Prepping for Halloween

 Harvest Party at the Vinje farm

 Jack's class (he is iron man)

As summer faded into fall, the boys and Nick had a great time harvesting our pumpkin crop. This year Nick went with a white variety, and also planted some seeds that we hoped would grow into mega-pumpkins.

Well, as you can see from the pics, we had a great pumpkin crop. We had plenty of white and blue pumpkins and 6 huge pumpkins. One pumpkin weighed in at exactly 200 lbs. so needless to say we were very happy to have raised such an interesting crop.

The boys are enjoying school and Nick is busy getting things buttoned up for the season. We had a really nice Halloween with temperatures in the upper 40s, which for North Dakota is awesome (we sometimes are trick-or-treating in snow).

Nick's cover crop that got planted in the middle of August didn't do as well as he had hoped. With little to no rain, not much grew....so we'll try again next year!

With Thanksgiving fast approaching we are hoping mother nature will be kind and not offer up any snow until the middle of December. Hey a girl can dream, can't she!

Harvest Rolls On

Our fall continued to be warm thru the month of September allowing us to harvest soybeans in record time. With a bit of help from Ellenson Farms we were able to take off more than 1300 acres in about 11 days.

With no major breakdowns and no rain or snow in sight corn harvest started just 2 days after soybean harvest wrapped...and took about 6 full days to complete.

There was little time to do anything else but we did have time to take one of our pumpkins to the local hangar and get it weighed. After taking a few bets as to how much the big girl weighed, we stuck her on the scale and she weighed exactly 200lbs! Not bad for our first attempt at growing pumpkins!

Nick also dabbled in growing white and blue pumpkins...a bit bizarre but very fun to harvest.

The boys are doing great in school, they were very excited that their dad got to pick them up at school today...not many dads are able to drive their combines up to the door!

We were blessed with good weather, good yields and no major breakdowns. As the fall rolls into winter there will be plenty of projects around the farm to get done...even a few in the house that just might get done!

Anyway just a brief update about soybean/corn harvest 2012. Hope this finds you all well, and we'll check back in later!

Homecoming 2012

Fall on the Farm

We had a busy August on the farm. Uncle Bill and the boys stayed for the entire month to help with harvest and allow Bill time to look for a new job.

Nick did get time to plant a cover crop in the wheat stubble but with not much rain, we're not quite sure how that will pan out...check with us next month!

August continued to be a hot month with very little rain, which made for some great weekends at the lake, and made for a very dry, crusty lawn and fields. We are hoping the corn and the soybeans survived the hot, dry summer and while several farmers around us have started fall harvest, ours will likely begin at the end of the week. With a co-op arrangement much like wheat harvest, we're hoping that by working with Ellenson farms, we can cover alot of ground as quickly as possible.

As the seasons change, and as the boys grow into little men, we strapped on their backpacks and sent them off to kindergarten this year. It has been an adjustment for all of us, but so far the boys are doing great and even talked dad into a parade float for homecoming.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful fall and we'll see y'all after harvest!

The Summer of 2012

Following a mild winter, spring came early which meant we were able to get into the fields early and get the planting done.

Everything was set and we seeded more than 1300 acres in a few days without much of a problem at all.

We seeded a few fields with a no-till drill with the hopes of going completely no-till in the next several years.

By the time the boys celebrated their 5th birthday on April 19th we were hopeful that by getting into the field early we would have a stellar year yield wise.

Then the hot and dry summer of 2012 started. While June and most of July were abnormally hot, we didn't get much in the form of rain at all.

Because the wheat was able to mature before the heat could damage it we were able to have a very successful wheat harvest.

With the help of the Ron Ellenson crew, and uncle Bill Vinje, we were able to take off more than 1300 acres of wheat in about 10 days.

Coop farming was something new for us this year and it was such a success we will probably continue to team up with Team Ellenson for soybean/corn harvest.

The summer has been a busy one on the farm, Jack and Owen were involved in Vacation Bible School, swimming lessons and gymnastics. That along with trips to the family lake cabin in Minnesota and a trip to Medora made for a full summer.

As we look ahead to fall, both Nick and I have mixed feelings about our "babies" starting school.

Jack and Owen will be starting kindergarten in Aug. 22nd and will be in separate classes.

So, we shall see how all that plays out!

Have a wonderful rest of the summer, and check back to find out more about the adventures on the Vinje Farm!

