Allegro Custom Spraying

Yesterday I took time to ride with Alicia as she sprayed the last few acres of our winter wheat crop.  She is the operator of Spencer the Sprayer.  One day she may do custom spraying, therefore needs a name for her company.  She has decided on Allegro Custom Spraying, because it's fast, fast, fast!!!

This machine is amazing, as is the operator......

Reynald and Alicia spent quite a bit of time this winter modifying the truck tank that transports water for spraying, from our farm site to the field.

The fill mechanism to load Spencer.

Reynald bought the mechanism then had to modify our truck to make it all work, which was in fact, a bit of an engineering feat.

This is a four inch hose, which is one of the reasons we can fill Spencer so quickly.

Connecting the fill hose to the sprayer is quick and easy.  It takes three and a half minutes to fill 1200 gallons of water!  This was hard for me to believe until I saw it in person.  Just imagine, three and a half minutes to fill 1200 gallons of water!

The fill mechanism is easy to maneuver.

Connecting to Spencer.

Spencer has a motor that sucks the product in to the tanks, rather than pumping.

Another look at the hook up.  

And another.  Notice in this image, that the entry ladder is down.

 Once most of the water is in, Reynald and Alicia add the chemicals that we can not purchase in bulk.  Bulk chemicals are on the applicator in separate tanks.

This is a neat and tidy tool box, where Alicia stores her safety equipment.  

Reynald calls this "The Toilet Bowl"!  This is where they add the non-bulk chemicals.

The control panel for "The Toilet Bowl".

Adding the dry flowable product.  This particular jug is for cheat grass control.

And then the flush!!!!

Adding a liquid fungicide.  This particular chemical helps the plant roots fight off fungus that weakens their ability to uptake nutrients.

And this is perhaps the one of the neatest features of The Toilet Bowl.  You can rinse the jug with a nozzle that is in the middle of The Toilet Bowl!  

After those chemicals have been pumped in to the system, a little more water/fertilizer is added to fill the tank to the top.  Spencer is so smart, he knows when his tanks are full and automatically shuts down the intake of product.

Spencer is full and Reynald is disconnecting.  About one cup of water drips out after the disconnect!

Folding the fill mechanism back in to place.  

Replace the locking pin and that's that!

This was the first fill in the morning.  Once we were full, Alicia pulled in to the field.  The entrance ladder folded up (automatically!) and she unfolded Spencer's wings and we were off.

Entry ladder up in field position.

Unfolding Spencer's wings.

And we're off across the field.

There are quite a few controls on the joy stick.

And even more controls and buttons to push, and information to monitor on the screen.  

After 35 minutes of spraying, and 120 acres covered, we were back at the side of the road, ready to fill and do it all again. 

Back for a fill.

The crop looks so good this spring!

Plants are healthy and happy, especially with all the rain this spring.

Here comes Spencer!

Turn the corner, lock on to satellite guidance and back across the field. 

I was so impressed by the efficiency and accuracy of this machine.  However, I am very happy that I am not the one in the pilot seat.  I left the field and went home to prune some roses.  No technology involved!

Frosty Morning

Baxter and I got up early this morning.  When I looked outside there frost on the roof of the chicken house and the draws were also white with frost.  It was quite pretty.  We walked "the loop" from the house, down to the pasture and then back up our lane before coming inside to warm up!

White frost covered the draw to the north west of our house.  I took this image from the office window.

The sun is making an appearance earlier and earlier!

The chicken house roof was also white with frost.

This draw, behind our house to the south, was really white.

Frozen water droplets on the leaves of the wheat plants.  

Daffodils, Baxter, frost and the Mielke/Funk road sign!

Sunrise lighting up the barn.

Reynald started seeding our spring wheat crop yesterday and did a little more today, until he ran out of seed and fertilizer.  We had a couple extra helpers this morning, to fill seed and fertilizer and diesel in the tractor.  We wouldn't object if they were around all the time!!!!

Filling the air cart with fertilizer, with the seed truck waiting in line to fill next.

David filling Arthur with fuel.

And now checking the boots of the drill to make sure seed and fertilizer are coming out of each opener.

Roni Jo had to crawl in to the back of the seed truck to shovel out the last little bit of seed.

David and Ron watching Roni work!

Furrows in a portion of the newly seeded field.

You can see the kernels of wheat after I have scraped away the soil.  We don't plant the seeds as deep under the soil surface in the spring since the moisture level is so near the surface.  Reynald and I are constantly debating the seed rate.  I think he plants to thick!  He disagrees, as is evidenced by the number of seeds in this image!!!

Seeded ground on the left, un-seeded on the right.  

This has been an unusual spring weather wise.  We are at least two weeks late getting the seed in the ground, due to the rain that has been falling.  This coming week we are expecting temperatures in the upper 70's.  That will make both spring and winter wheat grow like crazy! 

May the Angels lead you in to Paradise.

My dad died this morning.  He was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma over two years ago, and throughout most of those two years, he has been able to do nearly every thing he has wanted to do.

The last two weeks have been a struggle for him, as his health rapidly declined.  But the good news is that it was only two weeks.  We were able to provide 24 hour comfort care for him within our family unit, which was truly a gift for all of us.

Dad leaves an amazing legacy of compassion, truth, quiet resolve and more than a little bit of a stubborn spirit behind for us to grasp on to and model our lives by. 

Mom and dad are two weeks shy of celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary.  They were high school sweethearts and life long lovers and partners.  They have given us all the tools we need to navigate this new path, without dad physically present. 

Memories of this past year flood my brain tonight.  What a lucky family we are.

I know my dad is resting in peace, free from pain and discomfort and restored to full and robust health.  He will remain with us always, in each and every thought, each and every moment, each and every kernel of wheat that we plant and tend.

I love you so much dad.  Thanks for who you are and who you taught me to be.