Neat, Brenda -- and I saw a hint of that stump/planting garden area -- lovely! for a city slicker like me this is such a treat to see.... altho I see it from the highway when driving, it is so much more personal to hear it from one who lives it!

Energy & stamina take on whole new auras for me when I think of all you do.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share this small part of your life with us.

--Cindy

Wow, wow wow!!!!! Just love this set of pics Brenda, thanks for doing this for us. It's like you live on a different planet than I do with our hilly, hilly terrain all covered in trees. You are amazing! I'm wildly impressed that you can drive one of those rigs. Great pic of 'the boys' too!

Deanne

Great pics! Takes me back...but we sure did not have such mammoth equipment in my youth.

Very cool pics Brenda! You work with some BIG equipment!!! What a different world from mine, such beautiful wide open spaces. Now lets see some more pictures of the gardens, the one in your picture leaves me wanting to see more! Thanks for sharing these!

Eden

Brenda, fun to see a bit of your farming world. Things here look pretty much the same except I was amazed at the difference in the color of our fields. I have never seen a Versatile. Around here everyone has red or green.

I second the vote to see more pictures of your garden.

No Versatiles here either. Neighbor has a blue Ford or two...and there are tons of John Deere's too. Lots of antique stuff, rescued and used by the Mennonites and others. I enjoy the harvesting scene the most I think. Here everyone helps everyone else, so everyone owns different equipment.

WOW! Brenda, thanks for posting those shots. There isn't the sort of farming around here that you guys do... the scale of it is diminished by lots. It's really fun for me see pictures of the equipment you use and read what it does. I hadn't realized how specific the equipment and attachments were. Of course, it all makes sense now. (You know, Michelle, you should get some shots, too). What a fun way to "get educated"; well, at least introduced to farming your way.

What a hunky lookin' group of guys. More power! huh-huh!

Do you carry toilet paper in the cab? ;)

Gee, and it all started because I drove a forklift at work, lol! I tell Jim that's why he went out with me...figured if I could do that, I could adapt to a tractor ;)

Deanne, I'll try to drive anything at least once. I have to admit though, it took 3 years before I'd even attempt to take that stuff down the road from one field to another, and I'm still very slow and cautious about it.

Hi, Marian! Up until a couple of years ago, we had a John Deere A, and John Deere B and a four bottom plow hanging around. Just looking at the plow made me tired, thinking about all the acres we cover.

Eden, I do love the wide open spaces. Only drawback is that it's hard for me to garden with that as a backdrop. No matter how much stuff I put in, it looks small and empty with all that space around :) You'll see what I mean when I post pics of the stump bed.

Michelle, the Versatiles are real work horses. Not sure what year they are, but they plug along all day with very little trouble. There are a lot of Deeres around here, but not many Internationals or Fords. (I think the blue Fords are really pretty!) What's your soil like? Lots of clay?

'bug, I see the MOST gorgeous scenery at harvest time. Not to mention all the wildlife that's hiding in the corn. I feel sorry for the rabbits...think how scary it would be to have that giant combine come roaring up in the middle of your dinner. Tons of deer...gorgeous, desctructive beasts that they are.

Chelone, um, yeah...it's like workin' with the Chippendale dancers...HA! There's even MORE stuff to drag around behind a tractor. Rototary (sp) hoe, in case the ground gets a crust on it and the plants can't pop through, anhydrous applicators for putting on nitrogen, chisel plows....they can keep you busy dragging something around for as long as you'll tolerate it, lol! OH, in the bottom of the tractor seat, there's sort of a glove box doo-dad. There's been the same roll of toilet paper in there for the six years we've farmed with these guys. Wouldn't use it on a BET! In my "lunchbox", I carry travel size kleenex, two 16 oz bottles of water, my checkbook-it has my drivers license, cash, etc., Excedrin, Midol, a travel ashtray (yeah, I know, I'm just sayin'...) and a container that's usually full of roasted almonds. I've been left in a field to starve one too many times. And, I still have room to tuck in any emergency necessities I might need. The guys find it endlessly amusing when I offer them a "cigar", LMAO! They embarrass so easily! It doesn't pay to be bashful around these clowns. Plus, they stay outta my lunch box for fear of what they might find ;)

As per request, I'll get some shots of the gardens. Hopefully I can get some of the peonies before the rain beats them into the ground...NOT that I'm complaining...we need rain. I usually offer up my gorgeous peonies in return for it. That's also how I got the "stump bed". We were in need of rain really bad one year, and the storm that brought the rain that saved the crops took down the old silver maple tree. I already had a planting area around the base of it, so what the heck, ya roll with the punches, eh? Went from a shade bed to a sun bed pretty quick.
Thanks for all the kind words..I tend to forget there are people who DON'T have all this crap parked around on their property :)
Brenda

Wow! Yes - what the others said about 'a different world.' In my front yard I can listen to cars screeching and crashing into each other on the highway just behind the trees. You can drive that enormous hunk of metal with no chance of hitting anything! Just a totally different lifestyle than most of us have. I hope you treasure it with all it's stressor and ups and downs. It's really incredible. Thanks for sharing a view into your life Brenda :-)

Great bunch of shots, Brenda, thanks so much for taking the time to put them together. As Cynthia said, a different world from what we have around here. In my town there are still a couple of small tracts of farmland left-maybe 10 or 20 acres of what is probably considered by some to be prime residential land where people grow corn and stuff to supply a small vegetable stand. I admire the families who have held out and not sold to the plethora of developers who are no doubt lined up just waiting for a chance to turn that land into another neighborhood.

Sue

Brenda

Cool shots (yes, guys included!) Thank you for sharing those with us. We are so disconnected from how our food is grown and harvested these days. Seeing things first hand is such an eye opener. I love hearing about farm life from the female perspective too (especially the cigars LOL!) Your humor always cracks me up.

I agree Michelle, time to pony up a few working shots of your farm too if you have any.

Mary

Brenda, I completely forgot to mention this. But your guys look like all the guys I know and work with, too! Fishermen, boatbuilders, yachtyard guys. The only "suits" I deal with are the ones that come into the shop to drop off their boat's canvas. And they don't smell "fish-y", sweaty, or like sunscreen...

;)