Rain, Rain, Go Away......

[DianaB]

I'm glad that you're finally getting some relief from the heat and some rain. I can't imagine being so hot and dry.

We did have a drought here around 1980 and our crops weren't hardly worth harvesting. That was a really bad year for us. Sometimes I think that it would be nice for Glen to just have a regular 8 to 5 job and then we wouldn't have to worry about the weather and could enjoy holiday weekends, but, this is what he's chose to do.

When we came home last night we were still driving through a little bit of water. The crops really kept the water from going down very fast. It doesn't usually take this long. I hope that it doesn't hurt our beans. You never know what to expect when you farm.

[Tiramisu]

The weather people are watching a storm in the gulf that might get a name. I'm 99% sure the wedding will be moved indoors tomorrow. We have rehearsal this evening.

[gja1000]

I'm afraid you are right, it looks like an indoors day tomorrow. I hope everything goes as smoothly as possible!

[DianaB]

I hope that everything goes well too. That's too bad that your plans have to change but it's better to be prepared.

[Marilyn]

Diana, I can't imagine living where you can have two crops a year. The farmers here can only raise one. It's too hot to plant a second crop. They have to plant in February and March for a June/July harvest. Then they prepare their fields to lay fallow over the winter so they can plant the next year. Most farmers also have pasture land and run cattle which they take care of during the winter. This year, they had to feed all spring and summer, but on a normal year, while their planted crops are growing, they cut and bail their hay to feed to the cattle in the winter, so they stay busy all year even though they plant only one crop. They also plant more than one thing at a time usually so they spread out the harvest. Normal crops here are milo (also known as maize or grain sorgum has different names in different areas), corn, cotton and soybeans.

Sandy, hope you are having a beautiful wedding. It's not raining here today. Perhaps you got to stay outdoors???

[DianaB]

Marilyn, we can't plant two crops a year. We don't have a long enough season for them, but if the farmers have grown wheat (which is cut in the spring) they can plant beans in the same field after the wheat is harvested. They're called "after harvest beans" and they don't produce as much as other fields that rested in the winter. Glen doesn't like to do that because it's really hard on your field and takes so much out of the soil.

You can get soybean seed that grows in a shorter or longer season depending on where you live and how long your growning season. My husband likes to plant his a little later so the beans are still small in the summer heat and have some fall rains to help them grow and fill out. All the farmers have their own way of doing things. Some like to plant early in the spring and some like to plant late. Being a child raised in town I still find things that are confusing even after 35 years!!!

In our area we grow wheat (which is not a lot compared to western Kansas), soybeans, corn, and milo (or grain sorghum), and sometimes sunflowers. Alot of the ground we farm is river bottom so the soil is very rich, but the downfall is that it floods when the river is up. Farming has been a very interesting lifestyle for me. My Mom and Dad both had jobs in town so I grew up very differently than my kids have. I've always been a tom boy at heart so the change hasn't been too bad!!!