Once the rice was about knee high…when it’s hard to see the snakes, my job was to be a flag-boy for the pilot flying fertilizer, herbicides, or insecticides. It was always just after the sun came up that I would wade into the rice field with the mosquitoes. A flag-boy is the focal point or …
Category: Lessons From The Farm
Lesson From My Grandpa’s Farm: The Power of The Seed
In the last few years of God using me to publish “Today’s Good News” I have recognized how He orchestrates His Way. It begins with an idea (that I now know is His whisper), or a memory or a verse, it’s what someone says that leads to a message. It’s a word of two someone …
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Lesson From The Farm: Compacted Soil…
It was a week or so after we had planted the soybean field that I noticed the tire tracks across the field. The new bean sprouts had burst through the soil…except where I had driven across the newly planted field. Yep, those seeds never came up. When I drove across the field I thought, “What …
“What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?”
I remember this gnawing question as a child, a teen, and young adult…the searching for significance. This “searching” took me down many roads…roads that usually led to failure, disappointment & painful consequences. We have witnessed many changes & advancements through history but when you think about it the Dominant Operating Culture (DOC) of the world …
Lessons From The Farm: “Do The Lights On Your Tractor Work?” Part 2
Growing up on the farm meant getting started early and working late. Usually, it began as the sun was coming up and working until the sun went down. But on this day…it went past “dark-30”. Planting & harvest have windows of time when they must be done. If a farmer misses the planting days, there …
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Lessons From The Farm: “Do The Lights On Your Tractor Work?” Part 1 of 2
It was around 5 o’clock the afternoon I drove my tractor out of the field and pulled up to dad with my important question, “What time are we going to the house to eat?” My dad, a man of very few words, responded, “Do the lights on your tractor work?” He answered me with a …
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Lessons From The Farm: Planting Time
There are 2 basic ways to plant in the spring, Broadcast-Spreader (top picture) and Drilling. Growing up we had a red seeder wagon pulled behind a tractor. I remember we planted rice after we pulled the levees. My job as a 10- or 13-year-old was to ride in the back and shovel rice seed into …
Lesson From The Farm: 5 Basic Facts About The Soil
It’s been many years, but I still remember the twinkle in my dad’s eyes this time of year. “It’s Plantin’ Time!” The cold of winter was over…spring brought purpose. Spring brought new life. All that life-purpose took place in the field. My dad loved working (preparing for planting) the soil. He loved the smell when …
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Lessons From The Farm: Preparing For The Day’s Work
I remember those early mornings driving to the farm as the sun was coming up. I was groggy from little sleep, as we pulled into the shop to prepare for a day of planting. There was a ritual every man did before going to the field. All the discs, planters, and tractors had to be …
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Getting The Ground Ready
In late winter, early spring, my dad “Got The Ground Ready.” That meant all the equipment had been repaired or replaced and made ready for “Plantin’ Time.” He had all the seed & fertilizer waiting for that narrow window of time…when the ground temperature & moisture were right. Nothing was more important than getting the …
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