Farm Day - July 10th.

We are having our annual farm day celebration on July 10th.  It gives us an opportunity to have you as our guest for as long as you want to visit with us and for us to put our best foot forward and show you all we have to offer.  We're not just peaches!

Come any time - we will be serving samples of our produce and canned goods throughout the day.  From 2pm - 5pm we will serve peaches and ice cream.  Buggy rides will be offered from 10:00am - 11:30am and from 1:00pm and 2:00pm.  We will have a farm simulator where you can simulate driving farm equipment, corn hole games and a petting area all day.  Ask about ordering your custom made corn hole game while you're here.

Our market will be showcasing our garden harvest as well as our garden center, canned goods and other items such as hand made dish cloths and dog food.

We will have information about our fall field trips, wedding carriage service (with the carriage on site) and bulk lime and fertilizer.  Just ask one of us and we'll be glad to help.

We look forward to seeing you on the 10th of July.  More information and reminders to come as we get closer.  Everyone have a safe and happy 4th weekend.  We will be open!!

"Hay" - There are Too Many Titles

As I started to write this post I thought about starting it with the title, "Anything You Can Do" and tying in a video of the song from Annie Get Your Gun.  I then found an interesting take off on it where the song was put to the faces of Hermonie and Ron from Harry Potter.  I thought it was cute - google it if you have time.  Anyway - something didn't seem so funny about that approach as I sat down to write after the pictures uploaded.  I then had the Deniece Williams Song - Let's Hear It For The Boy stuck in my head.  While that was more funny I thought - the lines, "Now finish cleaning up your room - Let's see that dust fly with that broom - And take that garbage out real soon... yakety yak don't talk back."  Seemed to fit too. 

After feeling like my brain was an iPod stuck with soundtrack music in it - I decided to stop and just suggest that all these titles and songs would fit - it's just a matter of how you're feeling today.  Pick your music and let's continue :)

LADIES.  Does your man seem to be messy around the house - and perhaps a little less help than you'd like him to be?  If so - you need to show him how Trey and Eric have put their valuable home ec skills to use and applied them to farming.  Or maybe we need to call their wives and tell them the farming skills can be applied at home.  Notice the hay field below.  See how messy and un-kept it looks.  It needed to be tidied up a little - and yesterday, Trey and Eric took the initiative to do it.  They said it was to get it finished before it rained - but I know it was bothering them that there was a mess somewhere that needed cleaning.

Trey is raking.  I think it looks a lot like sweeping.  See how the right side of the picture is clean and neat - and everything to his left looks like a bedroom covered with laundry?

Just look - a few passes with this industrial sized broom and he's got it all neatly piled in rows.  YEA TREY!

Now that it's in rows - Eric is ready to help.  

With his vacuum he drives over Trey's organized rows and picks them up.  He's careful to not leave any debris behind because he knows that Trey will be upset if his sweeping efforts are not appreciated.  Men like working in teams.  Ladies - if you are trying to get your husband to help - perhaps you should suggest they work in pairs.  Shown here it seems to help them stay on task.  

Once the vacuum is full - it's time to empty it before he can pick up more.  Eric gives it a moment to compact itself so that the end result is a neat parcel that will be easy for someone to pick up (with a bobcat).  There's that thoughtful nature in men again.  Just thinking of how their job can make the next guy's easier.  

Once he's finished - he neatly places the hay back in the field.

One could make the rough comparison to a labor and delivery I guess - but that might be too much.

And the end result is this!  A nice, neat bale of hay... and a nicer, neater field that looks SO much better than it did a few minutes ago.

Now.  Of course the men think they have "cleaned" better than any woman could.  They'll come home tired and complain of sun burn, sweat in their eyes and the need of a shower.  I think that it's only right to point out - that even though this looks like they've done something great - a woman does this much work every day and sometimes much more - WITHOUT THE USE OF HEAVY MACHINES!

Have a nice afternoon!  I might not be allowed to post blogs anymore - so it's been fun :) I'll miss you all!

She Thinks My Tractor's HOT (when it's 90*)

This morning my girls and I woke up in Gramling so we got to the farm early to see what was going on.  I needed new pictures and today was a great day to be there.  As it turns out - there was a regular grand prix of tractor driving going on before the rains this weekend.  Here's the line-up as we saw them.

Henry was working in the garden this morning on the G.  Something about rows and later planting peas.  I'm not sure I understood entirely - but this was his tractor of choice.  It's little and lean - but can put in a hard days work.

