It’s a busy time of the year. Lots of seed is getting planted these days, not only on our farm but all over the county. Working long hours, we eat as best as we can and try to get proper rest at night. This helps manage the extended work days a bit better.
The contrast between the rich, black dirt turned and prepared for the seed on one field next to the rolling green of the alfalfa on the others is quite amazing. I like to see the fields planted, they look so organized and promising. Soon, God willing, we’ll see the oats taking root and growing and the perfect rows of little green corn soldiers standing straight and proud.
We’ve almost literally been living in the tractor cab these past days, eating lunch as we work. One day my job was to drag while husband planted corn. He left the yard with the corn planter, I followed close behind with the drag and Molly tagged along, running between us.
As I was dragging, Molly chose to stay with me. Up and down, up and down the field I went and she never wavered, following me every turn of the tire. Getting done, I took the drag back home and, after packing lunches, I exchanged it for the skidsteer to go back to the same field I had been dragging, to pick stones.
Husband got done planting his field, and we met at the edge of the field near the woods for a quick lunch. After getting a good refreshing drink of water, Molly flopped down next to us resting while we ate. We shut down for a moment that day, refilling our own fuel tank with a sandwich, fruit, water and a couple of cookies before we both began again, this time working together to get the stones picked.
As I was dragging, I had noticed the stones were more contained in the upper left corner of this field. There were a few bigger ones scattered here and there but for the most part, we got done picking stones in about an hour. It seems that we don’t have as many stones on our fields as the years go by. Believe me, I’m not complaining!
After stones were picked, my husband began planting that field while I took the skidsteer home. After hopping on the tractor hooked up to the disk, I left the yard, working on yet another field that day. Molly had had enough. She stayed home.
Because the cows are outside now and only come in to be milked, it cuts down on chores that need to be done each day. That allows us to get out on the fields sooner and work longer there. The cows are fed outside and they do most of their business outside so that means we clean barn once every three days or so, instead of daily.
Every morning and night ,they must be let in to be milked. After the long stretch of winter, they were more than ready to get out to the pasture and kick up their heels. Literally. The new heifers are challenging as they have no clue where they belong when they come into the barn. Patience and persistence pays off with them and eventually they catch on.
Late afternoon after a busy day on the fields, we came home, and my husband drove out to the cow yard to get the wagon to fill with feed for the night. He noticed one new heifer lying awkwardly on her side. Having found a slight mound on which to lie, she could not then push herself upright. Undiscovered, she’d have been in serious trouble.
My husband had to quickly go back down with the skidsteer and gently nudge her up into a more normal position with the bucket. She then pushed herself forward and stood. They can get really quite, I want to say, stupid. There’s just no other word for it.
The next morning as we were letting cows in to be milked, this same heifer didn’t come in. Husband started milking as I went back out, walking the length and breadth of the cow yard searching for her, thinking she was again laying in a place where she needed help. Finally I spotted her up next to the heifer barn, not wanting to move just yet or perhaps visiting with her sisters she hadn’t seen in a while. She was perfectly fine.
As I approached her, she got up and dawdled down a slight incline, then deliberately made her way up the ramp and onto the cement cow yard before finally, leisurely stepping into the barn to find her stall. They think we have all day.
Getting good seed into the ground means putting in long, but satisfying hours. Refilling fuel for our own bodies and refreshing rest in the evening to energize for the next day help make it all go. It’s a busy time of year on the farm!
(“What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil. This is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:9-13)
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