Farm Update

This has been an awful boring and bad year for the farm.  One of the things I wanted to do is teach you a bit about farming.  With a record drought (I have to fight the urge to type 'drouth' - that's how many of us say it!), it has brought farming to a crawl lately.  This past summer when school started for you in August, we had cotton seed in the ground.  NOTHING came up.  That's because nothing (rain) came out of the sky. It was plowed up and that's about it.  Since then, in January - the terraces have been chisel plowed.  That's a deep, deep plowing that breaks up the dirt about 2 1/2 - 3 feet down.  Then, after a few weeks, the rest of the field was plowed like normal. 

Disc type plow.  Very common type of plow.  Very effective, just not as deep.  Maybe 2 - 6 inches.



Chisel plow.  Those curved teeth sink into the ground VERY deep.

So, really - the fields are empty and freshly plowed.  Pretty boring year this school year for farming!  If these rains keep up, things will change.  A LOT.  Cotton seed will go in sometime just after Easter.  We usually get one really good hard freeze/frost around Easter, so most old timers around here advise planting a week after Easter.  If I was farming where you guys lived, we could probably plant about 3 weeks sooner just because the threat of a bad freeze isn't like it is here.  Where Mrs. Hnizdo grew up near Hereford, TX - the threat of a hard freeze goes into the end of May!! 



Last Frost map.  Big differences all throughout the state!  We are in the light green.  Hereford, TX is in the greenish-white.

 Farmers have to be in touch with the weather.  A lot of people that went to college for Agriculture even take a few classes in Meteorology (the study of weather).  I was fascinated in those classes.  VERY interesting to me, but not easy at all.  There's a lot of data that goes into the weather.  At the farm, I have a device that tells me the indoor/outdoor temperature, humidity for both, and the high & low for the past 24 hours. 



Mine is much like this, but not as much stuff!

Soooooo..... I may come visit.  VERY SOON!!!  Possibly - THIS WEEK!!!!!  Mrs. Walker & little Lindsey are staying with her family in Midlothian this week and they might even be able to come.  No promises.  There are still things that might happen with the truck or loads that might keep me from coming.  But I'm working to make it happen!!  I'll be in touch with Mrs. Hnizdo and hopefully it will happen soon!  Oh yeah - & I have a beard now.  Hee hee.  Until next time....  --Mr. Walker