Category Archives: Farming Update

2026, animals, crops, Family, Farming Update, Kids, pets, Travel, Uncategorized, work

BACK IN THE SWING OF THINGS

September 12, 2026 xdfben 30 Comments

This week’s farming update from Ben

The soybeans are turning yellow and dropping their leaves. Another week will make a huge difference.

We spent a week outside of Charleston SC visiting my niece and her husband and their two cute little girls, age five and two. Boy, that two year old: She never stops moving! Better them than us. And a wonderful dog, Maggie. A female Doberman. I’ve not had anything to do with Dobermans before, but she was a sweetheart.

These people love their hot weather. I was hot for the whole week we were there. They made a fire one night in their fire pit. IT WAS 80 DEGREES! I kept moving my chair back. But, it was a lovely night and It was a great, much needed vacation.

Our first night and I got to take the five year old to bed. I was pooped out.

While we were gone, our house sitters, G & E, did a fabulous job keeping our dogs occupied. They left the house cleaner than it was when we left. E does a lot of cooking, which was evident by the washed cookie sheets and bread loaf pan on the counter. We need to get them to leave some left overs. And G works at a local nursery and we always come home to fresh cut flowers and even some new plants on the front step. Great people. We’re not sure the dogs were glad to have us come back or not.

Plus our other neighbor, B, collecting eggs and taking care of the chickens. She said she loved her the dogs protected her from the raccoons.

The tree branch that fell down on the deck just before we left got cut up and hauled away. We are so lucky it missed the gutters and missed the lights hanging off the gutters. It broke a leg off one plastic deck chair, and bent one tiki torch. Driving around the farm, there are trees down all over. Lots of trees in fields, which will make harvest difficult. It’s hard to clean them up without damaging more crops. Our neighbors took their cattle out as there was so many trees down on the fence it was easier to take them out than to fix the fences. At least for now. They’ll be fixed before next spring.

And we’ve had a bunch of weird electronic issues since the power was out with that storm. Course the router needed to be rebooted a few times, and the extenders, and the security cameras… got most of them back, but it’s been a process.

The Soil and Water (SWCD) people, and contractor Clint built the new structure to stop erosion.

The back side. The tile drains down in the tree’s to the left.

Clint also built a ‘low water crossing’ at one of our waterways. It tends to be wet in the spring, (that’s why it’s a ‘water way’). He excavated down, placed geo-textile fabric, large rock placed underneath, smaller rock on top, and that way the water can still pass through but the equipment has a place to cross without creating ruts in the soft spring soil.

I am very proud of the work we’ve done the last few year making the farm a better place for the future.

Including pouring concrete.

Last week Kelly and I were compacting gravel for this pad. This concrete is in the main part of the shed, right inside the main door, and is where just about everything gets parked. I’m as excited about this concrete as I have been about all the rest.

Wrap the wire around the rebar, hook the loops, and spin it five times to make it tight. Six twists will break the wire.

Rebar wired together and propped up with rocks, tin cans, empty bottles; Anything I found in the garbage that I thought would be useful. You can buy 2” plastic rebar chairs, but why would I wanna do that?

We had some good help leveling out the concrete. Our son came down with a couple of his buddies. I spent a little more money and ordered a conveyor truck to get the concrete in the shed, that way I could be in there helping and not in the tractor hauling concrete 1/2 a yard at a time in the loader bucket. I am supposedly, the ‘Brains’ of the outfit. I use the term loosely. Jokes on them!

I ordered 5000 psi concrete “garage mix” with fiber and air entrainment. See, sounds like I know what I’m talking about.

You want a bunch of help getting the cement truck dumped out and the concrete spread out. Then there’s a little more time to get it level and time for it to begin to harden before the finishing work begins. And that can be a one person job on a pad this small. It just takes several good people right at the start.

On top of the compacted gravel we get the rebar laid out and tied together using a homemade wire twister. I use fiberglass rebar. I buy wire ties with a loop on each end, then use a paint roller I’ve modified to twist them.

By the time we finished I was pooped out. Man, I am not 30 years old anymore.

The conveyor truck getting set up. We were all working so I didn’t get any pictures of it happening.

Kelly was in charge of the measuring stick and the laser level to get it level.

Looks pretty good for some amateurs. Better than our first round last year.

Humphrey walk through it first. But I’m OK with that. I left his footprints.

HOW OFTEN DID YOU FALL ASLEEP YOURSELF TAKING THE KIDS TO BED?

ANY GOOD BEDTIME STORIES?

2026, animals, chickens, crops, education, Farming Update, Music, Uncategorized

Chickens Love Popcorn

August 29, 2026 xdfben 54 Comments

This week’s Farming Update from Ben

I mean who doesn’t love popcorn, right? (I know there’s a few of you). 

Daughter went to a movie the other day. It was Tuesday so we did the Large Value popcorn (we usually have the refillable bucket, but this came up spur of the moment).  Shortly after she got home it was already soggy. Dang, we love leftover popcorn. I threw it out to the chickens the next morning. You know, back in the ‘70s, when I was in the hospital for three weeks with my leg injury, my mom would make popcorn, put it in a leftover bread bag, and freeze it. Then she would bring it to me in the hospital. You don’t often hear about people using bread sacks anymore, do you? They worked for boot liners and they worked for leftovers. 

