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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Now we're farming!

I can barely contain my excitement. Are you ready for this? No, no, Muffin still didn't have her baby goat and I'm quite sure now that she's not pregnant and never was. Little strumpet! Still, the disappointment of no baby goat is clearly overshadowed by the acquisition of....a TRACTOR!!! Yes, indeed, a real tractor has found its way to the barn. It was on Craig's List, the home of all good deals, and it was pointed out by friends of ours who are many years and acres ahead of us on this farm learning curve.

Anyway, after going to look it over and drive it around, Kelly pronounced it the "right one" and so it was. It is a Kubota tractor with a belly mower, a rear snow blade, and a front snow blade. It has 720 hours on it, which is really quite reasonable, and it has a 3 point hitch. This is particularly thrilling for me because it means we can get a proper tiller to till up my vegetable garden in the spring, and that nearly makes me giggle with glee.
Never before in my life did I think that a tractor would ever generate such a thrill. If anybody had even suggested so a few years ago, I likely would have given them the hairy eyeball treatment. But lo and behold, I would have been wrong, much as it pains me to say so.

So in order to honour this exciting moment, I am doing a give-away! Yes, after visiting any number of interesting arts and crafts blogs with fun and interesting give-aways, I have decided to do one myself. This one is not crafty or artsy, because my muse is taking time off. This is a tomato seed give-away. It is for an unopened packet of "Garden Peach" tomato from Seed Savers Exchange. It's one I bought late this year so I was going to start them for spring 2009. Instead, it is my very first give-away item. I will describe its packet blurb "Offered under a variety of names to American gardeners since the middle 1800s. Fuzzy fruits ripen to yellow and often have a hint of pink blush when fully ripe. Outstanding flavor, rarely cracks. Indeterminate. 70-75 days from transplant." There are 50 seeds in the packet.

So, just leave me a comment about my tractor, or about your favourite tomato, or anything else you'd like to chat about, and I will add your name to the giveaway list. I will put all the names in a hat and Kelly will pick one and I will send them out one week from today.

Happy gardening, happy farming, and happy day!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

So. Very. Jealous.

But happy for you! And I know what you mean -- I used to dream of owning a convertible, now I dream of a Kubota!

Congrats!

sugarcreekstuff said...

My Hubbie wants a corvette but settled for a 54 Ford Tractor.

Thanks for ordering a bag from me and I look forward to getting to know you better through your blog.

michelle

Paula said...

Yay on the tractor!!!
Very soon you'll wonder how you ever lived without one!

Crosswinds Farm said...

Well, I don't need any tomato seeds, but I am SO JEALOUS of your tractor! I am hoping maybe next year that will be within the budget :(.

Lola Nova said...

And what a handsome tractor it is! I have always had a thing for tractors, not sure why. When I was a kid, my dad brought an ancient little tractor home and parked it on our property. He painted it bright turqoise. It never ran but, my brother and I had grand adventures on it nonetheless. No need for a tractor now but I do so love my rototiller.

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

Hi, I have three Nigerian does and 75 chickens. Wish we had a tractor, maybe one day, happy for ya, want to see your garden in the summer. I tried growing upside-down tomatoes this summer and did fairly well.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

What a fun little give-away! I won't be able to participate, though, because sadly I'm terribly allergic to tomoato vines, so I can't grow them in my garden :(
Good to luck to all your other readers, though.

I still had to leave a comment just to congratulate you on your new brightly colored Kubota! That's a serious working tractor, not like our snazzy, bright green John Deere. Hubby likeds driving it around though. But your Kubota is one tough looking cookie!

Question, though.
How does one know how many hours on a tractor? Does the tractor have an 'hour odmeter'?
And I'm trying to imagine a 'hairy eyeball' and I'm just giggling like crazy! :D

I'm enjoying the way that you write!

~Lisa
New Mexico

Claire MW said...

So sad about your tomato plant allergy! They are a favorite of my summer garden, but how can I pick a favorite!?

Kelly says there really is an hour odometer! I'll take his word for it! It has already cleared snow twice! Hooray! I just can't wait to do the garden tilling in spring. So many shovel-hours replaced by a little orange tractor!

Katherine Dunn/Apifera Farm said...

Oh I know all about tractor therapy too! I love being out on our little Kubota. Buying new pieces for it is a thrill too [I yearn for a ucket - next year maybe]. It's fun seeing you farm in cold/snow climate. I'm from Minnesota originally and I always think how much harder it would be to raise sheep in Minnesota...

Claire MW said...

Congratulations to Apifera Farm, who got picked out of the hat today (a few days late, sorry!) for the Garden Peach tomato seeds. You can send me an email with your address at:
patentgarden at gmail dot com and I will send you the seeds right away!