Grounded Farm Wife

08/07/2024

12/04/2024

The day has come where our car sick kid is big enough for the front seat so Dad gets put in the back.

Honestly though he is the biggest kid of them all and causes a lot of trouble back there 🤪.

You will also notice there is one sitting in the 3rd row even though there is room in the back seat. Keeping them out of touching distance is the current strategy for keeping the peace.

What's your current car seat situation?

02/04/2024

Getting the kids involved in meal planning. I gave them a pile of cookbooks, a sticky note pad each and told them to tag any recipe they would like to try.

Let me tell you there is a lot of tags on meals I never would have tried out on them.

We have been living on the same meals on repeat and I'm going a bit crazy. I used to love cooking and then we hit the fussy toddler stage which turned into the stubborn kid phase and now there is reluctance to try anything new.

Giving them ownership and choice in hopes it will broaden our culinary experience and save my sanity.

How do you get your kids involved in meals?

31/03/2024

They are making memories not mess. Repeat they are making memories not mess. Actually they are making memories AND mess.

We are at the start of school holidays so I accept that the house will be messy for the next couple of weeks.

Yes the boys had a great time making their 'mansion' today and it will be a great memory.

The fact is though as mothers we still see the mess and that's OK. We can see the memories AND the mess.

21/11/2023

As we come into the busy season and the start of the summer holidays I just wanted to let all the mums out there know 'You are enough'.
I see you trying to achieve it all and also creating the magical joy of the season.

You did your best.
You gave them all you could.
You are enough.

31/10/2023

My condensed to do list for today. I've followed the idea of putting the three most important things on your to do list first for a while now.

I tend to let farm and family take over those top three spots most days. So after a week away and realising that I will keep doing this I am putting my list out to the world today.

By the end of today the website will be live and there will be a welcome newsletter to go out to those who sign up to the 'Grounded in a Touch of Chaos' newsletter.

Also a little freebie for those looking to create a more grounded rural life. The Grounded Farm Wife Journal provides 30 days of journal prompts that encourage you to delve into your dreams, celebrate your accomplishments and find solace in the simplicity of everyday.
Sign up via the link in my bio.

To those who have already signed up I can only say THANKYOU! It is you who have given me the confidence to do this. Make sure to check your junk folder in case your welcome email hides there.

Wish me luck and the ability to overcome 'perfection paralysis'.

26/10/2023

Today I m honoured to be graduating from the Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program run by
Through this program I have met an amazing cohort of women from all across Australia. I can say that agricultural leadership is in safe hands. This wouldn't be possible for any of us without those women who have paved the way for us.
One woman who I know we all look up to is Fiona Simson the first female president of NFF who has served for 7 years in this role. To see the impact that Fiona has had on agricultural leadership is extraordinary.
I look forward to staying connected to this cohort of impressive women and continuing my leadership journey in agriculture.

12/10/2023

So I'm a little late with October and missed September all together 🤦‍♀️.

Farm

🐄 Planning for 2 new center pivots to be installed.

🐄 Spring joining is starting this week. We use all AI over a 5 week joining period.

🐄 Summer crops of chicory and turnips are going in. These are high water efficiency crops and high quality summer feed.

🐄 Nearly ready for a second cut of silage.

🐄 Flood clean up and repairs are underway.

🐄 Irrigation continues.

Family

💙 Boys have headed back to school after holidays and a disrupted first week of fires and floods.

💙 Football season has finished and just when I thought we had our weekends back the boys have signed up for cricket. So goodbye Saturday mornings.

💙 I've been getting back in the kitchen more and the boys are loving the homemade snacks. Their favourite is the chocolate brownies.

Life

🌼 First meeting with Rabobank client council in Launceston today.

🌼 At the end of the month I'm off to Canberra for the NFF conference and graduation for the Diversity in Ag Leadership Program.

🌼 Website, newsletter and blog all coming your way this month!!!! Getting over my perfectionism and just getting it out there.
Sign up via the link in my bio and be the first to get a little freebie I'm including.

27/09/2023

On the weekend we made a day trip to Melbourne to watch NHL ice hockey. Pretty amazing that these teams traveled all the way from the USA to play here.

Do I know the rules of ice hockey? No

Do I know any of the players? No

Did I even know the names of the teams? No

The point was to do something different and get off the farm for a day. I think most farmers wives will tell you how hard it is to get their hubby's away from the farm.

So I saw these tickets go on sale months ago and thought that looks really cool. I bought the tickets and told Stephen we were going because sometimes that what you have to do.

Time away from the farm doesn't have to be a weeks long holiday. Take the opportunities to go for a day, try something new and hopefully find something you enjoy doing.

The game was great and is definitely something we will do again.

