A sense of order

      After watching the green and yellow John Deere tractors going up and down the 22 acre field at the back of the house and all the while throwing up plumes of dust for over a week a sense of order has finally prevailed. The dry weather has meant that the ground was really rock hard, despite the wet period earlier in the year. We did have some hard frosts but even with the weather's assistance the soil has remained stubbornly lumpy, hard and unworkable.
      The heavy equipment ploughed, de-clodded, flailed and harrowed the earth to something resembling a tilth and finally the field was ready for planting. Or, in this case setting, because for the first time in fifteen years or so this field has been planted with potatoes, as were the surrounding fields last year.
      Now we have row after row of neat zen like furrows and when the early autumn arrives there will be a tremendous crop of Agrii potatoes that will all be heading for the fish and chip shops in London.
      And yesterday it rained. All day. The farmers smile at last.