10,000 year old gifts!

       Does the title "10,000 year old gifts" tell you the subject of this post?  Glacial deposits would be another description. Long ago glaciers swept this area bringing rocks from Canada. When the glaciers melted rocks were left behind, many of which live on my land. Previous owners  of the property were not diligent rock pickers. Using rock picking as a substitute for gym membership I'm trying for rock removal. In that process there were many rocks too large for me, or any of my machines, to handle.

    Enter Tim, from North Dakota. His planned visit to assist with rock removal, and socializing, was foiled by the season's first snowfall last November. Yesterday he arrived and today we rented a mini-excavator and went rock hunting. Smaller rocks were loaded on to the trailer for addition to a rock pile off the field. One large rock was deposited at a fence line. Another was pushed into a wetland where it'll be a roosting site for ducks, pheasants and smaller birds. Then there was  big ben! It was so large the mini-excavator had no hope of lifting it out of the ground.  Tim dug a deep hole next to it, pushed it in and covered it. There it may remain another 10,000 years or more.

   All in all it was a good days work advancing the task of rock removal from this land.

Takk fir alt,

Al

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The mini-excavator on the trailer.

A large rock.

One that's too large to lift, "rest in peace" big ben.

Birds return!

     At the cemetery I recorded these birds this morning: Franklin's Gull, Song Sparrow, Pheasant, Red-winged blackbird, Robin, Grackle and Chipping Sparrow.

I came across this good description..."The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to conserve farmland for future generations while providing habitat for wildlife, reducing soil erosion, and improving water quality."  It was a CRP field that I burned last week.

   Servicing the corn planter this morning I was reminded of sage advice Mark gave me when I acquired it many years ago. It's likely a product of the late 1950s. Corn kernels (seeds) are placed in a round metal box. In the bottom of the box is a plate with serrated edges. As kernels drop into the serration, and as the plate turns, one kernel at time drops into a tube leading to a disc that creating a small furrow into which the kernel drops. A device then covers the seed.

   Mark warned me, that in winter, spiders spin webs that choke off the tubes where kernels drop to the soil. Today three of four tubes had spider webs closing the entrance. His advice saved much trial and error frustration.

Takk for alt,

Al

In response to comment's questions:  I don't know if $300. is a good price. My 80,000 kernels plants 8 acres. The old planter's rows are 38" apart. Now corn is planted at 30", 15" even narrower rows. Thus, 80,000 would not cover many acres. Assume a farmer plants 1000 acres his corn seed will cost a lot. Kernels are so uniform I assume the 80,000 is arrived at by weight.  Seed corn sales is now measured by kernel count. 

This picture of the planter shows the round seed boxes. A pole on either side drops (theoretically) when turning to scratch a line to follow as one returns across he field so rows are evenly space.

Rural life!

      When I was five miles from The Little House yesterday on my return from the OFH a sheriff's deputy blocked the road. "They finally got me"  was not my first thought. He said the road was blocked at the next intersection. Assuming accident I detoured to reach my destination. Did he say "accident" or did I assume it? Well, it was an accident but not like I imagined. It was a very 'rural' accident.

   The hired man of the local bto, (big time operator), was on a tractor pulling an implement across the highway. As he crossed the highway at the intersection the implement imploded such that it could not be moved. There it sat impeding traffic until a repair part could be fetched from town. What the failure was I haven't learned. My guess is that it was a broken axle. The good news is that it wasn't the type of accident that endangered life and limb. 

    Food plots for wildlife are what I plant. The state fish and wildlife agency provides free seed for those plots. It's leftover commercial seed from a seed corn company. 80,000 kernels came home with me today. It would sell for approximately $300. One field still needs tillage.

   The local grain elevator sells gasoline. The price they charge is a per centage higher than what they paid. The price remains the same until the gallons purchased are sold. Then, if the price they pay for the next supply is higher the pump price reflects that. Last week the pump price was $3.36, today it was $3.85.

