Working the N's

Got both of the 50 8N's out today to lay up the strawberry rows; one w/ the lister to turn up the row & the other w/ a cultivator. It's easy when the wife & all three dogs help!

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That's neat that you had that experience. For small operations, vegetable equipment is very pricey.

Irrigation technology hasn't changed all that much. 3" pipe with overhead risers or a travelling gun is often what's used for certain types of produce. Drip or trickle tape is another watering system, often used in our area under plastic or with mildew sensitive produce. We use both overhead on 3" pipe with Nelson style impact sprinklers and "wobblers" as well as drip tape under plastic.

Colin

He has offered to let me 'sit down & plant' anytime I want!

My guess is that anyone who lived through the winter of 1940 would tell us we're wimps! Legend has it that snow was still on the ground in May. Below zero for a week. W/ kerosene lights, wood stoves & outhouses.

I made my plastic toilet paper roller out of wood because I'm a woodworker. Metal would be far better.

Can't tell you the thickness of the plastic. Seems like it's 3'x5000'. Where are you located? All the ag stores around here carry it in black as well as white. All the commercial farmers use it & even some of us wannabes.

Do not bother w/ it unless you use irrigation. A soaker hose will work, but drip irrigation is best. And do not plan on ever getting it up if you have wire grass!

Once the row is set up, I pull out 3-4' of plastic & cover up the sides w/ a hoe. The wife then starts down the row on the N w/ the Sherman moving at walking speed while I hoe up some dirt every 4-6'. When the row is done, I get on another N w/ the lister blades set wide & finish covering up the plastic.

Wait until a wet day in the fall then go down the sides of the plastic w/ a digging fork. Slowly pull up 3-4'. Once you get that much up, you can usually slowly pull the entire row up w/o it breaking.

The barely visible pointer is always "working". looking for something to point...or eat. Felix, the big bloodhound, is usually laid up under a tree. Jack, on the other hand, is about half Jack Russell terrier & he just never stops running. I usually put him up when the tractors are out, but we were moving so slow we could keep an eye on him.

I'm deeply envious of you! It is forecast to be -26*F tonight and we're a long way from getting any field work done. Looks beautiful and spring-like your way. Are you getting into the field later than what you would normally expect?

Also, when you have a chance, could you send me a picture of your lister set-up? Looks like you're using it to make raised beds?

Enjoy your time outdoors!

Colin, MN

Colin, I try my best not to go outside when it's 26* above zero! I swear, my southern boy thin blood would freeze solid!

This is about the time we start planting around here. Ground is nice for planting English peas. I'll get to that next week, along with the usual broccoli, lettuce, etc. Irish potatoes go in the third week or so of March. Weather has been a bit cooler & wetter than normal for us this year.

I started out w/ one lister & just adjusted the blades as need be. But, being lazy, I got another lister really cheap, so now I have one set wide & another set narrow. The narrow lister turns up the hill. Then, for tomatoes, peppers, etc, I use my homemade 'toilet paper roll' plastic dispenser to put down the plastic after I lay down the drip tape. I really, really like the Sherman on the 8N to slow it down for this job. Then, I run over that with the lister set wide to hold the plastic down. As I'm sure you know, the real farmers have one piece of equipment that does all of that. They also raise a lot more than I do!

Hey, pretty soon the sap will be running & you can get to MN style farming!

Thanks for the great photos! This has given me some ideas. We currently do all of our plastic and raised beds by hand. Not an unmanageable task, but if it could be mechanized, it would save a couple of days every season. I like the simplicity and the versatility of the lister.

Thanks again, and enjoy working in the garden!

Colin

Colin

Colin