See this video of me calling the chickens; they love leftovers, and popcorn all the more. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/P4e7q77LJ1c?si=dfzfUz5Dq5WL9T67

Finally got the last of the straw baled on Sunday. Saturday, I baled and stacked 110 bales in a wagon for the strawberry farm in the neighborhood. He’ll take them in November just before it gets really cold or snows. He’s got a shredder / blower type machine that he can stack about a dozen bales on, then wife or child feeds them into the chute to chop it up and spray it over the berries while he drives down the rows. Looks pretty slick for that job. On Sunday, Neighbor Craig was over and round baled the rest. Got 18 large round bales, called 5×5’s. Five feet wide and about five feet diameter. At some point I’ll get out with the tractor and loader and bale fork on the front and bale lift on the back and pick them up and put them in a row until neighbor Dave picks them up for use as bedding this winter. As I’ve said before since there’s no under seeding planted with the oats, they can sit there for a bit. If there was something planted underneath, and they were left sitting, the bales would smother whatever was growing. I do want to get these fields dug up and planted to rye, so I need them moved sooner than later. 

I called John Deere to come out and check why the big tractor is overheating. I pulled the side panels off.

And I decided, yeah, let’s call a guy. I don’t have that much time right now anyway being back at college and all. I bought this tractor used. It has 11,000 hours on it, which is equivalent to 50,000 miles on a car. And I put about 100 hours on it per year. It came from a local farm, so my local dealer might have some history on it. I don’t. I can tell the radiator hoses are soft, meaning they should be replaced, and it probably needs a water pump and new thermostat. I’m guessing $3500 parts and labor. Will let you know in a month. 

Got new lights installed on a trailer, then went to pick up rebar and a 6″x6″x16′ green treated post for a fence down in the cow yard.

We’re also prepping for more concrete in the shed. Padawan and I excavated dirt this week. Got two loads of gravel delivered for the base. Rented a plate compactor for the weekend. Padawan was out for a couple hours, and he and I worked on digging out the dirt and gravel next to the existing concrete. Man, I am so looking forward to having concrete in here! Another one of those things I wish I’d have done 20 / 30 / 40 years ago! But, you know, money. And life. And I’ll appreciate it more now. (Padawan 2 is back at college).

I changed the spark plugs in the swather, and then I was tired of looking at it. Remember I said I’d drive it around for an hour so it felt needed? I drove it for 20 minutes and called it good. It worked, it made all the scary noises I’ve come to expect, and I parked it back in the shed for next summer. I’ll try to start it once a month and move it back and forth until winter. I say until winter because usually I have something parked in front of it, so I can still start it, but not be able to move it after that. 

At the college I am taking two classes: Music Fundamentals, and Introduction to Humanities. I don’t usually do two classes. But music only has 11 students and I was afraid it would be cancelled so I registered for Humanities and now they’re both going. I signed up for music because I wanted to learn more about WHY I like the music I like. How is a song created? What makes rock sound like rock and country sound like country? And what do they mean when they say, ‘This is in the key of A’? 

And the teacher for Humanities is a great teacher. I’ve taken 3 of her classes before. Both these are online and so far, so good. From what I’m learning so far in chapter 1, I’m pretty good at the Humanities already. I am mostly open minded, and I use a Socratic method of teaching. (Trying to get others to think and answer questions themselves and not simply lecturing).

Anyone familiar with Rhaphidophoridae? Otherwise known as Camel Crickets?

We have had them in our house the last few years. They’re creepy. We have an exterminator / bug guy that does bait stations outside to control mice and rats, so we had him spray the basement too.

The ag co-op had me apply for my crop loan for next year. Got that approved. Saved a $250 application fee. Looks like I can farm again next year.

I’m seeing a few soybeans starting to turn yellow. Haven’t seen anyone chopping corn silage yet, but that will be happening soon. I picked a few ears of corn the other day. It is well dented. Counted 14 kernels around, and 38 long. Usually they’re 16 around, a really impressive ear will be 18. They were both filled all the way to the end, meaning the plant had everything it needed and didn’t need to abort any kernels to survive. Now that was just this one place in this one field. I could go to another field with more rocks and it would look worse.

Acorns are falling too. They are good sized this year. Must have been a good year for acorns. And it seems like some of the barn swallows have started to leave. The world just keeps going around.

THINGS YOU USED TO USE FOR LEFTOVERS YOU DONT USE ANYMORE?

crops, Farming Update, Nature, Uncategorized

IS IT A HARD KNOCK LIFE? REALLY?

