Why We Irrigate and a Memorial Day Thank You

Which wheat field would you rather have?
You can't hurt my feelings, neither field is mine. But, both fields are within a mile of each other near our farm.

Or, this one?

   I hope you can see the difference. All the top field received in the way of water was this past winter's rainfall. The bottom field belongs to a neighbor who raises consistently excellent wheat.

   Can you see the difference? The top field is much sparser than the bottom field. If you could see the individual kernels, they are no more than 2/3s the size of the kernels in the bottom field. And that, dear readers is why farmers in my neighborhood irrigate. Even with 160% normal rainfall there isn't enough rain to raise even a decent wheat crop. Last year's dry land wheat fields in our area, again that was a wet winter, yielded only one half to three quarter of a ton per acre. Farmers who irrigated their wheat had yields of three to four tons of wheat per acre. Why wouldn't we irrigate. We can take a hundred to two hundred dollars of water and turn it into seven hundred to twelve hundred dollars worth of wheat.

Memorial Day

This weekend is Memorial Day. In spite of what many people think it is not merely the opening of the summer BBQ season and an important annual motorcar race. The celebration of Memorial Day goes back to just after the end of the Civil War. With Jonathan's deployments we have learned a new appreciation of the price of our freedoms. It is not only time to honor our fallen soldiers, but a good time to thank our veterans, our soldiers and their families. Waiting for your soldier, sailor, Marine or airman to come home can be very hard. My hat is especially off to the spouses who wait at home during long deployments. THANK YOU ALL!

I saw an important reminder a few years ago-

It is the Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier,not the campus organizer,

Who has given s the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Father Dennis Edward O'Brien

USMC

Again, Thank you all. I have not always been the most patriotic person, over the last ten years I have learned a new appreciation of the special country we live in and the price that has been paid for us to live here.



Fresh fruit season!

This has been a weed killing week. Once the weather dried off and warmed we got back in the field.
The corn may look short in this photo, but by the time we water it one more time and it dries out the corn will be too big to get the tractor in the field again. So this is our last chance to cultivate the weeds and form the furrows.

Now, people often ask why farmers use herbicides. Trust me, it is not because we want to. I am cheap and lazy. I would avoid the work if I could. But, when you have weeds you have to do something.

When you have weeds like this a hoe won't do. That is field bind weed, or perennial morning glory. It is a nasty little bugger with roots that can go down to eight feet. If you whack of the top it will just grow back. With Roundup we can kill the root.

Now we are careful, we don't just spray willy-nilly. In the picture below you can see our  hooded sprayer. We only spray over the pant where the cultivator can't cut the weeds out mechanically. By spraying a band on over the pant we can spray ounces where we used to have to spray gallons.

I don't know why the enviros get so crabby about genetic engineering. They fight us for decades to use less chemicals in our fields. We find a way to do it and they complain about that too. I guess some folks will never be satisfied.



 Well, there is more than work on the farm. I had dinner with some friends last night. Evelyn has been to Spain recently. She made paella and I brought fresh made Sangria. That was yummy. But, we have another treat for you this week.

Recipe of the Week-
Some of you think it is Spring and that is true. But, it is more than merely Spring, it is fresh fruit season. In our area fruit stands are springing up all over. I bought strawberries and the first peaches of the season. Yummmmmy.

Not that fresh fruit is boring in any way, but there is more than one way to eat fruit. I grilled some apples on the BBQ this week. That was fab-ulous. I got the recipe from a chef we met in Monterrey last week at the Rotary convention. This week's discovery was at least as tasty- fresh fruit margaritas!

I can't take the credit for it. I got the recipe from a friend, Moises.

Moises' Fresh Fruit Margaritas-

fill your blender with the fruit of your choice
[ I have used strawberries and peaches, works either way]

pour in a cup of tequila
[actually Moises uses vodka]

pour in some citrus to but the edge of the alcohol in the tequila
[Moises uses orange juice, I used triple sec]

put in half a dozen ice cubes and blend.

Pour and enjoy. Great on a warm afternoon.

I would think that should count as at least one serving of fresh fruit don't you?

May Wind and Rain?

Not only are we busy on the farm with the Spring Rush, but the weather gets crazy as we shift from winter to summer. The wind is crazy. We lost 18 trees in the wind last weekend and they are predicting more wind this weekend.
   It is hard to organize work in this weather. One year we had to wait three weeks to spray for weeds in the cotton. It was just too windy. When we finally got going Ruben finished the field in two and a half days- it just took three weeks of waiting.
   This was the day before hooded sprayers. Now we have hoods to cover the spray nozzles. We can spray in moderate winds and keep the material from drifting where it shouldn't go. Adapt, Innovate and Overcome. I am not much of a engineering, mechanical kind of guy, but I have to admit that the innovation of agricultural equipment over the past century is pretty amazing. We have taken a lot of the drudgery out of farm work and we have made both our people and our crops amazingly productive.

