What's Happening in July on the farm:
We just wrapped up our second hay cutting. We grew a small amount of hay when David and I were first married, but decided to diversify our family farming operation a little this year, and added in 300 acres of hay on top of our potatoes, wheat, and barley crops. There have been a few new things to figure out, but everything has been going good. Russell even joined in this year, driving the tractor and baling hay for the first time. He loved it! I have always loved the smell of fresh cut hay, so it has been a real treat for me to help David, and be around the smell up close and personal!
Swathing Hay
Raking Hay
Baling Hay
Our potato crops are doing great...and growing fast! We are growing red potatoes for the first time this year. This past week, the vines were killed in preparation for harvest. Once the vines are killed, it allows the plant to stop growing, and the potatoes will sit in the soil for about 21-30 days where they will develop a tougher skin that keeps them from getting damaged when harvested and stored. We normally grow Russet Burbanks, and they are killed much later and harvested in the fall...but because customers prefer smaller red potatoes, they are harvested much earlier. We are also growing another variety of potatoes that we have grown in the past, called Norkotahs, in addition to Russet Burbanks. These two potato crops are still growing, and they are beautiful right now to see the field of potato blossoms.
Our wheat is also doing pretty good. It's looking like the yields might not be the best this year because of spring wheather, but it still looks decent. It seems to be rippening quickly, and some of our wheat grown in more sandy soil is almost ready to harvest! We will be harvesting the rest of the crop shortly.
August is going to be a busy month for our family. We will be harvesting all of our wheat and barley, red potatoes, and another round of hay! It's pretty much non-stop chaos from here until the end of the growing season, with working ground, planting wheat, possibly planting more hay, and harvesting all of our other potatoes, and a final hay cutting! Despit all of the summer chaos, I enjoy spending time working together, and I especially enjoy riding with David to check fields in the evenings...and so do our dogs, Gabby and Grizz!
