Driving Truck

It's been a gorgeous fall. I should be taking advantage of it by working my tail off in the garden, but I'm dragging my feet. I need to spread manure, but I can't get motivated to do it (mostly because our manure spreader is a pickup, a shovel, and me). It's backbreaking work, so I've been avoiding it.

When a friend and neighbor asked if I'd help drive truck for his harvest, I jumped at the chance. So, instead of slinging poo, Lydia the Dog and I have been driving loads of barley from the field to the bin, dumping it, back to the field, back to the bin, dump, field, bin, dump, field, bin, dump. It's easy on the back and the scenery is nice.





What I have finally accomplished is setting up the drip irrigation in the high tunnel and broadcasting winter rye and winter pea. Both have germinated and are popping through the soil as though it's springtime and not the beginning of November. It's a wonderful sight.

True Fall

Turkeys pecking around under a tree.

Autumn has been gorgeous this year. Usually fall in Montana means two to three days of 60-70 degree sunny days, a hard freeze, all the leaves fall at once, and it's winter. This year, we've had a couple weeks of mild sunny weather, the leaves are changing slowly and drift to the ground when they're ready. This has made the fall farm tasks pretty darn pleasant. There is still much to do, but it looks as though we have at least another week of perfect autumn weather.


Dumping Sonora wheat from the combine to the truck.

There is still one grain crop to harvest, the turkeys still need to be taken care of, and there is plenty of clean up around the place. I'd also like to seed the high tunnel with winter rye and winter peas. But, I've gotten some clean up done and the garlic has been planted thanks to our friends Tim and Sarah.


Tim and Sarah planting garlic.

Tim and Sarah are shareholders in our Grain and Seed CSA. This is the second year that they have been out to plant garlic. While planting yesterday and talking about the season, we came up with a great idea for next year. Shareholders adopt a crop. For example, let's say as a shareholder, you adopt a broccoli crop. You play a role in seeding the broccoli seed in the greenhouse, in transplanting the seedlings into the field, in weeding the bed throughout the season, and in harvesting (and of course eating) the crop when it's ready.

The 2011 Prairie Heritage Farm Adopt-a-Crop program. What do you think, shareholders? By the way, the garlic has already been adopted.

Our Best Harvest Ever

Willa Anne Cowgill
Born September 28, 2010
7 lbs. 1 oz.
21"
Gorgeous.

Why I Married a Farmer

Two years ago yesterday, I did something I promised myself I would never do: I married a farmer.

I've never in my life made a better decision.



Jacob and I married in front of an historic red barn, with our friends and family surrounding us. The leaves on the cottonwoods were just turning and the air had that unmistakable fall crisp to it. The food came from Jacob's first farming experiment in Big Sandy and the flowers from my first large cut flower garden. It was the beginning of so many things for us.

Flurry

It's been a flurry of activity around Prairie Heritage Farm. Frost is now old news, Farmers' Market is nearly over, the plastic is on the high tunnel (finally!) due to the help of some very good friends, the barley has been swathed, the storage crops are rolling in, and the greatest crop of all (not for sale) is presumably days away. So here is all that, but in a much prettier format:


Putting on the plastic.


Glorious high tunnel.


Swathing barley.


Pumpkin barrow.


One big onion.


Onion barrow.


Baby undies.