Relative Something

We have now survived two whole days without rain. It seems to be making a difference. We are finally making visible progress in drying out. For the first time all season, there is no running water in our drainage ditch beyond the paddock fence. Unfortunately, in the mean time, the growth in our pasture and around the barn has gotten out of control. We are now seeing, on properties all around us, hay fields are getting cut and bales are being rolled, for the season’s first crop.

We had decided not to have our front pasture cut, and instead, intended keep it as grazing space for our horses. But, we don’t have horses yet, so that plan isn’t working for us. The growth is a nuisance to work in, so our fence contractor now would like to see us have it all cut. It does seem a shame to have it go to waste. As I understand it, there is great demand for hay, so we are hoping we can find someone who would be interested in cutting and baling our pasture, even if it isn’t an ideal quality mix of plants.

Neighbors (who said they have cut it in the past) told us it was becoming weedy, and Cyndie appears to be accepting that as fact. I’m not so sure, but I’m just basing that skepticism on my untrained eye. What do I know about hay fields? Pretty much nothing, for now. I expect that to change soon, as we will be getting a first-hand lesson here, in the days ahead. Luckily, Cyndie has been reading up on it, and has acquired some knowledge on what the issues are, so at least one of us will be able to have a semi-intelligent conversation with whomever we find that may have interest in cutting it for us.

We have probably waited until the worst possible time to ask, as folks who could likely help us, are as busy as ever, trying to process their own fields, and they have to try to get it done in the precious few consecutive days when it isn’t raining. I’m wary about being able to find someone who will have time to spare to help us.

On another subject, I drove on our new loop of driveway by the barn the other day. With just that first full dry day on Tuesday, I figured it was in good enough shape to test it with the garden tractor. It held up very well to that, so I decided to kick it up a notch and try driving my car on it. Back and forth I rolled, trying to navigate so I didn’t keep hitting the same rut over and over.

The results? I would say, it was good, and bad. Initially, I was satisfied that it held up as well as it did, only appearing to develop modest indentations from my tires. But, even as I was driving over it, I sensed it was soft. After I had made enough passes to leave my marks across the full width, I got out to walk on it to see, up close, how it was holding up under the weight of my car. The bad news is, only the thinnest top layer is really dry.

It is still so soft underneath, that it was a lot like driving on Play-Doh. If I had done many more passes, I think it would have begun to collapse underneath me.

It is a LOT better than it was a couple of weeks ago, but it still has a long way to go, to be dry enough for real use.