The Archives - April 2009

21st Anniversary

Due to various circumstances, Beth and I never followed up on our plans to get away for our 20th anniversary last year, so we committed to do something this year, no matter what. After a bit of research, we decided to spend a couple days at a bed & breakfast in Sheffield, Illinois, and do some day trips to various attractions in the area. We had a wonderful time together ("rejoicing in the wife of my youth")!

We stayed at the Chestnut Street Inn in Sheffield:

A little something for Beth:

The food was excellent!

We visited the Hennepin Canal as well as the Hegeler Carus house:

All-in-all, it was a delightful anniversary!

April Showers

It continues to be a wet spring for us this year, which has made it difficult to get fieldwork and planting done. Thankfully, we had several dry and warm days last week, and I was able to get the oats, wheat and alfalfa in, and Beth got a good start on the garden, setting out potatos and onions. We've had a nice slow rain since late yesterday afternoon, so Lord willing, we'll see plants emerging within a few weeks.

I really enjoy doing fieldwork and planting, and it was particularly enjoyable using our 1950 Ford 8N tractor (which I restored last year) to do the work. The process starts by discing the field to break up any weed growth and prepare the soil for seed. I use a twenty-disc harrow, pulled behind the tractor:

disc

Once the seedbed is prepared, I get all my seed set out and ready to plant:

seed

I use a grain drill to plant, and mine is a really old Van Brunt model, originally designed to be horse-drawn - there's a footboard on the back where the driver would stand to rein the horse(s) and check and adjust the seeding rates. Since I pull it with the tractor, I just stop every few passes to make sure I have plenty of seed and that it's feeding right. That's alfalfa in the small boxes on the front of the seeder, oats or wheat go in the larger middle boxes:

alfalfa

Once we're loaded up, it's time to plant:

vanbrunt

And finally, here's the cold frame Tyler and I built for Beth to use to harden off her seedlings:

Cabinet Meeting

Progress continues on our new kitchen buildout. All of the wall and base cabinets are set, appliances are hooked up (except the water lines to the dishwasher plus sink and plumbing), and everything has been polyurethaned on the inside (outsides will be painted). We should have doors, drawers and shelves in hand in the next week or so, and will also start shopping for the countertop soon.

Skyping Away

Chad and Tyler, Skyping with our friends from South Carolina...

Ya'll drop us a line when you can, now!