June 4th, 2010
While it is important to get one or two inches of rain each week to maintain our crops, it is often bothersome when it comes--right when we are trying to get something important done! But, we don't have to worry about not having something to do! Right now we are trying to wrap up one of the busiest seasons on the farm--getting all of the main crops in, while maintaining all of what we have already (namely keeping ahead of the weeds and harvesting)!
We are getting ready to have an interesting next week--the whole family (excepting Caleb and I) will be taking a vacation starting Monday. They will be headed to a camp down in Georgia for a week of fun & games with our church. Caleb and I are going to get a lot of things done while they are gone--hopefully we'll be able to catch up on a few things!
I hope that you all have a good week--enjoy your vegetables!
Adam Colvin
Colvin Family Farm (CNG)
www.ColvinFamilyFarm.com
Farm Update May 30th-June 5th Week #6
Because it is raining, I'm going to be using some of the pictures I've been collecting but haven't had room/time to use in previous newsletters.
This is our grain thresher--We read about it in one of our favorite farm magazines Farm Show. The gentleman that was selling them claimed that the foot powered thresher modeled off of the centuries old Asian plan could thresh up to 80 lbs of wheat an hour! After having spent many hours last year trying to knock the grain out of the heads of the wheat with sticks (like we've always read about) we were game to give it a try!
This is a close-up of the foot pedaled drive system.
And a closeup of the head--when you step on the pedal, the head will turn quickly, you are supposed to feed the heads of wheat, oats of other small grains into it, and it knocks the grain out of the heads and sifts it into a bucket--we hope it works! If it does, you all should get some wheat berries (or flour or cracked cereal for those of you who don't have a wheat grinder) in your share within the next couple of months!
We had mom help us with the radishes last week! She is a big help...
...except for when she slows us down with "sentimental goop"--who needs a picture of a heart made out of radishes?
Speaking of mom--three weeks ago, mom and I were finishing some packing down in the house, while Caleb and dad were working on it up at the packing shed--it was 12:30 in the morning, and Mom accidentally let a huge moth into the kitchen (not this specific one)--it not only was huge, but it was flying all over the place and was just a blur. Well it kept bumping into Mom, and so she decided to "euthanize" it (which means she was trying to stomp it)--as she was doing that she said--"Adam this is a huge moth", to which I replied (jokingly now) "Oh, it's a bat!".....Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad idea at 12:30 in the morning--I don't know if any of us at the house have recovered from the blood curdling screaming that went on--and Dad ran full tilt down to the kitchen to find out who had died etc...etc... It was horrible (but hilarious!) It is at times like this that we like to quote from the FFA (Future Farmers of America) creed: "For I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny....."
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