Archive for the ‘The Farm’ category

John Deere 9996 Cotton Picker

The Back End

It is now October 12. I guess I must put some words to this entry. 3 weeks ago, I bounced onto a cotton crew. I work the packer. The John Deere 9996 Cotton Picker, does it thing, transfers the cotton to a buggy, and it brings the cotton to me. The cotton is unloaded into the packer, and than I pack (SQUEEZE!) 3 loads into a module.

That John Deere 9996 is one of the most bitchin machines I have ever seen. Thats bugs on top sweeping the waste off the sides (he drives the Tractor- Buggy). We have to clean it every day. This takes a few hours – the front heads take up most of the deal. Than we are ready to rock.. sometimes we have to wait for the cotton to dry out. Hey Mr. Sun, Mr. Wind.. please dry that field of cotton.

Big Rainbow-Heirlooms

Now that our greenhouse is home, it is time to get ready for planting our greens. The heat is still on, so it looks like this first batch is going to be started inside. I have no plans on putting our greenhouse (slot a into slot b…) back together for a while. We are bouncing up to Tom and Sue’s Sunday, I think I might have a clue on pulling out the anchor pipes. It would be awesome if I had a way to put hydraulics in the mix.. Down the road, I will.

Yellow Ghosts

Until that time, that we can have our greenhouse up and running. We have pak choi and spinach seed germinating in our window sills. Down here at this time, seeds love central air. So we are still using the utility room to nudge them. Nice when you are dealing with a few hundred seeds.. ha ha.. Exit Stage Right, and thousands of seedlings to follow.

Happy U Haul Truck

After much thought, we decide to bring it home in a 26 foot U Haul Truck. I was not wild about the extra cost, but we did get a fair price on the frame. After a bit of paper work, I bounced home with a means to get our new greenhouse to point “b”. Note to myself: I must start looking for a trailer, that I can buy for a fair price.

Where to start?

beep beep beep.. 7;30 am and the heat of the south starts to rise as my crew arrives to tear our greenhouse down. I end up slicing the top sides of the film so we can pull it off before the temperature inside the house rises. From there, we begin pulling apart both ends. The frame is supported by 2 rows of treated wood. It looks like the original folks were not planning on moving these things.

Generator, tools, 100 degree day.

After a few hours in the heat, we start to spin our wheels. Thank goodness Diane has set us up with water/gatorade on ice and roast beast sandwiches in a cooler. After a long day, we start loading everything into the truck. I can not believe how hot the sun has cooked the galvanized steel tubes. We are burning our hands on the stuff! I need to return to pull the anchor tubes out of the ground. We are totaled. Time to head back to the farm.

The end of the day.