This is my first blog posting for the 2014 growing season! I will try to do these as the season progresses throughout the year.

A note about this spring … it is TERRIBLE! Typically we start planting once the frost leaves the ground, which can be as early as the beginning of March. Not this season. I had a friend report back in late February/early March the frost level in the ground was between 44-48 inches. We were still hitting pieces of ice in the ground last week. What did all that frost do? We;;, combined with a moderately cold March the frost remained far longer than normal, and this frost did not allow the rains we received in March to drain properly.

So, it has been extremely wet/muddy! And all of our ditches filled with silt, exacerbating the drainage problem. Thankfully, my brother and father bought a used excavator from a friend who is retiring from farming, and we were able to dig all of our ditches. Our cousin Ted ran it much of the time, and I ran it as well. It is something I had never operated before, and it was FUN! As I tweeted,back on April 3rd:

“Running this Kubota excavator is almost as much fun as having sex. And I have fantastic sex. There, I said it!”

https://twitter.com/ChrisPawelski/status/451819002822938624

Below are some random pictures I took of excavating. Some of cousin Ted, some of me, quite a few of turtles I kept digging up (don’t worry, no turtles were harmed during the production of this blog), some of tile lines pre and post digging, and lots and lots of ditches!

Check them out and tell me what you think!