Easter at the Farm!

 Only a few patches of snow remain in the shadows of the Black Hills as I make my way north on a 450-mile journey. From Custer to Hill City, taking a left on 385. I pass by Pactola Lake, now ice free. 

As I make my way to Deadwood, one cannot help but imagine this area back in the late 1800's when Wild Bill Hickock walked these streets. While much of the town has changed, there are a few buildings that are virtually the same as they were some 150 years ago such as the courthouse below. I have been on the road less than two hours, a trip that would have taken more than two days back in the Wild Bill days. 

Passing through Belle Fouche, the terrain suddenly changes forested hillsides to open range land with cattle and antelope dotting the landscape. In just 8 hours I will go from the forested landscape of southern South Dakota to open cattle range of middle/northern South Dakota to the crop producing landscape of mid/northern North Dakota. There aren't many places in the country where you will see such vast difference in just a few hours. Before I know it, I am passing farm equipment. 

Not having the camper with me is quite the change. Instead, I will be staying in Chris and Holly's 5^th wheel tucked into the corner of the shop. It isn't roughing it; fireplace, recliners that are heated and offer a massage option (both of which I take advantage of), all the comforts one would want. This will be my home for the next few weeks. 

My first night there I went to supper with Farmer Bob and DeAnne. The burgers at the Red-Light bar in Max are just as I remember them and it is good to catch up with them. After a good nights sleep, we are ready to hit the ground running. April 16^th , this is the earliest we have gotten the first of the seed in the ground. There are 5 of us here right now, Farmer Bob, Chris who mainly runs the seeder, Dylan who oversees the seed plant, getting seed treated and ready for planting for both their own use and their seed customers. The last two are Ty and I who basically do whatever we are told and what needs to be done on a given day. 

This year they are starting with wheat as it can tolerate a frost should another cold spell come. My job for the day? To get out in front of Chris and make sure the fields are clear of branches and other debris that might have accumulated in the field over the winter. Trees and rocks are my main quarry for the day.  

The brutal winter winds often blow limbs and sometimes whole trees into the fields. Where these rocks come from is anyone's guess, they just seem to appear overnight. Forget the fact that these fields have been farmed for over 100 years, big rocks like this one just somehow rise to the surface. 

Then there are the stumps. With bigger and bigger farm equipment we have to cut the ends of the tree rows to make room for the equipment to pass. Right now, the largest thing that needs to pass by is about 135' wide, so we are cutting the trees 150' back. Of course, this means getting rid of these trees and stumps. Not an easy task. 

Another task this week, and one that seems to be never ending is the removal of old fence lines. Ty and I took out 1/2 mile of barbed wire fence. Three strands along with the T-post and wooden H braces. It only took us about 3 hours. 3 hours to remove what probably took some farmer a week to install 5-6 decades ago. 

Of everything we do at the farm, this one is one that scares me the most. Scare might not be the right word, but I respect the tool that is used to roll up the wire. Respect in that you have to be very careful not to get too close to the wire being spooled up, so your hand or clothing does not get caught up in it and sucked into the spool. It could go horribly wrong in a hurry. 

Here is a short video of the process. Not as exciting as a dog video, but interesting, nonetheless. 

For you botanists out there, can you identify this flower? It is the only flower I saw out in the pastureland. Not in great abundance, but every once in a while. This picture does not do it justice; it was actually a lot purpler than the picture shows.

In addition to clearing the fields, my main job this week was making sure Chris had the fertilizer needed to keep going. This week it was S10 and urea. I load them out of a bin at the farm into the truck. I then drive the truck out to wherever Chris is planting, and we load it into the tanks of the seeder. 3-4 times a day depending on how long we are going. A full tank can last 5 hours or so. See that white stuff shooting into the tank on the right side of the picture below? That is urea. 

Here are a couple of views showing the other side....

As of this morning, 5 days in, we have a little over 1,000 acres planted, less than 25% of the total we need to get into the ground in the next few weeks. Workdays average about 12-13hours. On an average day we start around 7am and end around 7-8pm, getting to bed around 11:00 to get up and do it all over again the next day. Chris goes a lot longer, sometimes past 1am before he gets home. 

Lots of things on my body hurt; about every joint in my body is talking back to me, but this year it is my ankles, of all things, is the worst. Past years it has been my back or wrists. I am not complaining (okay, maybe I am a little bit), I love the work and the feel of my sore body after a hard day. 

Today, is Sunday. Easter Sunday. No work is going to be done today. Well, I am going to go pull some more stumps, but everyone else is taking the day off to spend Easter with their families. Here on the farm there will be a total of 18-20 family members gathering for an Easter meal about noon after they get back from church. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, husbands and wives along with the kids. I love that about country life. Back home in South Dakota, Barb, Somer and Lily will be celebrating Easter with a pork butt she put on the smoker about 10:00 last night. 

