Plowing bee set for this weekend

Teams of horses and mules can be seen working the land at the Old Time Farming Days Plowing Bee next to the Palouse Empire Fairground this weekend.

Starting Saturday, April 18, at about 10 a.m., teams will begin spreading dry fertilizer on the ground and then plow.

After smoothing the ground to get it ready for seeding, the teams will then pull spring tooth and harrow equipment over it and then seed it. About 15 acres of ground will be seeded to wheat and barley, according to Tom Hennigar, one of the organizers.

The bee will continue on Sunday as crews finish seeding.

The Colfax bee is the third in a series of events that honor the way the land used to be farmed. Other bees were held earlier in the month in Pomeroy and Odessa.

Hennigar said that 60 to 80 horses and mules participate in the bee with up to eight head on a team.

Jenny Meyers of Endicott Food Mart will serve lunch in the Community Building at the fairground.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the bee will be canceled and held at a later date.