Guest Blog

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little valley called Pleasant Valley. Pristine streams ran down from wooded hillsides. Wild game was abundant. Fish flourished. The peasants tilled their farms and irrigated them with mountain water. The livestock grazed the grassy meadows. It was a contented community, though lacking in material wealth.

For as long as there have been farmers there have been farm wives. And today, we are not just farm wives; many of us are farmers in our own right. In an occupation where work, family and lifestyle are so impossibly intermingled, a female farmer faces a unique set of challenges.

Long before diesel engines were the primary power source for farm tractors, most early tractors were powered by gasoline or kerosene.

I like to call it the five-minute lie, although that’s probably a little harsh. My husband probably means it when he sticks his head in the door and says, “Hey, have you got a few minutes? I just need you to ...”

Winter sports are a large part of life here in the frozen Midwest, mainly because winter occupies such a large part of our calendar. Ignoring winter would be like trying to ignore an 800-pound gorilla who has taken over your couch and is watching your TV, drinking your beer and whose hands are Day-Glo orange because he has eaten all of your Cheetos.

Hello and Happy New Year’s from southwestern Virginia! I am Lance Phillips, and I’m pleased to be sharing some of my favorite old tractors and haying equipment through this column. I’ve been a pharmacist for almost nine years for a local grocery store chain that serves parts of four states in our area, and I do a little farming when time allows.