
I'm back into growing a few veggies besides the dozen+ varieties of beans I grow each year. They are mostly heirloom varieties with the exception of 'Diva' cucumbers, my favorite and I still grow a couple of 'Celebrity' tomatoes in amongst the dozen or so heirloom varieties already started in the greenhouse.
No separate veggie garden here as yet but I'm working on one of my long beds, slowly moving the perennials to different locations, eventually turning this into my main veggie garden. Like Nancy right now my veggies are mixed in with the flowers, wherever I can find a space.

I'm a life member of our local Horticulture Society, used to do a lot of judging at flower and vegetable shows up and down the island but gave that up a couple of years ago. Actually when it comes down to it I'm just a gal who likes to play in the dirt.
I joined Seeds of Diversity a couple of years ago, similar to your Seed Savers Exchange stateside. Both very worthwhile organizations. This is more than you probably wanted to know but you know me I got on a roll LOL.

I shudder at the thought of ever having to move, we've lived here since 1965, you can't even imagine the pile of stuff we'd have to get rid of if we did.

Annette

Sorry to come so late, things going on here.

I am a dairy farmer's daughter. Grew up milking cows twice a day for way more years than I wanted. Up at 5:00 every morning to do chores, milking, feeding animals, collecting eggs etc. We separated the milk and sold the cream saving a gallon of milk to pasteurize for our own use. For us the milk man was the guy who came to take away the cream. You would think this would make me an early bird, but no, I prefer to stay up all night. At 11 p.m. I am just getting my second energy spurt.

My dad planted a huge veggie garden at the end of a corn field and my mom and we girls had to do the work, hoeing, weeding, cultivating with a push cultivator and harvesting. Way too many bush beans to pick. I hated gardening.

Until. Until I started my own small veggie garden in southern MN. The second year I began experimenting and dug out the paths making raised beds and gardening with neighborhood kids helping. At the end of the garden was an area where I sowed flower from seeds I mixed together and scattered. The adults thought I was crazy but the kids loved it!

Did little gardening in St. Louis as was busy going here and there and doing things with my son.

When we moved to this house my first garden was two square foot veggie beds. Always had veggies from then on and now focus on tomatoes trying new heirlooms every year--8 to 13 plants each year. Also grow pole beans, cucumbers, lettuce, herbs, and peppers.

Ha,ha maybe you thought there were answers or clues in all this writing. Sorry it is a ruse to hide that I do not know the answers. Agree with TM that the amount of family farms is still high because most of the farms I know are still family farms even though the farms are gaining acreage.

I think farm population is low, family owned farms are high, am very familiar with ruminants, our potatoes had their own end of a field patch but the state best known for potatoes was further west, and at one time I knew which Pres served French fries but need to dig that info out of my memory.

I'm pretty sure the answer to #4 is Idaho, as for the rest I'm still trying to puzzle that out.
We've just been invited over to our daughter and son-in-law's for dinner, our granddaughter and the great grand kids are down from Kelowna for a few days :).

Annette

You all sure do know your farming. Bobbie, it actually sounds as if you do know the answers! At least, you could get pretty darn close with what you do know!

Annette, yep.

Cynthia

I'd say #1 is A; for #2 - C sounds right. I am just sitting here chewing my cud - well, actually, Cadbury Mini Eggs - i am so bad. #4 is a gimme, and I think the presidents first name had the same first letter - that is my guess.

Nancy - off to get more tea. - drat, meant to post this hours ago :(

TM shares the President's name! Two weeks in a row for that. Wow.

Nancy, Cadbury eggs-yum! For #2, listen to Bobbie. Up up up. You have part of ruminant...what else? I imagine it is a good thing they don't catch the stomach flu!

I need to get to bed. I will be back tomorrow evening, so you have lots of time to chew on this.

If we do end up with the farmhouse, my commute will seem like the Lewis and Clark expedition. Maybe I will have to retire. Wishing and hoping.

