Well, it's the October full moon again, the best time of year to spread minerals, since the full moon flocculates the soil and makes it more receptive to additions.
We were certain we had it all figured out. Due to cost, we are only mineralizing our orchard, so we have only five tons to spread. And we were better-educated, and had the minerals delivered in 50-pound bags. The bags looked like standard feed bags (two layers of thick paper), but turned out to be a plastic weave covered in brown paper: very sturdy.
Phil carried bags to the hopper we borrowed from Butch, and after we'd loaded 150 pounds, he started off.
We figured it would take a while, but he had calculated how many bags would be needed for each row, and was ready to drive back and forth as often as needed until the proper quantity was spread.
Except it didn't work. The ripped soil was extremely bumpy, and for some reason, even though the hopper was fully open, the minerals wouldn't flow out well. After an excruciating few passes, bouncing along, I think about 20 pounds of minerals were gone, and Phil was ready for a new method to spread.
We tried a few options. He poked open a bag with a shovel and flung it around. That wasn't an even spread, as the minerals plopped at the zenith.
I opened a bag halfway and walked, letting the minerals flow freely. That was too stripey.
Phil cut some slits in the bottom of a sack and swung it as he walked. Eventually, he figured out the best size of holes, and that if we pour a bag halfway in, it's easier to manage (and only 25 pounds at the max).
He used our minted-this-year garden cart to push 300 pounds of minerals around at a time (I tried to push, but didn't get far on the uneven ground).
We got 600 pounds done before dark fell: 6% of the total.
Phil intended to do more of that today, and he did get some done. I would guess we're now about a quarter of the way done. We loaded the truck with 2000 pounds of minerals, and dropped them at 24' on center spacing. Slow going.
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The faster method happened today next door. Twenty-five tons of minerals arrived, in a truck-hopper with a towed storage container. The driver, incredibly, managed to park in our driveway. He then took his truck-hopper to the neighbor's land and spread the minerals.
Phil had been quite concerned about the slope, the ripping, and the rainfall: could the mineral truck drive without getting stuck?
Not really. In the first pass, which only took about twenty minutes to spread 6 tons (I could not believe it!), there was a good bit of stopping on the hillside, backing for a running start, and driving up the hill. Back and forth. So the driver put chains on.
Then he loaded the truck-hopper with more minerals from his conveyor-belt storage container, and drove off blithely through our orchard to spread a small, not easily accessed area.
And he promptly got totally stuck. Sliding down the hillside with 6 tons of minerals in the hopper stuck.
We thank the Lord for Butch, who again saved the day. His bulldozer with treads managed to pull the truck-hopper out of the danger zone. The driver finished that pass without any more difficulty (this time in maybe 15 minutes), did two more runs, and was gone, back to Pennsylvania with a considerably lighter load.
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Very briefly, in other news: Bianca has become my good friend. And, by milking twice a day, I got about 14 pounds each yesterday and today: 1.75 gallons. If I hit two gallons, I will be a very happy farmer. There's no way we can drink that much!
Our brix level, too, was over 12 today. All that kelp is paying off, and the reduced-stress milking. Glory!
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