Rutkowski Farm

Frost in the air can only mean one thing…it’s time to plant garlic again.  We always aim for Columbus day weekend and never quite hit the target.  That’s ok though because the broader target is the month of October.

After wrestling with the Allis D17 and ultimately replacing a dead battery, the field finally was plowed, disked and tilled over the course of three days.  Daylight is scarce after I get out of work, so I have to do what I can with the little daylight there is.

As you can see from the picture, that bit all went well.  The bad news was the weather forecast.  They had forecast rain and snow in minor amounts for the whole weekend.  Terrible conditions.  I don’t think I’ve ever been happier that the forecast was dead wrong.  Saturday started with sun and ended with clouds with some blue sky in the distance.  We were on the edge of the cloudbank for the nastiness our neighbors to the south and east experienced.  With the additional prep work, we wound up getting 2 full rows of Ukrainian Red in.

Sunday morning, I got up slowly, but was finally in the field by 8 or so.  As you can see from the picture, I was greeted by frost.  Pushing garlic cloves through that frost layer hurts the fingers.  Lucky for me it didn’t stay frozen for too long.  I worked until about noon, getting the rest of the Ukrainian Red in, as well as all of the Music and Marjean.  At that point, it was a break for lunch with Kathleen and Asa.

After a long lunch, Kathleen joined me in the field while Asa napped and we knocked out a row and half of Spanish Roja.

At this point we have 6 full rows done and between 5 and 6 to go.  Those will happen Tuesday…until then…adieu.