February 2023 - 28

NOTES FROM THE FARM
The great pumpkin experiment
O
ur hearts go out in sympathy
for all folks where things
went wrong this winter -
floods, droughts, tornadoes and
blizzards. There were so many large
areas affected. It did not seem to be
this way when I was younger.
I can remember when we flew
plane loads of blankets to northern
Italy, dropped baled hay to cattle
stranded in remote areas of Utah
and helped evacuate people from
floods in central U.S., but never
in whole quadrants here or in any
other country.
Tool of the month: A little grain/
grass drill. The John Deere grain
drill that I have used for years
has notations under the lid dating
back to 1941. I have always wanted
something newer that could be
used in orchards and on lawns that
might be more effective in planting
smaller seeds.
This may be the tool. Anxious to
use it.
The great pumpkin experiment
gone wrong: Last winter a company
(which shall remain nameless),
sent a catalog devoted entirely to
cucurbit seeds. I had never seen so
many different pumpkin and gourd
varieties. Now we are not famous
for our pumpkins, and we sell only
pick-your-own. Why not order a
few seeds of each variety and see
what we get? It would also be a
great learning experience for our
customers too.
That was my reasoning. So, I
did. A box of seed packets arrived
in March. Each packet contained a
specific number of seeds. I added
them up. Over five thousand seeds!
Oh well, we will have enough of
each kind for several seasons. The
only problem will be keeping them
identified and separated from their
neighbors when we plant them. I
thought we will worry about that in
May and June at planting time.
28 | FEBRUARY 2023
That was late winter. Even though
it was a wet spring we managed to
get the soil ready in between rain
showers. We use a modified John
Deere corn planter for planting
pumpkins, which means lots of seeds
can be planted quickly. One Saturday
in late May when the neighbor's
corn and beans were planted and
up, a son mentioned it might be a
good time for us to plant pumpkins.
I agreed. That afternoon he came
by and cheerfully announced the
pumpkins were planted.
" Great, " I said. " What did you do
with the leftover seeds? "
" There weren't any. "
Sometimes I get so engrossed in
ideas I forget to share them. This was
one of those times. The result was six
acres of pumpkins overgrown with
weeds. No customer complained and
no one went away empty handed,
even with higher prices.
Medicine: Learned something
new yesterday at a Parkinson's
disease webinar. If your pills do not
specifically say " Take with food "
do not do it. Many pills contain
substances that might interact with
the same chemicals in your food,
and therefore be rendered useless
if you mix with food. You then lose
the benefits of your medicine. It is
best to take such medicines thirty
to sixty minutes before or after a
meal, so everything is absorbed in
the proper order.
Too many shots: My pharmacy
has been bombarding me with
texts. " Don't forget to get your
booster shot for COVID, and your
second shot for shingles, " they say.
So last week I went in and got my
fourth shot for COVID, which I did
not need and skipped the shingles
shot, which I needed ... Nothin'
wrong with me!
This grain drill is replacing a pre-World War II John Deere seed drill.
Photo: Jerry Mills
February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2023
