Plain ol' Good Earth

For those of you that have followed us, you might remember that 300 acres of our farm has been under "CRP" for the past 10 years. When the Hughes bought the property, they knew that it would come out of CRP on September 30, 2011.

Because this property had remained untouched for at least the past 10 years, we were unaware of its potental.

A few weeks ago, Marvin took the disk up there and uncovered some of the most beautiful ground on the entire farm. It is rich and completely void of rock. I know, it's very sad when I get excited about soil, but this is the state of my life now.

Anyway, Marvin worked up around 100 acres (with the help of Wayne and a little bit of mine) and planted barley. Now if we would just get some rain!

Down on the bottom section (just under 200 acres), we are busily getting it ready for veggies. There is about 80 acres planted in a forage mix and another 15 or so with rows for vegetables. We will be putting some transplants in the ground next week, but will need to hold our breath that we don't get those big freezes again. Last year we planted a bunch of transplants and it snowed on March 1st!

We will also be planting seeds, but this really tries our patience. The ground needs to be a certain temperature for them to germinate and it just isn't there yet. We also will be fighting weeds and late season cold. I guess that is the life of the farmer - practice patience and pray for the right weather conditions.

Ben continues to be on skunk patrol. I really don't know where he finds them all, but will be glad when they are gone as they really like chickens.

The picture above of all the antenae is a hill that is a few miles from our house but in direct view. They may look ugly but we are very thankful for that great cell phone service.

I will try to write again soon so make sure you check back often. Please drop us a note when you get a chance HZHarvest12@yahoo.com.

Since rain was on my mind, I looked up the annual average precipitation at Bradley. It is13.08 Inches. Rainfall in is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The wettest month of the year is February with an average rainfall of 2.87 Inches

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.
Frank Howard Clark