May flowers bring spring showers

Well, this week has been exciting! Almost as exciting as graduating boot camp and finally getting off Parris Island. But it comes in a very close second. As I lightly alluded to last week, I was invited to join Bill Zortman on his radio show. Hold the phone and let me tell you.

I’ve never been in a radio station, much less in close proximity to those fancy microphones. Cool would be quite the understatement. With being a journalism major back in the day, you’d think I’d might have had some experience with that but I guess the profs didn’t want to lose people to the dark side of the more ‘glorious’ aspect of news reporting. If you ever get a chance to work with Bill or join him on his show, jump on that like you have ninja skills with NBA star reflexes.

He was the perfect host and so charming to talk with that I almost forgot I was on live air (not quite though). I most certainly did forget that I had been a little nervous and hoping that I wouldn’t forget a word and need a thesaurus. During my little segment with Bill, we talked about planting – both here and in Canuckland, as well as the different crops we plant there. We touched upon my blog (this one!) and I was able to give a little shout out where to find it. This led into how I became the hyphenated farmer’s wife. 

Quick recap, found my now humorous hubby on ChristianMingle.com which culminated in marriage (obviously) and me moving to Canuckland and the joys of that experience. (Those joys may be found in previous posts in 2016.) Also, I come back to the home of my heart’s memories, SoDak, and farm with my dad; splitting my time between two farms, families and countries. I’ll never be bored with this life.

Bill Zortman (left), David Kolsrud (back right) and me. Photo credit: Lisa Meinders

Thank you, Bill Zortman, for the opportunity to join you on your show last Wednesday. You can find him on 1320 AM or 107.9 FM KELO Newstalk in SoDak on  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 9am - 11am hosting the It’s Your Business show. Or you can find his blog at http://kelo.com/blogs/its-your-business-with-bill-zortman/

I'd had the chance to make the acquaintance of one David Kolsrud with tru Shrimp. He was there on Bill's show as well speaking about the developing shrimp business in Minnesota. It sounds like a unique diversifying opportunity for the agricultural community as the shrimp are fed soybean meal. Keep your eyes peeled and ears bat-like tuned as this idea possibly becomes realized as legislature discusses it.

Planting is roaring to a close like a train into the station. The sun and wind have finally made it possible to get those wet spots along creeks and sloughs finished without the sinking feeling of your planter bogging down in the muck. My farm pup is showing signs of boredom now that first rush of the season is slowing. Maybe I could teach him out to clean out seed boxes? Hmm. Well, it was a thought.

It’s not every day this happens. We can definitely check off ‘well made’ on its list of qualities. You know how it goes. You go back for a routine check of the planter and you notice that a bolt is missing or about to drop its pack and let go of this life. So you get the tools you need and turns out you need a little water to get some mud off that’s covering a key sensor (the kind that either lets you plant or not). What do you do? You grab your water bottle, of course, because anything in farming is fair game even if it means you’ll be a little dehydrated so planting can continue.

A double check and triple check are performed to make sure all the tools made it back into the tractor because, really, no one likes walking a section of field to find their favorite wrench or screwdriver. You have to have your eagle eyes on for that joyful walk, usually filled with muttering and thoughts of how to tie your tools to yourself. Meanwhile, Mr. Water bottle has been forgotten. 

He was discovered missing when you reach for a drink of water and the dreadful realization hits, ‘I left it on the planter.’ He still holds water amazingly enough but his capacity seems to have flattened out a bit.

The one downside to spring and the fun of planting is the lawn mowing. I know you thought I had the saying wrong when I titled this “May showers bring spring flowers” but this May really has brought the spring flowers and the mowing. The flowers this spring have popped and flourished in comparison to last year.

Of course, that means the lawn is growing when you’re not looking. It seems to go from golf course green-like to wild and wooly, no-one-lives-here kind of thing. Uff da.

May your spring be warm, the grass short and non-flattened water bottles be near you.

Rain. Garden. Cloud

Rain. Every farmer’s dream or annoyance depending; of course, on what stage the fields are in. Recently there was a nice spell of wet weather in the rain-washed prairies so I went back north to Canuckland. There was a day and a half of ‘nice’ weather to work in. If you can call a brisk north wind puffing cold drafts down your neck ‘nice.’ 

The handy hubby had some time in the amount of spare change to work with me and he thought it was the perfect opportunity to put the vegetable garden in. Now, when he’d asked how big I had wanted the garden I said ‘small.’ Turns out ‘small’ now describes the well-defined borders of my new garden in the form of 30 feet by 40 feet.  Uff da. He’d gotten so excited about having a producing veggie garden with all kinds of yummy food that he had gone ahead and planted the sweet corn. Awesome! One less item I would have to plant. Imagine my shock when he’d planted four rows, with a couple different varieties thrown in for giggles. I think I can see a lot of blanching and freezing corn in my future this summer.  Oh, and shucking the ears. Perhaps I’ll design an outfit that will blend with all the silk that’s sure to stick like spider webs.

