It’s been way too long since I’ve written a farming blog. I promise to do better going forward.
We had a great 25th annual Inman Farm Heritage Days back in September, and we’re already working on improvements for next year’s two shows – the Inman Antique Expo on the first weekend in March and Inman Farm Heritage Days on the third weekend of September.
High on our list is setting a grain bin up on the west side of the field and putting permanent restrooms inside it. We’re excited about that and should get to work on it before the end of the year and have it ready to go by March. We are in the process of getting the necessary permits now.
Stephanie and I have several antique tractor projects under way. We’re putting the engine back together (it was stuck) in a Farmall F30. It’s close to being ready to crank. We also are making progress on a Case DC that we bought from Frankie Thomas. We got new rings back in the engine the other day, and put the cylinder head (freshly reworked by Charles Warr) back on.
There are three Allis Chalmers projects nearing completion. The other day we fired up an unstyled WC that we did some major engine work on. We still need to fabricate a mount for an alternator and put the hood back on it.
We have two WDs about ready to start. Both have interesting stories. One belonged to the late Edward Ballard. I drove it for several years back in the day when I helped him on his farm. Lots of others around here also spent time on it.
And we’ve put another engine on the WD that once belonged to Ferrol “Bearcat” Sams Sr. That tractor was way too far gone for most folks when we started on it, but it’s starting to look like a tractor again.
On the farm front, we’re putting the finishing touches on our Christmas trees. We’ve done the major shearing and now going back through them with hand clippers getting them ready to sell. We have a good supply of Cypress trees and some Virginia Pines and Carolina Sapphires to choose from this year, and we hope to have at least a limited supply of Fraser Firs to start the season.
It’s always a fun time of the year. It’s hard work, but the weather is cooler and it’s fun to be in the field with Joanne and Stephanie, doing a job where we can work while still carrying on a conversation. We have missed seeing the Sandhill Cranes flying over while we’re working. Maybe they’ll show up soon. We never get tired of watching them.
The next couple of weeks we will have families coming here for Christmas photos in the trees, then we will open for tree sales on Thanksgiving Day.
It’ll be our 35th year selling Christmas trees. On weekend’s this year we’ll have our granddaughter Abigail working with us for the second year. That’s a treat for us, and for our customers too. She’s just 12 but she can really handle shaking, baling and tying trees on cars. That’s a good thing because her grandparents aren’t as agile as we were back in the beginning.
We’re looking forward to seeing lots of y’all this year. Check back on mintersfarm.com or on Facebook and Instagram for updates on our activities here.