August 22, 2026 xdfben 40 Comments

This week‘s farming update from Ben

No, the Straw isn’t baled yet. Keeps freaking raining every two or three days. I checked it Friday morning and it’s wet underneath, so I’ll be raking it, AGAIN, and planning to bale my last 100 bales on Saturday. I have a neighbor lined up for Sunday to round bale whatever is left. I am optimistic for Saturday though. Monday evening I double raked the one field that had not been raked yet, and then I re-raked the field I had Padawan do and then it rained on Tuesday, about half an inch, the wind came up and the temperature dropped and something happened somewhere because our power went out for about an hour. But according to the electric co-op website, there was like 400 people out of power, so something major happened somewhere, but it didn’t take long to fix. And Friday afternoon I raked it all again.

Yeah, So anyway the straw is not baled yet.

I did get the new spark plug wires made and put on the swather and went to change spark plugs and discovered the guys at Zumbrota NAPA, that seemed to know everything, evidently do not know what kind of spark plugs the swather takes. The ones they gave me sure didn’t fit. I picked up the proper ones in Rochester the next day. Haven’t gotten them replaced yet. Maybe Saturday. I greased most of the swather last Saturday, so will finish that and run it around for awhile just to make it feel needed.

We added the 250 bales from last week to the pole barn on Sunday.

Padawan did OK. He’s not a rockstar at this and he sure complains a lot. I asked him later why does he think everything is supposed to be easy? And I thought to myself ‘where does that come from’? Did he not have enough challenges in his life?

The straw this year sure isn’t that bright golden color you’ve come to expect. And there won’t be much oats left in it after the rain and all the raking. That tends to knock out all the loose oats that is left after harvesting. The strawberry farm likes it better that way. I’m just trying to get the stupid stuff done. At least I don’t have anything planted with it that would be getting smothered. In the old days, and sometimes still, oats is just a cover crop to get alfalfa started. Meaning with all the rain and the straw windrow laying out there for a month, it could be smothering the alfalfa underneath. As it is, the grass and weeds are coming on strong and I need to get it dug up soon in order to plant cereal rye. Too much grass and it won’t go through the tillage machine very well.

I started doing some tillage Friday, made three rounds and the tractor overheated and I had steam coming out under the hood. So that took care of that.

If you look at the header photo, it’s interesting that this year there’s so many soybeans right around here. The farm out on the highway is soybeans, our neighbors are soybeans, and then the fields along our driveway are soybeans. It doesn’t mean there’s more soybeans than corn this year, it just means these 50 acres right here are soybeans. Still, interesting.
Next year the neighbors will be corn and mine might be oats. Crop rotation. Corn and soybeans for some guys. Soybeans, oats, corn for me.

On Tuesday when the cold front came through, I was standing out on the college theater loading dock talking on the phone with Kelly and I realized there were bees flying around me. Yellow jackets were coming back to the nest. They knew the weather was changing. It was kind of interesting watching them all return.

There was an online auction that ended in Plainview on Tuesday. I picked up a couple of small things: some barb wire and a wire stretcher tool, and also a couple lots of assorted tools that Padawan can use. It’s always interesting how things sell.

I’m just about out of diesel fuel and gasoline for the Farm. I keep watching the prices, especially on diesel fuel, but it sure doesn’t seem like it’s going down. I filled the truck in Plainview at an off brand station, saving $0.10 / gallon compared to the name brands.

Driving into town one morning and the shadow of my car was directly in line with the lane of the road. I chuckled at the Vehicle / Stonehenge similarity.

WHY DOES PADAWAN COMPLAIN SO MUCH? *

WHO TOLD YOU LIFE WOULD BE EASY?

*I’m beginning to realize sometimes he’s just talking, but it’s his tone. And I told him, If I didn’t know him, I’d fire his ass because his attitude sucks.

He is waiting to hear about another job…

2026, crops, Farming Update, Uncategorized

“Work” work and farm work

August 15, 2026 xdfben 36 Comments

This weeks Farming Update from Ben

I’m back to Work work at the college, so that’s interrupting my home schedule. If only we didn’t live in a capitalistic society so focused on the paycheck. Thoughts on that? Should we consider the barter system?

Last Saturday afternoon I pulled the bale elevator out of the weeds and greased it and oiled the chains and was going to get that set up in the pole barn for unloading straw. And then the hitch broke off the front. It broke off a few years ago and I welded it back on, but evidently not all that well. Now I have a different welder. So I rolled it around to the shed door and moved the welder to the new outlet outside the shop, and used the grinder and cleaned up the edges and welded it back on. Again.

I can be a good welder if I’m welding in a down position, and steel thicker than a pencil. But this is thin and upside down, and thin metal is harder to weld with an old fashioned ‘stick’ welder like I have. Not impossible, and good welders can make it work. I’m not that good of a welder. As they say, practice makes perfect, so I gave it a shot and tried different welding rods and different amperages on the welder and I got it enough to hold for another few years. That’s me in the welding helmet on the cover photo.

On Monday, Noah, Padawan 1 came out. We got the elevator in place, then I took him out and taught him how to rake straw. He doesn’t like driving tractors in the first place, and he said this was really boring. I said yes it is, why does he think I had him doing it? You rake, I’m gonna go find something better to do.

