tree removal

Yesterday we drove some heavy equipment to Alicia's place to remove some trees that have been on our list of things to do for YEARS!!!  My parents talked about removing these trees 30 years ago and now it has happened!  And, there are more on the list, but the really big ones are beyond our skill set.  For now, the pile that we made north of her house will be all that we accomplish this spring.

First we pulled a failing flowering crab and an almost dead sweet cherry tree.  I tried to pull those last year with Kenny, the loader tractor and could not get them out.  This spring we brought Colt to do the job!

Reynald, Scott the scarecrow and Alicia.

Scott will need to have a wardrobe update for the coming garden season.

Next on the removal list were the arborvitae shrubs.  

One gone, seven more to go!

I pulled the shrubs out with Colt, and drug them out to the field and then Reynald used Kenny to put them on to a quickly growing, eventual burn pile.

Alicia hooked the chain to the arborvitae and then to the tractor.

Here's what it looks like with all those shaggy shrubs removed.  

Next Reynald and Kenny cleaned up the burn pile from last year!  Alicia was able to burn most of the pile last week, but there were some stumps and random branches left.  Reynald hauled those to the new burn pile.  Alicia's garden space just increased!  The squash vines will be growing across the road this summer!!!

Alicia has ordered a few fruit trees and plans to plant those in the area where we removed the juniper trees north of the equipment shed. 

There were five juniper trees planted on the north side of the equipment shed.  They needed to go away.....

Again, we hooked a chain to the tree, Colt pulled and drug the tree to the ever increasing in size, burn pile!

Here I am waiting for Reynald and Kenny to push the trees in to a somewhat tidy pile. 

Kenny worked hard today.

This looks so much better.  Still some work to do to get the site ready for the fruit trees, but the big job is finished.  We haven't seen this side of the shed for 40 years!

March afternoon

Friday afternoon I went outside to prune a few roses.  The sky was so dramatic.  Blue skies and puffy white clouds in the northern skies, and dark stormy clouds to the south.  I managed to get five roses pruned before the wind picked up and the rain started.  This is typical spring weather for our area.  It is one of the reasons we  must have a "Plan B".  It's also one of the reasons I love being a farmer.  It is rare that one day is the same as the next. 

A few images of the afternoon clouds before I retreated to my sewing room to finish one quilt and immediately start another while the rain fell and the wind blew!!!

Because of the interesting lighting due to the clouds,  I thought the contrast between the sky and the fields was striking.

This dark cloud eventually made it's way over us and dropped some rain, which is always welcome!

This is a different view of the farm than I usually take.  

The wheat has come through the winter fairly well.  We had several water runoff events, though our fields show very little erosion.  We believe that one of the reasons is that we have such high residue on our fields.  Also our wheat plants are happy and have a large root mass under the soil to hold water and prevent erosion.  

This shows that the tips of the wheat plant suffered some minor winter damage.  

Charlie and Baxter are never far away when I am outside.  There is so much for them to investigate! 

Charlie is always on the lookout for something interesting.

The chickens provide constant entertainment for Charlie and Baxter!

Terrier vs. rooster.  Good thing there is a fence between the two of them!

It was warm enough before the clouds rolled in for the honey bees to be out flying.  I'm so thrilled that they have made it through the winter!  I'm keeping food in front of them until something blooms in the yard.  

Reyanld and Alicia have been busily working getting everything ready for spring field work.  They are almost ready to declare "we're ready"! 

Sunday afternoon drive

The afternoon temperatures rose to the mid 50's yesterday so Reynald got out the jeep and we took a drive to look at our fields.  (Condolences to east coast readers as I just heard that yet another Nor'easter is headed your way...ugh!)

Daylight savings time kicks my butt but I have to say, that I really enjoyed being outside late in to the day, as the sun was setting, pruning a few roses.  My body will adjust in a week or so.....

We love this little jeep.  His name is TJ.

Driving down our lane.

The crops look great.  This is our friend and neighbor, Les' farmstead.  The wide draw was one that Reynald remodeled last spring.  We've had several large water run off events this winter, yet this ditch did not wash our, which pleased us greatly.

On one of the back roads there was a huge herd of deer grazing on the winter wheat.  We counted at least 30, but there could have been more. 

When we got home I dug some carrots, which need to get out of the ground in the next week or so.  They are like candy.  I will be sending some east to David and Roni and David's parents this week.  I found that quite a few fit in a large, flat rate mailing box and they arrive in two or three days and the kids say they are still fresh and fine.

The Lenten Rose is blooming, appropriate for this time of the year.  It's always the first thing to bloom in my yard.

I decided to prune a few roses while the sun was still up.  You can see by the last image, that the sun was setting before I finished my goal, casting a beautiful orange glow to the yard.

A few rose bushes before pruning......

and after.

The glow of the late afternoon sun.

Signs of Spring

I was in Spokane most of the day today.  When I returned home, I noticed several signs of spring on the farm.  There are several pieces of equipment that have been moved from the equipment storage lot, closer to the shop so that Reynald and Alicia can do some maintenance work before spring work begins.

Here are a few signs of spring at the end of Rolinco Road!

First sign of spring is a major wind that blew tumble mustard for miles to get hung up in the pasture fence.

Spencer and Baxter!

Arthur and the fertilizer applicator.  We are planting about 750 acres of spring crop in a couple weeks.

Indy and the harrow.

Reynald and Alicia removed all the drag harrow and took them in to the shop to work on.

This winter we had all the packer wheels on Reynald's set of drills rebuilt.

The side walls were worn through in many places.  This rebuild will last at least 20 years .

New straw pickers, like the ones we put on the set of drills that I ran last fall.   We were so pleased with the job they did.  A definite improvement over the old style.

This is an empty drill, waiting for straw picker and packer wheel install!

Inside the shop, Reynald and Alicia are working on the drag harrow that pull behind the main harrow.  We have known that this needed to be done for the last two or three years, but have put it off because it is a pretty big project.  This is the year to do the fix, which involves new pull bars, new chain, and a different way to attach the drag harrow to the pull bars. 

Reynald is cutting off the old pull attachment point with the torch.

Alicia is attaching the new chain and clevis to the new pull bar.

As you can see, this has been quite a project!

Tulips and daffodils are coming through the soil.  It will be a little while before they bloom, but the promise is there!

This is our favorite daffodil.  It somehow survived construction of the new shop and was miraculously planted near the foundation.  I had daffodils near the door of the old shop, but how this fellow survived and managed to plant itself in just the right spot is a mystery.

Tulips coming up in the yard.

And daffodils coming up with such force that they are lifting the soil!!

And finally, the sunset this evening.  Oh my!  It's a treat every night, but some are more spectacular than others and tonight was one of the better.  A beautiful way to say good day.