blogging

cat tails

Man oh man, farming can be really difficult sometimes. I often joke to people that farming is my hobby.  But more often than not, it feels like a full time job.

There is always something to tackle here on the farm.

Sometimes its the animals, and you wake up to your neighbors livestock in your yard, or even worse, your livestock in theirs! Sometimes there are projects to be tackled in the house, like preserving vegetables, or preparing for an event. Other times there are trials and tribulations with equipment, or moving animals, the list goes on! Although the work sometime feels endless, I always try to remember how worthwhile it is. A hard day’s work always makes me appreciate the easy days.

cows eating hay

 

That being said, my chances to connect with you folks have been few and far between these days!

During the summer I find myself daydreaming about lazy fall days. In my head, whatever season is next seems to be the easy going one, but that is rarely the case. Even the fall isn’t always peaceful when you have to handle all the preparations for winter…and winter brings a bigger workload…too bad these cows can’t feed themselves!

All that to say, I really appreciate your understanding when there are times that it’s not easy for me to keep in touch.

I have, over the past few weeks, collected some pretty funny tales that I am chomping at the bit to tell you all! Sadly, there have been some things that need my attention that simply cannot wait. I guess that’s what makes this blog a bit different than most others, farming isn’t much of a science…it’s a lot of rolling with the punches and doing what you can, when you can. So that’s what we are doing, same as always. You’ll be hearing from me soon, I promise you that! We have some pretty exciting things on the way! Christmas is right around the corner, and the endless preparations for that will lead to even more stories for you.

As always, if you ever have any questions drop us a line. We love hearing from ya!

Christmas Lights on Porch

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bales stacked in a field

The Weather

I’m not sure why the change in weather can still surprise me so much. Yesterday I was wearing shorts and hauling hay bales in from the field. The second cutting growth was really coming along. It’s just a matter of time, I thought, and I will need to service the haybine and start cutting this alfalfa. My guess was that this main hay field south of the house ought to produce 200 or so bales. Boy, that’s sure going to come in handy.

Time for second cut

Of course before I can even think to start to cut, I will need to move these last few bales from the hay field. At the moment, they are exactly in my way. Up in the hay yard is where they need to be. If not,  I’ll be spending my cutting days dodging around them. That’s a very messy proposition.

“Just a few loads to go, right Kirby?”

Kirby the Hound keeps me company on some of these hauls. She’s always up for a ride or two in the hay truck. and I don’t mind admitting that I enjoy the company. Although, from time to time she can forget which seat is hers .

So long ago

Well that was yesterday, it’s funny what a day can do.  Today?  Well, today my 200 bale production estimates seem a tad optimistic. Do you remember all those previous years when all that snow fell on us in the middle of September?? Me either. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen this much snow this early. And the weather man is predicting two or three more days of rain and snow. Lovely.

New Production Prediction

So, I’ve downgraded my second cutting estimates a little bit. Instead of that 200 bales I  optimistically guestimated earlier, it’s now slightly less. My new prediction? Zero.

 

Farming can be awfully fickle.  There’s a reason we so often hear the old proverb “Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched”. That’s 200 bales I counted yesterday that I shall never see.

As always, mother nature has the last word…

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