Our Annual Date Day

 It's that time again. Time to prepare for planting, getting the equipement checked over, and our annual date... to pick up the seed!

Yes, John and I have been laughingly calling this our "date day" for years. It typically begins with a trip to our seed dealer to pick up the oats and barley seed.

On busy days like today, you pay, and then wait your turn.

Before we know it, the seed bags are piled in our truck. After a bit of conversation, of course.

The next stop is almost always Dairy Queen. A hot dog and malt never tasted so good! I didn't have to cook, and you can never go wrong with ice cream!

Next stop- our John Deere dealer to pick up a few filters for the tractors. We always keep a few on hand. I, of course peruse the toys. Did you know they make Lego sets so you can build a John Deere tractor? I begged, but didn't get one. :(

Our last stop is our local grain elevator to buy calf feed. With all the calves born lately, we are really going to go through it in a hurry. 

So there you have it, a typical, annual, farmer-style date, with my favorite farmer by my side!

2021 Planting Is Complete

 It's been done for a few weeks. We breathe a sigh of relief. Planting season is always a lesson in stress management and optimism. A time to hope the weather cooperates and the machinery keeps all of its parts working. It's a time when a farmer remains optimistic that no matter when planting is complete, that those tiny seeds will germinate and grow into the feed that we need to nourish our cattle. It's a time to place total faith in God that the rain will come at the right time, and the sun will provide the warmth needed to make our crops grow.

This Spring made for a dry, dusty planting season. Even TV host, Mike Rowe, would consider this a "dirty job". I had the easy job. I was in charge of bringing the seed to the field when the planter was running on empty. You see, some of our cropland is five or more miles from our farm, so before John leaves to begin planting, he loads several bags of the seed corn into our van, and when my phone rings, I tear over to the field. 

I pop open the back hatch, Farmer John backs up to the van with the planter, opens the seed hoppers, rips open a bag, dumps it in the planter, closes the covers, and he's off and running again. All this in short order so he can get right back to planting.

Just as all of the seeds were nearly in the soil, the rain came. And I mean it came! But a week later, when the mud was nearly manageable, it was time to finish putting those little gold nuggets in the ground. 

Now all that's left is to stand back, watch it grow, and be optimistic that it's a great crop. Oh, and one more thing, pray.

Mud, A Sure Sign Of Spring

Mud, mud, I love mud!

   I'm absolutely, positively wild about mud.

   I can't go around it. I've got to go through it.

   Beautiful, fabulous, super duper mud.

 

Have you heard this song before? Sara and Michael fell in love with this little ditty 25 years ago when we made our weekly visits to the public library. Yep, back when we used to borrow cassette tapes to listen to at home; this one almost always found its way into our book bag.

Now fast-forward 25 years. Sara and Michael are no longer borrowing this cassette from the library, but I could have sworn Farmer John was humming a few "muddy" choruses the other day. No, we are not excited about the muddy yard, the mud tracked into the house on our shoes, or the mud surrounding the bottom of our pant legs, but mud does make a farmer a bit giddy.

 

 

You see, mud is a sure sign of Spring. Mud means the soil is warming up. Mud means the frost is coming out of the ground. Mud means Spring planting is fast approaching. 

Farmer John has begun "dusting off" the planting equipment. The seeds have been ordered. A little more sunshine and some warmer weather and Farmer John will be ready to roll.

Until then we will have to settle for another chorus or two of the mud song and the occasional sploosh-sploosh sound of walking through the puddles. After all, it's no fun going around them. You just have to go through them.

Curious about the Mud Song? Take a listen here.

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This And That Thursday - 18

Welcome to Spring! March 20th, the first day of Spring! As I look around the farm, I don't see any huge changes that a new season is here. I mean, the bird feeders are not over-run by a new influx of robins. Didn't they get the memo to return to Minnesota for the change of seasons?

Daughter Sara started Spring cleaning today...the kitties each got a face wash. They patiently waited in line for Sara to wash off the Winter goobers. She is our resident "Pied Piper" of the cat world, as it is rare to see her without a trail of felines following her around as she does her chores. Her furry friends have definitely found a great caregiver in Sara.

Mail delivery was exciting today, as each of us got a new pair of chore boots! Even though this is not a paid endorsement, I am going on record by saying, "We LOVE our new boots!" I am the proud owner of the green pair! This #DairyMom is stylin! Hey, is that a bit of green grass peeking through?

Welcome, Spring! We are so glad you are here. Now, how about inviting your friends "warm" and "melty?"

Visit Dairy Makes Sense. More dairy news and recipes too!

Farmer John Says Yipee!

As of April 21st, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that only four percent of the corn crop was planted. This compares to 26% planted at this time last year and a five-year average of 16%. On April 21st, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin all had virtually no corn planted. Based on this statistic, it is no wonder that Farmer John is saying Yipee. Thanks to the temperature increase and the snow no longer falling, today is the beginning of spring field work! 

Farmer John and Grandpa Roy are working up the soil using a chisel plow.
Chisel plowing in the spring breaks up the soil, incorporates crop residue from last years crop, aerates the land and kills early sprouting weeds.The field they are working on today is 40 acres and will be planted with oats and alfalfa (hay) to feed to our cattle. It will take about 4 hours to plant this 40 acres after the chisel plowing is done.

So even though our fieldwork has gotten off to a late start, we are all excited for the beginning of a new growing season. Yipee!

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung,

the grass has riz,

I wonder where the flowers is?

I remember reciting this as a little girl, anxiously waiting for the warm weather of Spring. As I age, I still anxiously await the warmer weather, and never as eagerly as this year. As I write this post, it is a chilly 19 degrees with a 20 mph wind. I don't know about you, but that does not scream "First Day of Spring" to me!

As we enjoy our Winter weather a bit longer than usual on our Minnesota dairy farm, we are still keeping our animals warm and comfortable, despite the near-zero temperature. And we keep ourselves warm and comfortable by bundling up to do our outdoor chores. But I'd be lying if I said we aren't looking ahead to Spring.  

We are preparing for Spring on the farm in many ways. Farmer John has had the seed ordered for several months now, and it will soon be delivered. We plant corn, oats and alfalfa each year. Most of our crops are used to feed our animals, with some corn left-over to sell. Machinery for planting is being  looked at to make sure it is ready to hit the fields when the soil (and the weather) are ready for the next crop. This is also a good time to finish up any odd jobs around the farm. Whether it be re-organizing the repair shop, cleaning a shed, or giving the milking barn an extra helping of elbow-grease, we do whatever we can before the busy, long days of planting season are here. 

So the grass may not have riz and I still wonder where the flowers is, but I'm confident Spring will arrive...someday.