Misc

Today is a hodgepodge of thoughts and ramblings. First, my body hurts. My arthritic fingers hurt so much I can barely type. My tennis elbow flared up real good too. All those seed bags this week took their toll but now that good seed is in the ground!

My brain hurts from thinking and focusing. Yesterday I forgot to ask one vendor to bring six bags of seed corn to make sure we could finish one farm. So there me and Sable were, heading for Wilmington to pick up more seed at dark so we could finish in the dark. Thanks to the cataract eye I can't see worth a darn at dusk and dawn, not enough light but it's planted and nothing was crashed or broken.

Looks like the big rain the locals forecasted busted. We got a few drops off and on yesterday and NWS and Weather Channel predicts a lot less rain than the local TV stations. Their fancy Doppler and weather models have failed us again. I hope we get enough to activate the fertilizer and herbicide and bring the seeds to germination so the roots can go looking for moisture. I have this feeling they will be doing that all season.

I talked to my old friend Dr. Elwynn Taylor at Iowa State this week and he said this year is like 1983 so far. I agree. All I remember from that year was the infamous PIK or Payment In Kind program from USDA and crappy crops. We had bins full from the previous years, the farm financial fiasco was hitting the farm hard and the government tried to help a few stay in business.

The only farmers who made money that year were the ones who signed up for PIK, didn't plant some fields and took the money. LuAnn said they didn't farm that year and went camping. Silly me I taught school and watched the bean beetles eat up the soybeans. The corn was piddly here. I never got involved with government programs until we bought this place in 2004.

Oh well, it is what it is. We did get the new farm planted to corn and this farm planted to soybeans. Soon I will start scouting and try to assess pest and crop condition to get us a reasonable return this year.

LuAnn returned to her northern NY potato growing history. One of our dear friends donated 20 sacks of seed potatoes and they were planting like crazy when we went out for lunch Thursday. Turning Point is going to have a record potato crop and LuAnn is the new potato queen! Some corn and beans would be good with those potatoes, dear!

I did take time to go to the Bicentennial Barn Quilt Tour Meeting scheduled for June 12 and 13. Our farm is on the tour, silly us again. They have a really good tour planned so if you want to take a trip that weekend or any other time, drop me a note and we will get you a brochure and work out the details. We need one more good idea to demonstrate what went on in 1810 around here. Diane suggested early toys but I am at a loss on that one. Any ideas?

Come on Mother Nature, bring us some showers. Everyone is bone tired around here. Any farmer or anyone who services farmers are worn out. We just pat each other on the back and keep going. Larry commented they were working seven days a week like it was some inconvenience for me to call for seed at dark. I said but your whole year is dependent on what you sell now. He didn't answer. The guys who drive the tractors, sprayers and trucks are really tired, don't want to see any accidents!

My friend Darren Hefty in South Dakota has a new blog. Take a look and become a follower! http://darrenhefty.blogspot.com/

Ed