Summer time projects

We finished two of our big summer time projects this week.  Reynald and Alicia wrapped up fertilizing our summer fallow fields and I finished coil packing.

We put down the bulk of our fertilizer for the 2018 crop now.  We will add a little more with the seed when we put our winter wheat crop in this September, and a little more in the spring with a foliar feed, but the majority of the nutrients go in the soil now.

Our nitrogen source is liquid urea.  It is easier for the plants to digest and uptake and has no damaging effects on the micro organisms in the soil. We also add a little calcium chloride which helps with plant health.  We'll add some zinc, sulphur, phosphorous and nitrogen in the dry fertilizer with the seed and then more nitrogen and micro nutrients in the spring with the foliar.

We apply the fertilizer with a culti-weeder.  It is a combination cultivator and rod weeder, with a harrow added for good measure!

Filling the truck with product from the home storage tanks to take out to the field.

Coming across the field.

He''ll stop at the road and fill the applicator.

Filling......the applicator tank is 1500 gallons and the truck tank is 3000 so we get two fills per truck tank.  Then back to the shop to refill the truck tank from the storage tanks there. 

Last year we had to replace this pump and Reynald indulged me and got the electric start engine.  We all think this is the ultimate in modern farm luxury!

Finished filling and ready to go.

And he's off!

A typical scene.  Wide open spaces that I never tire of taking in.

The wheat is really turning, or ripening.  This is our neighbors field, the one you can see in the previous image.  His crop looks terrific.  

A few years ago we figured out that if we come right in after the culti-weeder with the coil packer, it settles the soil and conserves moisture.

This is the coil packer.  

Every morning I have to grease the coil sections.  You lift the frame with hydraulics so that the grease zerks are easy to get to.

This is one grease zerk.   Each zerk gets five squirts.

There are two zerks per coil section.  

It doesn't take long before you are done and ready to go again.

Colt is back in action.  Kelly took all those pieces and put them back together again!  I love my Colt tractor!!

Our farming practices have changed over the years.  My dad always did as much as he could to carry a heavy straw mulch.  Because of changes in equipment we are able to carry an even greater amount of straw residue on the fields.  There is a great deal of debate about direct seeding vs. conservation tillage.  We have opted for conservation tillage.

 The conversation is a long one, and perhaps one day I will elaborate on our end of the argument, but in the interest of time I will only say this today.  The gardener in me likes to have a carpet of mulch laying on the ground, rather than straw standing straight up.

I took a few photos to show an example of our mulch.  In soil tests, our organic soil matter exceeds what most direct seeded fields in our area boast.

Typical mulch level on the majority of our summer fallow fields.

A little closer look.  You can see the straw that is chopped up in to small pieces and laying on top of the soil to create an insulating blanket which retains moisture and reduces soil erosion.

This straw mulch is so thick you can't even see the soil below.  This is in a draw where you would expect to have a thicker straw mulch, but still!

When I scrape away the straw, you can still see the organic matter in the soil below.

You can see the mulch on this field, even at a distance.

 With the long days we still manage to get home, most days, in time to have dinner on the porch and watch the sunset.  Our kittens are getting more bold about interacting with us and are quite entertaining.

This is Chester!