Life on the Farm

Butchering Day

2012-01-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

It's not that I enjoy doing it, but like everything else, it needs to be done.

Nine buff Orpington cockerels have had their final day. One by one, they are carried under my arm to the makeshift table in the yard. It is sunny and breezy, but the wind is coming from behind the root cellar and out-building so it is almost warm in the January sun.

One by one, a bird is placed inside the Bell Telephone parking cone, head pulled past the end of the cone and quickly dispatched by a thin blade through the brain from under their beak- jugular cut- and then the cone is placed pointy-end down in the hole on the workstation. In less than a minute the fluffy yellow chicken is "dead and bled"- no thrashing, no flapping- just a spreading and relaxing of the toes. Works for me.

The bird is taken out of the cone, beheaded, de-winged and legs removed. We pluck the feathers off the backbone and cut off the tail. A sharp cut up the spine splits the skin, and we pull it off like feathery pajamas. The wings are not worth plucking for a tablespoon of meat, so we just compost them with the rest.

On its back, the lower abdomen is opened and I carefully reach in and pull out the innards. That done, I can cut around the vent and it all falls into the feed bag, positioned to catch the "offal." Carcass is rinsed and put in the cooler with ice water. Less than 10 minutes per bird.

Turkeys take longer to process and these will be plucked. They will be dispatched the same way, which "relaxes" the muscles on the feathers making them pretty easy to pluck. 10 birds are in the yard now- 3 toms and 7 hens. 2 toms and 1 or 2 hens will also make their way to the Bell Telephone cone, but not now. Not today.

Once the chicken carcasses have rigored and relaxed, I cut them up into breasts and leg quarters. The backbones get boiled with vegetables into a giant pot of chicken stock. 14 quarts!
The "parts" are in the freezer, awaiting their day on the table. All in all, it goes as well as can be expected.

The turkeys ate my garlic...

2011-11-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

So here I am, in the garden on a pretty day. Ripping out the tomato plants from their tubs, dead now after the frosts... I riffle through the soil, add some amendments, and prepare the tubs for garlic cloves. "Perfect!" I am thinking. But I am being watched...

Little did I know, that beady eyes were watching my every move. 11 heritage turkeys, ages 18 mos to 4 mos, are watching me. Clever birds... They nonchalently walk by, casting me a glance every now and then. No biggie... Too busy strutting and clucking, grazing in between the raised beds.

The tubs the tomatoes were in are the large planters from the nursery- like a big cattle lick tub- over a bushel in size. They stand about 24 inches tall. Perfect for an inquisitive turkey to look into without trouble.

I plant the 3 varieties of garlic in 7 of the 8 tubs, then decide to go ahead and plant in the 8th. The soil is smoothed and I say a benediction in hopes of a bountiful harvest.

I leave. (my mistake)

Later that afternoon, I see the turkeys all clustered around the tubs. As I draw closer, I smell garlic on the breeze... "WHAT???!!!" The birds are self-basting; eating the garlic after their pointy beaks find the cloves under 3 inches of soil. Garlic bulbs litter the ground... The Italian, the Californian and yes, even the elephant cloves... I look for as many as I can and replant. Grab some dry tops from the asparagus and twist it into a rope, coiling in in the tops of the containers. Makes a fairly decent "cover," or so I tell myself...

So far, it seems to be working... Last time I checked, the turkeys did not have garlic breath...

Buggers...

Amazing Things

2011-10-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

This year has gone by so fast and is it just me getting older or is time really flying? I find I need to stop and catch my breath, reflect, and really enjoy what is going around me as I do not want to become "immune" the the little surprises in life that make the day so grand:

A 17 yr old cow having a calf and doing great. A garden putting out the biggest bumper crop of lima beans and cherry tomatoes. The comical way the turkeys gobble and call when you sneeze outside.

Dew. Walking in a field at midnight under a near-full moon. Rain.

