Spring, Vetch, and the Continuing Art of Tiller Maintenance

The Vernal Equinox is in one week, on Friday, March 20th. This is when the Earth is inclined neither towards nor away from the Sun. In other words, Spring is coming. It's still cold here on Tassajara. It got down to freezing again last night. The Sun just set, and the temperature is dropping fast. But today, it was sunny and warm. And the grasses and vetch are growing rapidly.

It is time to turn under the cover vetch in the Lavender fields before it grows too high. Actually, in the last week, it already grew too high. Shall I say, before it grows much too high. We already started working around the plants, clearing it out. But I need to cultivate between the rows now.

Remember this? If not, you can revisit my January article on Bees and the Art of Tiller Maintenance. This is the hole in my tiller engine. You may recall that in the fall, it threw a rod right through the side of the crank case. Not good if you need it to turn under the vetch. I started the repairs two months ago, but as is common with me, I decided to completely disassemble and restore her. But grass is growing, and the time has come to finish the job.

I got the machine a few years ago on craigslist. I only paid a couple hundred bucks. It served me well until about a year ago, when I smoked the engine getting the new field ready. In January, I got a new engine and was putting on the last coats of paint (I like to paint my equipment purple and yellow to match the fields). With the cold weather, it was taking a long time to dry. So I put it aside for awhile.

Now look at her! What a difference a coat of paint and a new engine make, no? If I get around to making a bracket to hold a battery, I can rig it up for push button start. Now THAT is fancy :) Anyhow, I fired her up and tilled up some test strips. This engine is a bit more powerful, and runs much smoother.

All ready. And just in time for Spring. Tomorrow I till vetch!