hay

Supply time

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Friday, I opted for a supply run to get the last of what I think I need for the bull enclosure. There is one item that I forgot, some Fastenal anchors I will need to put up all the enclosure railing. I will have to get those next week but I don’t need them yet. The store I was going to get the other supplies doesn’t carry them so its a second stop. This defeats the purpose of the quick trip if I keep stopping at various stores. I had the 16 foot trailer also and did not want to drag it around town, parallel parking it would be a special kind of torture. I ended up buying cow panels to cover the used feeder panels we picked up at auction. These will be wired directly over the panels. I may cut some of them in half lengthwise to make them stretch farther. But on the other hand, if I don’t cut them then at some future time I would be able to reuse them. I am still torn on which direction to go and have another week to ponder a choice. I am all about reusing stuff! I have saved a ton of money by reusing materials. It isn’t always the prettiest of things but it is always functional.

I also picked up a few blocks to put next to our gate. When we step in we step next to the concrete. I poured a bunch of gravel there to keep the mud away but over time the gravel is sloughing off down the hill. I need to put in a short wall to contain the gravel and allow us to have a clean stepping spot.

My other nephew, came out in the evening and we worked on setting more posts. I am paying him and offered to give him some cash but he wants to save it for college. I talked to him and we will fill an envelope with his wages and keep it at the house. This way when he gets ready for school he can just come pickup the envelope. We don’t care as we will just keep paying him about every ten hours. It just makes the math easier. Annmarie is going to help me with the water system for the bull. She thinks we have enough of a gradient that we can simply insert a hose upstream and run it to a trough. I can then put an overflow from the trough out onto the ground. This will keep the water clean and keep the bull out of the water. I am all for this and we will be testing the theory soon. We could pump it also with a solar pump, this will work as the bull will really only be spending three to four months here out of the year and only during the summer. The pump can be very low volume, as little as 5 gallons an hour. I can wire a float switch system to keep it from running all the time. The first option is far cheaper.

It tried to rain on us while we were fencing. It never really put down enough rain to stop us or to knock the wheat kernels out of the the drying heads. I don’t mind those kind of showers when it is hot outside. I have been drinking more water but I need to increase my intake. I have noticed the last couple of years that I cannot go outside and work in 100+ degree heat all day any more. I get too tired and usually get sick. Ten years ago I did it all summer long, it is not happening any more. I do wear a long sleeve shirt when out in the sun and that helps considerably. All the teenagers think I am a freak when they see me dressed for work. They think shorts, tennis shoes and T-shirt are the go to garb when working in the summertime. I make them wear boots, jeans and gloves while they are working. I even supply the gloves if they don’t bring any. They learn over the course of a summer why we do things a little different on a farm.

Was gonna move hay

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I had big plans for Saturday, I was going to move 25 tons of hay into the barn. To accomplish this gargantuan task I had enlisted the help of three teenagers. That is a lot of hay and I have yet to get the hay elevator working yet. It needs to be welded on and since I have signed up for the welding class this fall I am unwilling to pay to have the current five things (kitchen table, horseshoe gate latches, welding table repair, stairway fixation point and hay elevator) that need welded completed. I would rather pay the $350 and buy my own welder and save myself a few hundred dollars. This means another year of muscle power to get all the hay manually stacked into the barn.

I have decided that I need to make a key of knick names and keep it on the refrigerator just to keep names straight in the blog. I had to go back and search the archives to make sure I kept the same names for two of my helpers Saturday. I had simply called them the “Brothers”. This lumps them togoether and is not very descriptive so I have created an addendum and will now be referring to them as Thing 1 and Thing 2. I recognize this may seem odd but trust me after spending all day getting them to work together, defend each other, pick on each other, telling them not to whack on each other with sticks this is very apropos.

I sent a text to my hay supplier stating that I would not be picking up hay as it was raining! Unbeknownst to me Saturday had a 70% chance of rain and it turned into 100% for most of the day.