So for those ice hockey fans tell me which team is the best? I need to pick my team.

12/09/2023

So it's been a while..... You know that moment when you put something out to the world and then have an instant panic attack?

Well that was me after my last post.
That inner voice that says who are you?  Who's going to listen to what you have to say? What's the importance of ou writing something? Is anyone going to read it? What's the point?
All those internal negative thoughts that just come pouring in.
Can we say Imposter Syndrome?
Isn't it funny how the reason you're doing something is also the reason that holds you back?
I wanted to start this blog so that other rural women didn't feel alone like I did in those first few years as a rural mom, farm wife and being new to the agriculture industry.
I wanted to share my story of life on the farm and life as a mom because it had honestly been a huge struggle for me.

So I'm telling myself what my wonderful coach told me recently
'People want to hear your story'

The website and blog will be live in the next week and if you want to subscribe to my newsletter, get some fun resources I'm working on and stay up to date on all things Grounded Farm Wife subscribe to my newsletter in my bio.

14/08/2023

Excited to unveil my passion project: Grounded Farm Wife Blog!!

In between the busyness of the farm, family and off farm commitments I have set aside time to work on something that brings me joy.

If you're eager to stay updated on everything Grounded Farm Wife - from heartwarming farming stories to delicious recipes, insightful tips, moments with kids on the farm and guidance towards a grounded life - then I invite you to join our community by signing up for my upcoming newsletter. Let's take the journey to a grounded rural life together.

Link in my bio.

09/08/2023

A little late with this one but it's the busy season so I'm giving myself some grace.

Farm
🐄 Calving is well and truly underway....actually it's nearly finished. Only 50 in the paddock left to calve.
🐄 Pregnancy testing tomorrow for cows due to calve next Autumn.
🐄 Works on the calf shed are still continuing as we nut out all the finer details.
🐄 Irrigating has started which isn't what we want at this time if year. We are lucky to have access to water this early to keep the grass growing.

Family
💙 Footy is coming to end but the boys made it to finals so a few extra weeks.
💙 It seems everything is happening at school this month with winter concert, super hero day and book week.
💙 We have milestone birthday in the house this month with Stephen reaching the big 40.

Life
🌼 I have been putting in a lot of work to Grounded Farm Wife. Website and blog will be up this month. If you want to stay updated sign up by the link in my bio.
🌼 Getting house back in order after sickness and calving.
🌼 We have plans to start a flower patch

31/07/2023

Something a bit different today, I was a guest on a podcast that is also put on YouTube. So that meant hair and makeup to look pretty or as hubby said prettier 😍. This was an attempted save after he told I looked wrecked 🤣.

Admittedly I had just rolled out of bed to feed calves so it was a pretty accurate description.
Most days I'm a ponytail, cap wearing, no makeup kind of girl.

Sitting down and chatting with another rural woman who is doing great things filled my cup and inspires me to keep pushing with the ideas I'm working on.

What has filled your cup today?

26/07/2023

Frosty start to the day. It may be cold mornings but the days have been glorious.

The sunny days aren't enough to make the grass start growing faster though. The soil temp will stay cooler until the overnight temps warm up a bit.

You can feel Spring in the air though.

18/07/2023

Fact of life- if you have farm machinery there will be break downs.

Often they will come at the worst possible time- middle of harvest, milking time, when your trying to get to a kids sports game, when you are finished for the day and headingin for dinner.

The thing to remember is they are just a small moment in the scheme of everything you achieve in a day.

There will be weeks where nothing breaks and then it all happens at once.

Take a breath and just remember it's a part of the life we lead. I'm grateful to be able to have the machinery even if it does breakdown sometimes. It allows us to live the life we do.

06/07/2023

The new financial year has brought some changes for our farm business including where our milk goes. We are happy to now be supplying Bulla Family Dairy
It is nice to be able to supply a family owned Australian company. So next time your in the supermarket keep an eye out for Bulla dairy products.
Swipe to see the boys favourite part of being part of Bulla. The choc top ice creams dropped of by our friendly field officer.

04/07/2023

July 2023

Farm
🐄 Joining has finished.
🐄 Milkers due to calve in Spring have been dried up.
🐄 The new calf shed is nearly complete with just the pens to be built.
🐄 First group of spring calving cows come home to start on lead feed transition.

Family
💙 Footy season continues and those morning games just keep getting colder.
💙 Two more weeks of school holidays with plans for a Melbourne trip.
💙 We have our first ever family photos booked this month.

Life
🌼 Winter veggies are looking good with lots of brocolli and cauliflower ready to harvest.
🌼 Taking on a new role as a member of the Rabobank Client Council.
🌼 My last meeting as a member of the Victorian governments Young Farmers Advisory Council.
🌼 Working on the Grounded Farm Wife website. Hoping to have the website and blog up in August.