Traveling; picking up pebbles as "preferred souvenirs" and having your luggage weigh more due to "rocks..." Standing in awe of giant redwoods in a forest, hearing only birds and insects. Having a cup of coffee in a far-away store and calling a friend to share the moment with you. Watching people in airports. A cup of hot coffee or Italian mocha in the afternoon.

Finding a great new cookbook. Cooking with friends. Spices and herbs... Hard cider...

Working all day and coming home to find a box of frozen breakfast pastries waiting for you, and having some the next morning. Effortless bliss.

Reading a book. Having the time to read a book. Kindle, paperback, hardcover; it doesn't matter. Just being able to read a book.

Having a child amaze you everyday with their views on life; not just a regurgitation of your own ideas. The way your spouse surprises you by saying something, solving a problem, or just doing something unexpected.

And back to the cows.

You raise them, you sell them, you put them in the freezer. Do they see the shortening of the days and feel the quickening passage of time? I can only hope I do as well as our 17 yr old with her new calf. Placidly looking at the world around her, taking things as they come and doing a wonderful job with it.

And so it goes...

The Art Lesson

2011-08-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

So yesterday The Child says to me, "You keep promising to teach me to paint but you are always busy- you will NEVER have time for me..." Just the thing you want to hear from your offspring, even if she is 16 and rolling her eyes- ever the Drama Queen.

Fine. Let's do it, and be careful what you ask for...

Dishes in the sink, house akimbo. Garden needs weeding, farm chores stacking up but by golly- an art lesson she wants? An art lesson she will get. I clear a spot on the hardwood floor in front of the sliding door. Our stage.

The Preparation: She is in charge of finding the acrylic paints- still unpacked from the move from Boone 8+ yrs ago. Oddly, she knows where they are as she has been riffling through boxes. A primed, pre-stretched canvas for her, a piece of cardboard suffices for me. I put a sheet of waxed paper onto a cookie sheet for our palette. Water jar readied. Paper towels at hand. Quickly I prime a rectangle with white onto the cardboard- it dries and is ready.

The Subject: We agree on a picture of the beach from a trip. Print it out on regular computer paper and fold it into fourths. Using a pencil, we lightly draw the basic shapes of horizon, rocks, dunes onto our blank slates- the quadrants as our guides- but I tell her not to sweat it. "Just get the basic information there, don't worry if it isn't perfect."

The Brushes: I go for two 1" brushes- nice and hefty- with 14" handles. "Oh no! This is too big!" exclaims Goldilocks. "No it isn't," saith I, "You are going to be putting down paint. You need a good brush. A big brush. A REAL art brush. Hold it back here, not there." I show her.

The Paint: Well-loved jumbo studio tubes of acrylics from Utrecht- most are about her age or older. They are still viable; the art gods are smiling on me. I squirt out generous lines of paint on the makeshift palette and explain about proper consistency, mixing colors.. Blah Blah Blah... What has The Child in a frazzle is the amount of paint. "You're wasting paint!" she exclaims, as she is busy spreading the paint thinly, making it "stretch." "No, that is not the point today- you are going to be bold- show your mastery. USE paint- thick application and I want to see brush strokes." She continues to complain but is silenced- the paint is out there and cannot be put back in the tube.

She watches as I apply paint to the board- like a crazed Van Gogh- heavy application and very little "detail." Just going for the suggestion of beachy details. Fat brush strokes and gobs of paint. She begrudgingly follows suit and by the time she is on her third "beach shape" she has the hang of it. Plop plop plop... She begins to back away from her canvas, taking it in from afar and not microscopically. Very good, she is beginning to get comfortable with it.

The Details: We begin to layer the colors, use complementary hues to bring out shadows, a little dry brush here, some highlights there. Secondary triadics- my most favorite colors. Depth magically appears. When we are almost done we stop to let the masterpieces dry.

The Critique: Later in the evening we look at our works and discuss. The pictures are similar and still different. She feels more confident with her skills and I tell her, "You cannot be intimidated by your materials- that should be the least of your worries. You paint with both hands- engage your whole brain- just plunge in. Mistakes will be made and great discoveries too." She says it turned out better than she thought when I ask her how she feels about it. "Very good, in fact" she replies.

