Cutting Hay...

We have been busy baling hay and have been lucky to get them baled before the rain. Chasing the summer showers and out running the afternoon scattered showers has been a challenge this summer. After two and a half years of drought, we should not complain. The problem is we have had two years worth of rain this year. We could use a bit of a break.

Mr Paul is pictured above and to the left raking the cut hay and PJ, his son is on the tractor pulling the baler. By raking, it turns over the hay and puts it into windrows so the baler can eat it up and when the bale is ready, the machine rolls the bale to tie the twine and then rolls it out the back of the machine. The bales are about 4 ft by 5 foot and weigh in at 1200 pounds.

Kyle is pictured above with Bear, one of our Livestock Protection Dogs. Do not laugh at Bear's hair cut... Yes he is much cooler. Kyle is Mr Paul's grandson visiting from Illinois. He is pictured Rolling one of the 1200 pound bales to see if he could do it... No problem. Kyle visited with his brother Ken who helped gather up the sheep and goats for eye checks, worming, vaccinations, and foot care. They had a good time and were great help. Thanks a bunch guys...

More later...

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and enjoyed the reduction in humidity. It has been Hot, but with lower humidity, it has been actually pleasant for us outdoor folks. The pictures above are of the herd of Nigerians and Raisin (nubian) enjoying the shade and the freshly cut hay in the lane between pastures. My friend Mr. Paul is busy cutting the pastures and will be making hay. The other picture is the cut field right after cutting, curing. It will be raked in a couple of days and baled in large round bales.

The cutting of the pastures into hay, gives us extra income, feed for our livestock and kills parasites.

The pictures above are of our family garden. It is doing well in spite of us getting it in late. We have sweet corn, tomato's, cucumbers, pickles, beans, water melon, squash, dill, basal, onions, and a few more things. We had also planted a second crop of sweet corn for a late harvest. With our growing season so long, it is easy to stagger plantings and get sweet corn into November. It has been dry and we are having to water the garden, but that is better then having it flooded out by constant rain, in my opinion. We will be moving some bedding from the goat stalls to mulch the corn and keep in moisture and allow it to turn into compost in the field. We need to add more amendments to the soil for next year and fall planting. Over time the garden will be better and better and more productive as the soil becomes richer and richer.

We look forward to canning corn and making tomato juice and dill pickles from the garden. This fall we hope to plant garlic, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, lettuce, more onions, and put some tomatoes and cucumbers in the green house we will be moving to the farm.

A nice thing about the south, we can grow crops most of the year. It does not take a lot of energy to heat a small greenhouse on cold southern nights. The sun during the day, takes care of the produce inside.

***We are still looking for homes for the Boer/Nigerian cross babies. We have two bucks who are bottle babies. There is a buck and doe who are just on their mom as well. Email me if there is an interest and I can email current pictures. oldesouth@charter.net.