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Lilacs & Farming & Parts, Oh My!

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

Oh, the lilacs! What a wonderful smell. It’s one of my favorite things about springtime.  

The neighbors who got corn planted before the rains, that corn is up. My oats is up and looking good. 
 
Every week I say what a crazy busy week the previous week has been. Same again. Life. It’s just relentless…  

I mentioned how Saturday I got most of my corn planted.

It makes a huge difference having the coop spread fertilizer before I plant. I do pay a little more for them to apply it, and it’s broadcast over the entire field, rather than when using the planter, it’s applied right in the row, but it also saves me refilling the planter every 7 acres. Seed I can plant 26 acres before refilling.  
 
I hooked onto the chisel plow one day.  I had one field that was soybeans last year, and never got harvested because the soybean crop was so poor due to the drought, and this field had weed pressure, so it needed to be plowed up this spring. It’s interesting the different weed pressure two fields right next to each other can have. Here’s the one that was beans last year:

And next to it is this field covered in lambsquarter.

Down the road, there is a guy who has a food plot for deer and turkey hunting, and since it’s next to a field I plant anyway, I work that field for him. And because he wants it to stand over winter, I have to make an extra trip back in the spring to chop up the corn stalks or plow up the stubble. He covers my cost, and it’s just and extra hour or two.

 Both those fields worked up really nicely. I was afraid they’d be a little wet yet, but it worked exceptionally well.  Then I switch back to the soil finisher to level off all the chisel plowed corn stalks, so the coop can spread fertilizer for soybeans. The plowing leaves the fields rough, and if they applied fertilizer on that ground, it would get buried too deep after being worked smooth. Now that it’s smooth, I’ll just work it a couple inches deep to incorporate the fertilizer. I have two corn fields to plant yet. They were a little wet when I planted the others.  

 A hydraulic hose blew out while digging. That hose lifted one wing of the digger. I was able to keep going, and finish what I wanted to finish, there was just a sag on one end when I lifted it to turn on the ends.  I took the hose off, and also replaced a broken shank that night.

The shovel on the new shank is worn a bit. When new, they have a much sharper point. But this one is good enough for another season. Seems like lately it’s been 9PM before I get in the house at night. Kelly is stage managing a show and has rehearsal every night, so we have a late supper together. Wednesday morning, the dogs and I made a trip to Plainview for parts. It was busy at the parts counter. The guy helping me answered the phone: “Jack, swamped! Five deep at the counter. Call you back!”   

Hydraulic hose is expensive. This was 1/2″  hose and it’s almost $9 / foot. I needed 10′, they cut it to length and crimp on the needed ends, $120. I also picked up some bolts for the gear box on the brush mower, some extra clips for the shovels on the soil finisher shanks (for when I lose the next one), an oil filter for the lawn mower and gator, plus cab filters for both tractors, engine oil, fuel, and air for the tractors, and some grease, and it was $998. The air filters are $100 each. Good thing they last for 3 years. 

I added 104 gallons of diesel fuel to the tractor, added 2.5 gallons of hydraulic oil that was lost due to the broken hose, and finished working up the corn stalk stubble. Course I had my two tractor buddies.

Luna doesn’t whine in the tractor, and once in a while she sits on Bailey. But otherwise, she just stands the whole time.  

I appreciate my tractors so much. I think I wrote once about not wanting junk, and that’s part of what I appreciate about the tractors so much. I enjoy being out in the field and driving them and when I get home and get out, I pat them on the hood. They make me happy, and I feel lucky to have them. 
 
Thursday the coop applied fertilizer.

End of the school year and I’m trying to spend down my budget. I do a lot of scenic painting using a hand pump sprayer. This yellow one has been here since I started here in 2006. I’ve used a lot of cheap ones, and this year I bought two new ones. They’re German, and they’re $90 each, but they are good! Spezial-Druckspruher! “Special Pressure Sprayer” indeed!

I have the Rochester Montessori School bringing ‘Annie Jr’ into the college theater, so I’ll be working here a few days. 
 
Mom turns 98 Sunday. More on her next week.  

FAVORITE FOREIGN ITEM?  

43 thoughts on “Lilacs & Farming & Parts, Oh My!”

  1. My bad – forgot to click on “Featured” which pops it to the top!

    ALSO – Blevins tomorrow. 2 p.m. Occasional Caroline’s!!

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  2. Rise and Shine, Baboons, from JacAnon,

    For years I had a set of China espresso spoons that I bought in Paris. There were 6 of them. Slowly the handles broke until–then there were none. But I loved those little spoons decorated with lavender sprigs. I also have several Norwegian wood carvings that cause me to think about my trip there. I love those, too.

    OT–This morning I am going to the Hennepin Co Master Gardener plant sale after the initial rush. I want some strawberry plants for my DIL and a guam plant (also knows as Indian Feather). Last year it was a madhouse. Then I finish setting up my soaker hoses and can plant my veggies. WooHoo. The 1/2″ of rain last night was ideal.

