52 Years Ago

This old Atlas oil change sticker is still on the driver's door frame of the 52 Mercury, Maybe it is my imagination but I seem to remember putting it there in 1967, being a helpful kid while my dad changed motor oil in the Merc . Printed in pencil I think it says July 7 1967. Oil was BA 10w-30.

I doubt I could have looked 52 years into the future and seen myself driving that car today. But here I am.
In other news, typing has become difficult and annoying since I spilled  a cup o water on my keyboard. I bought this keyboard  a few years ago because my laptop had lost function of the "r" and "d" keys. Well now the replacement keyboard has lost function of the "a,f,j, as well as the comma and period keys. No doubt due to water spill. So I am constantly shifting back and forth between keyboards to type anything. Very frustrating as I am used to rattling away full speed with all fingers and thumbs on the keyboard Typing class was one of the few useful skills that I retained from high school days
I see  a new keyboard (or laptop) in my future.

Spraying Oats June 26

Finally got unhitched from the sprayer yesterday. Crop spraying season used to be a lot shorter it seems. Now, with pre or post seeding burn off, chem fallow, roundup ready canola, then in crop weed control, the sprayer is one of the busiest machines on the farm. And thats not even considering fungicides or insecticides like a lot of farmers us. I don't get into that stuff myself.

Crops are actually looking pretty good now that it finally rained for the first time since winter ended.  A few of the reclaimed low spots that I was able to seed are now flooded and likely won't produce much but that is the chance we take on those areas.

More Rain And A Garden Update

More rain fell yesterday so there is time for a video edit and update on how the garden is growing. The last two rains (in a week) have literally been life savers for the garden, crops, and maybe some people. I could hardly believe the early potatoes were big enough to need hilling yesterday so I went ahead and got it done, just before the rain hit. Should be some new potatoes within a month.
Crops are looking pretty good considering their dry start. Wheat very good. Canola, patchy due to poor emergence and flea beetle damage but it is a real fighter and should fill in and produce a decent crop. Some canola fields are still a bit hard to identify from the road as they have a lot of bare ground. They will likely fill in now that the rain soaked in but it will be a multi stage crop presenting some difficult harvest decisions. And an early frost will be a disaster for the late stuff.
More showers for today and tomorrow.

Canola Spraying In The Mud

A few days ago I was complaining about the lack of rain and how dry it was. The weekend's 2 inch or more of rain took care of that for a while. I'd been holding off spraying the canola as the herbicide does not work too well when the crop and weeds are drought stressed. So I pushed it a bit early this morning getting out there in the field while it was still a bit muddy. No four wheel drive or even duals on the tractor this time but I got by without getting stuck. No wheel spinning or big ruts but I did have to use the turning brakes a time or two. Sure is nice to get a break from the drought and have some hope of growing a crop again.

Now I need to get going on the wheat that is also overdue for weed spraying. More rain predicted for tomorrow night.

Rain At Last

It was looking like we were headed for disaster this crop year. Rain just refused to fall here. Somehow the crops hung on til we finally got it on Friday and Saturday. I guess I had lost hope and never even had a rain gauge out. I hear reports of around 2 inches. It is literally a life saver for crops and maybe people too. Rain was such an event that I had to take a picture of it.

Fathers day today and I guess we see a lot of mention and photos to mark the occasion. Hardly a day passes that I am not reminded of my dad and the good times working with him.

2090 and Rangler 2019

This video is actually from a couple of weeks (or more) ago. I forgot it was in the camera but better late than never. It shows the interesting process of getting ready and actually harrow packing a field of oats.

Today those oats are up and growing reasonably well considering the almost zero rain we have had this spring. No doubt due to the now obsolete practice of summerfallowing this field will have moisture reserves that should allow it to at least produce some kind of a crop if it continues to "not rain". Cattle producers are really concerned as pastures fail to keep up and feed is expensive or impossible to buy.

Things can always be worse but man it is discouraging to have put money in the ground and then nature fails to co-operate with rain.

Finally, Some Rain

It was not much but a thunderstorm last night showed that maybe it can still rain. Maybe a tenth or so. Still don't have my rain guages out. Not that they would have caught much so far. In the spirit of optimism I planted another row of potatoes this morning. I'm still not up to my usual number but its been so dry and uninspiring that I have been holding off planting. Some  of the early ones are up and looking fairly good.
The daily watering I have been doing on  the single row of beans appears to have paid off as I see some emerging from the ground.
Field crops are doing better than expected considering how little rain we have had this spring. I see some bare patches in the canola field that might be flea beetle damage. Guess I should spray them out but I hate working with insecticides. I noticed the first tiny grasshoppers showing up in the yard grass yesterday. I actually took the lawn tractor out and cut the few patches of grass that had grown  tall enough to need it. What a dusty and dirty job!
Its not quite as hot as 1988 but we have had less rain than 88. That was the driest year ever in my history. So here is a video update of my crops as of June 6.