Spring Update

It's a calm winter day out today. The snow is gently falling and melting in some places to form puddles for the ducks to swim in. The guys are down in the woods trying to fix our broken tractor. And, I've been playing garden in the basement, setting up the grow lights and seeing how much soil we need for starting our seeds.

We have pepper seeds in moist paper towels in ziplocs on the radiators to start them. We are starting about seven different kinds, some rare and requested. All in all, if we get all the plants we are trying for, we will plant almost 1000 pepper plants in the field this year. Crazy sounding, but it still probably won't be enough. We are trying a couple of new ones from Mexico this year and hopefully they will do okay so I can save seed from them. Some day I hope to have a fancy dancy seed starting contraption. But, the ziplocs work okay for now.

Yesterday the guys rearranged the pigs. They brought Tea (real name is Swee Tea, daughter of Swee) into the barn as she is due to have piglets around the 13th. But, in order to move her in to the best stall for farrowing, we needed to move Maggie (our new sow) and her babies out. We weaned her babies from her a few days ago even tho they aren't eight weeks old. They were eating on their own, really plump, and it was straining the mom and making her too skinny. So, they were moved to their own stall inside the barn with Maggie in a stall next to them. I like to keep them in just in case of a cold snap again.

Syrup is on hold and that is why we are catching up with the seedlings and the tractor. The sap ran for a few days, then stopped for 10, then ran for a few, and now stopped again. We have bottled around 21 gallons of syrup so far, into jars and gallons. But, we ran out of sap on Sunday at noon so are awaiting the weather to warm up again so we can get some more collected. It has barely been above freezing today so far, but maybe it will flow some. We hope for another couple of weeks at least and one great big flush at the end. The guys were
hoping for over 100 gallons. I'm more critical so just want over 50.

Well, good news! The tractor is fixed. We really rely on that old girl. This time of year it is good to have her for hauling sap across the woods and pulling the trailor to get firewood. The truck will work, but the tractor turns in tighter spaces between trees. Then it is always nice to have something to pull our truck out of the mud! And, mud season is here!!

Hopefully I can have some more pics later. I have found that the picture loading and the writing is all depending on signal...and unlike most of you - we hardly have a signal here. Yes, we live in the boonies. So...all for now! Happy Spring to you!!

Allis is my Girl

   We are "orange" people. Saying that in farm country is like saying we are Lutheran (been there) or Texan (that too). It defines a certain something about you. We happen to live in "green" country tho. Let's do some math with that...if green is to John Deere, then orange must be to...yep...Allis Chalmers. Our tractors are orange Allis tractors. Altho we do have a couple of green pull behind pieces.
   Right now we have a small Simplicity lawn mower (Allis brand used for parts) and also a 916 Simplicity (FOR SALE $600, just needs a starter). Then we have the Allis G which is a spider looking tractor that is used for vegetable production. The G is a 1949. It is the one we use to plant (me sitting on the front with the little push planter). And mostly Marty uses it for cultivating the vegetable rows.


Allis G

The next size we have is an 1944 Allis C. FOR SALE!! $3,000. She's a beauty! Restored condition. Good tires and paint. Runs good. Side arm cutter works. Wide front. We've used her to cut and windrow hay and to pull Will around on various small pieces. (We need to sell this one to pay for the largest one.) I like this one because she is just darn pretty!


Allis C 1944

 The next size up...Allis D-15. This is my tractor for planting and harvesting the wheat and corn. I like it because she has a little more power than the C and has power stearing (unlike our neighbor Tom's Ford loader tractor).


1961 Allis D-15

But, the D-15 wasn't pulling the spider cultivator easily. It was really causing the engine to work too hard. We weren't able to get the alfalfa plowed up and were getting discouraged with having to ask neighbors for help. So, we just bought this 1964 Allis 190. It pulls the cultivator and disc and we were able to get our alfalfa areas ready for planting our spring wheat. Will likes this one and he is good at driving it. 


1964 Allis 190

Well, there you have it. Our Allis line up. We hope to never have to buy a bigger tractor than the 190. We actually never thought we'd ever have one that big. augh!
   Thanks to Lynn Miller (author, editor, speaker - Small Farm Journal - great magazine!) for causing me to think more about sustainability. My dream tractor...a team of oxen! Maybe someday Lynn!


Me with the boys at Garfield Farm in LaFox, IL
Cool!!