Day 1

Fantasy Farm Camp started today with a preliminary training exercise prior to camper reporting for duty.  The camper successfully exchanged a defective 18" chainsaw at Fleet Farm for a new one.

The actual camp didn't get rolling until the first pot of coffee was brewed sometime after 3pm local.  The camper was put in charge of all brewing onward for the remainder of camp.  The first farm related activity involved calculating the correct concentration of fungicide to apply to the 25 acre wheat crop we were about to spray.  More time was spent driving to and from said 25 acre wheat field than spent actually spraying.  However, we did learn how to rotate to the 10 gal/acre nozzle and how to properly and safely fuel the sprayer.

Today was an introduction to spraying and was applied manually, tomorrow we are hoping to build on what was learned and use the autopilot/gps.  After spraying for nearly 20 min, we called it a day in the field and returned to the farm after some crop checking.

Upon return to the farm, a farm vehicle and gloves were issued.  Gloves might have been useful earlier in the day.

After an extended break for supper we started an introduction to farm lawn care.  This task proved more challenging than anticipated and the camper struggled tremendously with the z-track mower.  However, after a small pep talk the swaths started to straighten and more confidence was gained.

To cap off the night, a rabbit hunting exhibition commenced using a .22 rifle with banana clip.  One rabbit was fired upon.  The spotter claimed there was a hit, but the kill could not be confirmed.

Tomorrow guarantees to be another busy day at the Wahl farm, with promises of more coffee drinking, spraying, mowing, and rabbit hunting.  Farm Lawn care will be wrapped up even though it seems to be more of a personal chore rather than anything related to a farm camp, but you have to pay your dues.  New items on the agenda for tomorrow include chainsaw etiquette, ditch mowing, grilling, rolling dice for coffee with other trained farmers, a bowling alley lunch, and possible purchasing of furbearers license.

1 1/2 gallons milk consumed.