Not Just The Farmer's Daughters Anymore

Once upon a time, we were just the farmer's daughters and content to be so.  My dad has planted wheat and raised cattle since he was old enough to walk - and that was that.  

Times have changed and the market has changed and my dad isn't as young as he would like us to think he is.  Working cattle is hard and there is no money to made for a small time farmer in what little  wheat we plant... so now what?

A lovely little thing called crop diversification is about to take place at the Phillips Farm.  Rather than fight through the hardships, we are going to revamp it and go a different direction.  

I was surprised that Dad jumped on board so quickly.  I did my research and explained the risks and rewards.  He nodded his head without expression (making my heart sink a little...) and when I was through, he said "That sounds like a good idea.  You can be in charge."

Rev that tractor up, Bobby... we're planting something new this year!

Look out, folks - there is about to be a passing of the torch (or perhaps more like a sharing of the torch).  The farmer's daughters are about to become farmers themselves.  Stay tuned for more details soon.

Small Town Charm

In our small town, you can still watch a longhorn cattle drive through the center of downtown.

Locals beef up their rides and compete in homemade obstacle courses.

You can watch a rodeo from the sidelines.

Kids play on hay bales.

There is dancing in the street.

Do strange and unusual things happen in your town?  Comment below and let us know!

Working Cattle

Belewville Gallery

 

 

Our Oklahoma Heritage Runs Deep

The first and second Generation of Phillips Pioneers in Oklahoma.

In this day and age, folks are more likely to pack up and move every couple of years than they are to stay put, which makes the notion of "roots" a thing of the past.

Our story is a little different.  The Phillips family has been a group of proud Oklahoma land owners since just before the land run of 1889. That makes us Sooners rather than Boomers because we slipped in before we were supposed to - oops!


Today, our parents and our grandma live on the very same piece of dusty real estate that these amazing folks above traveled across the country to claim.  They started families here and planted their roots here.  They grew wheat and turned out cattle in the pastures.  They cultivated a lifestyle based on hard work and reliant on each other.


When helping my dad mend fence, I came across a fallen and half-burried row of old fence that was clearly comprised of large tree branches rather than iron T posts. It filled me with a warm feeling because I know that one of these pioneers sought out this branch and held it in their hands while building this fence so many years ago.  When they couldn't afford store-bought things, they made do with something else - and probably didn't complain about it, as we do today!


Someday I will make my own "homestead" on this land as well.  Instead of imparting in my children a love of a fast-paced and harried lifestyle, I hope to leave them the legacy of their heritage, which was "free for the taking," yet purchased with the blood sweat and tears of a generation who helped shape our family into who we are today.

Part of our property simply known as "The Old Thomas Place".