Finally we have moved to step nine-planting. We are ONLY planting corn, right now. We will plant alfalfa and wheat in two weeks and pinto beans in three-four weeks.
Terry wet plants, which means he waters the ground first, lets it dry some, then when the moisture is just right (it can’t be muddy) he plants. Other farmers in our area plant first and then ‘water the plants up’. You can see the moisture in the rows.
Terry planted on Saturday, by the next Saturday he will be able to Mormon crease it, then in 10 days from the date of planting the little corn seeds should be showing growth.
That will be the time to harrow off the tops of the furrow. If a person DOES NOT harrow off the tops the little plants have a hard, hard time pushing their way through the soil. When four leaves appear (which happens VERY FAST), he will mark out the rows again and we will start water on the field.
We started water in the earth ditches last night.
I just want to show you how we irrigate out of earth ditches. First you have to save the earth ditch (the pounding of the water will create a huge hole) with a protective dam.
Because the earth soaks up the water as it flows along, you have to turn more water down an earth ditch than you do a cement ditch or gated pipe.
In the ‘olden days’ people used mud dams, but today we have the wonder of orange plastic dams. YEAH! It’s hard enough to dig out ends (the end of the furrow) without the pain of building a mud dam.
To leave you with one of the spring pleasures, wild asparagus! Yummm, every evening we have asparagus in some form, raw in salads, roasted with lemon sauce, boiled, over toast with white sauce….
Life on a Colorado Farm 
Linda,
I have really enjoyed your irrigation and planting blogs. It’s all very new to me and so interesting. I can’t wait to see your corn plants popping up in the nice, straight rows Terry makes. What a huge undertaking!
Thanks so much for sharing this with your readers 🙂
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oh how I love wild asparagus. we were so delighted to find it growing amongst the bracken in our orchard!
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glad everyone is back home so you can take a breather. I love looking at your photos and seeing whats up around your farm.
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Well, I know what part of the year I want to come visit ;-). Between wild asparagus and super cool irrigation fun…
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Too cool, again great post. I’ll deffinatly be following to learn more. It that wild asparagus just growin along the road?
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I did not know there were so many steps to the corn planting process. I thought you put it in…and bingo…you grow the corn. lots of work (o: I want to go look for wild asparagus. Where do you typically look? I live near open fields.
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Wow that wild asparagus looks great and yall are doing such a great job. It sounds like your method of watering first works better, hunh.
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Just curious what Mormon crease are and also..when you say harrow off the tops of corn, do you mean it’s best to cut the first few leaves off the corn? It grows better that way? If that is the case…I will try it with the corn i am growing this year. (about 24 stalks/plants)
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You are some HARD workin’ folks dearie!~
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The planting of the corn! They are planting potatoes here..no corn yet. Morman crease…I am lost with that term..
Wild asparagus..yummy! 🙂
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Nice photos! There is some corn getting planted around here too but our farm lies too wet and cold for us to plant yet.
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I love asparagus in white sauce, oh yum… its growing along the road? Now Im hungrey, dang it, lunch is still 3 hours away….ummmmm…
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Mother’s Day and wild asparagus. We would have minor, usually good humored, “asparagus wars” with neighbors. The roadsides were considered fair game but were still also claimed by those who owned the property on the other side of the fence. Barking dogs and honking geese would alert to asparagus thieves.
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I get tired just reading about all of your hard work! You guys amaze me.
I have to admit, I have never had asparagus before, I’m terrible at eating any green veggies!
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I envy you your asparagus!! Green with envy. It grows wild across the river but not close enough for my liking.
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Such hard work but will be so worth it when your corn and beans are on the table! I love asparagus! blessings,Kathleen
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So neat to see this process. And how wonderful to have asparagus like that! I remember when I grew up out in the country of Northern Ca. we had that too! Love it!
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OH I am So envious of your asparigus!!! We are planting oats and alfalfa together, for next years new seeding! Corn will be in the middle of May for us! Sorry I havent been by the last few days, its been raining so everyone has been stuck in the house with me.. *trips over kids* and I cant WAIT till the sun shines! LOVE THE GREEN AND YELLLOW BABY!!! its the ONLY color to drive!!
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Oh my! You just reminded me of one of the reasons I miss living in Colorado so much…ditch asparagus. What a treasure! Although I do have my own asparagus bed here in Michigan, I do miss walking the ditches.
I found your blog through your comment on fast-grow-the-weeds.
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Thank You! Very nice and informative pics of life with crusty western soil devoid of much loam, it must just get blown away out there. Read recently that ultra light harrowing is good, almost like sweeping with a stiff broom to lightly break the crust. Thanks again for the view from 2200 miles away.
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What does Mormon cease it mean Linda ? Well how great is that, that the asparague goes along the side of the road ! I love asparagus . And when those pinto beans start growing I want to see a pic of them and a pic of them on the vine.
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Ah, pinto beans are so delicious. We have an asparagus patch that I love but they just don’t last long enough. I think your orange plastic dams look very festive 🙂
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