Shortly after planting all the veggies (I hope family and neighbors like cucumbers) and potting up a few of my new barrel planters (yay for flowers!) the rain caught up with me. Well, the ‘automatic’ watering system has kicked in. Finally. 

Since the rain followed me north like it had a tow line hooked to my truck hitch, I thought I’d take my chances and hopes for warmer weather down south.  Pack the truck, load the pup (in the back seat, not the front!) and off I go again. It’s always so nice to hear the ‘welcome home’ from the border crossing officer. 

Turns out while the rain ‘stayed mainly on the plain’ and in Canuckland, clouds were my constant companion. (Please tell me someone caught the My Fair Lady reference. Anyone?) Clouds are funny things, always changing and going somewhere.  But hey, at least there’s no chance of sunburn, right?

Tomorrow, I have the wonderful opportunity to speak with Bill Zortman on the Agri Business radio show. Perhaps if you have a tuned radio, you might drop in for a listen. Stop by around 10am on 1320 AM or 107.9 FM KELO Newstalk in SoDak.

Fun in the sun… and planting

You thought that would lead to me saying ‘fun in the sun at the beach,’ didn’t you? Maybe not. You’re a smart cookie, you know the positive end from the negative on a battery and that I usually talk about farming. Good on you.  Of course, whenever someone talks about fun in the sun they usually don’t mention a word about sunscreen. Or about ear protection. No, I don’t have a loose connection. Me, being of the fair-skinned, blonde Scandinavian garden variety, consider sunscreen to be an essential component of my PPE (personal protection equipment). The other part would be that ear protection (hereby shortened to ‘ear pro’). 

When I first really got into farming and working with dad, I went out to my local hardware store and bought some ear pro. Those big yellow ear muffs that cover the whole ear were my golden ticket to my hearing self-preservation. Additionally, I bought two. A spare you would think. Nah. One for my dad in hopes that one day I won’t have to talk in a deep bass for him to hear me (if that was genetically possible).  So I’ve got him ‘trained’ to reach for a pair the majority of the time. Hey, 65% of the time is still majority. I asked him the other day how he liked the ear pro. His response, ‘what?’ I put on my PR voice and project, this time I get a legit answer ‘oh yeah, really keeps the buzzing in my head down.’ Sometimes I wonder if that’s the sound of the hamsters on the mental wheel working too hard and burning out. Maybe that one day is 12 years away and not the 20 years I was hoping. 

Lucky duck that I am, I had quality time with the great outdoors and the sun. Hence, sunscreen was right up there with putting boots on in the morning. Even better, it REALLY makes the dirt and grime stick. All but one day day I wore sunscreen. That exception was on a nice, cloudy morning and I volunteered to clean out the seed boxes and bulk tanks for the transition to soy beans. Shirt sleeves rolled, the dust is flying and then bam! the sun is out. The wind hides over the hill and my own personal sauna starts warming up. By this time, I’m immersed in the cleaning and I can see the end; only 12 more boxes to go. Then I can reward my hard work with a big bottle of water. And perhaps an apple. So you can imagine what direct, strong sunlight plus no sunscreen plus fair skin results in. A totally awesome sunburn and fantastic glove tan line on my wrists. That glove tan line is worse than ugly tan lines on your feet, for those that don’t wear  boots 24/7, because a handshake is not done with a foot. 

Gear number... warp speed

XO/tech on deck (me) with farmer Dad

On to actual planting and the proof that’s in the pudding. Corn was planted and soy beans have been dropped gently into fluffy (let’s be honest, loamy doesn’t roll off the tongue with as much flair) soil with ideal moisture conditions. Since corn prices have been doing SO well, a couple hundred acres was tossed to the wolves, er, corn in the name of rotation.  The rest was put to soy beans. I find myself being more specific in what kind of bean now that I also farm with my motivated hubby up in Canuckland and there we do soy and edible beans. 

Looking back on where I’ve been and done in the past week… and a half, I wonder how I’m not more tired out. I’ll be honest, this week has been so fun and exciting that I thought it was okay to be a couple days late in my weekly post. And I may have been trying to catch a few extra winks, burning the candle at both ends does eventually flame out. 

Planter inspection passed

Serious about corn

My farm pup Scooter was my personal overseer and inspecting everything. It’s a tough job, staying on top of work quality, keeping track of everyone, chasing the birds and stealing the shotgun seat. It would be an understatement to say he was unhappy about being left behind in the house when multiple equipment were being moved or liquid fertilizer was being loaded. Safety is always priority on the farm, here or Canuckland, and not only for people but my furry friends. I tease the hubby once in a while about how taking Scooter along in a tractor cab is like training for a baby. You have to remember the food, water, appropriate bowls, treats, etc. The lunch bag grows to diaper bag-like proportions, three-quarters of which are just for the dog. Better ration your people food till catering comes with the evening meal or it’s quitting time.

