Farming with headlights
As I mentioned yesterday, we've finally been blessed with some springtime weather... we've had multiple days of sunshine now... in a ROW! The nice weather is forecast is to hold until at least tomorrow. In my part of the county this means the farmers are out working the fields trying to get as much done while the sun shines and the wet weather is a bad memory. Wednesday morning looked like this as I was leaving for work around 6:15 am. Things were quiet at Red Gate Farm.
I came home around 4:00 to gorgeous cerulean blue skies and.... a HUGE John Deere tractor (someone should have told him we're a Farmall family), slowly making it's way through our 16 to 17 acres. And when I say slow, I think I could have crawled faster than this tractor moved tilling up the earth... digging deep to plant potatoes.
The summer before we moved to Red Gate Farm the field was planted in potatoes. Our first summer here it was planted in wheat. We actually lease our land out, the part that the actual "farmstead" isn't on. Since that first summer the land has just been left in grass for cutting hay. I've been kind of excited about the prospect of acres of potatoes. Have you ever seen a potato field in bloom? Come mid July, or perhaps a little later due to our uncooperative weather, this entire field will be awash in blossoms.
By 7:30 pm, the tractor was perhaps only half way through the acreage. Hmmmm. Surely he'll be leaving when it gets dark, right? Bedtime around 10:00 pm, fully dark out, tractor still going.
A wake up call around 11:00 as it somehow managed to align itself perfectly with my ground floor bedroom window... for a moment I thought maybe I was on the takeoff runway of an airport! My bedroom was lite up like it was daylight!
Fortunately for this light sleeper, this tractor was new and very, very quiet. As soon as the tractor turned to head back towards the trees I drifted back to sleep.
Another wake up at 1:00 am, yep, I did say 1:00 am and the tractor is idling next to the greenhouse. I remember thinking, "wow, is this guy going to be here when I get up at 4:40 am??" Lucky for me and probably more so for him, he was just leaving.
I snapped another picture of the pristine, dark brown earth in the early morning hour of 6:15 am as I once again left for work this morning.
This evening, a bit better view of a portion of the field from the upstairs window (please ignore the glass that needs cleaning).
In another month or two... I can take the same picture with the fields covered in flowers.... I wonder if they'll be white or purple blossoms? Only time, and the potato variety, will tell.
As the sun sets over the barn at Red Gate Farm....
Good night and have a great weekend,
I came home around 4:00 to gorgeous cerulean blue skies and.... a HUGE John Deere tractor (someone should have told him we're a Farmall family), slowly making it's way through our 16 to 17 acres. And when I say slow, I think I could have crawled faster than this tractor moved tilling up the earth... digging deep to plant potatoes.
The summer before we moved to Red Gate Farm the field was planted in potatoes. Our first summer here it was planted in wheat. We actually lease our land out, the part that the actual "farmstead" isn't on. Since that first summer the land has just been left in grass for cutting hay. I've been kind of excited about the prospect of acres of potatoes. Have you ever seen a potato field in bloom? Come mid July, or perhaps a little later due to our uncooperative weather, this entire field will be awash in blossoms.
By 7:30 pm, the tractor was perhaps only half way through the acreage. Hmmmm. Surely he'll be leaving when it gets dark, right? Bedtime around 10:00 pm, fully dark out, tractor still going.
A wake up call around 11:00 as it somehow managed to align itself perfectly with my ground floor bedroom window... for a moment I thought maybe I was on the takeoff runway of an airport! My bedroom was lite up like it was daylight!
Fortunately for this light sleeper, this tractor was new and very, very quiet. As soon as the tractor turned to head back towards the trees I drifted back to sleep.
Another wake up at 1:00 am, yep, I did say 1:00 am and the tractor is idling next to the greenhouse. I remember thinking, "wow, is this guy going to be here when I get up at 4:40 am??" Lucky for me and probably more so for him, he was just leaving.
I snapped another picture of the pristine, dark brown earth in the early morning hour of 6:15 am as I once again left for work this morning.
This evening, a bit better view of a portion of the field from the upstairs window (please ignore the glass that needs cleaning).
In another month or two... I can take the same picture with the fields covered in flowers.... I wonder if they'll be white or purple blossoms? Only time, and the potato variety, will tell.
As the sun sets over the barn at Red Gate Farm....
Good night and have a great weekend,
linking up
to
AND
I love the look and smell of the freshly tilled earth. We have potato fields here in the Skagit Valley and those pink blossoms are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Nothing as wonderful to me as farmers who are good stewerds of the earth, that is beautiful. The farmers here can't even plant yet, the ground is so wet, they are 2 month behind already.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I look forward to the field of flower photos!
ReplyDeleteDeb
Your pictures are beautiful! What a lovely place to call home. I have to admit that even the John Deere headlights through the a.m. window sounds romantic!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Debbie
I just love to see and smell the freshly tilled ground in the spring. Beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteOops, I'll try again. Lots of farming friends around here are pretty frustrated and losing money with the wet ground that has delayed planting. Glad to see your tenant could work the soil.
ReplyDeleteSuch perfect sunlight you had for your photos!
ReplyDeleteDi
I love to look at potato fields in blossom. Looking forward to those pictures when it blooms. Will they let you dig a hill or two? It's like finding buried treasure...
ReplyDeleteYou'll have fun in the fall after they harvest. There are always lots of potatoes left on the ground, and picking them up is kind of like an Easter egg hunt. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely
ReplyDeleteWhy did he have to go so slow?
ReplyDeleteDo you really get up that early and leave that early for work?
What do you do?
sorry I have not been around lately to visit...I am in house renovation mode again.
I will try to visit more often.
I remember the first time I saw them out in the fields behind us at night, it looked like a UFO was hovering! : )
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful home you have. I love the sun pics. So gorgeous!
ReplyDelete