We finally finished planting, the cows were moved to pasture and the weather has warmed up. We found ourselves having a little extra free time last Saturday, so we took advantage of the time and had ourselves a little date night. Now, our date nights might look a little different than others but these kinds are some of my favorites!
We decided to go out for supper, but along our trip we planned to stop and look at some of our soybeans that seemed to be struggling to get out of the ground. I had already had a trailer hooked up to my truck, so we loaded up the gator and went on a couple field cruises. We drove around our soybean fields looking for problem areas. When we found one, we would get off and dig in the soil to diagnose the problem. Our field conditions were perfect for planting, but then we had a hard rain followed by some warm temps and high winds. These are the ultimate factors for creating a crust on the soil. Since the soil crusted, the beans were struggling to get out of the ground and some that were making it looked good, while others we could tell were going to eventually die. The term we use for that is "breaking their necks off". What it really means, is the head of the soybean had to push so hard to break through the soil, that eventually it's "neck" or the stem was stressed so much it was weak and breaking off. Those plants, will not survive. So we setup a plan to replant some areas to fill in the gaps. By filling in the gaps, we're increasing our chances for a better yield but we're also keeping our weed pressure down. Wherever there is plants growing, once they shade the rows over they will help to prevent any weeds from further germinating later in the season.
Some may think, this isn't truly a date night but for us our crops are our passion and we taking care of them is something we both enjoy. Although we found some problem areas, we still had fun while we were out adventuring through the fields. These fields have been in Justin's family for a number of years and my favorite part is hearing stories from past times of things his grandfather did, or the way the land use to lay before the took more sustainable measures to help maintain the soil.
After our adventure, we set off to town to enjoy a nice meal out at the local diner. It was simple, enjoyable and a nice time to just enjoy one other's company. We returned home and took in some quick snuggles with max over a tv show before we all settled into bed. These, these are the nights that I love the most. When we are able to take advantage of the beautiful weather, take in all of our hard work and breath a sigh of relief knowing that we couldn't be more excited for what is to come in the future.
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