 Last day of combining, Tues. Aug 7th

Vinje Family Bike Wash

Winter Trip

Sunset in Key West, FL

Baby Gators

Gater wrangling at a gator farm in Homestead, FL
Playing in the sand, Cocoa Beach


While we have been enjoying an extremely uneventful and warm winter, we did decide to take the boys to Florida to visit the FL Vinjes and revisit our old stomping ground at Conch Key Cottages.
Our 12 day trip was filled with adventure....as we were able to visit the Mike Vinje family, NASA, a gator farm, Key West, and Cocoa Beach.
We ate lots of great seafood, drank a few margaritas and really enjoyed a break from snowy North Dakota.
We were delighted upon returning home to find the 8 inches of snow that was on the ground was gone...not a speck in sight.
Apparently while we were soaking up the sun in FL, North Dakotans were enjoying some record breaking weather, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s which was about 20 to 25 degrees above normal.
Currently as I write this blog entry temps are about 15 degrees above normal and we are expecting temps to remain in the 50s and 60s this week.
Last week we saw at least one farmer out planting what looked like either wheat or barley.
Now, it is not unheard of to plant this early but the threat of frost reminds us all that it is only the beginning of April.
Work around the yard began last week and Nick is planning on hitting the field possibly by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
The plan at this point is to get all the wheat and barley in the ground and then have a short break before planting soybeans and corn.
The boys already planted a small crop of barley, peas, coybeans, goards, and sunflowers...the barley is doing wonderfuly in its cup on the kitchen table...in front of a window!
We are looking forward to a promising spring and as soon as the wheels start rolling, I'll be out capturing our adventures to share with you!
From the Vinje Farm-
Heather V.

Winter Roundup

So far this winter, we've enjoyed extremely mild temperatures. A brown Christmas was fun until the boys asked for the snow. Sorry, we told them...maybe next year!

January on the farm is typically the time of year when Nick hauls out any grain that has been stored on the farm.

For the last several days, he's been hauling out 2010 barley to an elevator about 15 miles away...the barley will then be shipped out and eventually turned into beer...so drink up, we're counting on you!

January is also a time for home improvement projects to get done...so far, we've got a half finished basement and a bare fireplace...but after the grain is hauled out, hopefully we can get back on track with the home stuff.

So far, we've gotten about a 1/2 foot of the white stuff but with record breaking temps in the 50s earlier this month, there is just a little bit of snow left.

We're loving not having to blow snow or shovel but the boys are anxious to have dad create some sort of sledding hill somewhere in the yard...we'll see about that.

Gramma Vinje has taken a mid-winter break and headed to DC to see Bill and the boys. I'm sure she'll be coming back with plenty of stories and photos which i'll share via facebook.

That's it from the cold and snowy farm, hope everyone is well and having a great 2012.

Fall Roundup 2011

Converting a bin

Our field of radishes and turnips

Halloween festivities at the local Good Samaritan center...

Hey everyone, it's been a busy fall on the farm. Since last post Nick went to being overjoyed about harvest wrapping up to being completely bored and tired of digging.

Most of the fields needed to be dug in prep for next year...except the field we are trying a no-till experiment on.

The thought of going no-till on a farm this size is exciting for a number of reasons. First you don't have to dig your field in the spring or the fall. You basically leave the ground alone..which is great when we only have one person farming more than 1700 acres of land.

What we did do with that field is planted a "cover crop" of non-edible radishes and turnips.

As you can see in the picture above, it was a great field and we did great with our "yield." Basically to help the health of the field we planted radishes and turnips and then will dig them into the soil come spring.

Digging is a very tedious job...and also a very boring job. After about a month of digging, Nick was done but had several fields to ditch...again for the health of the field and to make the most out of drainage in the spring.

And don't forget, when living on a farm...there is always projects that need to get done.

We took two of our bins and converted them to "hopper bottom bins"....a project that was very interested to watch and also an expensive project.

We hope in the future to convert more of the bins but right now, we're happy with this years results....as you can see in the pic above.

As the fall season winded down the boys geared up for one of their favorite holidays, that being Halloween.

Last year we were in DC for the holiday so of course the boys wondered if Max would be joining us this year. Although we couldn't work out a trip we had a great time trick or treating with the Winterquist cousins at their neighborhood in Argusville.

With field work wrapping up, Nick spends much of his free time either doing our projects outside or trying to wrangle his paperwork in the office.

On a side note the boys are doing great at school and enjoy going to open gym with their best pal Mitchell who...again...can be seen in the pic above.

We wish everyone a happy, and healthy Thanksgiving holiday!