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I'm nearly positive that 90% of my audience is over 50, so there's a pretty good chance that you may remember the show Green Acres. I won't go in-depth, but for the limited people that may not know about that show or who Oliver Wendell Douglas is, here's a little backstory. Oliver was from New York and gave up his life in the city to buy a 160-acre farm in the country to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a farmer. He faces countless problems from his equipment, or the lack thereof, as well as from the people of Hooterville. It's one of my favorite shows, just about like everything else that's one or two generations before me. Throughout the past couple of years that I have been involved with gardening, I have been compared to Oliver several times by various people. Sometimes I can't grasp if that should be taken as a compliment or as an insult, but I'll stick to seeing the positive in the resemblance. So now I'm writing about the day that I will have to admit to myself that I did feel the most like Oliver Wendell Douglas.
The anticipation for this day has been unconsciously building for around two weeks now. If you have kept up with my Facebook page Mule Barn Farms, you may remember seeing a post of me with a gentleman named Ray Archuleta. For those that don't know, Mr. Archuleta is one of the world's top experts in soil health, regenerative agriculture, biomimicry, and soil ecology. He travels all over the world teaching farmers and ranchers how to reclaim and undo the continuous degradation many of them have done for generations. In the summer, I was lucky enough to contact him and he graciously agreed to have lunch with me and come out to the farm and see what I was doing. Anyway, I was sitting in one of my night classes one evening and we had to take a break, so I mindlessly scrolled through Facebook for a minute to keep up with the Joneses. A post caught my eye at the top of the page that a gentleman from outside of the U.S. had shared a post that listed a one-row no-till planter for sale. Upon looking more, I realized that the person selling it was Ray! As quick as I could, I got in contact with all of "my people" and then got in contact with "Ray's people" to see if this was something I could obtain. Having wonderfully gracious parents and the kindness of Ray to cut me a deal, an agreement was made and a date was set for me to see if the planter really was right for me.
On January 18, I first headed south to Sparta double check some things with the tractor to make sure that it would be able to attach to the planter. After an enjoyable drive up Highway 125, I hopped on 60 and headed east to Seymour. Once I finally got to Mr. Archuleta's farm, I was met with a small tour around the barn as he explained what he had going on at his operation. He took me to the planter and I knew that it would be just right for me. We examined the drive system, took apart the seed hopper to look at the different seed plates, and talked for quite a while before coming to the conclusion that I would indeed take the planter. We agreed on a range of dates for me to come pick it up and I headed back to the real world.
Like I mentioned earlier, Ray frequently travels and teaches farmers and ranchers soil health principles though his company, Understanding Ag, and the Soil Health Academy. The day after I met with him to look at the planter, he left for a couple speaking engagements and finished his trip in Canada before heading back to Seymour. We set up a time for February 4th for me to pick up the planter, which happened to be my birthday. What started out to be an exciting day was slightly dampened by a muddy mess that made moving trailers and equipment a little more difficult than normal. With great help from my uncle, we set off towards Seymour. When we got there, the planter was sitting ready to be loaded and Ray hopped on the tractor. He loaded it up onto the trailer and before we knew it, we headed back towards Sparta. Unloading the planter was a breeze and now 2020 will be the first season that Mule Barn Farms will have control of the timing of each planting.
But wait, there's more. One thing that is required to pull a 3-point planter is a tractor. I've written about and posted pictures previously about an old Ford 3000 tractor from the 1970's that belonged to my grandpa. Its use has been fairly infrequently over the past several years, and that is something I hope to change this year. Currently, the old tractor is in worse shape than I'd like to admit, but there no way around the fact that it needs a new front tire and has a couple of leaks, one being in the hydraulic pump, rendering it inoperable. You may be asking why did I purchase a planter that requires a tractor when the one I have available to me is not operational? It just seemed like the "Oliver" thing to do. A tractor can be fixed, bought, or even rented for a few hours, but a no-till planter in the Ozarks is a rare occurrence, especially one being sold by Mr. Archuleta!
So if you're ever driving on Highway 14 in Sparta, look for a modern-day Oliver sitting on a tractor pulling my "new" Allis Chalmers planter, BUT with one difference - instead of a three-piece suit, I'll be suited in my faded Key overalls.
I sure hope he is successful. That was a nice read Joyce and thanks for putting it on facebook. And wow, he is very tall like his Dad Doug. Looks even taller. randywallace
Interesting read, and yes I remember Oliver, and I'm over 50 by almost 30 years. I grew upon a farm and had never seen a one-row planter. I am familiar with a two-row planter and a about 10 foot drill. Good luck with you farming.