Surprises

Another sunny day.

I got to the farm early and painted up the front loader welds-- to my mild disappointment it seems the Boss took the toilet matter into his own hand. Can't say I wasn't looking forward to busting up some porcelain. Today was our first real dump day, so I dragged 6 trash cans full of junk that'd piled up over late winter/spring. Behind the farm store we had left a mound of shredded plastic field covers- I stuffed 'em by the armload into the Chevy van. Picked up the shattered porcelain piece by piece-- as you might guess it was a bit slow this morning.
By the time the Boss came around, I'd packed up everything and he was good to dump.

Bit of a surprise this morning, I hadn't noticed immediately but a new calf was born last night. Not an expected birth by any account. We didn't get our current bull until late fall-- he's still pretty young at that. He replaced the former bull sold last August-- who was even younger. Everyone figured the little guy was just too young to get the job done, seems not ( joke was: its like trying to get a 14yr old to impregnate an Oprah book club).
Checked out the calf from the fence, but I haven't gone in for a closer look yet.

Transplanted a big tray's worth of another eggplant variety for the rest of the morning-- really hope people want to buy it, we certainly are growing enough. We've adjusted the watering schedule a bit for the chocolate tomato plants- the foreman thought they'd been over saturated, essentially suffocating the roots from getting any air. So far it seems he was right- they've perked up considerably. Everything else is pushing along faster and faster, bok choi planting time has to be near- the Boss is consulting Bah on exactly how big they need to be before field planting.

The Boss was busy putting the finishing touches and testing out the boom-sprayer. It has a 200 gallon water/herbicide reservoir, then two 20ft steel arms lined with piping and nozzles that swing in and out. We filled up the tank to maybe 160 gallons of water then mixed in two bags of herbicide. It must mix all together in the tank- as that's all the prep it took- maybe the PTO from the tractor also churns the reservoir or something.

After lunch I was tied into grounds keeping. Brought the Boss's lawn mower over and got to work cutting down the grass and weeds surrounding the farm store. The Boss's brother and in-law have been digging out gardens all around the barn and store, so things are looking right out of a picture book.

Another little surprise. The Boss's father sold off a bit of land down the road maybe 4 decades ago (a practice the Boss ended, we're into the buying game now) and a tight series of housing developments were sunk in. There are a lot of families living there, and in the summer folks come walk around with strollers pretty regularly. I'm sure it nice, but these people...
While taking down the tall grass with the push mower, I must have ran over a year old diaper-- as one shredded out of the mulcher and peppered all over me. Deeelightful.

Finishing up, I took up the gas trimmer and cut down already-foot-long grass on the steep hills leading to the horses. I might have talked around them in the past- but yes, we have four horses-- two white mares, then two tannish long haired mares (stallions are more trouble than they're worth apparently). No idea what kind of horses they are specifically. They belong to a woman who boards in the main farmhouse with the Boss's brother and family. She works up the road as a researcher at the veterinary/livestock medicine university. She hooks them up to stagecoaches for summertime parades and commissioned events- the pay covers their upkeep so it all works out. The horses tend to mind their own business, idly wandering around grazing in the four fields by the barn.

Anyway- there are lots of hills and I was trimming away the rest of the day.

After I signed off my hours-- I ran over and gave the Boss's brother a hand scoping up the last of the winter debris cluttering up the yard around the farm store. We chatted about the new calf-- he of all people, minding the herd everyday, was especially surprised by the birth. Its hard to tell when these fat beef cows get pregnant, unless you're a doctor --and  i don't think they take the whole herd in for yearly check-ups, so its mostly left to wait and see. The Brother is pretty jazzed to see the farm looking so good this year-- having me around through the kick off this year really freed up the Boss and Foreman to get major tractor work accomplished. We're sitting golden as we waltz into the growing season.

The Brother has two smaller open air tractors he uses mostly for picking up hay bales and drilling holes with his auger-- though he also has a serious bit of machinery: enclosed cab, front loader, bucket and expendable support legs. We loaded up his tractor until I was just pitching handfuls of gravel and dirt to the loader. He gave his favorite little expression "You're doing good work"-- meaning "stop playing in the dirt kid and go home."


I might try to get in early sometime this week and snap a few pictures of the farm. I was talking to a friend and it would be good to see a few before and after photos as the fields progress through the season.

Take it easy everybody.