This Past Week...

Life has been pretty busy here this past week!  A lot happened...

The corn was planted on Monday...

The rye was baled and wrapped...

Some hay was baled and wrapped in round bales...

Some hay was baled dry in small squares (much to the relief of those who get to feed it!  They don't like feeding balage)...

Jenna did the grunt work of the mulching.  She shoveled two scoops off the truck and I spread it around.  While we were mulching we noticed the Rhododendron on the north side of the house was in various stages of blooming...

...and look who we found sleeping in the Rhododendron bush...safe from the pesty dog who just couldn't seem to let her alone...

Then on Friday, the soybeans were planted...a bit earlier than usual.  Behind those bags of seeds, you can see the dry hay that was baled this week.  It's not much, but it's a start!  First cutting is really hard to get dry.  The stems are usually tough, and the temps aren't quite as hot as in the middle of the summer, so it dries slowly. That's why Jim often bales it wet in round bales and wraps it...

Here Jeremy is no-tilling beans into the rye field.  You can see how dry it is here, with all the dust flying.

On Saturday evening, we had some much needed rain...finally!  We had another shower early this morning, giving us a total of about .40"  We're about 5" behind normal here for the year, and we're glad for every little bit we get!  Some areas close to us had 2" - 3" on Saturday night, and while it was much needed, it came so fast that some of their field really washed.

Now for this week...hopefully today, the rye fields will be sprayed to burn off the rye that is beginning to get green again.

It's steamy and hot today...hopefully that little bit of moisture and the heat will pop the corn through.  Stay posted for the progress of seeing things grow!

We have a busy week ahead with the kids as well...Jenna has her last orchestra concert, and Eric has two senior awards ceremonies.  He will be receiving two athletic awards...one for being a scholar athlete, and one for lettering at least three times in two sports (cross country and track).  The other is an unknown award...could be a scholarship or an award from the school...we'll see!  How can it be that we have a senior almost ready to graduate?!

A Busy Memorial Day Weekend...

It was a beautiful weekend here!  We couldn't have asked for better weather...for those who were picnicking with family and friends, or for those who had outside work to do.

As is usually the case, there is a lot to do this time of year on the farm.  Our corn is usually planted the first week of May, but with the late spring this year, everyone is running behind. On Tuesday of last week, the planter made it to our place.

Mark has just filled up the boxes on his planter with seed and starter fertilizer, and is making some adjustments to the planter...

He didn't get very far in the first field before there was a glitch.  He's trying to take off a hose clamp to find the problem, while our Amish neighbor Jake looks on...

Found the problem...a clump of starter fertilizer was plugging up a hose...

...and he's ready to go again.   Do you know what that disc sticking out to the left of the planter is for?

It's a marker.  When he gets to the end of the field and turns around, he will line up the hood ornament on his tractor's hood with the mark it makes. That ensures that rows of corn will all line up properly.  It's important that they be evenly spaced for the harvester this fall.  He got a couple of fields planted, and then the rains came and he finished up towards the end of the week.

On Friday morning, looking ahead at the weather forecast, Jim mowed hay here at home, hoping to bale some dry hay on Monday...Memorial Day.

Our respite was on Sunday afternoon when we spent some time with friends at the Holtwood Pinnacle, overlooking the Susquehanna River.  We've had a lot of rains lately, and the river was high, and very muddy, but still beautiful...

When Monday morning rolled around, the day looked like it was going to be pretty busy...and it was!

The soybean planter arrived, and the stack of bags up in the barn were soon emptied.  This is just a few of them...

It's hard to believe, with all the rain we've had lately, how dry the ground was!  The weather this weekend was hot and breezy, quickly drying things out, making the dust fly...

Mid afternoon, Jim began baling, and soon the hay wagons were filled.  Eric and some neighbors did the unloading...

I know it's not the greatest picture, but at this time of day there wasn't any great place to get a picture with good lighting.  You get the idea...two on the wagon...two in the mow, stacking bales...

This mow started out completely empty, but was soon beginning to fill up with stacked, dry hay...

Jenna helped me with some mowing, fed calves, and others pitched in with feeding the cows while I did the evening milking.  Jim finished baling just in time to milk a first calf heifer that freshened in the morning.

It felt overwhelming in the morning, looking at all that had to be accomplished during the day, but the weather cooperated, the equipment worked great, the kids and the neighbors were great help, and we finally reached this place...

Evening...with cooler temps and contented cows out in the meadow for the night.  It felt good to fall into bed tired, but with a sense of accomplishment with all that got done, and thankfulness for good help, good weather, and equipment that worked like it was supposed to!

As I write, on Tuesday afternoon, we're just beginning to see the first shoots of corn peeping through the ground!  All the corn and beans have now been planted, (except for the corn that will be planted after barley) and now we need to be patient and watch it grow!