Backhoe Bonanza

I often get asked, “What does your farmer do now that harvest is over?” We don’t have livestock so I think people assume that a grain farmer’s task list goes from overloaded to nothin’-to-do in a day.

Although My Farmer is keeping saner hours now, he is still hard at work and soaking up every warm November day to catch up on basic field maintenance. The tool of choice is the backhoe.

And when the backhoe is not digging, it’s knocking things down or holding them up. Two summer ago, the backhoe played a key role in taking down an old corncrib.

My Farmer, his brother and his father keep tabs during the growing season – discovering wet spots, which usually means a broken tile, noticing trees or shrubs infringing on the field’s outer edges and if any new farms were purchased, planning for the removal of old fencerows, the building of waterways, field drives, etc.

I mean, a farmer is never really without anything to do. Their lists go on and on and on and on. . .

So the past few days My Farmer and family have been taking the backhoe from here to there and back over yonder. And while my farm boy has spent some time with them, he comes home to do some of his own digging.

This custom made digger was a gift from My Farmer to his farm boy. It sits in the sandbox and has lost some of its shine due to all its hardwork digging moats and building sandcastles.

Read more 30 Day blogs starting with My Generation. And follow more of my 30 Days of the Not So Glamorous Life of this Farm Wife: