RicelandMeadows

October 27, 2024

As October comes to a close, I pause to give thanks for a beautiful month filled with the blessings of the harvest, nature and the comfort of family and friends. Our grandson bagged this nice deer. He is the first one on the board, but many other family members are in search of the cloven hoofed quadruped… (deer).

I wanted to share one more view of my buddy’s farm in southern Ohio where we held our logging fun day. It was a time of learning and fellowship, in a beautiful place, among very good friends.

I have busied myself this week spreading the compost on one of our pasture/hay fields. It has been dry and even a bit warm, but soon the muddy days will come. It was nice to get the whole job completed without making even one track. I usually use horses for this job, but my powercart is in the shop. I took advantage of the good weather and used the tractor. Mixed power on a small farm is a wonderful thing!

This empty pit will give us storage for the coming winter manure. Manure that will be piled and turned to become compost. It has served us well for over thirty years, compost that is. The pit will need some rebuilding next spring. It will hold for now, but has reached the end of its life. A few patches will do for now, but renovation is in the plans for the future.

I also power washed the manure spreader. It is 14 years old. I use it to spread compost two to three times a year. I wash it out and grease it up. I then store it inside until next time. It is holding up well and has been a very good investment.

This is a 125 bushel Pequea spreader. A manure spreader is needed where ever animals are kept. A farmer can get by for a while with a small sled or cart, but when the poop piles up, a spreader makes for a more efficient job. A little upkeep and they last a long time.

I also managed to clean up the hillside where I had been working on the blown down and dead trees. The logs are headed to a nearby sawmill to make lumber for a coming project. The firewood has been split and stacked. Thanks to help from my grandsons and an granddaughters, the brush has been piled and burned making a neat job.

November will soon be here. The cold wet weather will also make these nice autumn days a fond memory. As we close out October, our hearts are full, the woodshed is almost full and I am one happy man.