The Brothers showed up early so they hung out while I made breakfast. I managed to talk them into some sausage eventually. Last time they were out I made homemade sourdough waffles for everyone. My third helper arrived and we all headed out to the barn. I was not going to build fence in the rain and mud but I figured we could do something in the barn. There is always something that needs to be done. I had the late arrival start on cleaning out the hay room while Thing 1 and Thing 2 started to sort lumber up on the gangway. I wanted it separated out and all the 2×6 removed so we could extend the gangway over all the sheep feeders. This would let me sort out all the lumber available. Its hard to find stuff or even know what you have if you cannot see it or are just guessing about what is at the bottom of the pile. I went to the old house to grab tools and to string up a couple of extension cords to the barn. It took some direction to get the Brothers to realize what a 2×6 actually looked like. We finally managed to get them all down on the barn floor so we could see what was usable. I had kept all the 2×6 from the roof section that had blown off the barn. They had a lot of splits and cracks in them but I was able to find good usable wood and we worked on getting the gangway extended. Thing 2 and myself extended it another 24 feet. I had Mr. Consumer and Thing 1 take the hay elevator out to the lamb shed and lash it to the upright poles horizontally. I have yet to actually go out and verify how this turned out. They came in at one point and asked me how to work a tie down, I showed them and sent them back out to finish the job. Thing 2?has some mechanical ability so he helped me with the construction and eventually was able to do the cuts for me while I installed them. There was lots of hollering about pinching the blade, creating a workbench side, starting the blade up to full speed before touching the wood and to position himself directly in line with the wood to allow for a straight cut. After a calm discussion or two I would holler “pinched wood!” “Start the blade first!” “No wonder you cannot cut a straight line, you have to be behind the side you cannot just reach to the side!” I did actually congratulate a job well done, occasionally. He was much improved by the end of the day. Once this was done I had the boys help me remove all the wood from the L shaped granary and pile it up in the barn. Mr Consumer stood by the barn door and tossed all the scrap wood I handed or tossed his way outside to be burnt. The Brothers had to carry all the large pieces out to the barn floor. I am positive that Mr Consumer had figured he had the best job until I spotted a large black and white fur ball on the floor hidden under some wood and informed Mr. Consumer that he would be disposing of the dead skunk! He did bitch slightly but I told him he had made a choice to take the easier job of the three and his choice may have been the easier choice but the consequence of said choice was that he got to move the dead skunk as his job was to remove the trash from the barn. We had a couple minute discussion on how sometimes our choices lead us down paths we don’t expect but it was our choice and we have to live with our personal decisions. I had to keep digging through the lumber to get to the body as it was buried. Turns out it was just a furball from the packrat! He did not have to deal with a dead skunk but the anticipation and dread served its purpose.

I had Mr Consumer and Thing 1 go out and remove the “stairs” (pallet concoctions that will hold a horse!) and sweep under and behind them. Every year they had slid away from the barn a couple of inches. I blame the horses for this but regardless there was about an eight inch gap filled with straw. They cleaned it out and I screwed in a 4×4 at the front of the stairs once they were back in place. They can no longer slide away from the wall. This will make Sarah and Annmarie happy. The Brothers reminded me of lunch time at 1205. They have worked with me before and know that one must be vocal if one wants to get fed on time. Mr Consumer brought his own lunch. I did not expect this and ended up with an extra 18 inch hoagie in the fridge. We ate on the front porch as Mr Consumer and Thing 1 had started digging feces covered straw out of the barn and did not smell the best. As we ate lunch I watched two different washed and cut fruits in separate bags emerge from the lunch pail. Meanwhile, the Brothers and I are wolfing down meat and cheese hoagies and Doritos. I enquired as to whom had prepared his lunch? Drumroll please! What 16 year old boy puts TWO types of fruit in his lunchpail? You are all correct, his mother did it and a name was born, Mr Consumer. He ate every bit of his lunch.

This L shaped room just needs a door on the outside of the barn, a door on the inside and we need to move the grain separater over to the old chicken coop. Its an antique, of which I have no idea what I am going to do with it but for now it will be moved to the old chicken coop. I also have a four inch auger almost 28 feet long in two sections. All of this needs to be moved out. None of that can happen until I get the Bull enclosure completed.

Mr Consumer got both hay rooms organized and cleaned out. They are all ready for new hay to be placed. I think we have enough straw to get through the winter.

I ended up raising the door height on the momma enclosure and raising the back wall. This should prevent the sheep from jumping out now, I hope. The back Y gate also had four inches cut off of the bottom. I had not accounted for any straw being on the ground when I installed it the first time and this made it near impossible to work the door. I also cut off an inch from the bottom of the tack room door for the same reason.