I took a video of him. Let’s try a youtube link:

https://youtu.be/9efkw-5N9XI?si=Q5w-_vbLhI8vzHp9

While he was going round and round, I was checking out the soybeans. Some of them look really good. Waist tall. And then the deer come in and graze off the tops.

And I did random stuff in the shed. Got the pole saw out and trimmed some branches. Several other small random things.

I decided to climb one of the silos because I haven’t been in them in 23 years, since we sold the cows. The silage has decomposed and settled a long ways. The old silo unloaded is still hanging in there.

In and down, The back end of the unloaded

The bottom of the unloader. The spiked wheel is the drive wheel. It normally sticks off to the side. An indication how far the silage has settled.

Looking up the chute. The doors are the steps creating a ladder. Normally this was all full of dust and silage stuck to everything.

Tuesday I worked elections all day in our township.

Wednesday was back to work at the college. I did NOT wear sleeves, rebel that I am. I went home an hour early, and got out and baled two loads of straw.

Another video!

Baling straw
https://youtube.com/shorts/fiUmCrJOSaQ?feature=share

But on Thursday I wore sleeves and made the rounds; Talked with my dean, and several other people and got caught up on all the gossip. Friday I was without sleeves again and just stayed back in the shop.

P1 is bringing a friend to help unload straw on Saturday afternoon. P2 is on vacation this week and goes back to school next week. Besides, he sprained his ankle at home last week and is wearing an ankle brace. So, we’ll see how P3 does.

The basement bathroom is nearly finished. The maple trim is back ordered, but everything else is done and it’s a useable bathroom. Need some art for the walls yet.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

SQUARES OR CIRCLES?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHAPE?

2026, crops, Farming Update

Perseverance

August 8, 2026 xdfben 33 Comments

This weeks Farming Update from Ben

Oh so much this week.

I’m not so grumpy this week, either.

Oats has been harvested and the swather is running.

The End

======================

(Making the story longer…)

I had my own personal odyssey adventure this week. Wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the movie, and didn’t involve quite so many sirens, or shipwrecks, or islands, and no lotus leaves, but several destinations and multiple issues were involved. There was even some bloodshed. Of course I’m talking about the swather.

Everybody says it’s just a plain slant six engine and, you know, just pick a car that had a slant six in it. Well, I tried ‘67 Plymouth Valiant and none of their pieces fit. We tried some ‘74 vehicles to no avail. And then one day I’m walking out of Menards and I see this old car, (it turned out to be a 1958 Pontiac), I see this old car pulling in and it sounded really cool, it sounded better than it looked. And I get in my vehicle and then I think to myself that guy knows what a slant six is and I see him walking into the store. I called out to him and we stood in the parking lot and talked for 10 minutes. His name was Tony. And he suggested I try parts for a Dodge D100 pickup, otherwise try the NAPA store in Zumbrota, a little more rural town, probably a lot more familiar with a swather than anybody in Rochester. I tried the D100 but that didn’t work either.
On Monday I drove to Zumbrota. A dog greeted me in the store, a blue healer like Bailey but without the Pomeranian mixed in, and he just kind of looked me over and didn’t get too involved. He checked out everybody that came in but minded his own business. Occasionally barked at random things, with the same shrill piercing bark that Bailey has.

When I got to the counter, I said I was looking for ignition parts for a John Deere 800 swather and another guy says “Yep they’re in the book over there.” Well, there’s a start. At least they knew what I was talking about. And the guy goes to the book and has trouble finding it and the other guy says it’s under “windrower” and he comes over and flips a few pages to the right place.

He doesn’t have the rotor or the distributor cap, but he finds the ignition points and condenser, and then I get new spark plugs and new spark plug wires and he tells me the NAPA store in Cannon Falls has the distributor and the rotor. I’m this far away from home, what’s another 20 minutes. He gives me the part numbers and in Cannon Falls the guy goes in the backroom and says yeah they’re little dusty but we got them. I told him what I was working on. “Oh yeah, the sidehill hemi.” I haven’t heard that term before but he says yeah, that’s what they call the slant six, ‘the sidehill hemi’ and apparently because this is the industrial version it has a cast-iron crankshaft which is a big deal. I mean if you know you know. I don’t know, but those of you in the know, you know.

By the time I got home on Monday the boys were here and we spent the rest of the day working in the pole barn. Tuesday I had the boys rebuild the door and I had them each pound in some nails just for the experience of it. Surprisingly, number one did really well and much better than I expected. Number two had a little trouble but he managed. I keep telling them someday when they own a home this will matter.

On Wednesday we finished the boards in the pole barn and got the door put back on. I have to get some latches yet but I can cross that project off my list. And I am just tickled about it all.

They started combining oats on Monday.
Got about a third of it done, filled up the grain cart, and then couldn’t get their truck started. Rounded up another truck, and then it rained overnight. The co-op said everybody’s oats has been pretty good this year. So was it the fact I planted it on soybean fields, was it the weather, was it planted early, fertilizer, fungicide? I don’t know, the only thing different I did was the crop rotation: Oats on soybeans, rather than oats on corn. But if everybody’s was good then who knows.

