And for shits and giggles, here's a picture of Tim enjoying the tractor and a t-shirt that references a little television program by the name of Northern Exposure:
Showing posts with label tractor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tractor. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Farmer-Apprentice Relationship
Here's a couple of photos of Apprentice Tim and Farmer Brock. Obviously they're discussing important farming issues and cultivating the mentor-mentee relationship.
And for shits and giggles, here's a picture of Tim enjoying the tractor and a t-shirt that references a little television program by the name of Northern Exposure:
And for shits and giggles, here's a picture of Tim enjoying the tractor and a t-shirt that references a little television program by the name of Northern Exposure:
Friday, May 20, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
5 Photos
1) Clouds rolling over the farm.
2) Killdeer eggs in the garlic patch.
3) While I was tilling with the tractor the other day, I noticed a couple of these guys wandering all over the freshly turned soil. Turns out they're rummaging for wireworms! This is a whole lotta awesome because wireworms are pretty terrible - they munch through the roots of transplanted starts like crazed machines, especially lettuce, potatoes, and onions. Farmer Brock and I randomly dug up some recently transplanted green onions and found a wireworm in the roots of almost every plant, so if these birds want to get fat on them, we're all for it!
Anyone know what kind of bird this is? I think it's a grackle of some sort, but I'm no ornithologist.
4) Check out Apprentice Jill's brand spanking new sign for next week's tomato plant sale! Pretty sweet, right? Check out her website for more of her awesome graphic design.
5) And last but not least, me on the tractor with the raised transplanter attachment.
UPDATE: After some strenuous research, Apprentice Tim and I have come to the conclusion that the wireworm-eating bird pictured above is not a grackle. We believe it's a little something called a Brewer's Blackbird.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Transylplantia
In addition to planting potaters last week, we took advantage of the nicer weather and also transplanted a whackload of starts from the greenhouses. Everything from spinach to beets to broccoli went into the ground. Just look at all these healthy looking starts in their trays, just waiting to be planted in long, straight rows:
The first step to transplanting is separating the soil blocks. After growing together in their cozy trays, the starts have gotten used to being together. Pulling them apart is actually really satisfying, since they make a sound that's almost like velcro separating. After some separation, a single soil block of onions, for example, will go from being one of the pack....
...to a more solitary individual:
Next, we load up the tractor and the transplanter with the trays of separated soil blocks and get a-transplanting!
The starts get planted in nice, long rows....
....until the fields end up looking like this....
....and this:
Exciting stuff!
The first step to transplanting is separating the soil blocks. After growing together in their cozy trays, the starts have gotten used to being together. Pulling them apart is actually really satisfying, since they make a sound that's almost like velcro separating. After some separation, a single soil block of onions, for example, will go from being one of the pack....
...to a more solitary individual:
Next, we load up the tractor and the transplanter with the trays of separated soil blocks and get a-transplanting!
The starts get planted in nice, long rows....
....until the fields end up looking like this....
....and this:
Exciting stuff!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
You Say Potato, I Say Potaters
Thanks to a long awaited week of warmer and drier weather, we've been busy planting and transplanting into the fields. Apprentice Tim and I got our tractor/transplanter feet wet with some potatoes. I drove the tractor, while Tim sat poised upon the transplanter.
1) Here we are getting ready to plant. I like to chat with the potatoes before they're planted - you know, just a little assurance that everything's going to be okay.
2) Up and running! The goal is to drive the tractor slow and steady down the beds, so we've got a nice, straight row with a potential potato plant every few inches. I'm looking back to make sure Tim hasn't fallen off the transplanter and been buried with the potatoes. I'm also making sure the potatoes are getting buried deep enough into the soil. If even a little skin pokes out of the soil, the ravens will want to snack on them.
3) Here's what Tim's dealing with. He sits perched on the transplanter's yellow seat, looking down at these cups as they circle around like a wheel. His job is to drop a potato in each cup as they turn. The cup's job is to dig into the soil and release the potato into the ground.
