Filed under: August 2021 | Tags: Blessings, canning, forgeing, garden, home, humming birds, rainbows, small farm
August 23, 2021
This rainbow was a fleeting double one. No worries, its beautiful even as a single. God’s promise witnessed by us. Some say a pot of gold lies at its end. All I know is that when this display frames our barn, buildings or our home, I feel filled with blessings. “Home”, what a wonderful word and what an awesome place to have. I appreciate mine and the people who make it so.
We are working on the garden’s harvest. Just one more thing in which to be thankful. I also am grateful for my wife who makes this all come together. Next week we will celebrate 29 years together as man and wife. She shares my dreams, my life and makes our house a home. Just like the rainbow that comes after the storm…it is a beautiful thing!
Some folks doodle on a pad, some stare off into space, but I like to “doodle” with my forge. I turned a four foot rod into this hummingbird feeder. Its whimsical I know, way out of my comfort zone for sure. The humming birds love it. It is so neat to see them rest on the little perches that I twisted into the design.
The holder is set up for two feeders. Our visiting hummers are plenty. This set up helps us keep up with demand. It was a fun project, best thing is my wife likes it too! Soon, the hummingbirds will head south for the winter, but they are fun to watch in the meantime.
Rainy, hot, muggy weather rules these last few weeks. Second cutting grass waits to be cut, but the fields are saturated with water standing in places. I will do my best to be patient and wait for a little better weather for making dry hay. One last summer job before the autumn season work overtakes us. Soon plowing for spelt seedbed, cleaning and storing the hay equipment and spreading compost will lead the jobs. I guess for now, I will help with the garden, watch the birds and enjoy just being home!
Filed under: August 2021 | Tags: positive thinking, stallion, Suffolk Punch horses, weather and small farms
August 18, 2021
Summer is flying by, much like Hank in the photo above.
The hot, muggy, wet weather continues to challenge us. The calendar, however keeps right on rolling. It is true, “Time waits for no man.” Our county fair has come and gone for another year. The start of school is right around the corner and very soon the leaves will be changing color.
Hank is filling out fast. He is a few months over two years old. He is starting to take on a true stallion appearance. He is a good natured colt who pleases me very much.
Our first cutting hay and the spelt straw for 2021 has been made and stored. The straw sits along the fence row for use when needed. We hope to get some second cutting dry hay made once the weather pattern shifts a bit. The fields of second cutting hay will give peace of mind as it gets baled and put away. Its nice to have a little more than we will need. The pastures have been staying green thanks to the rains, but most all of our fields are saturated.
Its funny to me how our weather is extreme one way or the other. Lake Erie really does play a part in our growing season, not to mention our harvest seasons. It is also amazing how just a few miles in either direction can make such a difference. Its best just to smile and wait, because the current weather will change. Fretting about it doesn’t help the crops or the farmer.
As I look back, I can see it has been a fairly productive year. It is best to focus on the positives, because many things we simply can’t change, no matter how much we want. So, keep looking forward, we can impact change there. Good planning and preparation will help us capitalize on better days to come.
Filed under: August 2021 | Tags: Cobweb solutions, Draft horse filly, rainy day jobs, Suffolk Horses, Suffolk Punch, Suffolk Punch horses
August 12, 2021
Riceland Meadows Amazing Grace a little shy of 4 months old. She is growing fast!
These hot, sticky, muggy days of August have been producing almost daily showers making it tough to get things done. I spend a little time each day with our little filly. She is a good girl, but still has a bit of sass in her. She learns quickly. We are enjoying her. She will soon be turned out with Bree, last year’s filly. Grace and her have been spending time in adjoining stalls. Soon, Grace will get weaned from her mom. It is my hope that Bree and Grace become friends. They can romp and play, making the weaning process less stressful on all involved.
These young ladies and their mothers, will become part of our breeding program in the coming years. They will also power the farm, spending time in harness hitched to all sorts of equipment. My view of them is often the same. I took this next photo of Grace to be a sort of “baby picture” for reference later on.
