The World and Everything in It had a segment on the mental health struggles of farmers recently. I really think they should have also focused on the mental health of the mothers with young children at home during the busy seasons and how about the mental health of the children putting up with that mother.
Do they look like children whose dad has been working easily 70+ hours a week for the last eight weeks? Here’s a closer view. 
This irrigated field and the one pictured below were planted one day apart eight weeks ago. The fact that these fields and the non-irrigated fields have actually had rain on them this month has helped our mental health. That didn’t happen at all last year in June!
We were by the above field visiting a friend, so I asked Brad if he wanted me to take pictures of anything in the field for him. He said just the kids, so we did. That might be the extent of his Father’s Day gift. By the way, if you’re still looking for gift ideas for the father in your life, Emdesign put together some great gift ideas for farmers. They could work even if your dad isn’t a farmer.
Press on my fellow farmer’s wives. You are not alone.
Psalm 34:10 Those who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.
One field left to finish planting with rain in the forecast for today. Brad is going on one minute of sleep in the last 29 hours. Seriously. I sent Elliana along to keep him awake. Let’s all pray they stay safe.
That was discovered the same day Brad unknowingly ran his 
It left an irreparable hole in the side wall. I still don’t understand why a farmer would leave a post like that in his field without making it obvious that it is there. Maybe they have Michelin stock.
All the children have had some quality time in the tractor with Brad except William. He just gets to look at the tractor while we wait for it to come down the field so we can pick up and/or drop off a sibling.
They were back on for this field.
One of my accomplishments today was hauling these cone bottoms and leaving them at the next field. Aren’t cone bottoms the natural thing for a suburban to haul? 
Three fields done in three days. Three fields used to take longer than three days, and that was about all there was that had to be planted. This year three fields is just a start, but a good start it has been.
A new year. Another fresh start. Farming feels kind of like being a school teacher. You get a little break and then get to start over. You have some new strategies you try, all while relying all the things you’ve learned from previous years. You have new hope and anticipation for what the year may bring. We’re praying it brings consistent rain. 
