Defoliation!

Sorry I didn't have a post for you this past weekend. I was busy editing.
Here you go-

That is what we have been waiting for. Pretty isn't it?
     We started defoliating last week. It has been so hot we have had to cut back on material so we didn't burn the bolls shut. The warm weather does move things along though. My first few winters here we had already had two inches of rain and the temps were done in the 70's. This is better cotton weather. That being said I am waiting for things to cool off. It has been hot enough for long enough.

      In the Fall we also fertilize and irrigate the almond trees. This time of year they are getting ready to go dormant, so they are storing food. We put in some fertilizer now so they have food when they wake up in the Spring. The almonds also actually are putting out new growth right now and those are the fruiting spurs where next year' almonds will grow. So it is really important to keep the trees well watered.

The Satisfaction of Harvest
By Paul H. Betancourt
Copyright September, 2012

                You have heard me whimper and whine about a lot of farming and how tough it is. Sorry about that. This morning I want to talk about the satisfaction of farming. There is nothing like bringing in a good harvest: seeing the picker fill up p with cotton, seeing the wheat pouring into the trucks, seeing the almonds being swept up and shipped off. The satisfaction of a productive year’s work. That’s good stuff.

            Unlike many people farmers don’t see the daily result of their work. Right now we are waiting to see how this year’s cotton crop will turn out. We started working the ground last Fall. We planted in April. We have been tending the fields all summer, but we won’t know how it will turn out until next month.

            But, all that waiting has a payoff. I love Fall weather. It’s cool and crisp after the oven heat of the summer. And then we fire up the pickers and head into the field.

We still have work to do and bills to pay. But, there is a real sense of satisfaction seeing how the year’s work turned out.
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I hope Y'all have a great week.

P