Step Nine-Planting

Finally we have moved to step nine-planting.  We are ONLY planting corn, right now.  We will plant alfalfa and wheat in two weeks and pinto beans in three-four weeks.

Terry wet plants, which means he waters the ground first, lets it dry some, then when the moisture is just right (it can’t be muddy) he plants.  Other farmers in our area plant first and then ‘water the plants up’.   You can see the moisture in the rows.

Terry planted on Saturday, by the next Saturday he will be able to Mormon crease it, then in 10 days from the date of planting the little corn seeds should be showing growth. 

That will be the time to harrow off the tops of the furrow.  If a person DOES NOT harrow off the tops the little plants have a hard, hard time pushing their way through the soil.  When four leaves appear (which happens VERY FAST), he will mark out the rows again and we will start water on the field.

We started water in the earth ditches last night. 

 I just want to show you how we irrigate out of earth ditches.  First you have to save the earth ditch (the pounding of the water will create a huge hole) with a protective dam.

 Because the earth soaks up the water as it flows along, you have to turn more water down an earth ditch than you do a cement ditch or gated pipe. 

 In the ‘olden days’ people used mud dams, but today we have the wonder of orange plastic dams.  YEAH!  It’s hard enough to dig out ends (the end of the furrow) without the pain of building a mud dam.

To leave you with one of the spring pleasures, wild asparagus!  Yummm, every evening we have asparagus in some form, raw in salads, roasted with lemon sauce, boiled, over toast with white sauce….