Good. Now we will see if she is ready for the next step.

The Leap of Faith: I get some jars of colored gesso and ask her which color she likes- white, orange or yellow. "Orange" she says. I open the jar and say, "Ok, time to continue" and I begin to cover up my painting with the gesso- obliterating the composition underneath a thick, orange layer.

She all but swoons- "What??!! You want me to paint over mine??" She is stunned. "Why?" she keeps asking. "Because, it is a lesson- you learn, you experiment, you move on. Your next painting will be better. Don't hang on to your trials- move on."

She hesitates- looks at her creation- and plunges her brush into the gesso. She covers up the canvas in a frosting of orange. I almost expect her to cry, but she does not.

"Are we going to paint the same picture again?" Maybe, maybe not. "We can paint whatever you want to next. And you will use paint and it will be better... Plus, you just grew yourself a set of art testicles. Tearing down a work is one of the hardest things to do but you did it. I am proud of you. I've had college kids who can't do that. They have a hard time progressing- if they progress at all."

"Mom, I don't know if I should hug you or strangle you."

Ahhhh, the response of the art student- I am a teacher, once again...

Spring is Knocking...

2011-03-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Days are noticeably longer. Hundreds of robins in the field, migrating north but stopping to check out the pastures first. Snow geese have already been by a few weeks ago. Surprised a pair of wood ducks in the pond.

Back-fenced the herds so they cannot go back and regraze the tender young grass. They are peeved but will get over it. Clover, Ladino and red, are sown to fortify the forage- a "fast pasture" mix is next to be added. Hopefully will make a difference when we cut hay.

30-some baby goats born, 3 lost. 7 calves with 6 more to come. Be fruitful and multiply. Hens, chickens and turkeys, are laying fools right now. PLENTY of eggs!

All 7 hives have made it through the winter. 4 full hives and 3 late splits- feel like a real beekeeper now. Need to move the hives to the fenced nut tree orchard for the year. Time to get them out of the front yard.

Beets are planted, cabbage and other cruciferous veg are in starter pots. Rain is still a bit on the stingy side this year but as long as things even out throughout the year I will be happy. Will pass on another drought year, but considering the earthquakes in Japan and tsunami, what do I really have to complain about?

People

2011-03-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

So there I am in WalMart last night, in the cereal aisle picking up a few boxes of AllBran and there is an older couple talking to each other and looking at another box of cereal, about where I needed to get to. I asked to get closer to the boxes so they moved a little, and as I reach up and grab the cereal she exclaims "Oh! That's where it is!" and I asked if they wanted a box.

"Yes, would you mind? No, we want the AllBran Buds."

I asked her if they wanted two boxes and they hesitated, so I asked, "Well? How optimistic ARE you?"

They laughed and he said that yes, they would "take two boxes, but you never know if you will be around to finish it!"

I asked if they still bought green bananas or only yellow ones. THAT got them laughing more. Come to find out they have been married for 68 yrs, been dating 71 yrs. They said I was a "fine young lady" and wished me "the same happiness" that they had found.

The Price of Winter

2011-02-08T15:39:00.001-08:00

So winter has us by the short ones- with one last blast on the way tonight. Snow is already polished making walking treacherous for Man and Beast, power bill is up due to the heaters in 4 waterers, and with winter births there are also winter deaths. Snow days? The Child has racked up 11 so far... Will be lucky to get to school at all this week.

Calves have been born pretty much without any problems save a couple- Daisy's calf had his "elbow" hung behind the pelvis of the cow- can't make forward progress that way. Some maneuvers required, including tying old mean Bossy by her horns to a shed, then we could assist. Mom and calf are fine now. I was able to avoid skewering.

