I finally had a chance to wash the tractor last weekend. Felt good to get it all clean and shiny again as it has been dirty most of the summer. I was waiting to ted hay and took advantage of the short break I had before the sun was hot enough to ted. I also cleaned the interior as well. It is so clean and shiny, I am sure it won't last long though as there is still a lot of stuff to do before the snow flies!
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| My Kubota M9540 all cleaned up |
I got a quick pic of Black eye and her Daughter White Tail in the early morning as well. They were the only two in the far pasture and the calf is looking great!!! Momma was just walking along taking her time and baby was running around all over the place!
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| Hereford Cow, Hereford x Maine Anjou/Angus calf |
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The barn is officially full of hay. I finished my fourth cutting of dry hay here at the house last Monday night. It is a great feeling to have the barn full. However, it is a greater feeling to have it empty again and money in the bank for paying bills! Let the marketing and selling begin!
Some information about the hay I make. I have a mostly pure stand of Orchard grass here on the farm. I started with a mix of clover and Orchard Grass, however, over time the clover dies off and you are left with just the grass. I have thought many times about seeding in some more legumes to help with Nitrogen requirements for the grass. However, most of my customers are looking for pure orchard grass. The reason for this is they are feeding rabbits, alpacas, and other small animals. These animals prefer the soft leaves of the orchard grass, especially the alpacas because they only have a few teeth in the front of their mouth to chew with. Now, this year I do have more weeds than normal, maybe about 10%-15%. This is due to the bad drought last year weakening the grass and creating voids for the weeds to sprout in and then this year has been a little wetter than normal giving the weeds the water they need to grow. I also applied a bunch of manure this past winter that I wasn't able to compost completely so there were most likely viable weed seeds applied then as well.
The good news is that with properly timed mowing and giving the grass the nutrients it needs this fall with a heavy application of good manure we can knock the weeds right back out of the field. I already see that I have less weeds now than I did in the second cutting when they were at their strongest. The more you cut them the more energy they burn up trying to make it to seed production. Eventually you weaken them to a point where they cannot keep up with the grass and die off. You can do the same thing with your yard. Feed the grass and keep it mowed often enough that the weeds cannot go to seed. Without chemical sprays you will still have some weeds but very few, and you will not have any chemicals on your lawn either!
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| Barn Filled with Orchard Grass Hay |
I have also started weaning piglets. I already sold a few on Friday night and am hoping to sell some five more in a week or two. I didn't pull everyone at once. I pulled the seven biggest ones first to reduce the number feeding on the sows. This allows the smaller piglets to get more milk to catch up with them and allows the mothers to maintain their body weight so they don't get too weak to breed back well. I like to keep the babies eating right up till when we are ready to re-breed as well. This keeps the mothers from cycling. I also do not have the boar in with them for the same reason. Now, when I pull the rest of the babies off of the sows next weekend and put the boar back in with the sows, the combination of no more nursing piglets and the smell of the hormones from the boar will cause them to go through a heat cycle and be their most fertile! If I screw it up they will not have as big of a litter and they will not breed when I want them to or maybe not at all.
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| Berkshire x Tamworth cross piglets |
Every year, starting when I was a young child, my sister and I got to go to the Ohio State University Alumni Football Fall Fest with my parents. My grandfather went to Ohio State, my Father graduated from Ohio State, I graduated from Ohio State, My wife graduated from Ohio State, as well as my Sister. We truly have Scarlet and Gray in our blood!!! This was the first time for me to share with my children part of the experience that I had as a child. It may not have been an alumni fall fest day but it was the Opening game for the 2013 OSU Buckeye football season!
My son and I both got a couple of much needed Ohio State Buckeyes hats. This was his first Buckeyes game ever. He was really excited. It was also very hot so I was surprised that they did as well as they did with the heat. Next year we will work it out so we can stay the night in town so that we can walk the campus and see what all has changed and what is still the way it was when my Grandfather was there so many years ago.
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| Alex and I at the Buckeyes Game |
My daughter got some pretty cool Buckeyes tats and she got a Hair Barret just like the cheer leaders have. She and my son also got to meet a few of the cheerleaders as they were leaving the stadium and they were also able to watch the band enter and leave the stadium at the tunnel so close you could touch them!!
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| Lisa and I at the Buckeyes Game |
My last picture is a picture the The Best Damn Band In The Land dotting the I's on a double Script Ohio at pregame!!!! The only thing that tops this is the Four Script Ohio's the band does on Alumni day. That will bring a tear to any true Buckeye's eye!
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| The Best Damn Band In The Land (TBDBITL) dotting the I's on a double script Ohio 8-31-13 |
The most exciting thing for me that we did yesterday was my family and I visited the Buckeye grove next to the stadium before we left town. We collected a few buckeyes that we found there. This is a tradition my Father started with me and my brother and sisters and one that I want to pass on to my children! We did not collect them to make a necklace or other jewelry, we are going to plant them just like I did when I was a kid. I still have my buckeye tree at my dad's house and I am planning on going up as soon as they drop the seeds and collect one to plant with my kids to start our own Buckeye grove here at home. This is something that will live on long after we are gone. This also allows me to teach my children about paying forward. They are going to plant something now that will allow them to give something to nature as well as their children when they are young!
Now, out to the yard to do some planting!!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Kenny
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