Blog

Monday and Tuesday were good enough days to get all but the last field of soybeans planted before they got poured on Wednesday.  We had rivers flowing yesterday afternoon!  They seem to have stopped for now, but the rain continues on and off today.  Maybe I’ll get caught up on barn work! (not likely)

We have 2 of last years kittens that have kittens of their own this year.  One Mom is a little more aloof and we have yet to see any of her’s, although it looks like she is nursing 7 of them!  The other Mom has 3 and they are right on the edge of the straw mow in plain view. (the dog checks on them every morning!  little things that wiggle are very interesting!)  Karen got some good pics of the 3 little kittens and their mom.

It’s hard to believe it hasn’t rained in days, and there is none in the forecast either!  The corn is rolling into the ground now.  Yesterday we got some trial plots in for Pioneer Seed Corn.  Today we are at Cousin Bob’s.  Should finish his tomorrow, and that leaves one field of ours left for Friday, then the soybeans, hopefully before any hay needs cutting.  This sun and heat coupled with the moisture we have will certainly be making everything grow!

Yesterday was one of those good news and bad news kind of day.

The good news is that we got 2 more corn fields planted before it rained overnite.  The bad news is that I didn’t get done until 9:00 at nite.  The good news was that Kevin had the day off school and was home to do a quite a bit of cultivating so we could plant the corn.  The bad news is that he didn’t quite fit between the corn planter and the disk when he came in for supper.  The good news is that Grandpa was able to do my chores so that me and Kevin could weld the corn planter back together, and straighten the press wheel back into a semi-circular shape.  The bad news, was that even though grandpa was going to try to finish cultivating the next field before it rained, some bolts broke on the cultivator and he had to quit.  The good news is that he could then help me change the tire on the feed wagon that was flat when I tried to put it in the shed out of the rain.

This morning certainly started out better when the tire repair guy was in on the Sat. morning of a long weekend and fixed said tire while I waited so the pigs could have feed before the day was out!

Some days life is interesting!!

When the news of the whole Swine Flu thing hit, I thought people in general would get that the old “swine flu”  was just the closest relative of the new virus, hence the name.

Now a few weeks later, with no one actually getting sick from a pig, and infact, a few pigs out west getting sick from a person, it is very frustrating to see how many countries are banning pork imports.

The real pain comes from the price drop of the last couple of weeks.  Pigs haven’t been above break even in the last three years, and this summer finally looked like it would have some return to profitablity.  That seems to be gone at the moment.  Lets hope it can still recover.

On a positive note, today is a beautiful sunny day!

We ended up with the pickup truck at the back of one field, so I thought I’d call the kid’s when they got home from school and they could both drive over, and drive the truck back.  Save us having to go back after supper and get it.

First snag came when they drove the van across the grassy part of the field instead of sticking to the dirt.  (the grassy part is grassy ’cause it’s so wet)  The van didn’t make it before getting bogged down.  Now I was in the same field with the tractor, but I didn’t have a chain to pull them out with.  So the three of them (Kevin, Jenna, and the dog, Sophie) walked to the back of the field and got the truck so they could go get a chain.

The second snag came when they didn’t make it back to the farm!   Jenna was driving this time, when she took the corner around the neighbour’s chicken barns a little wide, and ended up on the wet grass of the ditch.  Pickup trucks spin really easy on wet grass!

So they walked over to the house, grabbed their bikes, and went up to the farm to get a chain.  I was impressed that Kevin was able to carry the big heavy chain with one hand while biking!

By the time I drove over with the tractor and pulled out the truck, and then went back to the van and pulled it out (4 tries, I thinking it was in fairly deep!)  I probably didn’t save myself any time.  Plus the time the kids spent walking around!  I’m pretty sure Sophie had a great time though!

It’s been almost a week since we had the corn planter out last.  The fields are still wet enough, each having that little “wet spot” that hasn’t quite dried out yet.  Kevin has been getting lots of practice at cultivating this spring.  He also got a little practice at re-hitching the cultivator to the tractor when the draw pin poped out.  Luckily, Aldon Smith was there to give him a hand with the hydralics, ’cause they can be a little trickey on that tractor.

More ready to plant tomorrow, before it rains again on Thursday!

Managed to get one field of corn planted yesterday.  The field was 90% dry, but still a few wetter spots, although I’m pretty sure it is wetter today!  I really think we’ve had enough rain for a while!

Also had the CoverAll experts come finish up tightning the New Cover.  Because it is a multi-fit cover, there is an extra flap on one side which we hope to be able to open and close for ventilation.  Have to perfect that when we get the time…

The New “Farm View”   (I hope the dirt streak from where we layed it out on the ground washes off!)

New Cover on

Finally, we have not had rain for 4 days in a row!  The fields are drying up nicely, but we still have to watch out for wet spots.  Should be able to get our spring grain planted today or tomorrow.  Corn planted will follow as soon as the sunny weather holds out.

It took us 2 hours to get the cover pulled on, and then we spent the entire rest of the day getting it lashed down.  It is a multi-fit cover that will fit more than one sized building that they keep in stock, so there were a few extra straps and slots that we don’t need.  It also isn’t exactly the right size, so they are coming Monday to sort out all of the little extras, but the pigs are enjoying the brighter interior, (not brighter than no roof, but the white lets through more light than the grey did.) and less rain drops and wind!