Lupine and Beggin both birthed as "surprises"- giving us little warning. Just found them in the morning with a fresh calf and a smug cow. Calpurnia moped/waddled about a few days, but then she too needed a bit of help as her calf came out pretty much inert. Mouth-to-nose solved that and he was jump-started before the evening temps went below freezing. Was glad we saw her when her bag broke.

Goats have had a few births and with them come losses. One to hypothermia at delivery, another to head trauma when the doeling was a month old. Goats can be rough, especially in tight spots. Much pushing, shoving and when you are the smallest of the lot- it happens. The rest of that mob will kid in March- when temperatures are much kinder.

So with the cold temperatures, the grey skies and solicitous emails advertising great airfare prices, one begins to think of "The Next Great Trip." Hmmmm.... Where to go, what to see... The gears are turning. Still enchanted with trips West. True, a spiritual escape of self-discovery is always a grand idea, but the calming voice of Nature wins over the voices of Others. Somewhere quiet, dramatic, pristine. MUST have saltwater, brisk temperatures and very few footprints to be distracted by. I have my ideas...

Ed went there a few times and so did the spouse. Might be time to go there, myself. Another baptism in the Pacific, but higher up the coast. O! Canada!

Dreams

2010-11-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed

We were running in the woods
-at night, in the snow.

I was so happy to see you and you me. I laughed.

Were they pine trees? Cedars? Hemlocks? I don't know, but they were evergreens.
Always green. Always youthful. The way I remember you.

The snow was knee high. Fluffy. You kicked it up so.
Big clouds of snow and I was not cold.

A car came up the drive- it's headlights shining in and through the trees. I called for you
but you were, were where?

Gone. And the light from the alarm clock brought me out of the woods and snow.
Back to the present. Another day.

And all I could do over coffee this morning,
was to say
"I dreamed of Bruce last night. And we were running in the snow."

In praise of pie...

2010-10-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Pie is way better than cake and why? Is it because cake is really nothing more than sweet bread with sugary frosting? How crazy and wild can that be? Cake is just that- cake. Period. Pie has many more variables- crusts, fillings, toppings. Cold or hot, with or without ice cream, meringues, all fruits and flavors and the list keeps growing.

Frozen pie shells filled with Jell-o pudding do not count as "real pie"- sorry. No dice. They are frozen pie shells filled with Jello-o and will never be "real pie..."

Real pie has homemade crust (or not, if it is a crustless pie) and a wonderful filling. Toppings do not have to be a solid sheet of pastry or even the tried and true lattice strips, woven here and there. It can be extra dough attacked with cookie cutters, a crumb topping, or something else altogether...

Rhubarb is my Queen of pies. Tart apple with a cheddar-laced crust? Blueberry? Blackberry? Apricot?

My mouth begins to water.

Next time you are given the option for dessert, try "pie" if you are adventurous. "Cake" is for dullards and those who thrive in the mundane and ritual. Pie brings variety and surprise.

And isn't that what Life is all about?

Things to think about...

2010-10-24T16:22:00.001-07:00

What are the best smells on a farm?

Freshly cut hay? A newborn goat kid? Sweaty horse? It depends, I think

on your mood, the weather, the season...

"Cow burps" never rank high, nor does the aroma of "wet poultry." "Line dried laundry" is right up there on the top of the list... But what is first? It varies so.

"Manure" itself is in the middle, a necessary element of the farm and it cannot be fought or beaten- it just is. If in a barn, "manure" is more bearable than if it is concentrated- like in the chicken coop. Gag.

In retrospect, there are many more good smells than bad- even "wet cow" smells good, as does "split firewood", "woodsmoke," most anything being "baked in the oven," "tilled soil," and of course "bee hives." Finding something that smells awful seems hard to think of... Oops- "skunk"- how could I forget? The Good however do outnumber the Bad considerably.

These sensory inputs add so much to our experiences on the farm- they allow us to experience the terroir the land and more importantly, add an extra dimension of richness to my life.

End of August...

