Feeding the cranberries

The cranberries have reached the stage where they are growing very fast and need all the energy they can get. Here we show how we fertilize the crop with the least amount of damage. If we were to drive equipment over the vines it would not be good. Adding fertilizer to the irrigation would not insure an even spread and there would be pooling of too much in one area and not enough in another. So far, this expensive method proves to be the best.

Click the button below to watch the helicopter.

The helicopter sets the hopper on the ground, a bag of fertilizer is loaded into the hopper and away it goes. In 4 min. it will be back for another.



This is a field map of the cranberry fields.


Bog 4 and 5 are coming on line for the first time this year.

Bog 6 should have a small crop next year.

Bog 7 was planted this spring and it will be 3 years before its first small crop.

MAL will be changed from a regular field this winter into a cranberry field. It costs about $40,000 / acre to convert a field into cranberries.








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Update on the cranberries

REMEMBER the cranberry flowers.....

This photo was taken on June 20th while the bees were hard at work.













This photo was taken a month later.

You can see the berries are forming quite nicely.

They will start to turn red shortly as they continue to grow in size.








So..... You are wondering why Larry put my picture and my helicopters picture in with the cranberries.

You will have to check out the next article to see........










I can make my helicopter stand still..











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Highway traffic loves tractors...

Our fields are all over the place and there are some occasions that we must travel on main roads to get to our next job. I am sure the faster vehicles just hate to see us there but we have no choice and must join in the rush using up the right lane. Yes, there is a side area on the highway but this can be filled with signs or other things that could cause a hazard if we were to drive in them. It is our policy not to drive in them except in an emergency and actually is the law.

Watch as I drive North on Highway 17 with the faster traffic.

Click the button below to watch the movie.





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Pheasants in the fields

We have always had a lot of pheasants in our fields, especially the ones along highway 17 towards the ferry terminal. This year it seems they have increased their numbers even though I see a lot of coyotes in their areas.
They like to run in the potato fields and seem to pick the rows where my tractor always drives when I am spraying, I guess the nice hard packed tracks make good runs.

Here is a movie showing a male pheasant running just ahead of my tractor. He could jump up and fly away any time but chooses to play chicken with my tires, perhaps he thinks he is leading me away from his mate and family.....

I an traveling at about 5 miles per hour, there is also the sound of a radio in the background.

Click the button below to watch the movie.





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Its irrigation time..................

Yes, believe it or not we can go with out rain for several weeks in this area. When this happens certain crops must be irrigated. Most of our fields have irrigation/drainage ditches where we can direct water from the Fraser river to supply our needs.

This photo shows our case tractor with the pump connected to the pto. They run 24 hours a day when pumping water.




Watch the movie on 1 irrigation boom watering the potatoes. It takes 8 hours (approx) to pull in the irrigation gun.



Click the play button!


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Ford line-up

Junior.... is our smallest tractor. This cute little tractor is mainly used to pull the tyne weeder which is attached at this time.

The tyne weeder is another method of weeding similar to the rotary hoe. It disturbs the weeds when they are small not hurting plants with larger roots such as a crop of beans.






Another ford tractor, this one has a quick attach system on the front to easily change from a fork loader like it has on now to a bucket loader.

These are handy tractors for odd and end use around the farm.








The Ford5000.
One of our older tractors but used quite often for the smaller jobs and for moving the irrigation sprinkler jets.











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Case Tractor line-up

Case 9330


Here is a photo of our largest case tractor. This is a powerful unit which can pull large trains of equipment. All our tractors with dual rear tires are used in fields which are not yet planted.


We have 1 of these.




Case 7140

Another good work horse is the 7140. It has 4 wheel drive and is used often pulling field preparation equipment.

We have 1 of these.







Case 7120

This one is very similar to the 7140 except it is 2 wheel drive. Two wheel drive tractors are very handy because they can turn in tight locations.

We have 1 of these.








Our multi-purpose case. We have several buckets that will fast connect to the lift. It is 4 wheel drive and has tons of power.

Downside: The air conditioner does not work all that well and can be very dusty on hot dry days. No stereo radio either... must talk to management about this problem.





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