14/06/2023

Lemonade Scones

So this is a twist on the traditional scone recipe. I like it because it's quicker, they rise more and are fluffier.

Ingredients
- 3 cups self raising flour
- 1 cup lemonade
- 300ml thickened cream

Steps
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until just combined. A little bit of flour in the bowl is good. Tip onto a light floured surface. Knead lightly 4-6 times. The less you knead it the fluffier the scones will be. Push out to a circle shape around 2.5cm high. Using a 6cm cutter (I just use a glass) cut out 10-12 scones. Transfer to tray touching top and bottom. Avoid the sides so it doesn't pull the mixture side ways. Put the scones on a tray lined with baking paper so they are just touching. This will help them to rise up instead of out.
Bake for 20 minutes in fan forced oven at 180°C.

06/06/2023

HELLO!! It has been a while since I posted. This last month has been long and challenging.
I have spent most of the last 3 weeks on the couch after being quite sick.
I had a cold for a week which got worse and I was put on antibiotics for pneumonia. Unfortunately I got worse and ended up in hospital on IV antibiotics and fluids. Then just for something extra I got covid on top of the pneumonia. I really can't remember feeling this sick.
So instead of pushing myself and getting back to things full time too quick I have taken time to recover.
At the moment I can manage about half a day before I need to go rest. The xrays show my lungs are getting clearer but do still have some white patches. This will just taken time to get better.
For now I am doing what I can and trying to not let it get to me.
Looking forward to getting back on here to share my grounded farm wife life.

10/05/2023

Kids and calves. Could you ask for more in life?

07/05/2023

There are days that are long and you question why you do it every day.
Then a day ends like this and you are thankful for the life you live. Being able to witness a sunset that is so beautiful.

18/04/2023

My favourite chocolate chip cookies. Swipe to see my tip for soft crumbly cookies.

17/04/2023

They say it takes a village to raise a child. I agree it definitely makes it a lot easier. What happens though to rural women who can't find that village?

Motherhood was something that didn't come easily to me. All the things that are meant to be natural to me were a struggle.

That journey into motherhood can be so isolating and in my small rural town I found connecting with other mums really hard.

The challenge of taking 3 kids under 4 out of the house was real. Living out of town and having to bundle everyone in the car to go anywhere. The farm life that not everyone could relate to.

So a little over a year ago I saw a post on social media about an online mother's group. I looked at it, dismissed it and then saw it again. In the end I took the plunge and signed up. I had my doubts about it but thought I may as well give it a go.

All I can say now is I am so glad I did. I now have a group of rural mums who I can connect with on a daily basis. Who face the same challenges and unexpected events that only rural mums understand. To share the hard times and the good. To know I can share anything without judgment.

A big thankyou to Steph for creating online mother's groups and having a forever impact on my life ❤️.

08/04/2023

Some cows just have more character than others 🤣. Meet Joy one of our new Jersey girls. She is providing a lot of entertainment.

What is your favourite breed of cow? Do you have some with a lot of personality?

31/03/2023

Sometimes it's hard to step forward and take that leap of faith. Especially when you live in a small town. Those worrying thoughts of what others will think are always there.

Don't be held back from your dreams because of fear. You may live in a small town but it doesn't mean you or your dreams have to be small.

What are your big dreams? DM me if you want to share.


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26/03/2023

Speckle calf cuteness 😍.

Our milking cows are all bred by artificial insemination (AI). The heifers do AI and then a bull is put with them to get any that didn't take to AI.

This years heifers were joined with a Speckle Park beef bull and the calf are so cute.

08/03/2023

Want to know what's in my earbuds? Swipe to see.

1️⃣

I have just discovered this podcast and binged on the first 8 episodes. Sarah brings so much energy and enthusiasm to this podcast but also stays completely relatable. As I am starting my entrepreneur journey this has been a great starting place with so much information from finding your unique voice, all things social media and managing your business.
I can't wait to listen to the rest and follow all the content on Sarah's website.

2️⃣ .podcast

Ducks on the Pond is a podcast by rural women, FOR rural women. Kirsten and Jackie do a wonderful interviewing all the rural women. It is the information you always wanted as a rural woman and everything you never knew you wanted to know. It showcases rural women doing amazing things and I can relate to all of them.

podcast

24/02/2023

4 Likes, 0 Comments - Jessica Knight | Grounded Farm Wife () on Instagram: "Everyday the cows are milked and the milk is transported by tanker trucks to the factory. Here it is processed into butter, yoghurt, cheese, flavored milk, cream and the list goes on. We are grateful that we...

23/02/2023

Hello! Welcome to Grounded Farm Wife. I'm so glad you are here to share this journey with me.