Farm Wife Secret Code

21 - 17 - 0.
It's the secret code. It's the secret handshake. It's the right combination.
 It's my overactive imagination at work again.

The "secret code" is actually what kind of fertilizer I'm getting at the Kanza Co-op. It stands for 21 percent nitrogen, 17 percent phosphate and 0 percent potassium. (Why do they have to include something that's 0 percent? It's the law that fertilizer be labeled with the percentages of those three ingredients.) We are applying about 12 gallons an acre.

Randy began planting the 2017 winter wheat crop on September 26. He was hoping for an inch of rain before the planting began. But while areas around us have gotten some moisture in the past couple of weeks, the rain has skirted our fields.

Meal delivery is my specialty. But during these wheat planting days, I add fertilizer delivery to my list of chores.

I take the pickup and trailer to the Zenith branch of the Kanza Co-op to get the next tank load of fertilizer. First stop is the scales, where the pickup and fertilizer trailer are weighed empty. (After it's full, I weigh on again.)

It's there that I offer the "secret code," telling them what kind of fertilizer I want. They then hand me a ticket, which I take to the fertilizer shed and give to the co-op employee there.

One time last week, I had to wait for my turn. It was my version of a traffic jam - country style!

Once it was my turn, I pulled the pickup and tank into the fertilizer shed. The co-op worker hooks a hose from the co-op's tank to the trailer, then pulls a series of valves to get the right mix of nitrogen and phosphate.

 

They are used to me wandering around and taking photos. (Sometimes I wonder what the new employees think about the crazy lady with the camera. On second thought, maybe I don't want to know. But I'll bet they forgive me when I bring cookies!)

After the tank is full, I pull back onto the office scales so they can bill us for the fertilizer we receive. Often, the trips to Zenith include filling up the fuel tank with diesel for the tractor. Since the tank holds 100 gallons, it takes awhile to fill, so I try and remember a book to help pass the time.

Then it's back to the field, where Randy can then apply the starter fertilizer blend as he plants.

Randy refills the yellow fertilizer tank on the drill by hooking up the trailer that I brought from Zenith. The "nurse" tank holds 1,000 gallons of fertilizer. Kind of like a big "measuring cup," the tank is marked. That way, Randy can look at the tank to see how much fertilizer he's applied to each landlord's field. The co-op can then bill everyone accordingly. (When I go for fertilizer, I always tell them how to bill the previous tank.)

It means plenty of trips back and forth to Zenith during wheat drilling season. (And it means a hefty bill will soon appear in my mailbox. But we hope it pays off down the road for the 2017 wheat crop. Time will tell.)

Willie Nelson has nothing on me: "On the road again ..." This morning, I'll make three trips "up north" to help get the drill, wheat truck and fertilizer trailer moved to a new location. Early this afternoon, I'll bring Randy lunch when it's also time to get another load of fertilizer and diesel. I will sandwich in a trip to Stafford to deliver a meal for a family with a new baby and cookies for a memorial gathering tomorrow.

There is a fringe benefit to all the time in the driver's seat:  I have a front-row seat to the arrival of fall.

Super Woman AKA Farm Wife

On Monday ...

• I recorded my Monday Central Kansas report on KFRM 550.
• I  posted a blog on wheat planting.
• I took photos of the sunrise.

And that was all by 7:30 AM. 

• I then made two trips to Miller Seed Farms to pick up seed wheat (25 miles one way X 4).
• I backed up the pickup to the drill several times so Randy could put seed wheat where he needed it. 
• I turned three pounds of hamburger into three meals - Hawaiian meatballs and mini Italian meatballs for meals later in the week, along with the meat loaf I served with baked potatoes and baked beans for the noon meal. 
• I went to Zenith to get the fertilizer tank filled and put diesel in the 100-gallon tank on the back of the pickup.
• I downloaded photos from the Friday night football game, Oktoberfest and a busy morning. 

That's what happened by 12:30. I thought I needed a Superwoman cape! But I settled for a selfie by the Full Service sign at the gas pumps.

And then came Tuesday ... and I felt nothing like a Super Hero. So, instead of dwelling on that, let's remember the triumphs. OK?

I got to Miller Seed Farms at my designated time.

But, in truth, the guys loading the seed probably deserved the super hero cape designation anyway.

 While I stood around taking photos, they were loading seed into the back of my pickup. 

I got the seed delivered back to Randy.

 

And he was the one whose muscles were sore at the end of the day from lifting all those sacks and filling the drill with seed wheat.

Let's hope the seed is the real super hero and delivers quality seed for us to use for our 2018 crop. (It's kind of mind-boggling to think that we're thinking about a harvest two years down the line as we plant the certified seed that will be harvested in June 2017!)

I'm not the one loading the seed. I'm not the one putting the wheat in the ground. But, I like to think I make it a little easier to get the job done - whether that means getting fertilizer, filling the 100-gallon diesel tank, making parts runs, taking meals to the field or helping shuffle people and equipment from one field to another.

And you know what? If super heroes lose their super powers, they come crashing down. So maybe it's better just to realize you're just one cog in the wheel.

 

Hey ... today is another day. And, I'm off to get another tank of fertilizer.

Full Service Go-Fer

The sign seems kind of worn out - like me, the County Line's Full-Service Go-Fer!

There are definitely some perks to the job. I may not collect a paycheck, but I get paid in beautiful scenery, as the sun comes up ...

... or as the sun goes down.

In between, there's been plenty (besides my camera) in the rearview mirror. I've been making a couple of trips a day to get fertilizer at Zenith.

While I wait for the guys to fill the nurse tank, I read a little of my book.

A sign of the times? My bookmark is a hang tag off a sack of certified wheat seed.

Once the fertilizer tank is full, I then do a little more reading while I fill the 100-gallon diesel barrel.

Randy says he's not looking forward to the next co-op bill. I will concur, after watching the numbers spin on the gas tank (and hearing that the fertilizer is $4.20 a ton).

Driving at 45 miles an hour gives you plenty of time to appreciate the beauty around you. (Don't worry! I came to a complete stop to get this photo. The sky was just so pretty!)

But it was only a brief time out before I was back at the field to deliver the latest load of fertilizer. 

A trip to Miller Seed Farm yielded a pickup bed full of certified seed ...

... and a quick stop for a photo on the way there. (They are closed from noon to 1 for lunch. I was early. Really!)

And speaking of lunches, I've been delivering them at noon or at night, depending on the day.

Did I mention those sunsets? The working conditions aren't so bad.