Here is your quiz for the week and no googling it to look up the answer! Besides, I already looked it up and it is not correct based on the seed rate they are using here. The question is.... How many wheat seeds are planted on average in an acre of land? I will give you that answer the more tales from the farm next week......

I know many of you are just reading to the end to see what I broke this week as almost every week something breaks on the farm and once in a great while it will be my fault. I am happy to report that I broke nothing this week! I did however renovate the back window of the farm truck in preparation for the hot summer weather!

It's Branding Time!

 It has been a couple weeks since we have posted. The weather was not good to us last week. Not as bad as other parts of the country, but cold, rainy and snowy, which prevented us from working on the garage. 

Instead, I spent several days learning how to use the 3D printer on my own! While I still have a lot to learn, I have learned the basics and enough to make a few things on my own. Here is what I have made so far.....First up was a tray and lure holder for the boat. This fits into my existing ram holders that were on the boat. 

My biggest print so far has been this rod holder. It has 5 parts, taking well over 24 hours to print, but cost me pennies compared to buying one in the store. 

How about this SD card holder? Previously just laying in a drawer, they are now organized. Then I printed this AA, AAA and 9v battery holder. Also, things that were just laying in a drawer. 

For you schoolteachers out there, riddle me this.... Spell check wanted me to change the "laying" above to "lying". We went to The Google and it says I should leave it as laying.....

But wait, there's more! A cup holder for the boat and a test tube holder by request for my son-in-law, Shane.

Last, but not least are these fancy ice fishing rod holders. I used a rainbow filament and will be the envy of all the other fishermen on the ice next winter!

These things are so cool, you can literally print just about anything you can think of for pennies on the dollar. 

I am enjoying it so much; I went ahead and ordered my own printer!

It is bigger, fast and more automated than Forrest's. And even has a camera! Here is a timelapse of a DeWalt Battery Holder that I made.....

We were also able to work on a project that I have been thinking about for a long time but was always a lower priority. Putting a wall in the woodshed so we are able to separate the dry wood from the wet wood. Previous to this we had no choice but to stack the wet wood in front of the dry wood; not ideal. We had to take all the wood out, put up the wall and then restack everything. Time consuming, taking all day, but it is now done!

The weather finally broke and we were able to get back out to the garage. When I last left you, there were three walls done, the only wall left was the front wall with the garage doors. Well, that wall is now up! Due to the length and weight of this wall, we did it in pieces.  We had a somewhat surprise visit by our son-in-law Shane who stopped by on his way from Pennsylvania to Salt Lake City. Not exactly on the way, but he was picking up Forrest who is going with him to Salt Lake. 

Shane spent a day helping us put the headers on the garage doors and sheet three of the four walls. It was now ready for the trusses!

Shane and Forrest left the next day on an extended trip to fish, ski and snowmobile in Utah and Montana, leaving Barb, Somer. Lily and me to hold up the fort. With the nicer weather, we have been spending an hour or so out in the gazebo in the afternoons. It is soooo nice to be able to sit outside without freezing! The dogs seem to enjoy it too. I cannot help but wonder what they are thinking as they look out over the landscape. 

I cannot forget Chloe, she is more of a people-dog and always wants up on someone's lap, while the others seem content to just sit by themselves. 

There is one last project on my "to do" list before I head to the farm; when Barb was working on the camper, she discovered 5 broken welds on the aluminum tubing that holds up the freshwater tank.

I am no welder, especially aluminum, so I opted for L brackets. That should hold it, we will just be careful not to haul it with a tank full of water. 

Two more projects for this post. Next up was a concrete pour over at Kevin's VRBO. He wanted to add a sidewalk and a sitting area for the guests to enjoy. We had to wheelbarrow 1/2 of it, the rest of it we could reach with the chute off the truck. 

Friday night my friend Chad and his son Cavin arrived from Wisconsin for a 3-day visit. Some of you may remember him as the former owner of Pasha Lake Cabins in Ontario. Chad and his son Cavin came out from Wisconsin for a few days. He even brought me a present in the form of an elk head!

The last project was one I really enjoyed. Branding time at the neighbor's ranch! As some of you know when it is branding time neighbors, family and fellow ranchers come to help. This is the third year in a row that we have been able to help, it is so interesting to see this aspect of the ranch lifestyle. 

I was responsible for vaccinating, Chad and Cavin were the brand runners, heating and bring the brands to each of the calves. Barb was part of the neutering crew. Guess what is in that bucket she is holding? Yup, and they save them for supper when they have enough. Somer came over to watch as well, Lily wanted nothing to do with it. 

Lastly, we had a little excitement in our week when we were sitting on the couch watching TV and all of a sudden the dogs started attacking the fireplace. There, in the fireplace, was a bird staring at us! I tried to sneakily get it out but of course it escaped and started flying around the house. Dogs barking, running around and chasing it! I was able to catch it with my fishing net after about 5 minutes of chaos! 

Our next post will more than likely come to you from North Dakota as I got the call that they are ready to start planting!