Category: Farming Experiences

Family Farming

 It’s not everyday that we get to take our kids out on the farm with us.  It’s hard, as any of you with a toddler can imagine, to get much done with a 4 month old and an almost 2 year old tagging along.  But one thing that is pretty easy is looking at fields, because who doesn’t love wide open spaces to run and dirt to play in?!

IMG_2851Hoot and I checking on a cabbage field when he was only 8 months old.

Hoot in his short life so far has probably looked at acres of dirt and more rows of crop than most adults.  He’s been a trooper from the very beginning, and in many ways I think it’s because, well, he just doesn’t know any different.

 Last Sunday Matt and I needed to go look and see how our spring wheat was growing.  So we loaded up the boys and took them out to walk fields with us.  Although Hoot didn’t last too long….

 Davor was a happy camper the whole adventure!

 When it’s said that farming isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life.  I think experiences like these are what they are talking about.  It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a “workday”, it didn’t matter that we had our kids in tow, all that mattered is that fields needed to be checked and we got it done.  This wasn’t our kids’ first and it won’t be their last “family farming” time, this is how farming gets into your blood, this is how you continue a legacy.

Tree Sunscreen

There are a number of new plantings of filbert (hazelnut) orchards around. Our latest planting was 3 years ago. And it was time to remove the tree guards, which makes them all look very, well, naked!
  This is a tree with a protector. The white tube protects from the hot sun, the cold freeze, herbicide applications, mice and other pests. It’s an important part of a trees life when it gets planted out in “real world” fields.  

 So once they get old enough, usually around year three, it’s time to start the process of hardening the tree bark. To do this however the trees aren’t naked for long. We slowly get them ready for life without a protector by painting the trunk of the tree. Which looks like the photo below.  

 This paint will not protect against as much as the physical barrier provided by the original protector. But it will act as sunscreen and allow for the bark to harden. 

Many times you see painted trees and it’s a very common practice to paint the bark for protection from the sun, just like we put on sunscreen, same for many trees. Which brings me to the reminder to wear your sunscreen today…it’s a sunny day here in Oregon! Happy Friday folks!!

Safety Training on the Farm

The amount of training that farmers need to do seems to be ever increasing.  Pesticide training, tractor safety training, forklift training, these are just a few that we do on a yearly basis here at the farm for our employees.  Last week we had a training day, where we got it all taken care of.

img_5900Here is a photo of our field workers learning about pesticides.  One interesting thing that we learned is that on a farm gasoline is one of the most dangerous chemicals we can come into contact with.  Puts a little perspective on what chemicals we have on the farm.

img_5904-1And here’s another photo of Matt doing his practical forklift portion of the training.

While training for safety can at times feel like a huge burden, as an employer I want my employees to always feel safe and have the tools to be safe in the field.  Did you know that every day 2 farmers in this country die from a farm related accident?!  It is a scary thought, one that has hit too close to home already and something I hope to not see again for a long time.  So stay safe out there farmers, get that training done now, because you’re just going to get more busy as the sun comes out!