2010-08-31T06:32:00.000-07:00

Less than two inches of rain for the entire month... I am still complaining. Oh well- it happens. Can only hope that September and October are wet and cool, allowing the Fall fescue growth to make up for the lack of summer forage... "They" say that fescue is what made Missouri the grazing state that it is; it can handle the heat and drought but I don't like testing it.

Our first endeavor in showing an animal went very well. "Dill" behaved as best as can be expected and took thrid in her class, I learned quite a bit about handling livestock "in the ring" and if we ever do it again I know more than I did before. Can only help. The economy showed itself at the sale after the show- 3 yrs ago Dexters were moving briskly. This sale was like pulling teeth but our heifer did sell and to a wonderful new farm.

Savannah is really looking forward to the trip West this Fall. We all are. Poor Glenn hasn't been out of the state in quite a while. Will be good to leave the muck boots behind for a week of "relaxation"- if you can call a jam-packed 4 days in California relaxing! I want to take time to do sketches, take lots of pictures, short hikes, walking barefoot in the Pacific and just soaking it all in. Savannah doesn't know yet we will be staying one night inside Yosemite in their tent cabins. She thinks we will be staying outside the park in a hotel. How cool will it be to wake up to see the park at dawn???

Weather service says more rain is coming. Bring it on. Makes us wonder if we should drill a well for irrigation of the hay field. If we did I am certain we would have record rainfalls every year thereafter... Time to go move the cows.

TGIF

2010-08-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Taking a day off from clinic to get ready for the Dexter Cattle Show and Sale tomorrow. Our first "attempt" at showing a calf, let alone putting one in for an auction. She is a cutie and I just hope I won't embarrass myself too much in the show ring.

The dry heat has left the tomatoes stunted- or at least they put themselves on hold for now. Cooler temps came along, but no rain. Garden is pretty much fizzled- hard to grow things in the 90's with no moisture. Or should I say, hard for us...

Went "modern" and have Hughesnet for internet now. Speeding things up for the upcoming venture with Dr. T and the world of distance billing/coding/template work... Will be a daunting task but I am looking forward to it. Using the spare room as the "home office" and our old oak $10 desk from Habitat for Humanity's ReStore is a perfect fit. The desk is HUGE and holds a ton of stuff. very deep so the hard drive, routers, etc all fit waaaaay back and I have plenty of elbow room in the front. Command Central- Midwest Branch...

Savannah has a new horn tutor and things are going swell. He has a different approach than her previous tutor and between the two tutors, I think the girl will do great. She wants to keep on his good side so she is working hard- which is a good thing for a 10th grader.

So much to do on the farm- fencing, garden, barn, moving animals here and there- sure aren't getting it done sitting here! Back to work!

August 7th... Odds and Ends...

2010-08-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Child is between St. Louis and Springfield- almost home from her week-long trip to DC. She is most excited about sleeping in her own BED as she has been on either a sofa or a leaky air mattress all week. Glenn and I put up some shelves in her room, organized her closet and have things all fresh. SHE has to clean her bathroom tomorrow though, but I don't think she will mind. She just called and they are about 3 hrs out.

The two buck goats who jumped the fence (Butch and Sundance) were spotted this morning down the road. We immediately went down and found them but alas- they do not follow people. We got the other goat girls out of the field by the road and moved them all north. Left the gates open and hope the smell of goats/caprine love will lure them up the drive... Seeing them through the fence only kept them somewhat happy and nearby. Didn't do a thing to make them want to come back.

Hearing from people far and near- One family from TX who are moving up this month, and now more new friends coming from FL looking at purchasing a farm. All to our same little area in the middle of nowhere. People just wanting to get away, have farms and for some odd reason, this is the place. The more the merrier!

That old cow I bought in the Spring, True Grit Aspen, surprised us with a calf this week... Hotter than snot and the old girl puts forth. Called the previous owner who had luckily not changed the phone number since moving away and after a lengthy deliberation between spouses, it was determined she had been bred by her previous calf- half Dexter and half Red Devon. Our new heifer is a cutie, calling her "Bee", and should be a very fine family milk cow.

