CCFB News» Katrina Milton, Director of Ag Literacy

Rainy days during my childhood were spent playing games indoors with my mom and cousin. My family is pretty competitive, and we lorded winning over each other for days afterwards, until the next game night.

I’ve always loved spring: warmer weather after months of freezing temperatures, flowers blooming, Easter celebrations with my family, bunnies, and the end of the school year. My favorite flowers are snapdragons, daffodils, and tulips, and I love cherry blossom trees after attending undergrad in Washington, D.C.

Each January, I try not to set a new year’s resolution because of the high likelihood of failing. According to Time Magazine, 80% of people fail to keep up their new year's resolutions by February. Rather than set a goal that will probably fail, I decided a new approach: do something new each month.

As a child, I loved winter. I loved making snowmen and snow angels, sledding, having snow days off from school, drinking hot chocolate, and wearing the crocheted scarves my grandma made for me. I loved running around in the snow with my St. Bernard, complaining when my mom called us inside from playing for too long out in the cold.

Christmas was always my mom’s favorite time of the year. We started decorating the house Dec. 1 and left our decorations up until Candlemas on Feb. 2. My mom’s decorations included a tree in every room, lights hung on the outside, animatronic window displays, a Christmas village on the fireplace, and holiday music playing nonstop. My favorite part of the holiday wasn’t the decorations or the delicious food she made – it was how my mom made the entire season special and festive.

“What is a soybean?”

It’s amazing how a simple question, asked in four short words, can leave you speechless.

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books, “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery. In the book, Anne makes the comment while carrying maple tree branches and leaves into the house as she plans to decorate her room with them.

I love butterflies: I love taking photos of butterflies, I love seeing them flit and flutter as they fly from flower to flower, I love the science and magic of their transformation from egg to caterpillar to butterfly. In college, my sorority’s sister name was Butterflie (-ie ending to match my family tree), due to my social butterfly personality.

In June, I traveled to Orlando, Florida for the National Ag in the Classroom Conference. The conference, held June 27-29, featured workshops and classes, guest speakers, a bingo fundraiser, and a traveling workshop.

“Knee-high by the Fourth of July” has been an age-old saying about it being a good year for corn if your corn plants are the height of your knees by July 4.

Due to advances in science, including the planting of drought and pest-resistant seeds, most corn is knee-high by mid-June and at least waist or chest-high by the Fourth of July.

When I was younger, the last day of the school year was always bittersweet. I knew I would miss my friends and teacher, but I was always excited for the warm weather and unlimited free reading time summer vacation would allow.

One of my favorite events to attend growing up was the Coffee and Doughnut Sundays held once a month in the downstairs kitchen area of our church.

At the Cook County Farm Bureau, we celebrated National Ag Day (March 21) with two Ag Day events for third grade students: Ag Day South on March 16 at The Children’s Farm in Palos Park and Ag Day North on March 22 at Historic Wagner Farm in Glenview.

Growing up rurally, I loved playing outside. Living in the country, I loved riding my bike up and down the long gravel roads, taking photos of crops growing in the fields, butterflies, and wildflowers (a.k.a. weeds) along the ditches. I spent the days of summer vacation monkeying around on my backyard playground set, swimming in our pool, and playing kickball, baseball, and basketball with my cousins. I looked forward to summer vacation not only for a hiatus from homework, but also because I was able to spend time adventuring outdoors.