[AT] photo finish

[Greg Hass]

Day before yesterday I finally finished fall work. I still have a lot to 
do such as getting equipment out away and getting the yard cleaned up 
(not as in leaves etc. but a loader bucket here and there and dual 
wheels laying where I took them off the tractor. On Wednesday I still 
had to finish plowing and finish digging potatoes. Another guy helped 
pick them up as I don't bend as well as I used to. I had four rows left 
out of six, and we got eight heaping milk crates off of each row. It has 
rained a lot here lately so the dirt kept sticking to the v shaped 
digging plate of the potato digger but we got the job done. As for 
plowing , I had about an hour left on one side of the field, but because 
of the shape of the field, I had four headlands to do and they seemed to 
take forever. It was almost dark but I was able to avoid lights. 
Yesterday, I pressure washed the huge amount of mud off the plow and 
managed to transfer 90% of it onto myself. Today I painted the shiny 
parts of the plow with a protective coating (the IH version is called 
till coat) . To some like Ralph this probably seems late to dig 
potatoes, actually it is, but I got it done. For those who don't know, I 
live in Michigans thumb, about 100 miles northeast of Detroit. The 
reason I said photo finish is because tomorrow night it is supposed to 
drop to 6 to 12 degrees F. It helps me to relax knowing the crops are 
off and all my fall tillage is done. A lot of people around here are 
also done, but there is quite a bit of corn still out, and a few fields 
of soybeans. As for the potatoes, I am giving most of them away, as I 
can't eat 32 crates; just me and the wife. I should probably quit 
growing so many but I enjoy it although It gets harder each year.
             Greg Hass