Dang, that was hot!

No matter how you slice it 109F is hot. The good news in our Valley is the mornings are 30 degrees cooler and humidity isn't an issue.

   Cotton blooms are yellow the first day, then fade and turn pink. When they drop off they leave a little cotton boll which grows and gives us the cotton fiber.
   This week I got the petiole results back from the lab. It showed two fields were short on nitrogen. We started a water run of nitrogen fertilizer in the fields we were irrigating.We boost the other fields this next week.

I wish I had a good picture of a cantaloupe for this piece from the radio this week.

Fresh II

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright June 2012

                Previously I mentioned how we used to grow cantaloupes. We don’t do that anymore. Growing fresh produce isn’t for the faint-hearted.

                Growing fresh fruits and vegetables is a roller coaster. If you hit the market you can make serious money. If the market is down you get nothing, but bills. There a no guaranties. The first year the family grew melons they netted over thousand dollars an acre.  Some years we disked the field in. Over the years I figure we broke even on melons, but it is tough on the nerves and makes for crazy cash flow. Bankers are rarely impressed.

                We had no idea when we planted if there was going to be any money in it. Even as harvest started all we got was a daily pack out sheet telling us how many loads and the daily spot price. Current spot prices don’t tell what the fruit actually sold for, we didn’t find that out for thirty days. So, we have all the expenses and work of planting and caring for the crop and no real idea of what we made until a month after harvest. On top of that melons are really perishable. They are at peak freshness only so long.

                Can you see why we quit? Everything we grow now be boxed, baled and stored. It’s easier on my blood pressure.

I hope Y'all have a great week.