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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

AN UPDATE

I haven't posted in a while about the fieldwork that's been ongoing about the farm. Here's a quick update as I steal a few minutes on the Internet at lunchtime:

- The oats appear to be growing. They are green at this point and above the soil not more than a few inches. Tom drove the horses and a spring-tine weeder through them last Thursday in order to get rid of some undesirables. (See first two pictures below.) There hasn't been decent rain in a few weeks, which isn't helpful to the oats, but so far they still seem happy.

- Meanwhile, one of the next fields we've been preparing to plant will be feed corn. We've all done some plowing, and then on Saturday Rob hooked up a big roller to the oxen and crushed clods. (See third picture.)

- Potato planting is scheduled for this coming Saturday in last year's cornfield, which is way out on the far side of the farm. I haven't seen what's going on out there in the last few days, but I understand there's been some tractor assistance in order to help get it ready.

- Growth also continues among a field of spelt that was planted before I got here and so far have nothing to do with. My one contribution is that I drove a tractor over the corner edge of the field just because it seemed like the right thing to do.