The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
As parents, we try to teach our young children simple terms to make a large point. We make the difference between good and bad as wide as the “Grand Canyon” so that our children can clearly see the difference between these polar opposites.
However, as I get older, the “Grand Canyon” has become more of a grass waterway between these two terms.
Don’t get me wrong. There is still a wide difference between right and wrong, or good and evil. There is just a fine line between good and bad.
We are having a most confusing spring. We don’t know if we should celebrate or complain about the weather. It has been so dry up here in central Minnesota. We have not had any rain or snow since February. That is good. We are able to work the low swampy ground as easily as the high hill ground. No need for chains to rescue me from burying the tractor and disk in the low spots this year! That will save on everyone’s patience.
The bad news is that it hasn’t rained yet. Besides the obvious of no excess moisture, the lack of rain is making it difficult to pick rocks. Without the spring rains to wash off the rocks, we are having a hard time seeing them. Of course that is not a reflection on the fact that we are also having a harder time reading the phone book without a pair of “cheaters” either.
What is making it so difficult to spot the rocks is that there were very few days this past winter when we had to pile manure. We were able to haul almost every day to the fields. That is good, one less job to do this spring.
The bad is that we can’t find the rocks covered by the manure and straw. It is very difficult to get the “lay of the land”. We’re looking for a ridge or divot where the plow shears were sprung upward by a hidden treasure.
The kids and I are always on the lookout for the rock too big to dig. Our goal is to see who can find the biggest rock. Katie and I are tied with two each.
We have been losing altitude this spring on our farm by digging up those big rocks. Big rock picking is the only time this job is fun. We get to pass on rocks smaller than a softball. We’ll get those later this spring before the corn rows fill in. Alfalfa fields are a different story. We carry 5-gallon buckets to clear the land of rocks for the next four years. I love having some fields in hay. You slip into a false sense euphoria that there are fewer rocks on your farm. Then reality hits when you turn over a hay field and discover all the rocks you have missed for the past four years.
Mark has uncovered two extremely big rocks this spring. He worked 20 minutes just to get one above ground, only to discover that the tractor/loader or bobcat bucket couldn’t lift it up! It looked like a giant paper weight sitting in the middle of the field. He had to flip it with the bucket down the hill to the edge of the trees so we could work the field.
There has been one big rock that Mark has missed the last couple of years. He hits it every fall with the tillage equipment and makes a mental note of where the rock is hidden. By spring time, he has forgotten where he placed his mental note and can’t find the rock again until he hits it in the fall. This year he found his note and we found the rock.
Of course it is on a side hill of loose sandy soil. He wiggled and dug around the rock. I don’t know if the spinning rear tires or the bucket were digging the biggest holes. Once he knew that the rock was moving ever so slightly, he was like a rat terrier dog digging for prey. He wasn’t going to quit until he got that rock out of its hole. Once again, he had to flip and push this rock to the side of the field because it wouldn’t fit in the bucket. He was beaming because he would never hit that rock again.
It sounds like we will start planting corn this week. It seems rather early, but one neighbor is already done planting this spring. I tried something different in the garden this year. I planted a row a green beans along with peas, spinach, lettuce, potatoes and onions. If it doesn’t get cold again, I’ll come out ahead. If we freeze in May, I’ll just replant.
I guess the difference between good and bad depends upon which side of the fence you’re standing on.
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As their 4 children pursue dairy careers off the farm, Natalie and Mark are starting a new adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their Minnesota farm. (Natalie grew up in Stronghurst, the daughter of Becky and the late Larry Dowell.)
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