It is getting to be that time of year again.
The time of year where the grass gets green, the geese come honking back and our poor children have to (mostly) fend for themselves while we spend our days in the tractors. Yep, it’s seeding time.
Or at least it is for our conventionally farming neighbours.
Conventional farmers have the option to use herbicides to get rid of weeds as they emerge in their crops. We here at Kettle Ridge Organics don’t have that option so we are patiently waiting for the weeds to stick their heads up out of the ground. Once that happens we can knock them out with a tillage pass of some sort (cultivator, noble blade, rotary harrow, rod weeder, there are so many options!). Mother Nature, of course, is being a little difficult by sending us another blast of snow and cold weather (two things that strongly discourage growth of green things).
Bottom line is we have to wait and get twitchy while all our neighbours are covering ground. The waiting game can be so much worse than the actual busy time (see posts about Harvest 2018!), but I like to consider this time of year the time of lists.
Why lists, you ask? Because everything we seem to do before we hit the field revolves around a list. Lists for the things that need to be fixed. Lists of things that need to be serviced before we hook up the seeder. Lists of the seed blends we’re using for this planting season. Lists of parts needed to be picked up in town (there are a LOT of these). Lists of things that need to be done in the house before I have to become the farm hand. Lists of the number of times I’ve wanted to strangle my husband . . . . . kidding. . . . mostly.
Bottom line, lists are our friend.
If we didn’t have them, chances are we would be running willy-nilly trying to get everything done. Or maybe we wouldn’t be, but it makes us feel like we’re accomplishing something while we wait for the weeds. There is nothing like a list with all the items checked off of it!