They finished the oats on Thursday. Whew! Ended up about 65 bushels / acre and good test weight. Price is down.

I mowed weeds, took the mower off, tried to power wash it, but now the powerwasher won’t run. Jeepers… if it’s not one thing, it’s your mother.

I put the loader back on, moved some stuff, took the loader back off, hooked the baler up, had P2 cut grass, P1 pulled out wagons for straw and checked tires. I cleaned out the pole barn to be ready for straw. Welded the frame of the rake back together, double raked some of the straw fields (meaning I put two rows into one) A heavier windrow makes a better bale, and not so many trips around the field. I’m only planning 2 or 3 loads in the barn (300-450 bales) and will have large round bales made of the rest. A neighbor said he would take those.

So, yeah, It’s been a busy week.

And those swather parts: It was Friday before we got to it. I had P1, the car guy do some of it. I told him he can become the expert on these old parts for his age group. And the swather started right off! Drove it to the shed so we can replace spark plugs and spark plug wires. It was 3:30 on Friday and I said we’re calling this a win and we’re stopping there.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE ODYSSEY MOVIE? READ THE BOOK?

HOW ABOUT THE ILLIAD?

2026, animals, Automotive, chickens, crops, Farming Update, Music, Nature, Theatre, Uncategorized

WARNING: TWENTY FOOT CIRCLE OF EXASPIRATION!*

August 1, 2026 xdfben 23 Comments

*Thanks to JimEd Poole for the phrase and T-shirt suggestion.

The vacation is over. Farming sucked this week.

The highlight of my week was putting a new windshield wiper on my car because it actually clicked into place and stayed there when I turned on the wipers. I’m calling that a win.

To sooth my mood, I listened to the music of Les Paul. Are you familiar with him and his wife, Mary Ford, and their multi track recording of “How High The Moon? It’s really pretty cool.

He’s a pioneer of the solid body electric guitar, and his use of recording techniques such as over dubbing and multi track recording was revolutionary.

Mary Ford was an outstanding musician herself. Reading about her reveals 4 marriages, alcoholism, and sadly, died at age 53, of complications from alcohol abuse, after eight weeks in a diabetic coma. Kind of broke my heart…

One of my favorite recordings is “Chester and Lester”, Les Paul and Chet Atkins. Which leads me to “Neck and Neck”, Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. Which takes me to Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris and “All The Roadrunning”.

And that’s all the duos’s I can link because I don’t have any other Emmylou Harris.

So the farm.

Last Saturday the neighbors came out to combine oats. They made a round and a half, plugged up the combine with the grass, (remember, I said that was going to be a problem) And then, I think they were hot and dirty and mad and they went home. I’m sure he was as hot and frustrated as I would’ve been. I said that I thought they started on the worst field, and they should try some of the other fields because there was a lot less grass in them. And I don’t know why, but they never came back and they told me I’d have to cut the oats, sort of the traditional way of swathing it and then picking it up from there. That gives the grass a chance to dry out. Well if I’d have known I was going to swath it, I’d have got my swather ready before we went on vacation for a week. I tried Saturday afternoon to get the swather started and it’s always a bugger to get going at first. Sunday I was working on a show all day. And Monday was hot and humid and miserable and it was a Monday all over. I went to three different auto part stores, and I know I’ve talked about this before; the swather has a Chrysler ‘slant 6’ engine in it. These things were bulletproof and there was a million of them around back in the 70s. But the trick now is finding a mechanic old enough to know what a slant 6 is. And that’s been my problem. I’ve gotten a lot of parts that don’t fit and we can’t seem to find ones that do fit. John Deere doesn’t carry parts for the motors anymore. And I was in quite a foul mood most of Monday. By Tuesday I had mellow out a bit and by Wednesday hired a couple of guys to come and swath the oats for me. What’s a couple more hundred bucks to hire them…

And now, of course, after a month of no rain, now it’s raining on Friday. Need the rain, just not right now. Because now my oats is laying down. But at least the oats was standing well when it was cut! Yay! I’m afraid it’s dried up to nothing, so maybe some rain will help it rehydrate. And then eventually the swath will dry and then we’ll get it combined and then I’ll get some straw baled. The neighbors have had their Oats and Straw done for two or three weeks. But we’re not talking about that.

It was a nice gentle all day rain, and we have over an inch. I did bookwork, and other computer stuff, then organized the pencil drawer in the shop, and fixed a crack on the hood of one of the lawn mowers.

I did take a couple hours of one afternoon, when I wasn’t doing anything else, and painted our downstairs bathroom that’s almost done being remodeled. It’s done except for the countertop and sink, and toilet. The countertop is coming August 10 and I would expect a plumber a day or two after that. And while I was painting over the pink bathroom I was singing to myself Lou and Peter Berryman’s “Why Am I Painting My Living Room“.

The padawans were out and we started replacing boards around the bottom of the pole barn. It was hot and one of them complains a lot. Eventually I give him a new rule: “No Bitching”. Then he gets moody but I can handle that.

