Fixin' Fence!

These guys like to run and play. They are always on the look for the greener grass and quite often, just like us, these guys believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence!


Consequently "Fixin' Fence" is a pretty common chore on the farm!

Here is a what a bunch of hot-wire fence posts look like. The white things, also come in a variety of other colors are called insulators. Hot-wire fences are easy and quick to put up and take down. The wire has a faint electrical current running through and the cattle know--almost instinctively not to go through it. 

We do so much fencing that some creative farmer, took this old pickup bed and made it into a fencing trailer. The wheel up top holds the wire and makes it easy to roll up when you are taking down fence or unroll easy when you are putting it up.

There is a many different types of fences that have to be fixed on the farm. The posts in the back of this pickup are more permanent. They are meant to stay in place for the next 25 years or more. It takes a little more work to get them in the ground. 

Here is our most recent fencing crew! Aren't they handsome! They will take that old bent post out, dig a pretty deep post-hole and insert one of those sturdy wooden posts.






That is a post hole digger. It is basically two shovels working side by side to dig a small roundish hole. It is hard work.  There are post hole diggers that run off a tractor that make this job easier. 

Fencing is a time-honored job. Many cattlemen and farmers have installed fences. It is an ever present job on ranches and farms. Some are to keep the cattle in, other fences mark the beginning and end of their property, some are even used to keep raccoons from raiding the garden. 


Look at the character in this fence post. Wonder what it would say if it could talk...




Thanks for stopping by today, and when you are whizzing by those fence posts on the highway soon you can think about all the work that went into their establishment!

Cotton Plantin' Time

See the seed, that grows into a plant, that produces a bloom, that produces a boll, that produces white cotton, that produces, a thread, that produces the fabric, that became the very shirt you are wearing! Wow!  and it all started with cotton plantin' season!  No we don't plant it by hand but a hand does frequently get out and check the planting. (more on that later)

This is just a short description of how we plant cotton. There are different ways and methods of planting. One big difference is if your cotton is irrigated or if it is dryland.  We are dryland farmers and we depend on the good Lord to provide us with the moisture to plant, grow, and produce. Well it rained last week so now is the time to plant. 


This is the seed box. The lid opens up and a variety of cotton seed is dumped inside. Most of our cotton now a days is what they call "Round-up ready" which means you can spray it for weeds.  It is expensive and not something you plant without serious preparations of the soil. The box/plow has a blower in it.

See those hoses coming out of it in several directions.  Each one of those hoses extends to the modern day see planter--that is the wheel looking things. The row is made, the seed is shot from the seed box through the hose and into the ground. The last wheel helps pad down the soil so the seed is covered in hopefully warm, moist soil.  Cotton likes the heat of summer. 





 We are not high tech so our planter does not have a GPS system so we have this arm that sticks out from the plow.  This marks your row so you know where you have planted. Pretty simple system huh!

My apologizes for the dust but that is what farming is many times. And now the cotton is in the ground!  I will try to up date its progress through the growing season. 

Now you can give a second thought about how your shirt came to be! Thanks for stopping by today! 

Corn is a GOOD thing!

Gardeners' are special people in my book! They plant the seeds. They tenderly nourish and care for young plants.  They weed daily. They water faithfully.  They shew away all things that might harm the garden. They wait, pray and watch for miracles to happen.


 Best of all, I have never known a gardener who would not share their bounty with others! 

 I was blessed enough to have some gardeners' share recently!  They shared this lucious, home-grown veggie! Nothing tastes like fresh corn-on-the-cob right out of the garden. I bet you can taste the buttery sweetness even as you are reading this.

 Here is this little ear growing on the stalk of corn. You reach down and you snap it off by pulling down on the ear. It is covered in a blanket of tightly wrapped leaves.  I am sure there is a technical name but for most of us leaves will suffice.

You can freeze it, store it or grill it at this point but this expert I was with uses the method his mom and grandmother used and that was simply clean the corn in the field and leave the mess there! So we carefully cut the ends off the ears and shed the protective leaves.

This method also allows you to see if you got a good ear or one that has been eaten by our friend. (see his picture below) (LOL)  If it happens to not be a nice full ear, pick another one and try your luck.  There are usually two to three ears, at least, per stalk. Keep in mind this is garden variety corn not field corn. 


        

Special thanks to my special garden friends and to all gardeners for growing fresh food for us to eat and enjoy! I am already eyeing my next find if I get invited back to the garden!