Jim baled two fields of corn fodder so far...14 loads as of this morning! ...and there's a lot more out there to be baled as long as the weather holds.
Meanwhile, once the first field was clear of fodder, he wanted to seed it in barley. The barley will be a good cover crop for the winter...it will be combined and sold next June...and then there will be a little over ten acres of straw to bale. Before that could happen though, the grain drill needed to be calibrated. He was using an Amish neighbors drill, which hadn't yet been calibrated for barley. Last Saturday afternoon, he worked on that...
First off, he had to fill the grain drill with barley seed...
He knew how thick he wanted to seed the barley, but had to get the drill set to the correct settings. We put plastic underneath the drill...
Using the formula provided, he turned the wheel 110 times...
The barley seed came through the drill and piled up on the plastic...
Then we transferred it to a bucket...weighed it...and did it a few more times, making adjustments until the settings seemed to be correct.
As soon as he could get into the field on Monday, he began seeding. I just love the way a newly seeded field looks, with the distinct lines from the drill...
The seed has already sprouted, and soon we should be seeing a hint of green!
Very interesting. Also, it's so nice to have a kind neighbor that will lend you his equipment when you need it. What a nice community you have there :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the grain planting!
~K.
Interesting to me! Never thought about calibrating the drill!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, thank you for showing us where our food comes from! :-)
ReplyDeleteso precise!
ReplyDelete