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After having been on the road for several days last week and enduring much rain and mud over the weekend, I noticed that the lawn at the farm was getting pretty shaggy. Part of the joy of working on GRIT, traveling for business and farming on the side is that “things” just get away from you sometimes. So much so that I just can’t get too wound up about it.</p>
<p>Thanks to a beautiful sunny and windy day yesterday, my yard … even most of the mud … was sufficiently dry that I could mow the bulk of it. As luck would have it, the trusty 1984 <a href=”http://www.kubotaengine.com/” target=”_blank”>Kubota-diesel</a>-powered <a href=”http://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category2_10051_14101_16203_600000_600000_-1_image” target=”_blank”>Cub Cadet</a> garden tractor (with 50-inch deck) started right up with a quick jump from the pickup truck. I will need to do some work on that tractor’s drive line this year, but hopefully I will be able to plan that repair and not be forced into it with the yard half trimmed.</p>
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<p>I love the first mowing of spring. It is quite satisfying to even “things” up after a long winter and to take stock of the landscaping. I noticed that the lilacs are finally beginning to bloom, the redbud trees too. The wild plums in the hedgerow are flowering right along with the ornamental crabapple I planted last summer.</p>
<p>If the weather holds, I plan to mow the grass between the corral and the chicken pen this evening. I hope to trim around the trees and shrubs with the Neuton electric mower and I might even finish cleaning up the yard. And then, if light and energy allow, I might begin cleaning up the garden; if not tonight then tomorrow. Then there is the new fencing and the grading and seeding to be done ….</p>
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<a href=”http://www.grit.com/biographies/oscar-h-will” target=_self>Hank Will</a>
<em> raises hair sheep, heritage cattle and many varieties of open-pollinated corn with his wife, Karen, on their rural Osage County, Kansas farm. His home life is a perfect complement to his professional life as editor in chief at GRIT and Capper’s Farmer magazines. Connect with him on </em>
<a title=Google+ href=”https://plus.google.com/u/0/117459637128204205101/posts” target=_blank rel=author>Google+</a>.</p>
