Iowa Ice Cream Trip Second Stop at Hudson's Hansen Dairy

I'm so excited to update you on my family's "Iowa Ice Cream Trip" during the month of June to celebrate National Dairy Month today, by sharing about our trip to Hansen's Farm Fresh Dairy outside of Hudson last week.  It is fun to set out on a new ice cream adventure each week and we thought one of our ice cream destinations had to be Hansen's Dairy, so we could have a first-hand look at the process and story behind our ice cream.

Hansen's Farm has been located outside of Hudson, Iowa for around 150 years and currently the 6th generation owns and operates the farm, with the 7th generation growing up and living on the farm.  Twelve years ago when 5th generation owners and operators, Jay and Jeanne Hansen, saw that four of their children wanted to come back to the farm they knew they needed a way to add value to their family dairy farm, so the 6th generation that wanted to come back to the farm could, and that is how the on-farm creamery began.  In November of 2002 construction began on the creamery and in February of 2004 the creamery produced its first gallon of milk.

Blake and MP became good friends during our time at the farm
Here he is telling us about the dry cows
(a phase in the lactation cycle where the cows don't produce milk)

It was a lot of fun to go on a tour of Hansen's Dairy by 6th generation farmer, Blake Hansen.  Blake primarily works with the dairy production side of the farm.  His three brothers specialize in the creamery (milk processing and delivery) and crop production.  The farm currently has around 350 heifers and cows.  Most of their herd are Black and White Holsteins, with some Red and White Holsteins.  The cows are milked every day at 4am and 4pm.

One of the kids' favorite stops on the tour was at the calf huts, where calves live from the first day of their life to a few months old.  Calf huts are used to help reduce disease, stress and injury.  LP really enjoyed petting the calves.  One neat thing about Hansen's Dairy is that they give every calf a name that is associated with their family line.  In the photo, Skittles (whose Mom is Snickers) is licking LP's hand.

The kangaroos loved giving MP kisses

Another favorite stop was seeing the farm's Kangaroos and Wallabies.  Hansen's Dairy logo is a cartoon Wallaby (a miniature kangaroo) with a Dairy Calf in its pouch.  When Blake was in college he went on an international study abroad trip to Australia and he loved the wallabies and kangaroos, so when the creamery began, they incorporated the wallaby into the logo and Blake decided to purchase three wallabies as pets.  Today, one of the original wallabies is still at the farm, along with three kangaroos.

Our other favorite stop was the tour center, where they had a lot of fun kid and educational activities, as well as products for sell.  We had some ice cream at the center and brought home some milk, cheese curds and ice cream!  It was hard to choose what ice cream to eat after the tour, as well as what to bring home, since they have over 30 flavors!  What we love about their ice cream is that it is very rich and thick.  They also sell butter and ground beef.

You can buy Hansen's Dairy products (including their delicious ice cream) at many locations across the Northeast quadrant of Iowa, or if you are ever in the Waterloo area I recommend you going to their Moo Roo ice cream store or their Dairy Outlet store, or head out to the Dairy Farm outside of Hudson.  They have products available at their tour center.

Have you ever been to a Dairy Farm?  Check out all of their ice cream flavors - what would you like to try?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Be sure to check out our First Iowa Ice Cream Trip Stop and what other fun things we have planned on our Summer Bucket List.

Farm Friday

As you might have been able to tell, I haven't been blogging as much as I typically like too here lately.  We finished planting our corn and soybean crops the last week in May.  Since then we've been busy with field work such as spraying and side-dressing our corn.  I thought on this beautiful, and hopefully not scary, Friday the 13th, I would give an update on everything we raise on our farm:

Corn:
Like I mentioned, we have been busy spraying our corn and also side-dressing it.  Side-dressing is a special machine that spoon-feeds nutrients to the corn crop during this key vegetative growth stage of its life.  As you can see our corn is growing quite nicely.

Spraying our corn
(I'm afraid all of my side-dressing photos didn't turn out too well)

'Beans:

Almost all of our soybeans were planted the last week of May and have also grown very nicely so far.  On our farm we rotate our corn and soybeans so we have about 2/3 of our acres in corn and 1/3 of our acres in soybeans.  Rotating our crops helps with disease and insect control, as well as spreading out our work load in the spring and fall.  Plus rotating crops can help with higher yields.

Pigs:

On our farm we usually have a couple different age groups of pigs at all times that way we can spread out the work load throughout the year.  We recently just got in a group feeder pigs, who all weigh about 40 pounds, and we will finish them to about 270 pounds, hence our pig farm is called a feeder to finish hog farm.  We received around 1,200 feeder hogs a week ago today.

and Kids;

Just like our corn, soybeans and pigs, our kids are busy growing too and keeping us busy!  LP is Mr. Independent and loves being outside.  If I would let him, he'd stay outside all day long.  MP is busy working on walking.  She hasn't let go yet or tried walking alone, but I imagine she'll be taking her first steps soon.  Here are a couple photos of the kids from this past week's Iowa Ice Cream Trip to Hansen's Dairy Farm outside of Hudson.  I'll be posting about our trip soon so stay tuned!

