Archive for July 2014
Bountiful Harvest
You would be wrong if you thought the only thing we harvest at Wintervale is hay. Although, you gotta love that hay is one of our big crops, when our last name is, “Hays.” Of course, you may also be remembering that our horses produce an impressive amount of fertilizer, but as much as I boast about our compost pile, it will be a long time before we will be making any money off that.
The lesser known crop we have here, and the one with probably the best potential of becoming a future money-maker, is black raspberries. When Cyndie cans them as “blackcap” jam, they turn into liquid gold.
The wild bushes we have all over the place sprout a surprising amount of fruit in a short amount of time, often overnight. Cyndie has gotten in the habit of bringing a container along when she takes Delilah for walks, because new fruit seems to burst forth in places we didn’t even realize had the potential.
There is something special about the jam these berries produce. Their tantalizing aroma is almost as satisfying as the taste. If you already know and love that flavor, one whiff of the smell will trigger the irrepressible urge to consume.
We had no patience once the berries appeared, and Cyndie cooked up the first small batch she picked, to create a topping for waffles. A little local maple syrup over the top and we had our taste buds doing flips of joy over their good fortune.
This year, when conditions have been miserable for a lot of things, the raspberry plants seem to be doing quite well.
We’ve got a year’s supply of hay stacked in the hay shed, but I don’t think we’ll ever be able to stock enough of her blackcap jam. It’s just too irresistible.
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Never Dreamed
A few years ago, I had no clue about how much my life experience would be changing by the middle of the year 2014. Yesterday was the culmination of a possibility that bloomed after we bought our new property in the fall of 2012. I found myself out driving my tractor in our field, pulling a rake to create windrows for baling hay. What a kick. A very humbling kick that I never dreamed I would be experiencing.
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to make this raking work the way I wanted. My instructions from George were pretty basic, and he rode with me as guide for about two passes, before heading home to trim some horses. He’s a farrier, you know. One big challenge with the rake he brought over is that you aren’t able to back up, and it keeps raking while you reach the end of the field and have to turn around before the fence.
Turning around was a trick, and the goal of creating straight, single rows repeatedly evaded me. It will take a few tries to figure out how to manage the shape of this field. Ed, the man who cut it for us last week, had never been on the field before and just picked a pattern which suited him. George and I started down one fence line and then he suggested I just continue that line, but it ended up putting me across many of the rows Ed had cut.
The result of my “student driving” exercise made for a pretty crazy sight, but George was kind and soldiered ahead with his baler to make it work, despite many areas where the hay had been tumbled into piles instead of rows.
The problem with the piles is that they would plug the intake and George would have to stop and climb down to pull grass out or kick the piles into place as prevention.
We both feel our system will improve as we figure out an optimum way to work the odd shape of this field. There is more to it, though, than just the irregular shape, because it is also not flat. Navigating up that hill becomes an increasing challenge as the hay wagon gets heavier and heavier with bales.
As always, needing the field to be dry enough to work is a primary factor. George got stuck several times, and I needed to push the back of the hay wagon with my tractor to get him moving again. The one that surprised me most was on higher ground, where his back wheels sunk into what must be a ground spring where water pushes up near the surface. It seems like an illogical location for a soft spot.
Now, after days of stacking purchased hay in our shed, we have two more wagons full of bales that need to be stacked. It is a LOT of work, but it is a labor of love.
Especially for the horses. They love having us stock piling all these bales where they can see and smell them.
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People Energy
This morning the sound of wind through the trees is providing a perfect ambiance for the idyllic experience we are enjoying of late. Once again, what takes it from a truly pleasant solitary adventure for us is the inclusion of other people. After 13 trips to visit our hay supplier over the last week and a half, I drove it one more time yesterday morning —this time in Cyndie’s convertible on the beautiful rolling country road— to take Cyndie to meet Tom and deliver payment for 520 small bales.
While we stood in his driveway visiting, a couple of guys arrived to pick up some bales of straw to mulch their garden and we had the opportunity to meet two more kindred spirits who live nearby. Tom took a moment to share a vivid story that had us all busting a gut with laughter, and the endorphins were flowing. Getting to know Tom and his son, Dan, has been a pleasure beyond the mere fact they are exactly what we dreamed of finding in terms of a local source of hay, baled in small squares. They are good people.
Later in the day, while I was trying to hustle to get the lawn grass mowed before it caught up to the growth in our hay-field, neighbor George Walker drove up the driveway, pulling a hay wagon in preparation to bale our field. After an informative visit, we walked out to test whether the cuttings were dry enough and I got a bit more education about the process. It is quite possible I may end up being the one to rake the field into windrows, pulling his rake behind our tractor today. He expects to be available to come do the baling shortly after that.
