Prep Work and Planting

Well the crazy season is almost coming to an end, so I better get everyone caught up!
 In early April we disked, shredded stalks, row stalked (cutting the old roots or "crown" out of the old row), chisled and I even got in on the action a few days I was off from my paying job. This was a very windy, dry dirt flying kind of day. What you can't see from this picture is I was actually trying to follow a not real distinct line in the dirt through this cloud of dirt, and I'm sure I had people driving by wondering what I was trying to get accomplished! My mission that day was to drive like I was shown, turn nicely and not hit any power poles, signs or such next to the road. And to do this with a tractor that when it was new cost more than a nice large house and has tires taller than me. Needless to say I was a bit out of my comfort zone but lived to tell about it, hit nothing and felt like I actually helped to keep life functioning for my planting farmer.

This is a chisel for tearing up ground that has been compacted.

This is the row stalker.

 Then the planter preparations were in full swing, well the last minute ones at least. The planter usually spends a chunk of winter in the shop making sure it is ready to go and then when we are just about ready to plant, it gets a finishing walk through and finally is all back together for the season. Chris called to have us bring snacks after school one day so the girls got to help a little too.

The planter without seed and chemical boxes.

These plastic discs will pick up and distribute the seed one by one through the planter

The seed box off of the planter, waiting for its new plate.

The girls getting dirty and helping!

This box is ready to be installed on the planter bar.

And FINALLY planting season could begin! 

Chris took a short video, so you can ride along for a minute.

 

And some pictures of the planter from my view (which is usually running lunch or taking parts :)

And as crazy as this all was, we also had our branding (which is another soon to come post), spring music programs, Easter celebrations and the start of summer softball. I'm tired just trying to remember what I missed!

~Spring is in the Air~

It is officially Spring! We are thankful to see more and more daylight every day around here and I think most of the family is recovered from the "Spring Forward" time change (I personally really dislike daylight savings time, it is hard on all of us in this house).

The guys have continued to be busy with cows and baby calves but births seem to be slowing down some and they have moved all of the cattle into the pasture and off of cornstalks so field preparations can begin.  Chris has enjoyed some nice long days with the tractor and disk getting the fields ready to start planting next month. In our area it is common to use "no-till" field practices to prevent soil erosion and maintain what little soil moisture we have. Basically what that means is that after we harvest we will leave the corn "stubble" or remaining stalks in the field and do not tear up the soil. Many times we would run a machine called a row stalker down the row to cut the old stalk and root ball out and be ready to plant right back into that row again. This year we have a few fields that need a little more tillage to get them ready for planting so the disk will be used to tear up the remaining rows completely. This allows the soil to absorb any spring moisture better and allows for the GPS in the tractor to plant straighter new rows and not attempt to travel in an older, possibly crooked row. Planting straight rows allows us to water more efficiently in our gravity irrigated fields and also allows more corn to be planted in the same space than just trying to drive a straight path like we did before we had GPS and auto steering capabilities.

The tractor and disk driving through a corn field.

The field before

The field after disking.

Close up of the remaining root ball from last years corn plant.

The view from the cab looking back over the disk and the seagulls that follow looking for worms and bugs. These birds will follow the tractor all day just for the easy meal. And you can also see in this picture the angle it takes to go across the rows to get optimal results.

Beginning Again

Well we have been extremely busy the past 2 1/2 years, so much so that keeping up the blog took a direct hit and as you can see, it has not been updated since Fall of 2011. Wow! We have so much to share but I will try to make this as short as possible. I was accepted into the Physical Therapist Assistant program at San Juan College and started those classes in January of 2012. Chris had an ATV accident at work on the farm in March of 2012 which had him healing a broken pelvis at home, his family scrambling to get ready for planting season and moving cows back out to pasture, while I worked and prepared to make my first of 5 trips to New Mexico. Our world went completely crazy but we have persevered, healed and just kept moving.

Fast forward to 2014. I have graduated and passed my boards! Chris, his dad Mark and brothers Shane and Marcus have been very busy with the farm and cattle after his Grandfather retired from the day to day farm work. They also have been dealing with extra stress the drought we have been in the last 3 years has brought on. Our girls are bigger and busier than ever and life continues to bring us challenges and new adventures.

 It seems only fitting that this year we start up blogging again with calving season. The winter has been cold but busy with new calves daily at the farm. The cows started calving the end of January and this week it was warm enough that our girls got to out and watch an actual birth. They have been around baby calves quite a bit but having the good timing to get to see one being born was very exciting for them. Jordan was so excited, she even got in on the picture taking action!

This baby is just minutes old and is still covered in part of the amniotic sac.

Looking a little cleaner and cuter now after a few minutes, this calf has a great momma getting it cleaned and warmed up. This calf will be up walking and ready for it's first meal soon.

 

This calf is a little older and curious why I am hanging out of the truck taking pictures.  (It was very windy here this week)

This one says its dinner time.

Spring is just around the corner and we will begin field work soon, but for right now the world at the farm revolves around these girls and their babies, and while the guys are plenty tired they wouldn't trade it for anything.