Gone Fishin'

Billy Paul loves to fish. I know, I know, I'm always talking about how he loves to farm. But next to farming, fishing is his favorite pasttime. If he gets a few spare minutes in the day, he jumps in the truck, drives to one of our ponds, and wets a line (that's Missouri talk for goin' fishin'!) And when Billy Paul goes fishing, this is usually what happens.

Crappie everywhere! Billy Paul doesn't just fish, he catches!

And not only does he catch a LOT of fish, he catches big fish. Just look at the size of this one!!!

And just in case you can't read the tape measure, here's a closeup. Yep, that's just under 15" of a fish fry waitin' to happen!!!

Don't they look happy!!!

Sure looks like they had a lot of fun, doesn't it? ! ? ! ? !

Gardening 101

As you surely know by now, I live on a farm. And part of farming, is gardening. For the last few years we have put out a garden, and it seems to get bigger every year. I must admit that Billy Paul is the gardener and I am the helper, and I will also admit that he does a LOT more work in the garden than I do. He loves to garden and does a great job. Here is a picture of our garden after a long winter's nap.




It is hard and won't grow a thing. That's why you need a PLOW.

This is called a three bottom plow. The tractor pulls the plow through the hard ground and breaks it up.

Looks a lot different, huh?? But, as you can see, the ground is still very rough. You couldn't put little tiny seeds in this and expect them to do very well. That's why you need a tiller.

You were expecting a hand tiller weren't you? One of those things that you hold onto with two hands for dear life and it shakes the fillings right out of your teeth????? Well, we have one of those, and we use it to till between the rows once the garden is planted. But to get the entire garden ready, we use this tiller.

The above picture shows the left side which has been tilled and the right side which was just plowed. Once again, you can sure tell a big difference, can't you???

Thank you Cole for being a good tiller. I don't run the tractor very well, but Cole likes to do it, plus it was really cold this day, so I let him do it. He's such a good son.

Here are close-ups of the difference the tiller makes.

The above picture is ground that has been plowed. The below picture is ground that has been plowed, then tilled.

Now, we're ready to actually PLANT SOMETHING! These are onions. We planted these about four inches apart and only about 1 inch deep.

Now that's a very basic overview of how we garden. I am certain there are as many different ways to prepare a garden and plant a garden, as there are people who like to garden. But that's how we do it, Down On The Farm!!!!!

Top Ten

On Friday, April 24, Cole was honored as one of the Top Ten Percent in his sophomore class. A dinner was held at the Eldon Community Center and my mom and dad, and Bobette, were able to be there to celebrate with us.

It was a nice dinner and a nice evening. WAY TO GO COLE!!!!!!!!

State FFA Convention

On Thursday, April 16, we attended the State FFA Convention to watch Cole be recognized as one of the 30 members of the 2009 Missouri AgriBusiness Academy. Every year the Missouri Department of Agriculture selects 30 sophomores from the STATE to attend the AgriBusiness Academy http://www.mda.mo.gov/abd/agribus_academy.htm. The AgriBusiness Academy is a youth leadership program that gives students information on careers in AgriBusiness.

Cole was one of over 300 Missouri sophomores who submitted a four page application and three personal references. From there, he was one of 60 students selected for a personal interview. On March 19, 2009, Cole was told by his FFA Advisor that he was selected. Cole, and the other 29 sophomores, will be in St. Louis the week of June 8-12, 2009 learning about opportunities in agriculture.

We are proud of you, Cole!!!!!

Gas Prices

No, haven't forgotten. Hey, I've been busy! Anyway, gas prices in Eldon have stayed fairly steady. Currently, it is $1.89 per gallon for unleaded and $2.09 per gallon for diesel.

AREN'T THESE FLOWERS BEAUTIFUL

I LOVE flowers in the spring time and these are just beautiful. Asparagus fern, sweet peas, light pink gerber daisies. They just make you think SPRING. And it has been so warm and beautiful here, my flower garden is just busting at the seams.

I went out to my beautiful flower garden and I picked all of these this morning before I came into work and brought them in and put them in this hanger on the front door of my office. I just wish you could SMELL the aroma of these fresh cut spring flowers. Ahhhhh, spring time in Missouri.

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, will spring EVER arrive in Missouri? ? ? ? ? Yesterday it was cloudy all morning, and started raining around 2:30 pm and rained until last night. This morning, it was 32 degrees with a light frost on top of Billy Paul's pickup. Supposed to be pretty tomorrow, then rain again on Sunday with highs in the 40s on Monday and Tuesday. I don't have ANYTHING growing in my flower garden, well, actually, I don't HAVE a flower garden (had you goin' there for a minute didn't I!) BUT, if I DID have a flower garden NOTHING would be growing because it hasn't been warm enough. We haven't even mowed our yard yet and usually, by this time of year, we've mowed at least once just to take the weeds down.

I WANT SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, in case you're wondering about the flowers on the door, the flowers are silk, and I bought them at The Schaefer House (http://www.theschaeferhouse.com/) one of my absolute favorite places. While I'm being honest, I must tell you that I didn't actually know the names of these flowers, but Chris at The Schaefer House did, and I remembered! And, one last revelation, I don't grow flowers, but I do grow vegetables if it ever gets warm enough and dry enough to plant anything!