Front boards done; working on the side. And the door needs to be rebuilt.

I had rock delivered for the road. Ten loads of 18 tons each. Spending money hand over fist again. Can’t take it with you.

Never underestimate the value of a good driver who knows how to spread rock.

I also got stung by a bee working with the boys. Cripes. No allergies or anything, just another annoyance.

I cleaned the radiators on the big tractor, (AC, hydraulic oil, and water radiators) and worked up a small field that a friend plants for a deer plot. (His theory is the deer will eat that instead of my crops. It’s a nice thought that doesn’t work). And after the oats and straw is finally done, I’ll be planting cereal rye as a cover crop.

Chicken mama is down to 3 chicks… but the co-parenting guinea mom still has around maybe 15? She keeps them out of site most of the time and it’s hard to get a good count of them.

I mowed some more weeds. I finished lighting one show and started another, and this one is a drag show and a lot of fun.

There was a turkey buzzard sitting on a fence post one day. I thought, ‘well if that doesn’t sum up my week.”

I’ll end with this:

WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF A FOWL MOOD?

HOW MANY YO-YO’s DID YOU HAVE AS A KID? COULD YOU DO TRICKS?

2026, animals, chickens, crops, Farming Update, Movies, Theatre, Travel, Uncategorized

Where in the world has Ben been?

July 25, 2026 xdfben 38 Comments

This weeks farming update from Ben.

We’ve been gone for a week. Returned to one last day of nice weather before it gets hot again.

Where were we?

Every restaurant was so loud you couldn’t have a conversation. We postulate the ambient noise level was so loud that everyone else has to get louder.

There are many wonderful parks, lots of free green space, art, and statues.

It seems like we had a hard time figuring out the subway ticket system but we got around and managed to make do with the kindness of strangers and only losing money on one ticket system I still haven’t figured out what I bought that didn’t work. Que sera sera

Took a Commuter train to visit a couple attractions. First time for that for us.

Sunday after the World Cup finals, one train was packed, but everyone was very nice. We laughed about how tight we were crammed in there. Kelly and I joked a full train on Sunday is probably different than a full train on Thursday at 5:00 PM.
The Wednesday 5 PM train was full, and seemed to skip one stop, and at the next stop, which was the one we wanted, only one door opened and we couldn’t get there before it closed and the train moved on. Daughter was VERY put out. A guy on the train said “I have missed so many stops…”

Traffic lights seem to only be a suggestion to some people.

A few more street signs would be really helpful.

I didn’t pack any shirts with sleeves!

We travelled there as Kelly had a work conference. We all had a few vacation days together before she had to ‘work’ work.
Daughter and I made our own fun after that. Saw some movies – in 3D!- and had a good time.

My steps the last week average about 8500. Daughter, constantly moving, averages 12,000 a day.

We had lots of help on the farm to keep things in hand.

The chicken from last week still has some chicks left; I haven’t gotten a good count as they’re hiding in the tall grass. But maybe 5 out of her 13. We’ve always said, the real world is a tough place for chicks.

And now we have multiple baby guineas.

At least guineas are good at co-parenting.

We want more guineas, but didn’t want to stick a guest with baby chick care. So we’ll see. The photo was from Tuesday when the Palawan’s saw them. I haven’t found them yet on Friday. Kelly saw them briefly, and then the mom seems to hide them so she can get out and eat. That’s kind of unusual.

Padawan 1 is broke, so I left him a list of projects. Darn if those missing soft skills don’t make it harder than it had to be for both of us as I had to remind him to do a few jobs, and offer help by text when he’d ask questions. And he made a few jobs harder. Which is how we learn, right?
P2 came out few times too. I’m not sure how much I’m paying them for work, or how much was goofing around.
Well, QSS all over again.

Thanks to Rick and Betty for picking up the mail. Thanks to John and Tamsin for taking care of the chickens, Tamsin, and the dogs, John. Gracie and Evan house sat and watered flowers.

I’m hoping to get the oats harvested Saturday. It’s still standing good, which is great, but the grass in it is getting bad. That only means it will combine a little tougher (because a combine harvester doesn’t like green stuff) and the straw windrow will have to dry out before I can bale it.

The corn got sprayed with fungicide by helicopter. Corn fungus’ have become a big issue the last few years as they move up from the south and the hot weather acerbates the issue.

I’ll post a few more photos after the location has been determined.

EVER HOUSE SAT? OR HAD HOUSE SITTERS? TELL US ABOUT IT

WHAT DECOR DO YOU MISS FROM THE 1950’s or ‘60?

Extra photos:

2026, crops, Farming Update, Medicine

Two Right Feet

July 18, 2026 xdfben 32 Comments

It’s so hot—

It’s so hot that I renamed my pig “Bacon.”

It’s so hot that I’m using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit just to have a lower number.

It’s so hot I saw the Devil buying an air conditioner.

It’s so hot I almost called my ex so I could be around something shady.

=================================

Another busy week just doing stuff. Meetings and stuff. I didn’t even have the padawans come out.

