Thursday, July 21, 2016
Pat and I have returned home to the farm from our 8-day trip to Oregon to visit our son Philip. We had a great time out there with him, and used his weekend off to travel to a beautiful part of SW Oregon, seeing the rocky coastline and the Rogue River Valley. We even took in a James Taylor concert in Matthew Knight Arena on the U of O campus in Eugene. We saw a lot of grass seed (fescue, ryegrass, and others) being harvested in the Willamette (pronounced will-LAM-et) River valley. The grasses there are cut and swathed, then harvested later with combines equipped with pick-up headers. The hay balers were running like crazy too. The Oregon wheat will soon be ready for harvest.
Here we are with Philip on the beach at Bandon, Oregon. It was kinda chilly and very windy here!
From Washington Park, you look down upon the International Rose Garden, across the city of Portland, with Mt. Hood in the distance.
The Rogue River valley was spectacular
Pat stands on the ‘world’s smallest city park”, Mill Ends Park in Portland
The Oregon coast has “don’t-miss-it” scenery
Friday night, we were entertained by none other than James Taylor!
During our absence, progress continued at the farm. Brandon used the little A-C D-15 and old Hahn sprayer tank to spray some woody sprouts in a few ditches. We like to keep the brush from growing in our ditches. When there is nothing but grass growing on the ditch banks, the flow of water occurs unimpeded. The herbicide we use in those areas is selective, in that it stops the woody species like maples, willows, cottonwoods, cedars, or even thorns, while allowing the fescue grass to thrive.
John continues his 2016 battle with the weeds in the soybean fields. Most fields look really nice, but there are a few places, we must admit, where we are having difficulty controlling marestail and waterhemp. These two weed species must be stopped early, while the plants are very small. If they escape, they are very difficult to rein in. He has even resorted to the old-fashioned method of hand-rogueing. He and Brandon go out in the relatively cooler mornings to cut or pull those pesky weeds.
The county fair is running this week, and we have had a neighbor kid who had the grand champion market hog. Ross buys hay for his horses from this family. Pat’s cousin’s kids took the goat show with both Grand and Reserve Champion goat. Fair week is a happy time in our community, and our Knox County Fair is Indiana’s oldest county fair. The weather has been quite typical for fair week: hot, humid, and with some rain!
There are always maintenance tasks around the farm. After rebuilding the seals in the water truck’s pump, John used the Gator to spray the weeds around the farmstead.
John sprays weeds around the farmstead from the seat of the Gator, to keep the place with a neat appearance.
Summer in Indiana… hot, humid and happy. I find the A/C in the office a good place to be, too!