Time to get boots on for the trip to town. Will run errands before Savannah arrives.

-Mary Jane

Things to do...

2010-06-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

Finishing coffee and planning the day ahead- The Child is at summer school until 3, spouse is off to dermatologist appointment and won't be home till late this afternoon- A day to work by myself and do the things that need to be done...

1. Garden needs picking, weeding.
2. Vent holes need to be cut in the haybarn and rat screens/covers installed over them- have already cut the covers to fit.
3. Later in the day check on Scout, the heifer left to calve. As of 5:30 this morning she was still pregnant.
4. Mail off the DNA samples of 3 calves for testing. Chondrodysplasia status for two bulls and red color for a heifer. Have done the envelopes, need to drop them off at the post office when I pick up The Child at 3pm.
5. Load dishwasher.
6. Get the turkey poults outside, in their bigger cage enclosure.
7. Begin planning on what goodies I am going to bake and freeze for next week's Texas trip. Have been tapped to "assist with nibbles" by one of the organizers. I am thinking a batch of those savory cheese wafers, some mini coffee cakes, a few zucchini breads, oatmeal raisin cookies... As long as I leave plenty here at the house to satisfy the natives while I am gone, they shouldn't be too upset!

(Hmmmm, mini tart-sized pecan pies? Do lemon bars freeze??? Mini quiches? I already have the batter for quiche frozen- back when we were running a surplus of eggs and milk. Just thaw and pour over the other fillings... Hmmm, will keep thinking of my baking marathon while I am outside working... Where was I?)

8. Tie the horse up to the tree, after he gets some fly spray on, to give him a lesson in patience. Might saddle him too and work him on the ground if it isn't too hot.
9. Mix up a gallon of said fly spray.
10. Mix up a gallon of bee food for the two "smaller" hives that still have wax foundation to draw out. Feed the bees.

I see my list is longer than I'd anticipated. Best get at it.

Happy Bees

2010-06-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

The girls are working great- all 5 new hives are going well and only two are lagging somewhat but I cannot complain. They are having to pull out new foundation after all, and making wax is a tough job!

Two hives have honey supers on them already. Brood brood brood. Have never seen so much brood. Two hives are nucs from Florida, three are nucs from a local guy. Am just tickled overall.

Have found that a china marker (wax pencil) works great to leave notes on the tops of each hive. Instant recording of notes. Got black ones to start with, but I know they are made in colors...

The other day I messed with the hives, which are located along our driveway. Later, I wanted to rotate the tires on the car but lo! The girls were still a bit pissy! Backed the car as far away as I could, remaining on level ground, and then had to rotate the tires in my bee suit. Very odd-looking but at least I didn't have bees in my face...

Busy Day...

2010-06-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

3:30 - 4am... Dream of barfing only to wake up and realize a skunk is parading outside the open bedroom windows...

5am... Phoebes are especially noisy; for small birds that is....

5:45 am Guineas are waiting for the chicken coop to open. They too parade under the bedroom windows, "buck wheating" hither and yon. Sooooo dang loud.

6am. Chicken coop opens up, hens and James Brown exit and begin their day. Time to go check on the cows and see if Scout had calved. Find that ZuuZuu has a wound of sorts up in her "inner thigh" and it needs treatment. Smells really bad. Her 2-day old bull calf that we banded yesterday is doing fine.

7am Coffee. Getting The Child ready for summer school.

7:30am Glenn takes The Child to school. i measure the rain from yesterday (0.02 inches) and report to CoCoRaHS. Do emailing until he returns at 8.

8-isham Drive the truck up to the meadow and install a flytrap we built to catch face flies off the cows and trap them in a jar. So far, so good.