LP petting a baby calf at Hansen's Dairy Farm

MP getting kissed by a kangaroo at Hansen's Dairy Farm

I hope you enjoyed today's Farm Friday update!  Do you have any questions about our farm where we raise Corn, 'Beans, Pigs and Kids?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Iowa Ice Cream Trip First Stop at Decorah to "The Whippy Dip"

One of our family's Summer Bucket List items is to go on an "Iowa Ice Cream Trip" during the month of June to celebrate National Dairy Month by visiting an "ice cream destination" weekly.  We figured our first stop had to be at one of our all-time favorite summer ice cream stands, The Whippy Dip in Decorah.  We made our annual pilgrimage last week and I'm excited to share about this nostalgic landmark today on my blog and on Travel Iowa's blog as part of a collaborative "Favorite Summer Flavors" post.

MP and LP sitting outside of
The Whippy Dip deciding what to order

"The Whippy Dip" is a seasonal walk-up stand that serves creamy and rich soft serve ice cream, along with a lunch and snack menu.  A neat side note is that "The Whippy Dip" sources its milk form a local dairy.  You wouldn't expect anything different in Iowa's dairy country!

Cookie Dough Tornado

"The Whippy Dip" keeps its ice cream simple by offering only vanilla and chocolate flavors and then letting you make your dish unique by providing many mix-ins.  I personally always go for a Cookie Dough Tornado with chocolate ice cream (think Dairy Queen's Blizzard - but better!).  They double layer the delicious chocolate soft serve with real cookie dough (not the cookie dough balls found at other ice cream places.  I'm talking about a scoopful of real cookie dough so you can have some in every bite) and mix it up.  Then they add a little extra cookie dough on top!

If you're passing through Decorah this summer, or if you're within an hour's drive... be sure to make a stop at The Whippy Dip!  They are open daily from 10am to 10pm and are located at 131 College Drive.

LP enjoying a chocolate cone at The Whippy Dip

Have you ever been to "The Whippy Dip"?  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Check out our Week 2 stop at Hansen's Farm Fresh Dairy outside of Hudson, Iowa.

June Comments for a Cause - La Luz Hispana

It is the first of the month and time to report my Comments for a Cause results for the previous month and announce the new month's cause!  So first thing, in the month of May I had 44 comments which equals a $22 contribution to Team Red, White & Blue.  I'm happy to support such a great veteran's organization that has personally helped members of my family transition back into civilian life.

Now onto June's cause!  I'm proud to be donating $0.50 for every comment during the month of June to La Luz Hispana.  I have talked about my community's diversity before and I wanted to show my support and pride for my community by highlighting an organization that is helping our Hispanic population in so many ways, La Luz Hispana.  Here is some information on this center provided by Sister Carmen Hernandez:

A brief history of La Luz Hispana

La Luz Hispana is a center for the Hispanic people, sponsored by the Sisters of the Presentation of Dubuque, Iowa, is located in downtown Hampton, and serves not only Hampton, but all of Franklin County, and the surrounding area.  It is a result of over four years of study and experience working with and meeting the Hispanics of the area.  The Hispanic people requested the center, wanted to have a place where they could safely meet, learn English and other necessary skills, and capitalize on their own cultural values and gifts.

Sisters Carmen and Maura hit the streets of Hampton to locate the Hispanics, to acquaint themselves with the service agencies of the area, and to find a location for the center. 

At the end of 2012, a retired lawyer and his wife offered to refurbish their building, according to the needs of the new project.  The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on March 27, 2013 and the inauguration the following month on April 12.

La Luz Hispana's mission is to offer a welcoming spirit and supportive services to all, especially the Hispanic community.

Programs offered

Since opening their doors in March 2013, La Luz Hispana has successfully offered a variety of programs and services that have helped foster relationships, celebrate strengths and personal gifts and educate the many Hispanics who have visited the center.  Some of the programs offered include: container gardening, English as a Second Language (ESL), computer education, Spanish for English speakers, Zumba, crocheting, rosary and scarf making, greeting card creation, health and beauty, immigration, healthy cooking, nutrition, math tutoring and Exito en el Norte which focused on finances, banking, renting an apartment and/or house, starting a new business, personal rights and furthering education. While these are only a few of the programs initiated, La Luz Hispana continues to have hopes and dreams to begin other new services and programs.

The Sisters and volunteers provide transportation and interpretation services at the court house, banks, police stations, dentists, and insurance agencies.  They assist many families to navigate the social service systems, and help to fill out forms for assistance programs.

So lets be sure to Comment for a Cause a lot this month to support this great organization that is helping and supporting so many families and individuals in Franklin County!  I am so proud that my community provides these resources and support to our community members.  My community is what it is today by us taking advantage of our diversity and helping all of our citizens strive.  Thank you to Sisters Carmen and Maura and all of the volunteers for all they do to help La Luz Hispana serve so many people.

If you are from Franklin County, what do you love the most about La Luz Hispana and our community?  If you are not from my local community, what other services do you see that are needed for communities with a growing diversity?