We had a hen hatch out 13 babies.

I cut grass one afternoon, I watered our new trees. Twice. I cut the grass around the trees.

I got the new steering hose back on the tractor and added 1.5 gallons of hydraulic oil that had leaked out, and I found and tightened a loose bracket underneath from when I ran over that stump earlier this spring, and we’re good to go again.

The corn just keep growing.

The height doesn’t equal better yield, (unless you’re chopping the whole plant for silage), but it doesn’t make the ear or grain any better. It just means the plant had good soil and good moisture.

The oats is ready to be harvested anytime. The sooner the better as the quack grass is overtaking the oats in places. Early reports of harvest is fairly positive. We’ll see.

I get an email every week showing the price of gasoline and diesel fuel.

It *was* going the right direction…I was starting to think about filling our farm barrel again.

——-

I have a problem. Well, more of an inconvieniece than a problem: I have a hard time making the peddles work on our lawn mowers. Or anything with a foot pedal operated by the right foot.

Yellow is forward, teal is reverse, and red is brake.

Because that’s the leg I hurt when I was 14 years old. In fact it was July 17 of 1978 when I did that. Forty eight years it’s been broken / messed up. But that stuff never bothers us so much when we’re young does it.

Anyway, my foot doesn’t move much. It’s sort of stuck out at a 45° angle to the right. And I wear a brace to support the ankle. I can’t twist the foot in, or move it up and down much. Meaning on the lawn mower, with the two peddles for forward and reverse next to each other, depending how exactly its built, I can’t twist my foot in to get ONLY the forward pedal, or I can’t push it down enough to move. I’ve made various modifications over the years including attaching a three inch block of wood on the pedal. If I take the brace off, I have more movement, but the foot hurts more too. I’ve tried scooching over and sitting sideways in the seat, but that’s not the best solution.

All this to say, I am working on modifications to the pedals on one of our lawn mowers to get my foot on there.

We use this one for mowing between the trees because it’s a little smaller and fits between the rows better.

This is modification version 3.3 and it’s almost there; I need a vertical block on the right end. That would provide both a stop for my foot, and room to push down without hitting the reverse pedal.

In a perfect word I’d move the reverse pedal out to give me more room. But that’s a little more involved.

WHAT INCONVIENCES HAVE YOU IN YOUR LIFE? Go ahead, complain for a day. You’re allowed.

2026, crops, Farming Update, Government, Mysteries, Technology

Monday All Over Again

July 11, 2026 xdfben 34 Comments

Mondays can be tough. Monday two weeks ago I accidentally ripped open a bag of flour in our pantry, which is also called the ‘doghouse’ as it’s a completely impractical storage area six feet deep, with a three foot door opening three feet off the floor, inside a closet. Because Heaven forbid my mom would waste any storage area. My family and I were recently talking about this area; as kids we had to climb in there to get things for mom because the adults could never get in there.

Long story longer, a month ago I needed something in a hurry from a tote behind a shelf unit in the doghouse. I had to move a bunch of stuff to get the shelf out to get the tote out. I had junk scattered all over the kitchen. And it all sat for a few days because I wanted Kelly’s help putting stuff back. And then early Monday morning, I was doing something in there that I don’t recall and something shifted and as I tried to shift it back, I ripped open the bag of flour. Then I knocked a 48 pack of AA batteries on the floor. It was a new package and batteries went everywhere. I closed the door and went to an eye appointment.

Later in the day, after my eyes cleared up, I started cleaning up the flour and trying to organize. I bought some pull out shelf slides and cut some boards and then realized if you pull out the shelf unit, you can’t get in the closet. So you’d have to be standing in the closet before you pull out the shelf, meaning you’d have to move the stuff in there first, and at that point Kelly said let’s re-evaluate this idea. Always the practical one that woman.

This last Monday I stopped at the Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to report my crops for the year. It’s called certification and it’s how the government tracks our production for all those farming handouts we get. I worked for this office back in the 1980’s when it was called the ASCS office. Certifications were easier back then. I had emailed this year’s certification maps into the office twice, trying to get the process done correctly, and there were still some questions. An hour and a half later all was well and I am certifiable. I mean certified. The agent helping me did a great job and when I told her this process was easier 30 years ago she gave me a blank look. Well, it was, I said. It just was. Trust me.

I went home and was gonna mount the loader back on the tractor for an upcoming lumber delivery. Usually this is a quick five minute job. But I bumped something and something shifted and bolts popped out and the support stands gave way. I stopped the tractor there so as not to make things worse. And then things got sketchy. I used a bunch of those wood blocks I was just saying I didn’t know why I had so many of. And I used a thing called a ‘Porta Power’ that I bought at an auction, and a jack, and a metal stand I’ve been saving for 15 years just for this purpose. I said some prayers and got it all jacked back up and the bolts replaced and the stands back in place and got the loader mounted. Whew!

I thought I was gonna start mowing weeds this week. I haven’t gotten that done yet. Got some other stuff done though.