Next-Go up to the field and tie a rope on the bull calf to help keep him near so we can walk him and ZuuZuu to a holding corral up in the meadow. Takes a while, calf gets tired, and Glenn has to carry him thelast 25 yards uphill. That done, we pen ZuuZuu in a corner and I debride her wound- looks like festered tick bites and she has licked herself a "hotspot." She holds her leg up so I can work, but I keep an eye on that cloven hoof, inches from my face. Good cow. Peroxide, screw worm spray, Oxytet, Banamine and she is good. Will hold her in the pen until her spot is healed better. She has given us over 3 qts of colostrum for the freezer. Such a good momma.

9:45am. Breakfast at last: kefir, banana and granola.

10'ish: Begin raking up hay into windrows.

11:30am. Raking is done! Glenn begins baling and all looks well, but the bales are not quite cutting apart completely. Oh well, they are square. Get neighbor lad to help me pick up bales.

Noon-2:30: After 3-1/2 trailer loads, the hay is in the barn. Only a hint of rain but it blew over. I leave to get The Child from summer school. Get a call on the way to school regarding the farm's website. Talk goats for a few minutes after we get back home...

4pm. Take neighbor lad home. Make lunch; bean burrito with Vidalia, avocado, and cheese.

4:35pm. Take ZuuZuu more water and hay after we pull the remaining hay out of the baler and park it. ZuuZuu is doing fine. Calf is sleeping.

5:45. Work on the lawnmower- belt is twisted. Time for a shower...

6'ish. Dishes, begin cooking pasta for dinner. Penne with pesto, asparagus, onion, proscuitto.

7'ish. Beer-o'clock, sitting outside and hear what I think might be an oriole.

8- Gnats are coming out in the dusk. Time to go inside and have some of that pasta, followed by cherry pie, from out trees... Maybe a smidge of elderberry wine....

9:30pm. Time to call it a day! Manana!

So much for weathermen....

2010-06-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hay is ready to rake up and bale but no... What's this? Rain??? "20% after 1 pm" and it is raining at 10am?????

Maximum moisture content of hay for baling is 22%... Ours is 25% under cloudy skies and periodic "drizzle..." Guess it won't be drying much more today.

Will see if we can get things going tomorrow. At least the baler is working great- actual rectangular bales and not too big or heavy...

Landlocked

2010-06-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

It is a perfect day.
I am in the garden to work and- dermatologist be damned-
Bikini top is on, soaking up the sun, so daring.

The breeze from the prairie-
the warmth of the sun on my back, weeding goes by fast.
Plants seem happy for the attention as I am for the sun.

Chores are done and it is time to be sensible again.
I pull on my shirt over salt-dried shoulders and, for a moment,
Remember.

I close my eyes and I am transported to the ocean.
The salty water that dried on my back and arms
makes my shirt feel like sandpaper as it drags over my body.

How many times have I felt this? How many beaches?
Sand between toes, skin reddened, and the anticipated feeling
of the sandpaper shirt.

The warm wind is like an ocean breeze, calling me back to
earlier days.

Not seagulls I hear now, but hens.
Not the low rumble of the far-away ocean,
But that of a momma cow, who is looking for her calf.

Haying, part II

2010-06-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

The new mower worked great. Drum mowers truly do not get bogged down with grass- ran through heaps and piles with no issues. I followed afterward with the tedder and fluffed the green hay up and about. Huzzah!!!

Will see if we can dodge the rain fairy and get this batch of square bales in before the next rain comes. Did we fix the square baler's issues??? Will we get this batch in the barn w/o souring? Ohhh! The drama! The suspense!

And so it begins....

2010-06-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

Blogging? Who knew? As if the website newsletter isn't enough.

Farm life is full of daily surprises, every morning brings new challenges. Best to have a few items on the to-do list but never have it full. That guarantees that something BIG will happen and take up the day to solve, resolve, fret upon or eat up yet another day...

Have blanched asparagus and put it in the freezer, made a cherry pie filling from our sour cherries, butter is ready for the churn and daughter has laundry in the works.

Spouse is out on the tractor trying out the new drum mower. Neighbors think we are weird enough, now we have a European mower. "We don't use hay cutters like that around here..." Well, "we" do now... More later...