Filed under: June 2021 | Tags: air flow, Box stalls for draft horses, grandchildren, Horse barn renovation, light, rare breed, Suffolk Punch horses
June 1, 2021
Our gardens have been planted. Our grandchildren are walking down the corn row, following the hand seeder. They took this job very serious. They wanted to ensure good soil to seed contact! Now we wait for the plants to emerge.
Our little filly is growing fast too. She is getting used to my antics and the daily grind. She wasn’t fond of halter training or being tied up, but each day she gets better and takes it in stride. Our farm work will soon get very busy as we move into haying season, cultivation and wood splitting. These days with Grace are fun, watching this little Suffolk filly grow.
The old part of the barn got a facelift as part of the new renovation.
The new box stalls are almost completed.
One more partition to go along with latches and the project will be completed. One more job wrapped up before the flush of summer work. Thanks to my wife for all of her help, this install has gone smooth.
The barn renovation will make things much easier on us as we move towards becoming breeders and trainers of the Suffolk Punch Horse. We got the news last Thursday that both of our mares are in foal for 2022. Our Abby mare is carrying our stallion “Hank’s” baby. So it begins :o)
Filed under: June 2018 | Tags: family, farm, farm to table, grandchildren, home butchering, kind, playing farm, positive
June 21, 2018
My granddaughter was playing farm with Grammy, while her daddy, older brother and I sorted sheep. She set up a corral and placed the animals as she wished. The next thing she did, was give each one a bale of hay to eat. I guess following us around the barnyard feeding chickens corn and such, makes her understand animal husbandry.
Once the sheep had been sorted, my grandson joined his sister in the farm play. He built a feedlot. If you look to the lower right-hand of the photo, you will see a block sitting on top of the others. That block is the gate. Each animal had to walk through the gate. Again, understanding the movement of farm animals is not an easy task, yet my not quite 4 year-old grandson , “get’s it”.
I hadn’t really thought about it much, just how often other’s learn from us. I was helped by my other son’s children load chickens into the trailer for a trip to freezer camp. They were gentle. They were quick and they understood perfectly where the chickens were headed. They had raised the flock from chicks. The connection of farm to table is firmly embedded in their daily lives. I am very proud of them.
I try to goof off a little too. In the photo below, three generations of Rice’s catch polywogs in the water trough! I can remember my sons at four years old doing the same thing. Life is short. The days are long…but the years are short.
I am blessed to share my life and my stories with my family and folks all over the world. Thanks in part to TV, the Internet, magazines and books…but nothing is better than face to face interaction. I hope to always be positive and kind, because the lives we touch are precious! The time we share is priceless and the memories we make last forever.
Filed under: July 2017 | Tags: cement, Compost, farm toys, feedlot, grandchildren, playing farm, winter work
July 15, 2017
My farming these days amounts to playing on a table with my grandson. He is a meticulous farmer! The tractors get parked by the barn. The gate must be closed unless you are driving the tractor through it. Hay bales get stacked in the same direction and the animals can be in the same pasture, but the cows are with the cows and the sheep with the sheep. I watch and play with a big smile….this kid takes this stuff serious and he won’t be three until next week!
My days just got a little better. I am allowed to walk around the circle drive around the barn once a day. It is part of my therapy. It also does wonders for my mental health as I peek through the windows at the pigs and monitor the landscape as I walk. Progress is slow but steady as my knee heals.
Today, the cement crew that I hired, completed the feedlot extension. The job went fast. I saved my daily walk until the cement was 99% done, so I could see the completed job. I was very happy with the job they did. The next phase will be gates and fences, but like my knee, progress is slow but steady.
This is going to make winter chores a breeze. Hay feeding will now move to a weekly job from a daily job. Cattle comfort will be improved and manure management just got better too. Plus I get to keep all that liquid gold all winter to make crop food for next year’s crops.
So, in between ice packs, great exercises for bending, stretching and sweating, I will take that daily walk and do my farming on the tabletop…for now :o)
Filed under: May 2017 | Tags: farm gates, farm lane, grandchildren, kids, pasture, rotational grazing, safe, secure
May 31, 2017
My almost three year old grandson is a stickler for keeping the gates closed. He knows which gates are normally open, as well as, the ones that are usually closed. He does not like to see one that is usually closed, in the open position. It’s okay if we are moving livestock, but a random open gate really bothers this young man.
I guess that I am where my grandson gets his ideas from. I close gates behind me. I insist that others do too. If you go through a gate and it is closed, then the expectation is that you close and latch it behind you. We live on a busy road. There is not a time when livestock are welcomed there. I also don’t like them stomping holes in the lawn or other mischief.
Our oil well tender man is also very careful with our gates. I am grateful to him as well. I guess much of our farm life revolves around opening and closing gates. I have many because we move livestock often, from pasture to pasture. I need things to be easy, especially with my advancing age! Our cattle and even the sow herd knows where to go, all because of our gates. They make life easy and keep all of us safe and secure.
My little next door farmer keeps a watchful eye for open gates and anything amiss. I too am wary of strange things or stuff out of place. I notice things that are different and have done so from an early age. I see part of myself in this little guy…that knowledge also makes me feel safe and secure.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: children, draft horses, family time, grandchildren, life, time, time marches on
February 27, 2017
Our maple syrup season for 2017 is over. This photo, I snapped of my youngest son as he drove the horses back into the woods for another load of maple sap. It is a bittersweet photo for me. He is driving my horses every bit as well as I can. I asked him if he needed any help hitching up. He smiled and said, “Dad after you teaching me for 30 years… I got it.”
He was right. He had everything perfect. The horses can sense when someone is not confident when handling the lines. They were real sure that Jake was in charge. He is quiet with them and uses a soft hand, but they feel his inner strength as he drives them. His thoughts are telegraphed through the leather lines to the bits in their mouths. This gentle guidance along with an encouraging voice, makes for great teamwork of man and horses.
I held my little grandson’s hand as we watched dad go off down the sap road. I was proud and humbled at the same time. The little hand inside of mine made me think back that 30 years ago. I could see my son looking up, asking questions and learning things that I didn’t even know I was teaching. My heart was full to almost overflowing, then my grandson said, “I’m gonna drive your horses some day Pa-Pa” My heart overflowed a little bit as a tear spilled down my cheek.
My how fast time does fly!
Filed under: October 2015 | Tags: children, farm, Farming, grandchildren, great grandchildren, piglets
Jackson and Xavier, helping Pa-Pa. Cinch keeping a watchful eye.
October 21, 2015
These little guys are a gift from my wife. They are my great grandsons. They had a big day on the farm last week. They helped feed the animals and entertained us all. I like to watch the eyes of a child as they take in our farm. The kids get so excited as they run from place to place. The animals take it in stride. The kids like to feed the animals…I think that is what keeps the animals interested 😮
A big ear of corn looks even bigger in the hands of a child. The children tossed the ears over the fence to the delight of the sows. My great granddaughter was a bit shy at first, but she warmed up quick to feeding the pigs. One momma pig has a litter of piglets. The kids sure liked those babies. They got to pet one little squiggly baby who squealed a bit. They children jumped at first, but soon laughter over shadowed the fear.
I like this farm, in part because of the little ones. The baby calves, lambs and piglets make me smile. To see one of our grandchildren or great grandchildren delighting in the farm babies, tickles me to the core. When young people make a connection to the farm it pleases me greatly. In fact this is one of the biggest reasons that I do all the hard work that comes with farming…it’s for the little ones!
oink oink!
RicelandMeadows 