Some of my newer readers haven't met Indy, my co-pilot.

Indy is a little over a year and a half old. His Mom is a Golden Retriever. His Dad was a sneaky, neighbor dog. It is a common breed. For the past few months Indy has not wanted to come out for pick up rides. He's kind of big. He weighs 105 pounds. So I thought maybe he just wasn't comfortable in the pickup any more. I missed him, but you sure can't force 105 pounds of puppy into a pickup. One morning, last week he acted like he wanted to get in when I left in the morning. I stepped back from the door and he hopped right in. He's been out with me every day. I enjoy his company.
I have be re-inspired. At the Rotary conference this weekend there was a cooking class with a local chef from the Monterey area. Mmmm yummy. With Spring and summer come fresh fruits and vegetables. Time to start paying with my food again. He had some great ideas for grilling vegetables. I will share them with you after I have done some experimenting. His tow best words of encouragement was 'don't be intimidated to try something new' and 'sometimes less is more.' We have such an amazing selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. Let the natural tastes of the food come out, don't cover it up. I am inspired.

I hope y'all have a great week.

P

Busy Spring Work on the Farm

We have been busy irrigating wheat, cultivating cotton, fertlizing corn, killing weeds and irrigating almonds. Whew. Oh yeah, we also started irrigating the corn too.

On top of that the weather is all over the place. It got to the mid-90's during the week. Now it is back down to the mid-70's and it has gotten windy. Welcome to May. The first year we were here Sheryl's aunt said the wind would blow until high school graduation and that is just about right. Then the wind dies down and the summer heat begins. But, for now it is cool and breezy.

Now, to most of you that may not look a lot different than last week's picture of the cotton seedlings. But, look closely. Do you notice the leaves in the center? Those are the first true leaves of the cotton plant. The first leaves you saw in last week's photo are seed leaves, or cotyledons. After the plants are out of the ground the next thing we look for are the first true leaves, that is a sign the plants are healthy and growing.

A number of you have asked about commodity prices. You have heard that prices for our crops are up and that is true. But, here's how I look at it- I hope the higher prices will help us pay our fuel and fertilizer bills. You may have noticed fuel prices are up over a dollar a gallon since last year. Remember I buy a lot more fuel than most of you do. On top of that fertilizer is up over $150 per ton. We buy fertilizer by the truckload. So higher prices for our crops is a good thing. But, please remember our costs are up also. I am not complaining. It is always a lot easier to look at higher production costs when we have high commodity prices.

I hope y'all have a great week.

P

The Cotton is Out of the Ground

Well, the cotton is out of the ground.

With the warmer weather that is forecasted for the coming week it will really start moving. It is a pretty sight when you can see it 'shinning' when looking at the field cross ways across the field. It doesn't photograph well, but it gives you confidence that you have a stand and we are off to a good start.
   Two years ago we were still planting in late April. It is comforting to know we have cotton in the ground and now at and growing like it should be.
   If you look below the surface you can see things too. In the photo below look carefully at the roots on the plants on the right.

Can you see the roots hairs? These plants are much happier. They really like the soil where there the garbanzos were last year. We couldn't make a crop of garbanzos, but I think we will see some benefit in plant health and hopefully yields there this year.    Last week I mentioned how I like seeing the Red Wing Blackbirds in the wheat. Another sight I like to see is a wind blown wheat field. There is something poetic in how the wind blows the wheat in waves. The video clip below shows the wheat blowing the in the 25mph winds on Friday. [Pretty amazing technology. I shot this video with my phone. I remember when we used phones to make calls.]

There is a John Denver song titled 'Matthew'. He sings,
   "Joy was just the thing he was raised on,
   Love was just a way to live and die,
   Gold was was just a windy Kansas wheat field,
   Blue was just a Kansas summer sky."
Well, our wheat fields aren't quite golden yet, but I think you get the idea.

Spring has come to our yard too. The roses are blooming and the Amaryllis are glorious. The sunshine and warmth feel wonderful. It is nice to be able to enjoy the sunshine when it isn't a hundred and fifty bazillion degrees. That is coming too soon.

This past week we got the orchards mowed and we kept watering the wheat. This coming week we will fertilize the corn and furrow it out to start water there too. Right now it has been a quiet afternoon reading on the back porch. After I post this it will be time to head off to our daughter's for dinner. Will promised something tasty for dinner. I sure am glad God called for a Sabbath rest.

I hope y'all have a great week.

P