Late January

[redlevel]

After tomorrow (Jan 20) it will officially be "late January." Christmas is over. Football is over, except for the Super Bowl, which is just a minor annoyance these days.

If one is/was a farmer in South Georgia, things are looking up by now. It has been a cold winter so far, but there is still hay, and the winter grazing will respond very quickly to a little warm snap now. It is time to order peanut seed, fertilizer, and lime. Tractors and planters and tillage equipment should be getting an overhaul, or at least serious maintenance now. If you are a peach grower, it is time to be planting new orchards, and getting ready to prune and fertilize bearing trees. It will be time to plant corn in 60 days or less, and peanuts in 90 days or less. Cotton, too.

It is wet, which is a good thing, but if there were to be ten consecutive days without rain, and a little sunshine, there would be tractors stuck all over the county. Farmers trying to get the jump with a little early plowing, who forgot about that wet spot right there below the terrace. Been there and done that.

It's time to get busy, though.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I haven't played in the hay mow, with my cousins in about 47 years. I really miss that. Ivan

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm just going to hunker down and wait for spring training. Maybe try a little fishing.

 

[redlevel]

Spring training is something to look forward to. I used to hear old-timers talk about mid-March, when the big-league teams broke camp in Florida and headed north on the team buses and trains. One man told me about fetching a coke for Ted Williams in Macon, Ga when the Red Sox played an exhibition game there. Said he had been selected as a bat-boy. Said Williams flipped him a nickel and said, "Get me a Coke, kid."

Fishing is good, too. Forty, forty-five years back, my brother and I used to do a lot of quail hunting in January. Dogs could go pretty much all day in the cold weather, and a few pones of cornbread and a little Jim Dandy kept them in good shape. We could call that time afield "planning time" for the upcoming planting season.

I guess I'm just an old man pining for the old days tonight.

 

[tops]

I broke my foot July 15 and the doctor didn't tell me I could use the tractor until Dec. 20. My garden patches haven't been plowed and the ground is mud. I'm hoping it will dry in Feb. so I can plow and then have a cold Mar. so it will freeze. If the weather doesn't help I may not have much of a garden this year other than tomatoes. I wish I had a home grown tomato right now. Larry

 

[A10]

I'm ready for spring....

 

[redlevel]

It was 68 degrees this afternoon. Beautiful, sunny, just a slight breeze. I spent a couple of hours just being out in it.

By Friday, the high is supposed to be 39. This is 100 miles South of Atlanta, remember.

Oh well. This is the first "real winter" we have had down here in several years. Good for the peach folks, because they need up to 800 dormant hours for some varieties. Supposed to be good for pine trees, too. I think it helps relieve the effects of some diseases and insects.

 

[Donn]

70 days till Opening Day.

 

[SweetMK]

Don't rush it guys!
I have been waiting since I finished the paint, last summer, for snow to push.

Tonight is the NIGHT!! WOOT

 

[snubbyfan]

Up here they're calling for up to a foot of snow tomorrow, single digit lows and below freezing days for at least the next week.
I'm lookin' forward to spring.

 

[manyguns]

For those of us who don't own tillable land it is a time to develop & produce our ammo. Think up a new load, test it & produce mass quantities .

 

[Cyrano]

I haven't played in the hay mow, with my cousins in about 47 years. I really miss that. Ivan

Were they girl cousins? That could have been fun.