Filed under: September 2019 | Tags: seedbed preparation, Spelt, speltz, Sunday, Tractor-vs-draft horses
September 23, 2019
Whew, what a week last week was! Tuesday, I helped a friend on a logging job. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I worked from early until after dark, getting the speltz planted. The fields had to be plowed, then a seedbed prepared. I used the tractor, due to the tight timeline. The celebration came at 10 pm on Friday night, at the completion of this job.
The field in the photo above is one of three small fields that I planted. I want to ensure that I have horse feed and bedding for next year. This crop is very important for us. Using mixed power, sometimes makes sense. The tractor allows me to “catch up”. I prefer to work horses, but I don’t shun modern technology.
My lack of planning and letting myself get too busy, crowded my speltz planting window into just three days. This forced me to push hard without rest. The tractor can stand being pushed that hard. I wanted to beat the rain. Thankfully, I did just that. The rain came on Saturday, just after lunch. I had just finished cleaning the grain drill and putting all the equipment away. The rain came quick. It dropped about a quarter of an inch in just minutes. I smiled and thanked God.
I rested Sunday. The tractor can take the abuse of many hours of hard work without rest…the horses and I cannot. I did chores and not much else. The rains came again last night and continues into today. The life giving water will sprout the seeds waiting in the warm ground. Our crop should be off and growing in no time.
My mother always followed the progress of my speltz crop. I’m sure she would be pleased by my efforts. Autumn is a busy time on the farm, as we wrap things up and make ready for winter, The speltz being planted, takes a huge burden off the list. The corn harvest will begin very soon. Right now our cows are calving making it a wonderful time of year to watch, wait and work.
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RicelandMeadows 
Did some brushhogging over the weekend to prepare about 15 acres to be seeded to Timothy this fall.(“A quart of seed in the Fall is a peck of seed in the Spring). Used some old “iron”. 1968 Muir Hill tractor and a 10 foot brushhog. 8 hours Prayer time.
Comment by Rick September 23, 2019 @ 9:30 amWay to go Rick…and that’s a good use of quiet time!
Comment by ricelandmeadows September 26, 2019 @ 9:50 am