Tractor Ride!

Right after Shisheng came back from his last exam paper today (hooray!), we received a phone call from Sarah. She asked us if we will be interested to see Adam work on the farm today. We agreed right away, and it was off to the farm we go!

The farm land was in a rural area, with unpaved roads, and miles and miles of cleared land, ready for farming. Sarah gave us easy directions to where Adam may be: Drive past their house, past the first "Stop" sign, and look out for a green tractor on the left. We drove past her house, saw a couple of tractors which were red. Found the "Stop" sign, and saw a few more red tractors. Finally, in the distance, we saw a green tractor hard at work. There was Adam!

Being in the rural area, we just parked our car on the grass by the side of the road. Adam drove his tractor over to meet us. The wheels of the tractor were huge! I am just a wee bit taller than those tyres. Adam invited us to have a ride with him in the tractor. It was a tight sqeeze, but it was way cool! :) We had to climb up a few steep steps before reaching the seat (meant for one). The inside of the tractor is actually air-conditioned. It was a "John Deere" tractor, about 11 to 12 years old. It had some mean mechanical parts attached to the back which were supposed to plough the land as the tractor moves across the field. And it is not as easy as it looks!

This year, Adam is going to grow soybeans on this field, coz last year it was corn. He explained that they had to rotate the crops every year, in order to make the best use of the soil. Corn requires nitrogen, which the soybean plants leave behind. Hmm, I vaguely remember this during my geography lesson many eons ago... After he finishes tilling this field, he will be done and his dad will come by to plant the seeds. It will be a couple of months before harvesting will begin. And we will have to pray for good weather too. Over in Indiana, tornados are not uncommon. In addition, Adam explained that we may be expecting a bit of drought this year, given that we had so much snow this past winter, and a wet summer last year. Hopefully, the yield will still be good, against all odds.

Sigh, I wish I had a few pictures to show. It was so fun to ride in the tractor! Adam has invited us to come back again suring harvest time, when he will be using another neat machine: the combine harvester (or just "combine", for short). Sarah and Adam's Grandpa showed us the combine which was resting in the barn. It you think the tractor is big, the combine is ginormous! Woohoo! We can't wait till harvest time! :)