We parked the hay wagon in front of our hay shed and I drove my truck to his place to help him unload a second wagon, so that I could tow it back home as well. Things seem to be falling in line, in the nick of time. George and Rachel are two more people who we are blessed to have met and come to know.
While I was at their farm, I spotted a cat napping on the conveyor and wandered over to take a picture. As I got closer, I spotted kittens peeking out from within. It wasn’t until later, when I brought the image up on my computer, that I spotted one more cat laid out just above the first one that originally caught my eye.
Somehow, even with all the other activity that filled the day, when I got home, I squeezed in the completion of mowing all our grass, and in the final minutes before sunset, ran the reel mower through the labyrinth after I spotted Cyndie down there pulling weeds.
I think it was all the precious people energy that fueled my last burst of activity, allowing me to get the absolute most done by the end of the day.
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Delilah Maturing
A shot of Delilah taking a moment to look up when we do a status check on her. We have been giving her chances to roam off-leash while we are working around the property, but we try not to let much time pass between our calls for her to confirm her whereabouts. So far, so good. She seems to have picked up some new insight about our expectations after her recent re-training time back on the leash. I won’t be surprised if this lesson will need to be repeated several times before she ultimately overcomes the urge to take off and explore distant properties, but for the time being, we are enjoying this little period of success.
Our little baby just might be growing up.
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Busy Days
I sure understand now, the old saying about making hay while the sun shines. The hay-making in these parts is happening all around us now that we are experiencing dryer days. Finally, even our field has been cut. Unlike last year, when our neighbor came over with horses pulling a sickle-bar mower, this time is was done with tractor power.
With our friend, George, too busy getting his own fields cut and baled, we went with a second option that took advantage of proximity. The fields next door to our south are rented out, and we sent word that we would like ours cut when the person comes to do those. Now a 3rd-person connection, I only know him by his first name, Ed.
The hitch here is that this guy only makes round bales. I don’t have the right setup to move those behemoths with my tractor, so they are no good to us. I have a couple of days to try to locate someone who has time and can make small bales. If I’m unsuccessful, we’ll have him go ahead and round bale our field and we’ll hope the neighbor with cows will take them off our hands.
Our need for the hay from our field —which is far from top quality horse hay, due to the ratio of weeds to desirable grasses— is greatly reduced since we connected with a local grower who makes small bales. We can afford to let hay cut from our field go to someone else. The most important thing for us is just getting it cut to encourage grass growth and discourage weeds.
How organic of us!
Speaking of our local grower, I made three trips to his place yesterday, hauling a whopping 120 bales. As a result of some weird law of physics, the bales get heavier as you lift more and more of them.
The days of hay-making are keeping me busy as ever right now. When our shed is filled with bales, it is going to seem like I suddenly have a lot less to do around here.
…Until I think about the woodshed roof laying on the ground.
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A Day
The day starts early, when Delilah announces she is awake and wants to get out of her crate. Yesterday, it was 5:30 a.m. I take her out for a short walk and then grab some breakfast before heading down to feed the horses. I put out 4 pans of processed feed and walk to the far end of the paddock to open a gate that allows them access to the grazing pasture. Normally, I also grab the wheelbarrow and collect any overnight deposits of fertilizer.
On this day, I planned to grant Cyndie her wish to have a mowed path inside the fence of the hay-field for riding horses. She also asked me to cut the area where we envision putting a riding arena. In order to do that, I would need to disconnect the new chipper from the back of the tractor and remount the brush cutter.
We have been without the loader bucket on the diesel tractor for some time, as it was taken to a weld shop for use as a template for a new hay-fork we are having built. The bucket was returned to us on Saturday, and I was excited to finally be able to put it to use. As long as I had the chipper removed, I thought I would scoop up the last of the winter pile of manure in the paddock before hooking up the brush mower.
That bucket can move a lot more stuff in one scoop than the pitchfork and ATV trailer method I had been using. The challenge then became figuring out where to dump the very heavy load. I got stuck trying to back out of my chosen dump spot, spinning two big divots in the gravel driveway.
Earlier, I had been moving a pile of unusable hay from the hay shed using a wheelbarrow, to make room for the new bales. As I drove by on the tractor, it occurred to me that I could move a lot more hay at one time with the bucket. I scooped up a huge amount and headed up to where we are filling in a ravine above the barn, just off the paved driveway.
I knew I was taking a risk as I dropped down off the pavement and partway into the ravine. I tipped the bucket to dump the hay and then tried backing up. No luck. Both large tractor tires spinning. I needed to use the bucket to push myself out, wreaking havoc on the lawn the whole way up. There is a reason the diesel tractor is not the best tool when the ground is wet.
