The farmer in the dale
I hated my name growing up. I always thought my mom picked it out because she yelled it once at the top of her lungs and liked the sound of it. She had to do that many, many times when I was a boy. I liked playing outside and when I heard my first and middle names, I knew I'd better get home quick. If I heard all three, I knew I wasn't in a hurry to get home because I knew what was gonna happen when I got there!
Not so much these days, though. Mostly because I can use all kinds of puns with it. Like talking about the farmer in the Dale. Dale, for the uneducated, besides being a name for either sex, like Leslie, or Alex or something like that, is also a word for valley. Back when people first started doling out names, my name would mean "village barrel maker" A cooper is a barrel maker. This Cooper is all kinds of things.
Today I got to be the IT guy inbetween mowing my lawn, hauling off a truckfull of yard waste, and discing, plowing, and seeding the garden, which I had to do by hand. The hickeylooper died. They make parts, though, so for half the cost of new, I can make mine like new.
Next payday. For next year.
Anyway, I planed the upper back forty today. Yesterday, I spent five hours weed whacking, raking, and picking up piles of last year's corn stalks, weeds, and grass. There was far more grass than weeds and what was left filled up the back of my pickup truck. I can neither confirm or deny that last year's Christmas tree was part of the load. Today I planted seven approximately 15 foot rows of beans. The package said it would plant 100' of row and I only had just a smidgen of seeds left over.
I'm watering it now.
The plow did a good job again of setting the rows. June and I had our annual argument over how to plant the thing and I did what I wanted to this year, which involved following the directions on the seed package. I know I misunderstood what June told me about the corn last year. I grew beautiful stalks but no corn on them because they were too close together. I solved that problem this year by giving them lots of space.
I planted two varieties of corn this year. Silver Queen and something else I forgot the name of. It's bi-colored and will mature three weeks earlier than the silver queen. Hopefully they don't cross-polinate. I stepped off the rows and it's all totaled, about 500 linear feet.
Farmer Dale. Not in the dale. More like the east bench.
I'll try to get some pictures posted so you can see what the farm looks like this year. There isn't much ground that doesn't have something in it. The apricot tree is loaded; so is the peach and nectarine tree.
The apples are doing their fair share, too. If I gave you something in a pint or half-pint jar last year, now is the time to start thinking about returning the jar so I can fill it in about three months with something else.
I left one bare row. I'm thinking about carrots again. I have seed. They'll be ready next year. Maybe. We'll have to see about that. Something's going in there. I just don't know what yet.
I have pumpkins to plant tomorrow. I just ran out of time and steam today. I have to give the pool a final vacuum. If the weather holds out, maybe I'll start using it next weekend. Too cold right now.
Brr.
Well, that's it for the day. Hope you all have the rest of a blessed weekend.
Not so much these days, though. Mostly because I can use all kinds of puns with it. Like talking about the farmer in the Dale. Dale, for the uneducated, besides being a name for either sex, like Leslie, or Alex or something like that, is also a word for valley. Back when people first started doling out names, my name would mean "village barrel maker" A cooper is a barrel maker. This Cooper is all kinds of things.
Today I got to be the IT guy inbetween mowing my lawn, hauling off a truckfull of yard waste, and discing, plowing, and seeding the garden, which I had to do by hand. The hickeylooper died. They make parts, though, so for half the cost of new, I can make mine like new.
Next payday. For next year.
Anyway, I planed the upper back forty today. Yesterday, I spent five hours weed whacking, raking, and picking up piles of last year's corn stalks, weeds, and grass. There was far more grass than weeds and what was left filled up the back of my pickup truck. I can neither confirm or deny that last year's Christmas tree was part of the load. Today I planted seven approximately 15 foot rows of beans. The package said it would plant 100' of row and I only had just a smidgen of seeds left over.
I'm watering it now.
The plow did a good job again of setting the rows. June and I had our annual argument over how to plant the thing and I did what I wanted to this year, which involved following the directions on the seed package. I know I misunderstood what June told me about the corn last year. I grew beautiful stalks but no corn on them because they were too close together. I solved that problem this year by giving them lots of space.
I planted two varieties of corn this year. Silver Queen and something else I forgot the name of. It's bi-colored and will mature three weeks earlier than the silver queen. Hopefully they don't cross-polinate. I stepped off the rows and it's all totaled, about 500 linear feet.
Farmer Dale. Not in the dale. More like the east bench.
I'll try to get some pictures posted so you can see what the farm looks like this year. There isn't much ground that doesn't have something in it. The apricot tree is loaded; so is the peach and nectarine tree.
The apples are doing their fair share, too. If I gave you something in a pint or half-pint jar last year, now is the time to start thinking about returning the jar so I can fill it in about three months with something else.
I left one bare row. I'm thinking about carrots again. I have seed. They'll be ready next year. Maybe. We'll have to see about that. Something's going in there. I just don't know what yet.
I have pumpkins to plant tomorrow. I just ran out of time and steam today. I have to give the pool a final vacuum. If the weather holds out, maybe I'll start using it next weekend. Too cold right now.
Brr.
Well, that's it for the day. Hope you all have the rest of a blessed weekend.
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