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THE LAND, JULY 4, 2014
22
Making plans on the farm takes spit, verbal fertilizer Every now and again I’m reminded of the notion that the word “farm” is both a noun and a verb. Come to think of it, the words “plan” and “spit” are of the same vintage. This past spring I was once again witness to our group of guys trying to make the plan to get the day’s spring planting done. It’s a group of guys of all ages — young farmers, middle age farmers and one getting a little closer to retirement age each year, but not getting close to retiring. They sort out seed and load the seed ten-
Mankato Area Steve Schwebke, Fairmont, MN David Baldner, Northeast, IA Andrew Dodds, Owatonna, MN
RN
ders, and when it’s all finished, they It’s quite an intellectual process that makes stand around in a circle with dirt my head spin, and I’m certain that so much swirling around their work boots as time and thought was never put into planthey shuffle back and forth. ning our wedding day, nor subsequently in the planning of our family. It’s a group of guys, so of course, this elaborate thinking process requires Of course, each plan is meticulously conjocularity overload, verbal fertilizer structed, and two or three plans might be and a certain amount of spitting. scrapped before the final revision is accepted by the entire congress. When it receives all I’ve learned that it’s not always the “ayes,” they scatter, firing up tractors and greatest thing to be on the receiving TABLE TALK trucks for the day’s work ahead of them. end of any of those things. Nearly three decades of marriage and a quarter cen- By Karen Schwaller And, as we all know from time to time, the tury of being a mother has taught me plan is subject to change without notice. When I to stand clear of all things spewed — bring supper to the field I sometimes get roped from babies to children to grown men — whether in into helping move them from field to field. It takes an food, word or salivary form. axe to my own plan, but the getting the crop in or out And especially if tobacco and wind speed and direc- trumps all other plans. And I know the inconvenience is only temporary. Better a temporary inconvenience than tion are involved. a temporary marriage. Most of the time, anyway. Some of the guys run field cultivators, some run All of this planning reminds me of our sons when planters, some haul seed tenders and everyone has a they were in middle school and deciding the pecking job to do. When the monkey business has subsided, the plan is made as to who will be working where order when it came to making planning decisions and how seed tenders and pickups filled with seed outside when their dad was not home. There would bags will get to the fields where they need to be be a wicked feud every now and then, which the throughout the day, and what the seed tender driv- neighbor’s dog could tune into by cocking his head ers will be doing after they reach their destinations. sideways and turning up his ears. After a certain And if making the plan for the entire day, they amount of bickering, our guys came up with a plan. extend their planning by figuring out who should One day my husband asked one of them a question drive what pickup somewhere so everyone has some- about something they were doing, and he answered thing to come home in at quitting time, or who will with a clear and present tone of apathy. “I don’t be around to drive so-and-such home. know. I’m not the boss today.” I bet that plan involved a lot of spitting, but I’m glad I wasn’t there to see where — or on whom — it may have landed. Karen Schwaller brings “Table Talk” to The Land from her home near Milford, Iowa. She can be reached at kschwaller@evertek.net. ❖
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