Life on the Farm

[chamookman]

Great place to Stir a Fire  ! Bob

[bjrogg]

It sure is Bob.

Have had some really nice bonfire’s there over the years. Here’s one from 4th of July. We had a great time and plan on making it a annual event.

Bjrogg

PS it’s even a great spot without a fire. But a good fire and a full moon rising really adds to the ambiance.

[Buckskinner]

Looks like paradise to me!  I'd probably need to put a fishing pole in though...

[bjrogg]

Looks like paradise to me!  I'd probably need to put a fishing pole in though...

You might want to bring a good pair of waders to

Bjrogg

[Pappy]

Beautiful picture, looks like a great time.
 Pappy

[bjrogg]

Love to have you sit around a campfire sometime Pappy. Could probably even find a place to park the bus.

Getting ready for wheat harvest. Lots of stuff to do. Trucks, trailers, combines, headers, carts and tractors.

I’m cleaning up the planter and getting it ready to store away for the winter. It worked good. Probably do something different with starter fertilizer for it this winter.

I’m hoping to get some grass and weeds mowed down this afternoon.

Was my sons birthday yesterday and we had another bonfire at the beach.

Was perfect night for it.

Bjrogg

[chamookman]

Beautiful Spot !

[bjrogg]

Thanks Bob. If you ever end up in the neighborhood I’d love to share it with you.

I did get some mowing done the other day. The grass was getting pretty tall. Probably about 4 or five feet tall. I saw lots of deer beds in it. I left their favorite ones.

My son put a bass from my dads pond in my little pond several years ago. It’s a small pond but it’s pretty deep. Probably about 16’ . I didn’t see him last year and the frogs started to show up again, so I thought he might have fallen prey to the Bald Eagles.  Not so though. I saw him while I was mowing the grass. Glad to see he’s still swimming around.

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

Was really hoping for some rain. We are still doing pretty decent and our smaller crops have been growing good. They are reaching the stage they are going to need a lot more moisture though. The wheat is turning. I think a nice rain might still help it, but soon it will be to late to help and only cause poor quality issues which we really don’t need. Would be nice to get a couple inches of rain now before wheat harvest and then have a dry harvest.

Pretty hard to make a farmer happy sometimes. Always can find something to complain about. Would really like rain in this field but none in this other one. lol.

I’m not complaining yet. Corn still looks decent. Beans are growing.

Bjrogg

[chamookman]

Those two look really good ! Bob

[bjrogg]

Was hoping for some rain, but it missed us again. Yes Bob. Our wheat is really suffering and has needed some rain for some time. I’m not expecting fantastic yields from it, but maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Our smaller crops are still looking pretty decent.

As a farmer. I’m outstanding in my field.  lol That’s a old farmer joke.

Here’s a selfie for you all. Me outstanding in my field of navy beans.

Bjrogg

PS if you zoom in on base of windmill you can see my pickup truck

[bjrogg]

I was picking some asparagus and came across a bunch of these guys. One time I had thousands and thousands of them in my ash trees. Looked like pictures from the rain forest. My ash trees are all dead now, but we still get lots of monarchs.

Bjrogg

[Buckskinner]

Those wind spinners are massive!

Haven't had more than a sprinkle in several weeks here, very dry.  Crops look good in the morning from dew but then curl up when sun gets high.  My lawn is a beautiful golden brown aside from well rooted weeds.  Ash are all dead around here, you can see them in the background of the first pic.

Haven't seen any monarchs on any milkweed yet around here, but these little devil's whatever they are seem to be on every plant in place of them.

[M2A]

Thats a heck of a nice location for a beach party BJ.

Hope you get a good rain soon. We had a storm roll through last night and drop almost an inch. Very welcome as things were getting very dry, I could even see the leaves in the old orchard starting to curl just a bit. The guys have been laying irrigation pipe in the corn all week here. And the pumps have been running every day. I was coming off the hill the other evening and got this pic.
IMG_4744 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
Thats about 3 acres of corn, just starting to tassel,  getting some overhead water.

Going to be short on the early corn this year as it was too wet to get it all in but going to have some for the market for the holiday and thats the goal. here is an ear I pulled when out checking things the other day, Ate it right after I took the pic:)
IMG_4753 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
Nice size for the first field of the season. It came from the field we planted in the snow back in April. Its a decent stand
IMG_4754 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
weed control could be better but I have seen a lot worse in the early stuff.
Also started picking blue berries this last week. Pick your own(PYO) opened yesterday for the weekend in the large field. Heres a pic from the small field. We have to net the entire field or the birds will eat every berry before the get ripe. 
IMG_4714 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
I cheated and went in early to get some for the freezer here is 2 gallons, about 10 pounds I got the other night.
IMG_4742 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
I use to have my boys pick them for us but they are older now and have other priorities. I picked 3 gallons this week, I hope to get 1 more before its all over but if not thats fine. Takes me 40-50 min to fill one bucket.
With everything going on between the farm and everything else time free time is very limited as of late. If I'm not doing anything else I have been spending my free time beating on a log that was gifted to me. Its been some long days the past week or 2.
IMG_4752 by Mike Allridge, on Flickr
Not he best log but osage is not easy to come by for me so its like gold. I wish the timing was different but this stuff needs processed. With the rain last night I'll have time today to get the last quarter split up and sealed. Then I can worry about bark and sap wood removal. In the pic I still had the strap on the log that was still hooked to my truck just in case it started to roll down hill, it was too heavy for me to roll by hand.   
 
             

[chamookman]

Used to spend a week-ten Days in Mid-August at Harbor Beach trolling for Salmon. Many a time the Boat would be loaded with resting Monarchs, taking a break after crossing the Lake ! Bob