Farming

Due to some less than ideal conditions this spring (lets see...torrential rains, check; freezing cold followed by blazing hot back to bone chilling cold, check, check, check) everyone in the tri-state area is a bit behind on their spring farming activities. So when the water spigot finally turned off and things dried out, the hum of tractor engines has filled the air. The Held Farm is no exception.

Melvin worked on baling wheat for the cattle.

They were very grateful.

Nick worked on disking in the fields where the sudan grass will be planted for the cattle.

Even the neighbors were out working.

After Rachel and I were done watching everyone else work, we headed out to the garden to get to work on our own project...the much overdue planting of the tomato plants. These tomato plants have weathered it all...the USPS shipping where they arrived in a jumbled heap. About half of them we really aren't sure what kind they are...it'll just be a surprise. The night they arrived, Nick planted them into cups and we set them on the deck. That night, a "patchy" frost settled over our deck and we really thought we'd lost them all. Surprisingly, many of them powered back only to be forgotten (by me) for several days with no water in warmer temps...yet they survived. The test for tonight will be Peter Rabbit and friends...

But, despite all this, we loaded up Rachel's trusty wagon and out to the garden we went. Let me just tell you, the girl is a natural! Watching me use the shovel for one tomato, and she had it figured out...

"I think this looks like a good spot, Mama... I'll dig the hole."

Good help is the starting point to success for any business.

Thanks, Rach!! Love, Mama