Back in the field again

Once again, the farm takes priority over the stupidity of my government. With thoughts of the cap and trade still burning in my mind, I met up with my farming partner for hay baling. 98 degrees in the shade with 68% humidity, what an awful day. We borrowed a round baler since all we have is square balers and proceeded to have 2 hours worth of trouble with it. The baler sat out uncovered all winter and of course, everything was rusted up on it. String feed problems and pick-up rake problems confounded us for a while. A little bit of cursing, a little bit of adjustment and a whole lot of grease and we ended up with 18 bales from the one field and 10 in the next field before we had the next major disaster with the baler. A belt flipped on it and dusk hit us before we got it straightened back out. Done for the day then. Haven't been out to the field yet today so I don't have a final count.

I plan on attending a local Tea Party scheduled in my area on Independence Day. I think it's a worthwhile endeavor and I hope everyone across the country attends one too.

I am disappointed in my back garden. I have suffered a catastrophic loss back there. My second planting of corn looks great but the first planting is a total loss with ears less than half the normal size and the third planting not come up at all. Also the 2 rows of kidney beans, 80' long has 19 plants above ground. Those plants will make just about enough to replant next years crop. Thankfully the second planting is looking good and is progressing like normal. At least I'll have enough corn for winter. In the 15 years I've been doing this, I have never, ever had a single year with results this bad! Thankfully my white beans, peas, tomatoes, and peppers are all doing well. I will be working out how to recover from this quickly in alternative food crops that can still be planted and harvested this year to make up for the loss. Thankfully, last years harvest was much better than this year and we may be able to change a few eating habits and make it thru the winter just fine without having to buy commercial food. Ew, that's a horrible thought, having to buy commercially produced food! I need to put some feelers out and see what I can trade for.

I let a neighbor combine the wheat ring for me as he was headed from one field to the next and he pumped me a few sacks full. Saved me several hours in the scorching heat. So I'll be doing the wheat thing for the blog with last years wheat I'm still yet to process. When the heat breaks, I'll start on it. Never fear tho, the only thing missing will be the actual stripping of the wheat from the field.

Well, I'm needing to get the bread baked...