Cultivating

     It's cultivation time here in Owyhee County. It has been for some time and will continue to be for much of the summer.

     This is a cultivator. It's purpose is to cut out weeds. There are a wide variety of blades, shovels, and points that can be attached in all kinds of ways. No two will be exactly alike. On the right you can see two yellow wheels. These are important for keeping the implement strait so that it only cuts out weeds. There are two points behind the wheels that make sure that the wheels don't pack down the dirt too much.

     If you refer back to the top picture, you can see that there are two rows of blades that come after the wheels. As you can see here, they run quite close to the little corn plants. Their blades curve away from the crops and are intended to cut any weeds. After that comes a row of points that cut the weeds in the bottom of the corrugates and bringing up the rear is a row of shovels that clean out the corrugates to make sure the water runs down them without any blockages.

     On the very front of the tractor is a corrugator bar so that when the driver reaches the end of the field, he can clean out the corrugates on the ends without having to turn around. This helps save time, which is good.
     The entire machine (as well as the driver) has to be properly aligned otherwise you'll either miss weeds, or worse, cut out some crops! It's somewhat slow work, but it's a heck of a lot faster than weeding with a hoe.

Cropdusters

     I  once knew a man who said that he'd rather be lucky than skillful. Considering how skilled he was, it came as somewhat of a surprise. He was a cropduster pilot.

     The fungus problem I told you about last Monday has gotten well out of control. There is somewhat of a Striped Rust epidemic in our little corner of the world. The wet conditions coupled with the growth stage of the wheat make it impossible to take a wheeled sprayer in. When this is the case, farmers call in the crop dusters.

     Tens of thousands of acres need to be sprayed. So the pilots have been working hard every minute that the weather permits. They work low to the ground, which makes it a very dangerous job.
     They line up, make a pass, turn, do it all again. When the tank is empty, they fly in and fill it up and keep going. All day long, every day and well into the evening for as long as it takes.
     This fungus is serious business. 

     I've had a lifelong fascination with planes. Much of the credit can go to these pilots. One in particular, the man who put so much stock in luck, made a large impression on me. He was a hero of mine, in fact. For what it's worth, I'd like to dedicate this post to him. And, to all the pilots working out there right now, good luck.

Proto-Fruit

     Took a trip up to the orchards. They still look like trees.

     People like fruit, unfortunately, so do many pests. Orchard pests can not only damage a crop, but they can destroy it entirely. So the workers of the orchards spend much of their time dealing with them. And, like the other agriculturalists of the region, they spend plenty of time irrigating. It's all paying off.

     Look at all those cherries! Plenty of water and sunlight, as well as keeping the bugs off, allows these folks to bring you lots of tasty produce. It'll be a couple of months (maybe not even that long...) before the fruit starts coming off the trees, but fresh fruit strait off the tree is much tastier than anything shipped in from far away. Make sure to stop by a fruit stand once they're ripe. You won't be sorry.

Little Nature

     Look at what I found.

     This is a baby Praying Mantis and it's smaller than a grain of rice. I found this one and many like it (most likely siblings) on the side of my house. They hatch in great numbers from a glob of eggs called an ootheca.
     When (if) they grow up they'll be major predators in the miniature environments of the fields. They'll be capable hunters and eaters of the many pests that fields attract. Unfortunately, they're equally happy to eat the helpful denizens of the fields. For now, though, they're more prey than predator.

     This monster is about as big around as a nickel (or 5 cent Euro.) She is pretty much the top of the food chain on the side of this house, though a bird would happily disprove that. She would readily eat the baby mantises.
     Many kinds of spiders seem to thrive in the cracks of the siding on my house. They thrive equally out in the fields. They will also be proficient predators of pests (alliteration!) as well as beneficial species out in the fields.
     The babies (called nymphs) will have to hide. Very soon, though, they will outgrow any kind of spider we have around here. Then the tables will be turned as a mantis will eat pretty much anything that moves, including it's own siblings if it gets too hungry. Nature's like that though, nothing personal.
     A farmer needs to be aware of the little environments that are his fields at all times. Much of the job deals with this. That will most likely become very apparent as summer approaches. So long as you keep reading the posts. (Please keep reading the posts.)

Show and Tell

     No central theme today. I'm just going to show you some stuff.

     Pop! The popcorn is ready for some sunshine so it can do some real growing. The wind is back today so maybe it will carry these clouds away so that we can have some rays.

     These beans are taking for-ev-er. I've been holding off on the bean article for quite some time. They're just now tearing the earth asunder so they can straiten out and open their cotyledons. This one is the most developed I could find, though. So the bean post will have to wait. Kind of a mighty little bean to lift such a big clod.

     If I were to give a title to this picture, I would call it: "Peas on Earth." (Because I'm clever like that) Peas are a rarer crop on the farms. Usually they're grown as what's called a "Nitrogen Fixer." All plants need quite a bit of nitrogen. Some of them, like these peas, make more than they use. So you can grow them for a bit, disc them under, and the nitrogen will stay in the soil.

     Lastly, I wish to do a public service announcement. Before you think about tossing your trash out your windows, Think first: "Do I really want to be a big fat jerk?" And well before you toss your beer can out your window, just stop before you drink and drive. Whomever you are, I'm sure I've reached you on a deep level and we can just put all this behind us.
     That's all I have for today. Hopefully I'll see you back here tomorrow.