August 15, 2009

When something occurs on the farm we call it NEWSA.

This past week was a busy one as we are gearing up for SUMMER! yes the time of year we love and hate. We love the fact that everything grows quicker but hate the fact that we have to work twice as hard to move all that winter fat from our bodies.

For those reading this in the Western Hemisphere our seasons are upside down and back to front of yours. We start planting seeds and transplanting seedlings in September and October mainly. From that point on we keep transplanting all the way into January& a few things into February.

This past week I was able to get the seeds out to this really nice lady that manages to listen to all my ideas, talk about travelling and all sorts of things. I found out that I forgot that I had a order of seeds planted to get an early jump on the growing season and they will be ready as soon as I want them or the weather turns. As of now the days are still cold. Just today we had hail and rain.

This year we should have about 15,0000 seedlings and about 5000 direct seeded plants like melons, zuchs, pumpkins and cukes.

We have a contract to grow Yellow Grape Tomatoes, Red Grape Tomatoes and Costco sized Mini Capsicums as well.

That will keep us busy as well during the week. On the weekend we still plan on selling veggies and fruits in season at Fremantle Farmers Market in Fremantle.

We bought a second hand plastic greenhouse 30 feet wide by 100 feet long from a certified organic grower who was moving to the USA. This will help us to increase our winter and summer production of veggies. It will help us get a big jumpstart on any produce we wish to grow.

This past week I was so busy pruning peaches getting them ready for this summer that time flew by. I was able to meet with my neighbor farmer Jonny. He gave me a un-used piece of machinery we call the Cherry Tomato Picker. I am the fourth owner of this "antique" . I call it that for the simple reason that it is held together by 1/2 ton of steel welds. Over the years anytime something broke, it was repaired by adding a few welds and some more steel onto the machine.

The machine did not have a motor and was missing a few parts. I was told the bearings were shot and it was missing a hydraulic hose. No worries I thought. Well so far I have ended up taking it to the local mechanic to fix. The bearing were gone on the drive shaft, the whole mess was frozen in place and could not be removed. I also found out that the axle below the drive shaft was bent in the shape of a banana . A oil leak on the oil tank was found as well. So several hundred dollars later it is still in the shop and awaiting a motor, new shaft, machine shop replacement of a sprocket and cleaning up of the shaft. Than when this thing is finally finished we will come up with a name for it. IT should run like new once all the repairs are done to it. So, if you can think of a name go ahead and post it.
















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