Weather and work conspired to delay getting my garden in this year, but we finally were able to break ground. Soon we will be planting. It has taken some doing, getting to the point were I could plow solo with my team of horses. I bought a restored Oliver 12″ walking plow from Tommy Flowers two years ago. Later that fall, Bob Erickson came out and showed me the basics of plowing with his team of donkeys. He got me started, left me with a couple of furrows to train the team to follow, lots of pointers. Miles of walking furrows in my neighbor’s fields. Last spring, it took two of us to plow the garden, one to drive the horses, another to manage the plow. In between was a lot of work. A lot of work. I finally got the team to pull straight. Pull hard at a walk. Pull straight and hard at a walk so I can keep the plow from popping out of the furrow. Pulling straight, hard, plow settled in the furrow up and down the slight slope of my garden.

I know this plow job wouldn’t win any plowing contests. Some teamsters would wince at all the trash we left on the surface. Couple of places where my plow veered off, and left a couple of inches of unturned land. My straightest furrow still had a drunkard’s meander to it. But it all finally clicked for the boys and I.