Back in Time - Spring Plowing

John Stearns
Plowing "Over North"
west field
Spring 1989

When the sun begins to warm the soil, farmers get the itch to work in the fields. My brother rotated his crops between alfalfa, oats, and corn to build up the soil, so plowing was only done between alfalfa and corn and then from corn to oats. Rich seeded alfalfa with the oats, so the following year the alfalfa would be established and ready to produce. A field was left in alfalfa for several years.

In these photos, alfalfa was being plowed under so the field can be prepared for the next crop (corn).

I love the feel and smell of freshly plowed earth, and recently seeing plows in the fields brought back a lot of memories.

It was common, especially on the home place for seagulls from Ocean Lake to follow the plow and gobble up worms from the turned soil. Other birds joined the gulls in the feeding frenzy.

nearing the end of the field

My oldest brother often helped Rich in the spring and during harvest. John was plowing the day that I took the photos.

plow heads polished by the soil

As the plow is pulled through the field, the plow heads are polished by the friction. The polished heads can be seen in the photo above.

at the top of the filed, preparing to make another round

Rich used a four bottom, two way, roll-over plow, which means that at the end of the field, the plow is  flipped (rotated) to keep the furrows going in the same direction. This type is also called a moldboard plow and completely turns over the soil in the furrow.

Other types of plows are used for various reasons. Farming Equipment Canada has a good post on the types of plows.

Once the field was plowed, my brother(s) would use other equipment - floats, discs, etc. to prepare the field for planting. I often wonder how technology has changed equipment and farming.