Summer Round Here

I haven’t blogged on months. And months. I sometimes don’t think what happens around here is newsworthy to anyone but us.

We’ve had a busy, happy, fun, and sometimes sad summer so far.

June is a busy month with fun activities. Rodeo, demo derby, and a local fair. All of which we managed to get Brad to come with us to. Quality family time and good memories. Complete with a fantastic fireworks show.

July found us expecting our third child!! So excited and I’m not feeling too bad over all. Colin and Hannah are very happy that there is a baby in my belly. Colin swears he can feel it!
Brad also lost his last grandparent in July. His Grandma had lived a long life and we were relieved she went peacefully. It was a good time to reminisce and visit with a lot of his extended family that we don’t see often.

August has been a slower month so far but not for long as the fields are ripening every day. A week or two at the most and we’ll be combining this beautiful looking crop.
I lost my great grandpa earlier this month but he was ready to go see my great grandma in heaven. He didn’t suffer too much and I got to see him before he passed and for that I am grateful. I enjoyed seeing my Dad’s side of the family for a few days.
At the end of the month is my first ultrasound and I can’t wait to see this beautiful little baby.

I hope you’ve also had an enjoyable summer.

Easy Breathing Days Ahead

A couple days ago my husband texted me to say the market had hit our contracted durum price. Hooray!! He told me he’d be hauling to the terminal this weekend on his days off from oilfield hauling. A relief on the old bank account.

Today he texted me to say the market had hit our contracted canola price. Double Hooray!! He will also haul all of this crop to the terminal.

Later on today he texted me to tell me a semi will be coming tomorrow to load out 2011 organic flax which will be hauled to the States. Sold all of it so we will no longer have any organic crops on our farm. I’m glad we found a decent buyer who have us a worthwhile price for this crop.

Spring is our big payment paying time so this income coming in will be a huge relief. And with the price of canola going up, the price of fertilizer will also rise. So now is the time to buy our fertilizer for this seeding year.

I’ve had many smiles today with all these good news texts from Brad. I hope the good news keeps coming and we can sustain the farm until a hopefully good harvest in the Fall.

Reward Time

It’s that time of year again!!!!! The reward for our hard work is coming in off the combine. We seeded peas first so they are being combined first.

Brad tried swathing them first but a little bit of wind came along and blew the swathes all over. So off he went to town and wheeled and dealed for a new (to us) John Deere combine. He got a good deal and it works like a dream.

Brad’s Dad came out and drove the semi and unloaded so everything is going smoothly and quickly. Hooray! By tomorrow, I do believe all our peas will be in the bin. Such relief!

I really like the ruddy, red and brown colors of ripe standing peas.

Next stop: Canola!

A Brave Boy

This is my first really combined post. I want to write about my family and the farm. Because my little boy went for dental surgery and it was a tough day. But the evening was beautiful.

My 2YO had teeth pulled yesterday along with some caps and fillings. All this due to a sippy cup of milk at bedtime for over a year. Yes, we’ve learned our lesson. Yes, we feel terrible about it.

By the time supper rolled around last night he was talking more and getting back to normal. So we decided to check the cows in their new pasture and the crops around our home farm.

He really enjoyed himself out in the truck with us. It was a nice relaxing time that we all enjoyed. A beautiful summer evening.

We had to go on a wild goose chase through the pasture to find one of my cows. She’s pretty old and has a hurt back leg. I was scared she’d be found dead but she was laying nicely beside slough. Just cooling off and enjoying the evening.

We also found two duck nests snuggled right into the ground. They were only a foot apart and both full of eggs. One more covered with straw and feathers but both protected. I could count 9 eggs in the one nest.

After our pasture visit we drove around and looked at our crops. The heat has been strong here for a couple weeks and no rain. It looks like some of the crops are burning in the heat. So we checked our canola and it looks AWESOME!

So go enjoy a nice summer evening drive or even a walk. It just may cheer someone in your family up.

Seas of Peas

For the past eight years, we’ve been farming organically. This year Brad decided to go back conventional because the money and the market isn’t there for organic anymore. The conventional grain prices are rising and a better yield is had when you can fertilizer and not have weeds. Farming conventional means spending BIG money. We had to get a higher operating loan. Mostly for buying fertilizer and spray.

In case you didn’t know, peas give the earth a lot of nitrogen. So for the first time ever we’ve seeded peas. A lot of peas. Because they don’t cost as much to grow and they give back to the land instead of just taking from it. They are growing tremendously! We have seas of peas out in the fields.

They are peas that can be picked and eaten right out of the field. Which Brad tells me we aren’t supposed to be doing. He’s such a spoil sport. 😉

We checked them last night. And I picked a few to eat. Our two year old son love them!!! I hope we get good bushels when we combine them in a few weeks.