Yesterday, Fuzzy, Boomer and I took a walk about…I needed to get out and do something..Fuzzy needed some exercise and Boomer really wanted to go check out some smells.
Once out on the land I thought it would be a fun little sidebar trip to show you the difference in plowed and rolled land.
This is what plowing does to the land. These huge clumps of dirt are horrible to walk in–I’ve had to chase many an escaped animal through these cliffs of soil. They have a way of slowing you down. One nice thing about slowing you down, is they also slow down the sheep, goat, cow or horse that is making their way through them.
Then the roller comes along and smashes everything–now it’s easy to walk on the land again. It won’t stay this way long as the next steps have to move along quickly so we can be ready to start water around the first of April.
A person could NOT plant anything in here, the soil would not sub and the seed couldn’t get a hold, but all the humus is now turned under to start rotting. Adding to the richness of the soil and giving more food to the plants.
The dogs and I checked some of the work that effect us…cleaning out the ditches! Huge job. I much rather clean out the cement ditches than the gated pipes though.
Then we looked at the alfalfa field — its starting to green up nicely.
In about an hour I need to head up to where Terry is working with the back hoe. He is having a trench dug for the very last of the transmission pipe to our place. After we get that in place we will have all our transmission/distribution pipes underground–less weeds, less loss to subbing and evaporation.
My foot is coming along nicely. I did too much yesterday, but after a good night’s rest I’m able to use it again. Sure wasn’t a good time of the year to get a hurt.
Off now to head up to the ditch!
Your farm friend,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 
cleaning out those ditches looks like a huge job!
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Your spring comes so much earlier than ours. I do see bits of green here and there. And yesterday the first calf popped into the world. Enjoy your springish weather!
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Farming is such a science and you two make it look so easy. I always wondered what went into prepping the fields. The other amazing thing is you driving farm equipment. It totally blows me away. Must be a stick shift….or maybe farm equipment can be an automatic shift. I love learning everything about the farm. That tidbid about the winds and sap in the trees was enlightening. A hard life but at least its outdoors. I am not a house person either.
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Looks like things are moving along nicely, Linda. Glad your foot is better and you and the pups got to go for a nice walk. You live in such a pretty area!
Blessings!
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A nice plowed, smooth field looks so pretty. Cleaning that ditch looks like a pain. Glad your foot is getting better! I know what ya mean with over using it. Sometimes my wrist/hand gets to aching, but a good nights sleep helps wonders.
Cheri
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Don’t overdo lady!!
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There’s an art to bashing the clods of earth down to a fine tilth so it’s a comfortable bed for the seeds, but not so fine that the wind can blow it away before irrigation… I think you’ve got the best idea when you return all the stalks and so on to the soil and increase the humus level. I like a nice straight plowed line – all the guys here have GPS in their tractors, they just set it and go.
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Big difference between plowed and rolled. Who knew? I’m glad the foot is coming along. Rest heals. Don’t get crazy.
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This looks like very hard work, but all very worth it once the crops start growing.
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Bloody hard “yakka” this ploughing and preparation caper, and I thought our limited
number of sheep were hard to handle – well they don’t have too many brains and can be damn right obstinate at times! The shorthorn cattle were on a genius ranking compared
to the bloody sheep!
What are the “white” things in the water canals – where the pipes will go in??
Thanks for the Adelaide (Aus)/Oxelosund (Swe) connection.
Two bursts of rain last night – pretty much useless, thank God for storm two, it
knocked the humidity (Sauna conditions – yuck) after #1 down.
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Thanks for the new thing to learn. Don’t go chasing anything on the plowed land right now….would definitely slow down the healing process I think. Glad you are getting better and better.
I forgot about he word ‘humus’ when it refers to soil. And now I understand why a friend (who grew up on a farm) gave me a funny look when I said we had ‘hummus’ for lunch.
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Take care Linda, don’t overdo it again. Beaut to hear you’re feeling a lot better though. Oh those ditches!
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Glad to hear you are healing. Take care and be careful.
Give Fuzzy and Boomer a pat from me. 🙂
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
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Field work in your beautiful western Colorado area is quite far ahead of this area ( SW Iowa) but then frost went down 48 inches this year. Unusual for here, but then what is “usual” anymore. Glad to hear your foot is “coming along nicely”. Thanks for posting.
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Dear Linda, so sorry to read about your accident. I’m having a hard tie keeping up at the moment, but hope to be back on deck soon much love XXX
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Always a fascinating lesson in agriculture. Glad the foot is mending, try to take it easy in spite of what needs to be done.
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You gotta love farming to work so hard. Like school teachers, I think farmers are so unappreciated and so underpaid. Good thing there are people like you and your partner who’s roots are deep in good dirt and who find so much fulfillment in working the land. Keep up the good work and take care of that foot.
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Oh I’m happy to see spring has arrived for you. I hope your foot is back to normal soon. I’m sure it’s extremely hard to take it easy.
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I’m pleased that your foot is healing up and that you could escape outside for a while. I often look at the farms around here, see the continual activity and think what a LOT of work it is. I guess you must have it in the blood to put in those long hours and then wait for the weather gods to smile on you.
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You both work so hard, I hope you have good water supply and great crops this year:)
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Sorry to hear you got injured heal up quickly HUGS
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