    OT#2–Yesterday Clyde noted the size of the Chaska Costco. I have seen the building site. He is correct–the building and parking lot is massive. Clyde, you must have seen this on the way to the Arboretum which I also visited yesterday. It was a glorious day.

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  3. Well, we have splurged lately and ordered chorizo and ham and olives from a company that imports them from Spain, as well as farro grain, orcchieti pasta, shelf stable gnocchi, and olives from another company that imports from Italy. It is all delicious, except the olives are all for Husband. I don’t like olives all that much.

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  5. Our home is filled with Japanese items, some of which Robin’s parents acquired in Japan in the ‘50s and ‘60s and some of which we have acquired since. It would be difficult to choose any one of them as a favorite.

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  6. I guess my favorite foreign object is the wooden Buddha statue that my dad brought home from the Korean War. When I was young, my mom made me use furniture oil on it and it was polished often until it got darker and darker. I don’t know what kind of wood it is. I don’t oil it anymore. Maybe I should but I’m really not sure. It’s a wood that is soft enough to hand carve. It’s smiling face has been a comfort to me since I was a child.

    I also have a collection of Egyptian baskets from my aunt. She and my uncle lived in Saudi Arabia for years just before the Gulf War. My uncle was an engineer for a construction company contracting for the US government. He laid fiber optic cable through the desert. He also worked on the construction of the University of Riyadh, and some hotels. They were there for almost 20 years. She was sent home during the Gulf War. It wasn’t safe for women at the time. She described not being allowed to work (she was a teacher), not being allowed to drive, and being required to wear a burqa with her arms and head completely covered. After the Gulf War, she went back briefly. She and my uncle went to Egypt for about a year. She bought a number of baskets. One is a Moses basket and one is a large beehive basket. There are also a number of smaller beehive baskets. They’re colorful and charming and I love them. She returned to Rockford, IL, where they had a house and didn’t return to Saudi as my uncle finished up his time there. I got the baskets when they moved to a smaller home in Rockford.

    I also like Italian wines.

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      2. Renee, that is an excellent “default” wine if you’re in a restaurant and looking for a wine that goes well with a lot of foods, is reasonably priced, and tastes pretty darn good most of the time.

        I can’t ever recall having a bad or disappointing M d A in a restaurant. Many times the wine has been excellent.

        Chris

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    1. He was an immensely talented musician, whom David Bowie, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and countless others credited as an influence. He was dad to Matt Koerner, Mia Koerner and me. Grandpa to Nick, William, Charlie, Theo and EJ.

      “Spider” John Koerner passed away at 2:35am this morning. My brother Matt Koerner, his grandkid EJ Kalmbach and I were at his side. The music world lost a great artist, and we lost Grandpa John.

      The rest of the details will come soon. Sleep first.

      – Chris Kalmbach

      ____

      I’ve seen stars in the daytime

      I’ve seen sunshine at midnight

      I’ve seen good guys do wrong

      And bad guys do right

      I’ve seen black crows and white seagulls fly the perfect flight

      And another day never fails to bring another night

      The moon sails around the Earth

      The Earth sails around the Sun

      And our own turning around

      Counts the days one by one

      First breath in a strange land

      Breathless of the dealing with the last hand

      In between the dream you dream

      And the shifting of the sands.

      – Spider John Koerner

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  10. I have a fair few items from my various travels. On the bookshelf in my bedroom where I can see them, I have two beaded animal sculptures, one elephant, one wild pig from South Africa. I have a replica of a Tang horse from China. I have a llama from Peru. I also have two toritos from Peru and I have some nested dolls from St. Petersburg. This is just in my bedroom.

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  11. I have a Japanese car. It’s been all right. Nothing special. Lots of Japanese tech. Same. Nothing special. How can a person avoid it. Bought some high priced German knives. One rusted three weeks after I got them. They are bulking at taking them back. Can’t turn around without import medical folks. M.D.s don’t impress me. Many of aides at Sandra places are from many places. Ethiopia, Nepal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Ecuador, D.R., Korea, India. Several African nations, not sure which. They impress me, with only a couple exceptions.
    Clyde

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  12. Toyotas for sure. We are a six-Toyota family! (Not all at once, of course!!!) The Parmaggiano Reggiano from Costco. And our trust Swiss Army knife. Oh yeah, pretty much any French wine that I can afford or am willing to pay for. I sometimes splurge on Champagne or Sauterne.

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. I love Toyota too, but I traded my Rav for a Honda Civic. I wanted a Corolla hatchback but I would have waited 10 months for it. I’m loving my new Civic!

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  16. If I could find it for sale in the USA, I’d get a case of Taiwan Red String. I’ve run out of the heavy duty stuff, and only have some that is spun Ike twine left. Well, there’s always next year’s trip…

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  19. From France, I still have a 50 ml. bottle of Creme de Cassais, which I just tasted and it’s still pretty darn good.

    And a small painting by an unknown French artist, whose daughter was promoting his art when we were in (?) Arles. (It’s been nine years already, and so much is forgotten.)

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