WOOHOO!!! It’s a brand new year! I gave up on making resolutions many years ago as it seemed to just add pressure to attain some lofty goal that wouldn’t be sustainable. Instead, I hang up a new calendar (this year it’s the new MCFB Gun Calendar!) and reflect on the excitement with periods of mundane that was the prior year. Last year I took you all on the journey with me as I navigated life from the passenger side of my hubby’s truck, riding a quad or walking through my orchard and on some agriculture advocacy trips. There was anxiety, tears of sadness and so much joy. But now, I look forward!
This year has started with a bang! I took a much-needed rest and relaxation trip to O’ahu, Hawaii with my Mom and sister. To do absolutely nothing for a whole week was recharging! In keeping with my traveling to new states theme, we went for a drive and stumbled upon a working farm/ranch that was open to tourists. We chose a farm tour that took us out to see taro and rice paddies, banana, macadamia, mango, guava and cacao trees. I’m missing some, there were a lot of different fruits and veggies! The cacao caught my attention. This is what chocolate starts as. It’s more bushy than traditional trees with trunks. The fruit grows in pods. The pods are ripe when they turn yellow and orange. The pods are 8-10 inches long and about 4-5 inches in diameter. Workers pick the pods and then split them in half. Inside are 60-80 “beans” covered in a slimy film. We got to taste these beans. They were definitely slimy and tasted fruity. If you can imagine a citrusy banana flavor, that’s what they tasted like. If you bit into the bean you would get a bitterness. I didn’t bite down and after about 30 seconds the sliminess got to me and I spit it out. There were a couple people that really enjoyed them! These beans are dried down and then processed into the different chocolate concoctions. The sweetness comes from how much sugar is added to the ground beans. It’s really fascinating! I’m always reminded of how much of our population has never really considered where their food comes from and why some foods are more expensive than others. It almost always comes down to how much it costs to get the food to the store. It also surprises people to see how labor-intensive some of these crops are. I always hope that those that take these farm tours come away with a new appreciation for their meals. I attached a picture of me holding a couple of cacao pods. It was a really neat tour!
I was home for about 8 hours with Ryan and then he left for the first race of the season in Arizona. While I was preparing for MCFB’s Ag United annual membership meeting, he was winning the first 2 races. It was exciting to watch his lap times! Ryan spent 2 months tearing apart the car, assessing the crash damage and putting it all back together. There is an old superstition that says a crashed and rebuilt race car is faster than a brand new car. Perhaps that’s true. Either way, hubby’s head was on dominating the class. Next up is Buttonwillow Raceway near Bakersfield. It’s the inaugural weekend for their new, highly anticipated track called “The Circuit”. So far Ryan has been having a good time learning a new track.
It was hard not being at the track to help celebrate Ryan’s wins but what I was doing was equally important to me. Ag advocacy is a major part of my life and having a relaxed evening to visit with our membership always fuels me up for the year. I love the connection I feel to our membership. Ag United was a super fun event! We had the Killer Dueling Pianos rocking out the crowd! We danced! We sang! I was the highest bidder for former Sheriff Jay Varney’s “Make Fudge Great Again” President Trump fudge!! I don’t know if it’s the price tag, but Jay’s fudge is always really good! I also won 2 baskets in the raffle! I had my daughter pass one of them to a lady at a neighboring table that had a similar number. The day turned out to be a winning one for all of the Gutiles!
We will have a couple of weeks off to recover and restock the race car hauler. It’s been getting so cold at night that the refrigerator is doing an extra good job of keeping things cold. So cold that our soda cans are slushy with a couple of them actually freezing. One of them developed a small hole that leaked onto the lower shelves. I’m thankful that it didn’t explode! The fridge needed a good scrubbing anyway.
At Farm Bureau, the Board of Directors will participate in a couple of strategic planning sessions. We sent out a survey to our membership asking what they would like MCFB to provide and what we can improve on. Using this data, we will work together to formulate a priorities list with actionable plans to accomplish the goals. We are all here to serve our community and, periodically, it’s a good idea to check in with all of our membership. This organization is dynamic. There are some constant issues we stay engaged with, but as other important issues arise, we have to remain flexible so that we can get timely information out to all of you. In my brain, we all have our own bubbles that we live and operate in. It’s the MCFB Board’s job to make sure all of our members have the information they need to optimize their decision-making. We’re striving to keep Farm Bureau alive and relevant to all of your needs. We welcome any questions, comments, suggestions and critiques. If we don’t know the answer to something, we will work hard to find out all the information for you.
February is fast approaching. The almond trees are starting to look puffy and soon the bees will be buzzing. We have quite a few trainings coming up. These are listed in the new MCFB Gun Calendar. To get a calendar and be entered to win a monthly gun, contact a Director, call or drop by the office. Calendars are $100 and for another $50 you will be entered to win a flame thrower in our special drawing. You can also find the trainings listed on our website and in our email blasts. If you’d like us to provide a training session for a topic we don’t already have scheduled, give the office a call and we’ll see what we can do. Be well and stay safe out there!
