Dirt work

Well, its November and we are getting ready to plant seed in the meadow.  Marc Pastorek is very busy drying seed in preparation for the active planting season.  In the meantime, I concluded that the disc harrow was just not breaking the existing sod well enough to expose the soil for seeding.  After searching far and wide for a rental or loaner, I finally purchased a 70" tiller attachment for the tractor.  This past weekend, I ran the tiller over the two larger areas of the meadow project and the result was very good.  The soil is now exposed and the existing grass is mostly uprooted.  I followed with the disc harrow for good measure and got a little deeper turn to the soil. 

Today, I finally lit the burn pile that has been accumulating for the past couple years.  It was a little windy and a little dry, but the pile was well isolated.  I found that my brulee torch did a very nice job of lighting off the diesel, which can be a bugger to light.  The pile burned fast and hot and is now smoldering and should be ashes by morning.

I have a lot more work to do before the whole plot is ready to plant, but a light schedule this week.  So, I hope to get things ready by the weekend.  Next up, I will be ordering a cultipacker.  Again, I searched far and wide for a loaner to no avail. It seems that people in the south don't use cultipackers.  A cultipacker is a piece of agricultural equipment that crushes dirt clods, removes air pockets, and presses down small stones, forming a smooth, firm seedbed. Where seed has been broadcast, the roller gently firms the soil around the seeds, ensuring shallow seed placement and excellent seed-to-soil contact.

I found a good source in Pennsylvania that handles a lot of used agricultural equipment.  It turns out that they buy old, broken cultipackers and have an Amish guy who rebuilds them into smaller units.  I can get a 6 1/2 foot Little Joe at a good price and have it shipped down on motor freight.  By the time I get all of this equipment, I guess I could go into the meadow preparation business.