Handsome hubby disced a garden for me! 25x35' uff da

Time to revamp with a Pintrest-inspired flower bed. Out with the old and in with the new

It's full load. Imagine unloading it... by hand

I’ll give a short nod to the fun that I had picking up sticks, small logs and branches out of fields where some trees were told to mind the line, or ripped out. *Nod*

The remaining short stories shall be told in pictorial form, enjoy (above). Mostly because I'm misspelling more words than I actually get typed right now.

Perhaps coffee?

For the love of nature

Farmers love nature or the great outdoors playing in the dirt (soil, c’mon people) and having the time of their lives. You would naturally think that they love the weather too. Although that relationship would better be described under the heading of ‘love/hate.’ Everyone loves the good weather i.e. sunshine and timely rains but the downside is that doesn’t always happen according to one’s excel spreadsheet of timed events.

I roll in to the prairies of my childhood home ready to get down and dirty, maybe a little greasy too and get this planting year started. Well, in the last leg of my scenic yet repetitive drive (miles of road, wahoo) I encounter a little rain shower. Little turned into steady and fell like a lead balloon into the sobbing of the heavens of a downpour. Don’t forget the side of grumbling thunder and glimpses of lightning. 

Ugh. Uff da. Sigh. Then I happen to notice that the temperature is steadily dropping. My thoughts became a mantra of ‘stay above freezing.’ Driving on sodden interstate that would quickly turn to icy slush was not exactly my idea of a nice drive. The pup and I arrived before that slush fest could officially start but we did get soaked in the gear unload. Yep, wet dog smell. Love. It.

Well, this much rain (1.3inches) means a coffee run in the a.m. is most assuredly on the docket for the morning agenda. Scoots being a twitchy pup, or that’s his excuse according to him, was up bright and early and demanding the opportunity to commune with nature. Imagine my surprise when I open the door and see SNOW on the ground. On the first day of May. Huh. Guess planting is on hold for a while.

A couple days later the sun came out, spring resumed and the soil very slowly (like watching paint dry that kind of painfully slow) dried out. It’s still drying out. Now we have the dilemma of the co-op being behind in their applications of fertilizer or burn down sprays.  What do you do when it appears nature is conspiring against you? Well, you tinker and change that oil you could never quite decide if it was a change now or later kind of thing. Later being ‘time to plant, let’s roll’ and now ‘it rained might as well.’ Then you get bored so you check your battery/power assembly cables and decide, sure why not? It will be fun they said. The fun really kicks in when you realize that the long tail end of the cable attaches to the alternator and the whole kit runs through loops on the inside of the main frame of the tractor. Yes, fun will be had. Do a quick survey of your hired help and determine in two seconds flat who has the smallest hands to get in the tight places. Huh, there’s me and you. You. And me. Since the options appear to be somewhat limited I drew that short stick. Can we say I was ‘dirty’ was an understatement?

 

In the end I got the fun and oddly satisfying job of greasing the trac, the payloader and planter. Nothing says ready to roll than that final greasing and knowing the equipment is taken care of. We have the time, might as well take complete advantage of it and be detailed in the minor repairs.

Happy planting 2017!

Planting 2017

Wahoo! It’s PLANTING time! Who’s excited?!

Me, that’s who. I’ve got my trusty sidekick with this time, his name is Scooter. Of course, there’s dad too. He has the ‘boring’ job of running the planter. It has its own unique and charming characteristics of the monitor beeping and chirping every three to five seconds telling you GPS blipped out, a border is approaching, air pressure/seed volume is low in ‘x’ row, etc. 

Then there’s the multitude of phone calls that I get from dad. As the in-house (family) tech expert on these matters I get to explain the beeps, blips and gremlin-like moments with the monitor and/or planter itself. What can I say? I really enjoy making the brain work and troubleshoot ‘x’ problem. 

So, I’m over here looking at the weather forecast thinking that it’s going to be great and sunny. Perfect planting weather, it’s right there in the forecast; well, if you read between the lines that is. Imagine my dismay and shock (bummer, guess I have time for a cuppa joe) when the app opens and tells me it’s going to be rainy with an excellent chance of being snow. Huh. In May?!

I guess weirder weather events have happened already this year (tornado in March by the Twin Cities anyone?) so what’s another? The plan for some discing and then planting has been modified to plant like crazy only. The co-op may be involved with some pre-fert put down or doing a burn down spray on a field or two for us. Again, that rests on the cooperative nature of weather which we know is as fickle as the wind. 

Back in Canuckland farmers are digging in to the fields and seeding like it’s spring. Oh wait it IS spring. Sadly for some friends and farmers in the surrounding areas, their soil is still too wet to seed. So the competitive bug, err, itch to seed is worse. And for the confetti on this cupcake season of planting there’s rain forecasted for early on this week. Yay. 

Ready for seeding

Cheers to all my farmers, may the sun and soil be warm, planting (or seeding) go smoothly and the rain come as needed.