And so it begins

Tony discing the soil back in the 80's.

Planting season is officially underway.  The tractors have been dusted off, planters cleaned up and repaired and off to the fields the guys go.  Well, if it was only that simple.  The guys were able to get about 80 of the almost 1000 acres planted a week and half ago before the rains set in.  I guess some is better than none, right?  It seems like that is how farming goes.  Weather mans says it is going to be nice, no rain for 5 days and the farmers hurry up and plant only to be interrupted by mother nature.  Our family farms mostly river bottoms that butt up to the White and Patoka rivers.  Spring rains often delay planting for us while we wait for the soil to dry up enough to get the tractors out to plant.  It is this fascinating game of red light/green light. I just pray that it is mostly a game of green light.  If you are planting corn, it really needs to be in the ground no later than the first week of June so that it will have time to grow and produce a good yield.  Beans (soy) can be planted as late as the first week of July or so and still provide a good crop.

Planting the Neil Place with corn this year.

The guys spend hours working on equipment making sure that it is ready when the weather and soil conditions are right.  I have learned that very little of their time is spent "farming."  Most of it is spent on fixing things that broke on their own or fixing things the guys broke doing something they maybe shouldn't have been doing with the piece of equipment. Hee!  Hee!

I was just thinking what a difference a year makes in our lives.  Part of me feels less anxious about the farming season because we are settled in Vincennes and have made great friends to keep us company during the long farm days.  Then there is part of me that is even more stressed and anxious because we will be building a house during this process and will be depending primarily on the income from this crop season for our family over the next year.  Less is more and that is what I have to continue to remind myself.  I know that God gives us everything we need.  When my feet hit the ground in morning, I have to remember that I have all that I need because I have Him who gives me strength to be the wife, mom, friend, sister and daughter that I need to be that day.