Yep, this is usually my view! You can see the power that resides in her backside already. She is a good growing, thick, chunky horse. I look forward to seeing her become part of the “team”.
From the looks of these photos, I better clean my cobwebs down. I try to keep up with that job. I have discovered that an old straw broom works well for this purpose. Recently, I found out that a leaf blower works even better! You can blow those suckers down in a very few minutes. I suggest wearing a mask, safety glasses and an old shirt on the day you do it, but the leaf blower makes short work of that job. It is also a good job for a rainy day!
Filed under: August 2021 | Tags: fertilizer spreader, homemade equipment, horse drawn, small farm equipment
August 11, 2021
Several years ago, we built this horse drawn fertilizer spreader. My uncle Fred was the main fabricator. The drive wheels are from an old Jeep axle. Channel iron and a sprocket were added to make the whole thing work. It is direct drive, but it works great. The original cone spreader that we used when we first built it, finally rusted out. I wash, oil and store it in a dry place, but this tool works in a hostile environment. Lime, fertilizer and soil amendments love to eat metal.
It is easy to tell which parts we used over when we replaced the spreader. I hope to get it painted before storing later this fall. The plastic hopper and stainless steel parts will hopefully add to its life. I use this piece of equipment to feed the soil, but also to plant our grass and hay crops. I simply mix the seed with pelletized lime and broadcast into a waiting seedbed. I have broadcast oats in this manner too for early or late season grazing. It is a handy, simple machine.
There are two seats on the forecart that we have hitched to this. Those are for training young horses. Its nice to have someone riding there in the event you need help. It also works well when raking or tedding hay. I can have a rider to keep me company at times.
Equipment such as this makes sense for a small farmer. The pto shaft turns at 540 rpm when the horses are walking at about 3.5 mph. It works well and has been tested again and again. We replaced the rusted out unit with one we purchased from Easy Trail Equipment in Mount Hope Ohio. I looked at a few other models, but settled on this one because of its rust and rot resistant materials of construction. I look forward to putting it into service soon.
In the background of the photos, a new windmill can be seen. It is enriching the back pond with oxygen. It hasn’t been in use long, but already we are seeing positive results.
Filed under: August 2021 | Tags: Border Collie, Compost, draft horses, patience, Small Farming, speltz, straw
August 4, 2021
I have been working steady trying to get our hay crop finished up during this wet summer of 2021. I am happy to report that our first cutting is finally done….30 days later than normal, but done none the less.
Now the horses and I are staying steady at getting the spelt straw ready to bale. The crop is almost dry enough to complete the job. The field however, is very soft, with standing water still found in places. I am fluffing and flipping the drying straw, hoping the field will dry out enough to hold the tractor and baler without making ruts.
The spelt grain came off very well. I combined over a week ago. The yield was very good, especially considering the wet year. The hay crop planted with the spelt had exploded with new growth. Some areas of the field, the timothy hay heads were taller than the spelt. The combine, thankfully, separated the grain from the weeds and timothy heads very well. Our bin will be nice and full, supplying horse feed for all of the coming year.
The golden windrows of straw are even pretty to look at. The weather is perfect right now, even the flies are tolerable for the horses.
You can see the yellow streak that was once under the straw windrow. I want this job complete soon. The windrows of wet straw can kill the growing hay underneath. I think this will all be fine. My main concern is to get the bales made and off the field without making a bunch of tracks and rutting up the field. It will all turn out OK … it always has. I may have to roll a few ruts or perhaps even disc and reseed a portion or two. Such is the life of a farmer and the reason why it is much better to work with nature, rather than being a “know it all” Straw Boss, demanding my own will. Mother Nature will humble the strongest man. Patience and persistence will get the crop in for sure.
I need to be more like Sam our Border Collie. He takes everything in stride. He relaxes when he isn’t working, yet he is always ready to pounce on a job. My pouncing days are few, but I am getting better at relaxing :o)
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