Before I got myself in any more trouble, I headed up to get the brush mower attached. I was a little worried about running into trouble mowing wet areas of the field, but it turned out to be okay. I cut a path around the perimeter and then knocked down an area in the rough size and shape of a riding arena. It’s not possible to cut right up to the fence, so I went and got the trimmer to clean up the edges.
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I am not the fastest guy when it comes to doing things, and the trimming is a project I could work on all day and not get everything cut, so I made a point to only go part way along the fence line. I was aware that I started shortly before time to feed the horses in the afternoon, and I didn’t want to leave them feeling neglected. They were anxiously waiting at the gate for me when I arrived.
While they ate, I went back to hauling hay with the wheelbarrow, taking one short break to make a pass through the paddock to collect the day’s production of fertilizer. When Cyndie called to check in and report she was heading home, I was surprised to discover it was 6:30 p.m.
Trimming isn’t done, and removing old hay was not completed. Even with long days, there isn’t enough time to get everything done. Those chores will carry over into today, along with the plan to haul more loads of hay from our supplier, and with luck, get started on this week’s lawn mowing.
All in a day’s work!
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Managing Tasks
It’s the middle of July and we are experiencing a cold spell to go along with the latest batch of passing rain showers. I finally pulled out a long sleeve shirt yesterday afternoon because I was getting a chill while I sat inside, waiting out the rain. Monday had me back at the 14-hour day, caring for animals and working on chores around the property.
On Saturday, I had a chance to do a little test run of the new wood chipper. Works like a charm. I’m looking forward to grinding all the piles of branches we have laying around.
Yesterday, I worked on cutting down small growth to open up a path for installation of electric fencing that will enclose the back grazing pasture. The area where I was working is down by the drainage ditch that runs along the southern border of our property. I am also working on cutting down the trees that have grown down in that ditch. The combination of cuttings from those two areas have made for several significant brush piles that I will be turning into wood chips. What fun!
Any trees that are too big for the chipper will be turned into firewood. Too bad I don’t have anyplace to stack firewood right now. Rebuilding the woodshed remains a priority, but it is below hauling hay and clearing a path for pasture fencing.
My other priority is to try to get 8-hours of sleep a night. I need the rest since I am working the long days. Unfortunately, my latest attempts have been foiled. Feels a little like burning the candle at both ends. It’s hard because my manager in this new mode of working self-managed, is a real task master.
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What Ever
It’s time again for everyone’s favorite Relative Something image guessing game called, “What”! You haven’t forgotten about it, have you? Well, it is back again and it’s simple to play. All you need to do is guess what is depicted in the image below. Do you trust your first impression, or ponder the possibilities? Can you hold off long enough to wait for the answer to come to you, or will you look for the solution right away? You are in charge, but it is strongly recommended you come up with some kind of guess before you click on the image to find out what this could possibly be. Guess your best, and enjoy!
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Flowing
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slowly
flowing
blasting past
every last transformation
the old neighborhood
is gone
our memories
don’t last
buried deep
resurfacing
in a dream
a breath
of hope
lost
in an instant of ‘I’m not from here’
walking away
toward yesterday
the marbles roll
behind the couch
flirting
silently
with old realities
in the fog
of dust and detritus
pressed
precariously
against
unknown reasons
for every
vague
remembrance
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Weather Weary
The first full week with Cyndie working her new job and me working at home as full-time ranch manager is behind us. She came home and went to bed with a headache and I am physically exhausted from working 14-hour days. Will the weekend offer us a chance to relax? I’m not sure.
I wasn’t able to get out and test the new wood chipper yesterday, after a morning of rain and an afternoon of hauling hay. I stacked 80 more bales in the hay shed. It’s beginning to look respectable.
I wish I could say the same about our uncut field. As feared, the weeds are maturing and weather hasn’t offered us much chance for enticing any willing neighbors to help turn it into bales.
I take some solace in the fact we are not alone in being unable to cut. I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about the tribulations hay growers are facing this year. We are lucky to have found a supplier who has some high ground, though he still battles the frustration of squeezing the process of cutting and baling into the short number of days between deluges.
Ideally, the process involves at least 3 dry days in a row, but we’ve been hard pressed to get 2, and the rain amounts have continued to be significant. That means the next sunny day or two after a rain event are often lost to waiting for the ground to dry up again. It just doesn’t seem to happen.
This also impacts my plan to do some wood chipping. One of the first areas with cut branches that I am hoping to grind into chips is at the bottom of a hill in a very wet spot. Getting down there with my tractor holds the potential of becoming a muddy, messy affair.
No matter how much control we pretend to have about eventual outcomes, the days will always be a delicate balance, subject to whatever nature chooses to offer or inhibit.
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Relative Something 