We are still in need of help this season. Starting next week it could become desperate (unless it rains for the 40 days and 40 nights so that we can’t plant anything anyway). If anyone is interested in helping out — even for half a day per week — we would love to have you. Or it can be any random sunny, dry day. Farming is a great activity to do for those mental health days you should be taking from your regular job.
We are scheduling our annual Potato Planting Party for Sunday, May 5th from 1:00 until done. We switched to Sunday this season because it rained on Saturday last year so we’re hoping Sunday is better. If the forecast calls for rain that weekend we may switch it to the previous Friday, which would be another good opportunity for a mental health day from your lousy day job. Anyway, pencil in Sunday and maybe make a special note for Friday as well. Let me know if you can make it!
We are still taking orders. Spread the word!
We have sold out of our current allotment of EggShares. However we can get more if we have enough demand. If you want an EggShare please place an order for the EggShare waiting list (or send me an email). We already have a few people on the list so there is a good chance we’ll get another case of eggs.
Farm News
I got out and did some tractor work two weekends ago. The weather was great and the soil was dry. I realized when the tractor wouldn’t start at first that I hadn’t driven it since I put on the snow plow and tire chains last fall. That is the kind of winter I like!
After charging the battery for an hour or so the gauge on the charger said it was fully charged. Odd it would only take that long. Maybe the terminals need to be cleaned. So I did that. After which I started it up and off I went for the day.
The next day I figured I could do some more tractoring and hopped on to get started. The tractor again did not turn over. Seems like I have a problem. So I put the battery charger on again. The needle said it was less than 1/2 charged which I suppose could be the problem. I walked back past the charger about 15 minutes later and the battery was now “fully charged”. Huh. Wish it worked like that all the time. So I hopped on again and off I went to spend another day riding the tractor.
It was so much fun the first two days that I decided on Monday, “Why not another?!” I hopped on, turned the key and yet again it did not turn over. I was starting to see a pattern here. I put the charger on — less than half charged — then walked away for a few minutes. Came back and voilà fully charged! I then tried starting it and it turned over nicely and fired right up.
So, now the question is, “What do I do?” The cheapskate in me thinks I should just plan my tractor life around needing to spend a few minutes charging the battery every time I need to use the tractor. The pragmatist thinks, “You’re an idiot! The battery will completely fail one of these days and you will be stuck without a tractor. And it will probably be when the tractor is as far from the tools as possible. You’ll then have to carry the battery back to the garage. You know how much a tractor battery weighs?” The smartass in me replies, “Uh, 50 lbs?” I think I’ll go with the pragmatist; he seems like a pretty intelligent guy, though maybe could use a bit of sensitivity training. (That smartass guy seems like he’d be a hoot though!)
I took the pragmatists advice and bought a new battery. So far so good (one day with the new battery). Here’s to a long and fruitful battery life!
As always, do not hesitate to send in questions, comments, suggestions, jokes, etc. Also do not hesitate to come lend a hand. And, plan to join us for the Potato Planting Party! I think all three of those guys I mentioned earlier will be here.
Joke of the Week
What do you call it when your battery is charging?
Re-volting.
What do you get when you put your battery in a washing machine?
Clean energy.
I tried installing a calendar app on my phone but I accidentally installed a colander app.
It keeps draining my battery.