Quick hits: Family pickle canning; rural trilogy-inspired songs; pandemic gun buyers; hearing aids; Dutch farming

Hannah Klitz visits her herd. (Photo by Chris Simpson, Successful Farming)

Where's the beef? Some of it's with Hannah Klitz. "She started her direct-to-consumer beef business as a college sophomore. Now, she sells premium products across the United States," reports Courtney Leeper-Girgis for Successful Farming. "Klitz started Oak Barn Beef, offering Nebraska-raised, dry-aged beef from cattle DNA-tested for premium carcass traits, such as marbling, tenderness, and ribeye size."

August is a month for canning, catching up with and enjoying family, writes Lovina Eicher for AgWeek. "Yesterday, I helped sister Verena (and daughter) with the pickles. We canned 40 quarts of sweet dills and made 20 quarts into freezer pickles. They are still in the refrigerator, and then tomorrow, they will be ready to pack into containers for the freezer. A very easy way to put up pickles if you have freezer space. They taste very crisp."

The "power of the ring" has captured many a musician.
(Photo by Davidsonluna, Unsplash)

Celebrating J.R.R. Tolkien's very rural trilogy, The Lord of the Rings can bring many precious things to bear, including a litany of musical delights that only magical travels through wide open spaces can create. Ellen Gutoskey of Mental Floss gives us clippings of these adventurous tunes.

The pandemic was full of "firsts" for remote work, touchless delivery and for some people, gun ownership. In 2020, "Some 22 million guns were sold that year, 64 percent more than in 2019. More than eight million of them went to novices who had never owned a firearm, according to the firearm industry's trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation," reports Roni Caryn Rabin of The New York Times. "Self-defense is the top reason Americans purchase handguns." Rabin reviews studies with more definition on who bought firearms and why.

Would you like a four-day workweek? If you said "yes," you're not alone. "More than half of American employers offer a four-day workweek, or plan to, according to a survey released Tuesday," reports Daniel de Visé of The Hill. "A poll of 976 business leaders by ResumeBuilder.com, the job-seekers website, found that 20 percent of employers already have a four-day workweek. Another 41 percent said they plan to implement a four-day week, at least on a trial basis."

Hearing aids help people listen to nature's sounds again--
like barking tree frogs. (Photo by Gary Tresize, Unsplash)

Being able to hear the world around you is a gift. "Birdsongs. Chorus frogs. Children's voices. . . . . Sheets flapping on the clothesline. . . .The rustle of corn stalks. The low rumble of thunder in the distance," writes Donna Kallner of The Daily Yonder. But as we age, hearing becomes more challenging. "I chose a Medicare Advantage plan that includes hearing aid coverage. We're hoping for a bulk discount since my husband's hearing is also now more impaired than selective."

Checking out what's going on "across the pond" isn't limited to getting British insights; it's good to see what other European countries are up to, such as the Netherlands' commitment to sustainable farming. "Almost two decades ago, the Dutch made a national commitment to sustainable agriculture under the rallying cry 'Twice as much food using half as many resources," reports Frank Viviano of National Geographic. "Since 2000, farmers have reduced dependence on water for key crops by as much as 90 percent. They’ve almost completely eliminated the use of chemical pesticides on plants in greenhouses."