Start of another week and seeing the vision

3/22/10 Monday
The start of another week. I love every day I am graced to wake up to and view each one as a gift from God. Today will be the first 80 plus degree day we’ve had this year and in true West Texas fashion there was frost on the trucks this morning. That means we will experience a fifty degree rise in temperatures in just a few short hours.

Here are pictures to show what’s been done so far. We’ve planted peas, carrots, several lettuces, spinach, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember. And that’s only a start as we are way behind on some of it. Much of the work is in preparing places to plant. The first and main thing actually isn’t something we can eat or sell. It’s called Sudan and is grown as hay and animal feed. We are planting it around every plot because it serves as a wind break, something vitally important. I learned about this from a farmer and did this last year. Sudan grows about five feet tall and is fairly thick stuff that holds up against the wind well. Every place we planted it last year is about seven inches taller from the sand it caught.




This is the latest batch of manure we picked up from the old man. I watered and fertilized it. “WHAT!!! You watered and fertilized POOP?” you might respond. Yep, I did and will continue doing so. Right now this pile is running at 150 degrees inside as the microbes feed on the fertilizer and moisture to turn it into compost. This helps kill weed seeds and some diseases and hastens the process. I’ve got it covered with a tarp now to keep the moisture and heat in.






The grain rye is growing well now that it’s warmed up. We will be mowing it and catching it with the grass catcher on the mower and that will be added to the compost. Doing this greatly amplifies the composting process and adds to the nutrient level. The rest will be disked under and thus enhance the soil. The Elbon rye we grow does many things for the soil. One of them is that it combats certain types of nematodes so that’s a big plus. I think it also combats some kinds of soil diseases too but don’t really remember well. I know that it helps keep the weeds down in that once it’s established the weeds have a harder time getting going.










Here’s a picture of the transformer they put in for Alan’s mobile home. It’s a bigger one than he needs because I plan on running the electricity for the barn off of it. Of course that’s when I get around to building a barn. I’ll be picking up more telephone poles as time goes by to use for that purpose. At some point we need to get the rest of the barn in Odessa for that is the rest of the building material I need, but I must wait till we find some cash to do so.










There haven’t really been any serious inquiries regarding the truck so we may be forced to sell the stock. I’m going to print up some flyers and post them around town as well as get permission from the old man to put the truck in front of the old store that is on the interstate. That will help a bunch as there are 26,000 vehicles a day that go by. Just called the old man and he said that would be fine. It holds true with any business that you need money to make money so this lack of cash slows things down. I’d love to find someone willing to be a business partner and help out. It would certainly jump start things but we will work as God provides and He does that well, making sure all our needs are met.

(Click to enlarge) When I look on this farm I can see what is not there, I can see what can, and Lord willing, will be there. Picture in your mind, if you will, these paths covered with dense green Bermuda grass, and you can see what I see. The plan is to have all these pathways I’ve marked, cleared, and packed down, covered with Bermuda. Bermuda I’ve learned is the ideal grass for here. It’s drought tolerant and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance, plus it handles a lot of traffic well.

Alan’s car broke down, blew a fan belt, so I took him to the auto parts store. I dropped him off at the gas station where his car died after he assured me he could fix it without my help. That was two hours ago and he hasn’t showed up to work yet so I may have to go help him. Just called Alan and he finally got the belt on, after much frustration and if he’s like me a few pointed words.

So it’s time to get back to work. Just wanted to get this posted for y’all cause I know there’s a bunch of you out there who follow. Incidentally, my statcounter shows that there are more people reading this blog than ever before. Thanks for the interest. Gotta go.