Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is the perfect time to celebrate our country’s independence, show off some patriotism, spend time with family and friends, watch fireworks — and, of course, check crops.

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops. It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July." Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year. In fact, our family has been taking an annual "Knee High" photo for over a decade (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops. It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July." Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year. In fact, our family has been taking an annual "Knee High" photo for over a decade (see 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops. It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July." Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year. In fact, our family has been taking an annual "Knee High" photo for the last decade (see 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops.  It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July."  Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year (see 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

5 Ingredient Campfire Cobbler

Our family loves camping and one recipe we have to make every time we go is my 5 Ingredient Campfire Cobbler.  Not only is this a delicious, sweet treat to make over the campfire, but it is easy to make and simple to pack along with all our your camping gear and food!

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops.  It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July."  Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year (see 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops.  It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July."  Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year (see 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, show off your patriotism, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks and check crops.  It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July."  Now while knee high isn't the benchmark for farmers anymore due to hybridization and improved genetics, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year (see 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

Knee High by the 4th of July

The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate our country's independence, spend time with family and friends, shoot off fireworks (especially after Iowa made it legal this year), and check our crops.  It's been tradition for decades that farmers check their crops, especially corn, to see if it is "Knee High by the 4th of July."  Now while knee high isn't the benchmark farmers are necessarily wanting now and the goal is more like chest high, it is still a fun tradition for our family to benchmark our corn (and family's) growth every year (see 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

We hope you all have had a great Independence Day!  What are some of your favorite family traditions for the 4th of July?  Remember to Comment for a Cause.

3 Kid-Friendly 4th of July Treats

Can you believe that 4th of July celebrations will be starting in just a week?!  No matter if you're hosting a big barbecue, or if you're keeping it simple with just watching the local fireworks with your family, you need to make something special and fun for Independence Day.  Here are 3 kid-friendly treats that my family loves to help you celebrate:

My family loves a good trail mix and we created this recipe by combining some of our favorite sweet and salty snacks.  Add some patriotic M&Ms to make it not only kid-friendly but festive too.

Here's another great snack mix to use patriotic M&Ms in.  You can never have too many snacks on hand when you have kids, are going camping, or if you are hosting a party.

There's nothing like cooling down with a popsicle on a hot, summer, 4th of July day.  My kids love these red, white and blueberry yogurt pops.  They're creamy, cool and sweet!

What's your favorite way to celebrate the 4th of July?

Knee High by the 4th of July

Knee high by the 4th of July is an old farmer saying and benchmark for a good corn crop.  But with improved seed genetics and farming practices, farmers expect their corn to be at least waist high if not head high (or higher, like we are seeing this year) on our farm in North Iowa.

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It has become tradition for us to take a Knee High by the 4th of July photo every year.  It is a fun way to document our farm family, as well as our crop progress for the year.  Check out past years - 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012.  This year's corn crop looks the most similar to 2012, but add three more kids!

We hope you all had a great Independence Day!  What was the best part of your day?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Knee High by the 4th of July

It has become tradition for us to take a Knee High by the 4th of July photo every year.  It is a fun way to document our farm family, as well as our crop progress for the year.  Check out past years - 2014, 2013, 2012.

Knee high by the 4th of July is an old farmer saying and benchmark for a good corn crop.  But with improved seed genetics and farming practices, farmers expect their corn to be at least waist high if not head high, like we are seeing this year on our farm in North Iowa.

We had to pull out the selfie stick too and take a photo in the corn!
Me, LP, MP, My Farmer and JP

We hope you all had a great Independence Day!  What was the best part of your day?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Red, White & Blueberry Yogurt Pops

* This post has been compensated through the AE Dairy Blog Ambassador program.  All views and opinions shared are my own. *

Want an inside look at how my brain works?  Well...  Last week on Facebook I asked my fans for summer kid snack ideas, which inspired me to create my Kid-Friendly Trail Mix.  It also gave me the idea of freezing yogurt.  One fan commented that they put yogurt in a piping bag and pipe out dots on wax paper and freeze, creating Fro-Yo Bites.  I decided to combine that idea, with my kids love for making homemade popsicles, along with this weekend's Independence Day holiday, and created Red, White & Blueberry Yogurt Pops!

Red, White & Blueberry Yogurt Pops

3 6oz AE Dairy Greek Yogurt containers, vanilla flavor

1 1/2 cups AE Dairy Skim Milk

8 medium-large Strawberries

1 medium Banana

1/2 cup Blueberries

In a blender, mix one container of yogurt with a 1/2 cup of milk.  Blend in strawberries til smooth.  Pour mixture to the 1/3 line of each mold.  Next, blend another container of yogurt with another 1/2 cup of milk.  Blend in the banana til smooth and fill molds with the mixture up to the 2/3 line.  Lastly, blend the final container of yogurt with the last 1/2 cup of milk.  Blend in blueberries til smooth.  Fill each mold full.  Set popsicle sticks (that have been soaked in warm water for 30 minutes to keep them from floating up in the molds) in each mold.  Freeze for at least four hours.  Yields 12 popsicles (plus a little extra for immediate sampling).

What would you caption this photo???
This is cold...
It is sunny outside...
Mom, stop taking photos, I'm trying to eat
??????

Don't have a popsicle mold?  Put the yogurt layers in tall glasses creating a fun and colorful smoothie!  No matter how you enjoy this festive treat, you'll love the tangy, yet sweet flavors.  Each layer has its own spotlight as you make it through the popsicle.  I asked our son LP what his favorite flavor was and his exact words were, "The strawberry, and the banana, and the blueberry."  So there you go - it is all good!

Do you have any Red, White & Blue recipes you're going to make this weekend to help celebrate Independence Day?  If so, I'd love to hear about them!  Be sure to share below and remember to Comment for a Cause!