4) The beds end up being lined with a row of these pockmarks. Each pockmark has a potato hiding beneath it!
5) We ended up planting 4 different varieties of potato. It'll be interesting to see which one does best in this climate and soil.
6) Look at that straight row! Farmer Brock and Apprentice Tim take care of business.
Friday, May 6, 2011
I'm Learning Me Some Tractoring!
Every time Farmer Brock offers to teach us how to do something with the tractor, I volunteer. Partly because I think the tractor is super cool, but also because I'm kind of terrified of it and I want to get over that terror. (Just like my fear of power tools.) I'd taken the orange Kubota for a few jaunts around the farm, but this week I did me some real tractoring.
1) Here's me spading in the fields for the first time. I'm concentrating so hard on keeping my lines straight that I didn't even notice how fake the sky is looking.
2) Here's what the tractor spader attachment looks like. It sort of reminds me of a crouching spider that's about to jump on me.
3) These are the spader blades. They pulverize and dig into the soil so it's soft and loose for transplanting soil blocks into the fields. Sometimes the blades run over a big, buried rock and for 15 terrifying seconds, there's a horrible clanging noise and I think I've irreparably damaged Farmer Brock's tractor.
4) Here are some of my first spaded beds. Not too shabby for a cardigan-wearing librarian! These beds are now ready for transplanting.
5) Next I learned how to till. Tilling usually comes before spading and is much easier to do. Basically, you're just preparing the soil by turning it over and uprooting cover crops and weeds. You're also not worrying much about keeping perfectly straight lines. You might till the soil several times before it's ready to be spaded and planted. The tiller attachment has runners on the side like Santa's sled. I doubt Santa's sled, however, has terrifying, soil-encrusted blades beneath it.
6) My first tilling job made things look like this. When looking at this picture, imagine that the air smells very earthy and that if you look closely, you see the occasional writhing, chopped up piece of worm.
7) In case you hadn't notice, I'm all about this tractor. Seriously. This tractor is the shit.
1) Here's me spading in the fields for the first time. I'm concentrating so hard on keeping my lines straight that I didn't even notice how fake the sky is looking.
2) Here's what the tractor spader attachment looks like. It sort of reminds me of a crouching spider that's about to jump on me.
3) These are the spader blades. They pulverize and dig into the soil so it's soft and loose for transplanting soil blocks into the fields. Sometimes the blades run over a big, buried rock and for 15 terrifying seconds, there's a horrible clanging noise and I think I've irreparably damaged Farmer Brock's tractor.
4) Here are some of my first spaded beds. Not too shabby for a cardigan-wearing librarian! These beds are now ready for transplanting.
5) Next I learned how to till. Tilling usually comes before spading and is much easier to do. Basically, you're just preparing the soil by turning it over and uprooting cover crops and weeds. You're also not worrying much about keeping perfectly straight lines. You might till the soil several times before it's ready to be spaded and planted. The tiller attachment has runners on the side like Santa's sled. I doubt Santa's sled, however, has terrifying, soil-encrusted blades beneath it.
6) My first tilling job made things look like this. When looking at this picture, imagine that the air smells very earthy and that if you look closely, you see the occasional writhing, chopped up piece of worm.
7) In case you hadn't notice, I'm all about this tractor. Seriously. This tractor is the shit.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Greenhouse Madness
Despite some crazy winds and uncooperative vapour plastic, we finished building a greenhouse today! It's around 48' X 23' and according to Farmer Brock, the farming bossman, the materials are easy to find and cost less than $500. Not too shabby!
The weather is still pretty chilly and rainy, so the greenhouse is needed to provide a warm home free of ravens and bugs for all the vegetable seeds. Once they've had time to grow and the weather gets better, they'll be transplanted into the fields.
In other news, I'm learning to tame that majestic orange beast that you see grazing behind the greenhouse. I'll provide photo evidence some time soon!
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