Takk for alt,

Al

The Little House...

      Kaia and I have discovered that if we leave the OFH at 6:00 am we can transverse Minneapolis and Eden Prairie at posted speeds. That gets us to The Little House about 10:00, and so here we are. It was a good stay at the OFH.

    The local flora are rejoicing. Why? you ask. Rain, blessed rain, 3" by one report. Farmers locally have done quite a bit of planting so this moisture assures germination of the planted seeds. Pastures, hay land, trees, shrubs, flowers, thistles😕...all need moisture.  It doesn't end the drought but may signal the beginning of a wetter period...we hope. It's great for the grass which was burned last week. It would be interesting to know how many gazillion thistle seeds were consumed in that fire. Even three inches was not sufficient for the pond across the street to show water. This is the first significant rain of 2026, and there was very little snow last winter.

Takk for alt,

Al

Until I'd visited these mangroves in southern Cambodia I always envisioned them as large trees with huge trunks.

Haying...

   Peter commented on haying. In response to his question in a comment, a wide variety of grasses can be hay. In my childhood we had some ground too steep to farm. It grew a combination of native grasses and invasives like smooth brome. We hayed that land. One difference is that alfalfa keeps growing after it is cut. In my youth we got two cuttings of alfalfa. Now, in these wetter, warmer years farmers routinely cut three crops, and some times four, in a season. Kentucky blue grass makes good hay but the quantity is limited and it doesn't re-grow enough for a second crop. Cereal grains, and especially oats. make good hay.

    In my years in north-western North Dakota many farmers I knew were active during the prolonged drouth of the 1930s. One thing that would grow during those dry years was Russian Thistles. You may know them as 'tumble weeds'. The famers  said that they used these thistles for hay. Of course, they were harvested green, well before they came loose and blew in the wind.

   Windrows typically mean hay or grain that been cut and left in a swath. Shelter Belts were multi-row tree belts. Many were planted in the early '40s, after the dust bowl years. Dad and his siblings planted about two miles of these tree belts. Much later single rows of trees were planted also to control soil erosion. Most of my tree planting have been multi-row belts primarily for wildlife.

Takk for alt,

Al

"See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
Cares of the past are behind
Nowhere to go but I'll find
Just where the trail will wind
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
I know when night has gone
That a new world's born at dawn
I'll keep rolling along
Deep in my heart is a song
Here on the range I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds
Drifting on and on
Moving on and on
Wandering on and on"   Roy Rogers

WNBA Returns!

     The WNBA season has begun with pre-season games. Via the portal of a modestly priced WNBA League Pass all games are available either via live stream or replay. It's half-time of the New York Liberty and Indian Fever game which I'm watching. Fever lead by a few points. For a WNBA nut such as I, it's fun to see familiar players and many new faces. With the new WNBA contract many established players timed the end of their contracts to coincide with the new terms this years. Consequently, it was basket upset as many of them switched teams.

   The new contract was recently ratified and that made a very short time for teams to practice. Practice is important as new players are integrated. This years crop of college recruits are particularly gifted. Some of them will become starters with the teams that drafted them. One of those is Olivia Miles, a point guard drafted #2, by the Lynx. After four years at Notre Dame she played a fifth year at TCU. 

   Recently I upgraded my Little House internet connection to enable live streaming the games. The new internet connection at the OFH is more secure but no faster than the old.

  Life is good!

Takk for alt,

Al

Lynx star, Napheesa Collier #24, is recovering from surgery and will not play until June.

Ya, then....

     This is one of those days with no original thought. However if I don't post one or both of you will wonder about my welfare. It's the good life that I'm living in the OFH. Good to connect with family and friends. Perhaps a random picture with give something worth seeing.

Takk for alt,

Al

While in Melbourne, Australia, Amy and I visited a game reserve. Surrounded by kangaroos, they were looking for treats.