Tuesday morning I donated platelets. It was my 80^th donation, meaning 10 gallons (which I quibbled about; donating whole blood 80 times might equal 10 gallons, but not donating platelets even at two units / donation. Still, I got a 10 gallon pin and a new hat.

Our basement bathroom remodeling has begun… I don’t think it will take long as nothing major is really happening. The old cement board shower walls have been removed, and a new shower stall will be installed, a new vanity, and new toilet. With bidet!

I got lumber delivered…more work for me and the boys.

JULY

July 4, 2026 xdfben 65 Comments

This week’s farming update from Ben

Happy 4^th of July! Sparklers for everyone!

It’s been hot. Got the fan on in the chicken coop. At the moment, daughter just came back from her walk and the dogs are panting. She was smart enough to cut the walk short. Wednesday when it was so SO hot, I convince her to just make her laps in the shop, the only place we have AC. How funny is that? The shop has AC, the house does not. Well, just how it goes. Don’t want the tools to rust you know.

The boys and I found work in the shop this week. Sure glad I’m not milking cows in this weather. I’d have been grumpy and ornery. And hot and sweaty.

Man, life is just relentless. I went back to read last week’s farming update so I’d remember what I’ve already told you. Padawan 1 quit another job and he’s back with me. Which is OK, but I’ve still got P2 around. I can’t really afford both. And together…well, you know, two nineteen year olds… It’s more work for me to keep them both working independently. And they still chatter and make noises. Such nice young men… can’t wait to see how they are in about five years.

We’ve gotten 2.5” of rain the last few days. The latest drought monitor map has us as “abnormally dry” back on June 30, so presumably we’re in a little better shape now. We don’t need two inches in two days, but an inch over a day, every week would be nice. Down around Grand Meadow, they got 8″ of rain. My goodness…crazy stuff.

One day in the shop I had P1 in the cab of the tractor trying to figure out why the blinkers would only work randomly. I had him start in the fuse box. It has a diagram on the cover so you know which fuse is what. Somehow he still managed to read it backwards. Considering this is all kinda new to him I wouldn’t be so concerned. However as he’s rebuilding the engine in his car, I wish I had more confidence in his skills… Eventually he deduced the switch was bad. He removed the steering wheel and got the cover off so we could see the multi function switch. High and low beams, horn, and blinkers. I called John Deere. $665 for a new switch. Well. Blinkers are overrated. He squirted some circuit cleaner in there and reassembled. It took a few tries and he had to take the steering wheel back off to bend up some tabs to keep the nut holding the steering wheel tight. Again, should I be concerned about the lack of attention to detail? Well, it’s not my car engine he’s taking apart.

I took the boys on a road trip. We picked up a part in Plainview and then to my tire place, Appel Tire in Millville. Dropped off four tires: The one that was packed full of mud this spring which I cut apart to get the mud out of, a tire off the generator meaning I just needed a used tire to hold the air INSIDE, and I replaced two tires on the haybine. We went to lunch at the only place in town, Whiskey Dicks. Brat burgers were the special and they were really good. The boys spent an hour talking like hillbillies, which kind of annoyed me. Then we picked up the tires ($476.52) and came back home.

P1 mounted the tires back on to the haybine. (Funny how all the machinery I bought in the 1990’s or 2000’s needs new tires these days. The haybine, wagons, the corn planter, the grain drill. Like I should only expect 25 or 30 years out of a set. It’s not the tread, it’s the sidewalls that crack and wear out.) On a car, there are the studs, or bolts that stick out and you fit the wheel over them and add nuts. On farm machinery there’s a bolt that goes through the wheel and threads into a hub. So a little fussier getting things lined up. And it gave him trouble and he got mad and didn’t want to listen and I just had to walk away. It took him an hour but he got the two new tires on. It doesn’t help when I point out he’s letting a couple tires make him mad. There’s that lack of a soft skill again. It’s such a shame when you get in your own way, you know?

P2 has more soft skills. He was mounting a couple new LED work lights to the rear of the cab. I thought we’d have to run new wires up to the top lights and splice them in. But that’s when I noticed connectors tucked under the fender as part of the blinkers. Often, the entire wiring harness is installed and then only some of it is used. The lights that we added would have been part of a ‘premium’ lighting package. Up in the cab, I ordered a new switch for those lights ($67), and it came with a couple wires that simply plugged into a connector and BOOM! More lights. Can’t wait to need them. Looking forward to it.

P2 also figured out how to get my shop garage door to talk to my phone again. It used to work, then I think I hit ‘factory reset’ or something. I gave him the manual and my phone, and eventually using his phone, it all works again and I can open the shop door from your house. He told me never to get the book out again. He did it all by asking AI how to make it work. Crazy stuff. And that’s why I gave that job to him.

Crops are looking good. The beans are starting to fill in, the corn is well over knee high; it’s at least waist high if not chest high in some fields. The oats is starting to turn color. I picked up two bales of twine last week, because we’ll be doing straw before you know it.

Half way through 2026 already.

WHAT DID YOU DO FOR THE BICENTENIAL?

WHERE WERE YOU IN 1976?

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