An Update. . .

Harvest 2009. . .Collie on the combine

Gary waiting by the truck

The barn west of our house.  I love taking pictures of this barn for some reason!

Much to my excitement, I received a new camera for Christmas. . . so now I just need to learn how to use it properly!  The above picture was taken on Christmas Day through the kitchen window at Nancy and Gary's house.  The Cardinals looked like little Christmas ornaments.

This was taken Christmas Night from our back door.  The wind and snow were blowing so hard.  I'm not sure I have ever experienced anything quite like it!

And this was taken this winter. . .we had freezing fog.   Something else I don't remember ever experiencing.  It looked like everything was dipped in snow.  It was actually very pretty.  

The Anhydrous is being applied as I type. . . and is probably just about finished.  On to planting time!  

Nancy and I planted Cantaloupe in the greenhouse today.  It was such a beautiful day! 

Not another record. . .

But Nancy's Pumpkin was the largest grown in Missouri this year!! It was 1,012 pounds. . . she was tickled to death to have her pumpkin over 1,000 pounds. . . BUT she received second place at the Pumpkin weigh-off in Republic, MO last weekend. A guy brought his 1,060 pound pumpkin in from the Chicago area to beat Nancy. She can still lay claim to the largest pumpkin in Missouri though!!! Can't set a record every year. . . but she is happy to have grown a pumpkin over 1,000 pounds. . .a definite feat in itself!!!

As for Harvest. . . hopefully I will post some pictures soon. It has been going pretty well. We have been harvesting both corn and beans. The combine did break down last week and took a few days before we were back in the field. We brought in a second combine to help us along while our combine was being fixed.

Diplodia

Here are some pictures of a problem we are experiencing with our corn. It is called Diplodia Ear rot. It is caused by excessive moisture. Japanese Beetles make it worse by eating the silks off of the corn. So, we had a lot of the perfect elements for the ear rot this year. Lots of moisture and lots of Japanese beetles. If you look at the pictures you will notice a white film on the corn. This is the diplodia. Collie will have to give me the percents again. . .how much we are experiencing in our corn. And what this means at the elevator. I can't remember all of the facts. These pictures were taken west of our house on the south side of the road.

Cantaloupe, cantaloupe, and more cantaloupe

This picture was taken towards the end of July after the mornings picking. This was at the height of the Cantaloupe season and we picked quite a few cantaloupe. . . just about one thousand in the picture!!!

Cantaloupe still going strong!

We are still in the midst of Cantaloupe season. . .and now Watermelon too! Here are a couple of pictures I snapped the other day. . . One is of Nancy throwing Collie a Cantaloupe. Collie then throws it out to whoever is loading the wagons. This is how we pick the cantaloupe! And the second picture is of a load of cantaloupe.

Cantaloupe Season is underway. . .

Our life is pretty hectic right now with melon season in full-swing! It has been a little too cool and wet for our melon crop to be producing as much as normal, but the cantaloupe are still very good! We haven't picked any watermelon yet, but we will be very soon! I don't have my camera with me much while we are picking. . . .but I did manage a few pictures from the other day!

Brady sure does love cantaloupe!


Brady enjoying some Cantaloupe. . .



Collie and Brady bringing wagons of Cantaloupe out of the field with the Kubota. . . I am surprised Brady didn't talk his Dad into letting him drive!




Here are some cantaloupe loaded onto our truck. . .ready for market!

We're being invaded. . .

Actually, the plane came to our rescue!! Japanese Beetles have invaded our farm and this plane is helping to eradicate them!!! It was amazing to watch. . .and a little bit scary!! They flew right over our house. . .it felt like if I reached out the upstairs window I could touch the plane!!!

Anyway, the corn seems to be saved. However, all of the Elm trees in our yard are quite bare at the moment. The beetles have eaten ALL of the leaves off of them. It looks like fall! And the ground is covered with leaf skeletons and Japanese Beetle droppings. How nice!!! At least the Elm will regrow it's leaves rather quickly! (as we learned from the previous two years!)

The corn is absolutely beautiful and SO tall. We now have a complete privacy fence around our home. Corn on all sides!! The beans are gorgeous too!!! Even with all of the rain, things look rather good!! Even the produce!!! Though, we have been on weed control pretty heavy in the melons and pumpkins for the past week or so! At least the last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous--perfect weather for working outside!!

I will have to do a better job on taking pictures and posting them!! We knew life would get crazy around here and it would be hard to find time to update as much as we would like.