In my opinion it looks like you wouldn't be very hot on this tractor because there was a nice breeze at the farm today and the lack of body and extra metal makes me think... this was an early air conditioned tractor.  I could be wrong noticing that he's sitting above the engine... but I'm not sure.  We'll have to ask him.

Eric's tractor of the morning is the BIG John Deere.  I guess we could start singing another song about Big Green Tractors but we won't... at least not out loud.  You go right ahead.

Eric zoomed past me at tractor high speed to get some work done before the rains come in either tonight or tomorrow.  At first glance you think he's in a cab where he might have the luxuries of air and possibly radio... but that's your first glance.  He's not... and that hood makes it hotter because it's dark green and absorbs heat radiating it down on his head.  The side effect of such an environment is terrible.  If you've met Eric - you know what I'm talking about... but I'll just say that that much heat on your head might be hard on your hair.  :)

Last - but definitely not least in our lineup - here's Trey sporting the mid-size Kubota.  It's just right for an average day of work on the farm.

This tractor is what all tractors look like in my mind (or schema file as my mom says).  This tractor pulls 5 bin box trailers of peaches, it can be used to spray orchards, move irrigation pipes and equipment and of course - bush hog the fields.  Yes - this is the tractor of all tractors in my mind and Trey is just man of all men to be driving it this morning.

More to come about all they did with these machines later.  It's hot, my girls are asleep and I'd like to have a moment to myself before someone wakes up.

YEA NEW PICTURES!

The Rains Came Down

Well - we've had some good rain lately and it's just what we need to make our garden grow.  We've been planting tomatoes, corn, beans, okra, peas and squash - just to name a few things...  Every day we're adding more and watching what we planted grow a little more each day...

I haven't been up for pictures lately because I find any outing with two girls difficult - but maybe I'll have time later this week to show you what we've been doing.

I don't know if you've noticed - but the ant population in my yard is exploding as the days warm up.  In the past, I've used lots of different things to try and keep them at bay or kill them because I am not a fan of fire ants.  This year I have a 2.5 year old who enjoys the back yard and fresh air.  Keeping fire ants at bay is a requirement.  So is using a chemical that is safe.  Sevin is just the thing.  I've used it on a few mounds that had started to break through the grass - and they're completely gone.  Sevin is an extremely lethal (to insect) poison - but is not a risk to people.  If you have children or pets in your yard - and want to keep them safe and your bugs under control - use Sevin.  Of course - we have it available in our garden center in liquid or powder form.

Parents (Mom's especially), Pets and Plants

When you think of your weekend plans - you should probably be thinking about your mom, wife or grandmother. It is Mother's Day this Sunday in case you've missed it! We are here to make your shopping easier and your gifts a sure success. Nothing is better than strawberry short cake - or home made strawberry ice cream on Mother's Day weekend. Come by our market and stock up on garden starters like plants (beautiful Gerber Daisies and hanging baskets), gloves, fertilizers and pest controls.

We also have an assortment of gift items like bird houses, hand made dish cloths and a wide variety of canned goods. You can put together a personal gift basket or bag of your choosing sure to please!

As far as pets go - Trey has given us over to the dogs this year. We're now offering high protein dog food in 50lb bags for $15.99/bag. It's a great food that we all use with our animals so we highly recommend it.

We're going to be planting soon! We got our tomato plants in this week and have plowed and are ready to pull beds for our summer garden. This is an exciting and busy time for us. We're also cutting hay (oat and fescue) that we will have available to you soon.

On a personal note - Happy Mother's Day MOM!! I love you and celebrate you daily... And thank you to my family... for making me a Mom. It's the greatest job ever!

Come and Get It!

We're open daily for the 2010 Season!  We have strawberries, hanging baskets, bedding and potting plants with all the tools, soils, fertilizers and extras you need to get the job done!  We also have our assortment of breads, fritters, jams, jellies, salsas and pickles along with many other things!  

These are the Gerber Daisies that Trey and Ruba have been tending the past few months.  They are absolutely gorgeous! (The flowers... not Trey and Ruba)

Hand made bird houses (that actually work - we have a family in ours this spring!), pots for all the plants you'll buy and of course - a rocker or two to sit in while you enjoy...

your first slushie of the season! 

See you soon!

Berries and Babies

We are picking berries this week.  They're absolutely beautiful and the taste... WOW.  Come see us this weekend for the start of your Gramling Strawberry season.  We're open Friday and Saturday!

The other thing that's happened recently is that Henry is a grand papa again.  Here he is playing with Granddaughter 2 in the hospital last week.  Now it's really going to be hard keeping him at work! :)

And yes... he is tickling her feet to make her cry.  Why do you think he looks so happy about that?