The title pretty much says it all. There will be a lot of farming related posts here as well as some ancient family history and photos. Another family history blog I have is at....
http://nevardblog.blogspot.com/
I've emptied 9 grain bins in the past 24 hours and my back isn't even tired. The grain vac has to be one of the best inventions ever. And what a relief to get rid of that high moisture wheat without any spoilage or beetle infestations. I'd been a little worried about it ever since the weather started to warm up. The small fan did not seem to be doing much drying even after running a month. The big fan at the West farm did dry some. It all came out of the bin in good condition and is sold to make space for the new crop.
It was a long scenic 100 km round trip to get the grain vac but it was worth it. It was worth shooting a little video as the countryside is half yellow with blooming canola. Clouds were looking their best so this video will make you think all this world's a sunny day.
Now if I can get a day or two without extreme wind so I can get the chem fallow under control maybe I can get back to haying. Hardly a day without a rain shower.
At least now if it rains only the hay will get wet. This roof was overdue for replacement so I took the day to get it done. Its a patchwork quilt of various bits of metal I acquired but I like it.
Once again our "land of living skies" did not fail to impress me. Thunderstorm moving across the South while I was still in the clear watching the sunset. Made for some interesting photos and video. And of course an opportunity for some more "Mercury photos". That lightning strike picture is actually a freeze frame from the video. It was many miles away but still looked impressive. No rain fell here. There have been some wild storms in the South with hail and a tornado or two. Plow winds as well.
Finally able to unhitch from the sprayer a few days ago now that in crop spraying for weeds is done. Good (lucky) timing as the heaviest rain held off til a few days after I finished. Crops are in pretty good shape here and growing well.
Hitched up to the haybine now in hopes of cutting some hay.
Some common sense comments from the man behind the youtube videos. Very articulate and informed. Trying hard to educate the general public that does not have a clue where their food comes from or what is involved in producing it.
June 6 always means "D Day" to me as it did to my dad. He missed out on it by about a month but did get over there in time to see the devastation left of the battle. Burned out Sherman tanks and dead bodies of animals (and a few humans) were quite the shock. He said he did not have much hope of ever getting out of there alive. Somehow they fought their way through the next months til the war ended in May of the next year.
I've posted some of his memoirs here over the years but have been pretty slow at posting the rest of them. I am lucky he wrote down his account of his journey and saved photos of the places he was and the people he saw along the way. This photo was taken on Wangerooge island after the war ended. Dad at centre and Alec Abel on the left. I got to meet Alec in later years.
In other news, last fall's harvest is done as of a week ago today. That dry dead straw just disintegrated going through the combine and the wheat was the driest I've ever combined. It won't be worth much, just a little less loss in a poor crop year. And here is the video.
Probably not news that the wind is still blowing like a hurricane trying to tear everything loose. We did get one nice quiet day this week and it was yesterday. I went at it as hard as I could and managed to get two fields of chem fallow sprayed. Might have done more but heavy fog made for a late morning start and the 30 miles of road driving, at 14 mph, used up a lot of time.
Its been steady work here for the past two and a half weeks. No rainy day breaks so I just went from anhydrousing, straight into seeding. When that was done I got on the swather and cut the field of wheat that laid out all winter. Picked it up with the combine today and was fairly happy to be done. No deer antlers in the tires. Found one. Hot and wild wind blowing the swaths around. Then cloudy skies threatening rain so I was pushing it to the limit to try and finish. Thanks to my "harvest crew" we got it all done and machinery moved back home safely.
Might slow down a little tomorrow, unless its quiet enough to run the sprayer. Then I'll be on that as the weeds are growing fast. Early canola is emerging and hope the flea beetles don't find it. We had signs of frost in low lying areas a few nights ago. Early potatoes might show a little leaf damage. Late potatoes are not in the ground yet but hopefully soon as I can get a chance.
Long days and short nights meant no time to edit and upload videos to youtube but I've caught up a little the past couple of days including this one of yesterday's swathing wheat.