Cynthia

#1. I'll say B
#2. I'll say C
#3. Cuds, have more than one stomach?
#4. Idaho
#5. From the TM hint I'm going to say Thomas Jefferson

Annette

1. A. 2-3%
2. D. 90%
C. An animals that digests its food through more than one stomach. Cows have four stomachs.
D. Idaho
4. Thomas Jefferson who had a huge garden and orchards and liked to try new varieties of plants from other areas and introduced new dishes to the White House through his experimentation. I remembered before I read the last clues that I had heard about the Ffries during a gardening show's visit to
Monticello.

My final answers are the same as Bobbie's, especially now that I know the president was a Thomas. Thanks for that nice clear clue, Cynthia. I had no chance without it.

On another subject entirely, did any of you see Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon do a duet on the tonight show? They used an iPad to set up a four track looping background and sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight. It was so cool. I love that stuff and wish I could do it. Check it out on YouTube.

Thanks for the weekend fun, Cynthia.

TM

Here is a link that might be useful: Link

This post was edited by thinman on Mon, Mar 24, 14 at 12:39

Thanks for the link TM, I like JK and watched Leno and him during the last few weeks before Leno left the Tonight Show and him for awhile after he took over but have quit watching just because I am cutting back on my TV time. JK is very talented and funny. He has done some great musical spots.

My sisters and I, four of us close age wise, used to sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Got pretty good with the whimowehs. My specialty was the first verse "In the jungle...".

OH MY GOODNESS! TM, you get way more than just four stars for that link! That was the best. I told Chuck that I need to retire so I can stay up to watch Jimmy Fallon! I love his bit with Springsteen, but this was just way cool. Now, what was I doing, oh yes, trivia.

Four stars for Bobbie and TM and three for Annette and Nancy.

1. Only 2% of the US population lives on a farm and less than 3% of Canadians live or work on a farm.

2. Amazingly, 90% of US farms and 98% of Canadian farms are family owned.

3. Gave this to all of you-a ruminant has 3-4 stomachs and chews its cud-here is the definition: an even-toed ungulate mammal that chews the cud regurgitated from its rumen. The ruminants comprise the cattle, sheep, antelopes, deer, giraffes, and their relatives.

4. Of course, Idaho!

5. TJ was the president who first served French fries.

Here is another tidbit I came across in my research:
The same chemicals that gives tart cherries their color may relieve pain better than aspirin and ibuprofen in humans. Eating about 20 tart cherries a day could reduce inflammatory pain and headache pain.

My mother baked the best tart cherry pies from our cherry tree. I sure wish I knew which type it was. I would plant one just like it-small tree, beautiful, tart cherries, best pies ever!

Thanks for playing all, sorry I didn't get back yesterday-left my iPad at school by accident and didn't bring home my school computer. :(

Have a wonderful week. We are on our way out for Chuck's birthday dinner one day early, so John and Kelly could join us.

Cynthia

Thanks for the stars and clues to help me narrow the first two questions.

TM, I was watching Jimmy Kimmel tonight and realized I had mixed up the two Jimmys. Either way I only sporadically see any of the late night talk shows.

Edited to add:
The comments I made in the previous post were about Jimmy Fallon.

This night I was watching Jimmy Kimmel.

This post was edited by mnwsgal on Fri, Mar 28, 14 at 1:21

Oddly, though I am up late at night, I am watching dvr'd prime time or on demand stuff. Jimmy Fallon is talented though, I've seen some youTube stuff. So french fries go back that far - I had no idea!!

Good fun - thanks Cyn.

Nancy.

A very late thank you, Cynthia, for the trivia fun last weekend. I'm glad you enjoyed the link so much.

Bobbie- I got the JK right away. I was sure you'd come back to JF when you thought about it. :-)

TM

Oddly, though I am up late at night, I am watching dvr'd prime time or on demand stuff. Jimmy Fallon is talented though, I've seen some youTube stuff. So french fries go back that far - I had no idea!!

Good fun - thanks Cyn.

Nancy.