After the long day I was cooking myself dinner and looked out and spotted this brand new baby calf on the back hillside! It was standing up and walking around while momma just sat and chewed her cud. It was an incredibly productive day and now I need to get the fields mowed and disced again then I can start in on the bull enclosure. Those fields need to be ready in the fall for alfalfa. A friend of ours is looking into getting me 150# of Round up ready alfalfa. I have a Monsanto ID number now so I can buy it. I am told it is very expensive but we need it as I will be able to spray Round Up on it to keep the weeds and cheat grass under control as it establishes itself. We only need one cutting from it next year.

Alone time

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Now that the easy part was done and the field is burned off it needs to be disced. My little tractor can just pull a double set of four foot discs. It doesn’t like to do it and I have to use four wheel drive and if the ground is too wet I cannot get enough traction to pull the discs. The field was a little wet but I managed to get it done over the course of two days. I always have something else to do on the way to pull the discs. I stopped on Saturday and pushed the burn piles together with the tractor and got one end of the double downed trees burning again. I hope they burn up the entire tree but I am not holding my breath. All the extra limbs are now on fire so it should be pretty easy to work around. I then went and dug the front ditch out for another 25 feet in the upper prime pasture. If I don’t clean it out it starts to grow in and spread out. It was also eroding the ground behind the large blackberry bushes and I just about could not get the tractor past. I am using the dirt from the ditch to backfill a new passage by the blackberry bush. I looked at the upper prime squared pasture and it needs some more ditch work. My initial digging is helping but I need to extend it out and dig a new exit channel, but I had already messed around long enough so I hooked up the disc and started to drag it around the field. I also made a vow to pick up every single rock I found. I had an offer from a friend to bring in a big piece of equipment that would smooth out the entire ground. The trick is rocks are a killer on this machine so I vowed to pick them all up! I just tipped the front bucket upwards and every time I spotted a big rock I jumped off and threw it in the bucket. There were not very many rocks, I bet I got less than ten in the few hours I went in circles.

There were lots of voles and mice throughout the entire field. I almost regretted not bringing the dogs as they love killing them, but they eat every one and after 15 or so each they get some very smelly farts. So I left them in the yard, knowing that Zeke was off the run and hoping he would stay put. I kept spotting various wildlife but I never could get a picture! I chased up a vole and this hawk swooped down out of the sky, snatched it and landed on a nearby wooden fence post. I watched that bird for almost a minute before deciding it would stay put for a picture, as soon as I reached for my phone it flew away, vole clutched in its talon.

I spotted a four foot bull snake partially in a vole hole, again I stopped the mistress and watched for 30 seconds then reached for my camera. The picture above with no snake but various vole holes was taken 2 seconds after it disappeared down the left most hole.

I spotted various baby killdeer running around and had to stop once to let them get out of the way. I really wanted to get that ash layer down into the dirt before it rained so it could get absorbed into the soil and not washed or blown away.

I was circling around and suddenly a hawk jumped off the ground on the far end of the field. I looked over and spotted a nest with eggs! So I skirted around the nest and left a patch of grass and weeds for the hawk and its nest.

The amazing part of this is driving the tractor is a very good core workout. I hear the scoffing now but try to stay on the seat with the tractor bouncing around and trying to throw you off constantly. I finally put the seat belt on and tightened it up across my upper thighs but this does not stop you from keeping your stomach and back muscles tightened the entire time.

I disced the far side and was working down near the upper prime pasture end when another hawk jumped out of the grass and there was another nest with eggs! The amazing part of this is we burned the field on Friday but both nests were placed such that fire could not get to them but the birds could see predators coming. I finally ran out of fuel and had to drive back to the house.

I ended up getting more diesel then digging out the barn lot front creek by hand. I will keep digging a small patch at time until I get it cleared all the way up to the spring.

Sunday I did the same thing, as in I procrastinated in going right to the discing portion of the day. I stopped in the upper prime pasture, as there was no fire to play with and started working on my ditch network. I had tried to dig a small pond but there was too much water and it was forming another swamp. I needed to dig a channel connecting the side ditches with the main ditch. I did this then dug the side ditch down and extended it out into the field. I really need to dig out the center of this area as I have dug a horseshoe shaped ditch. I started digging the dirt out of the middle of the horseshoe with my box blade on the tractor but I only got about ten loads out before it got too muddy. Once the tractor tires fill up with mud and the ground turns muddy I cannot use the box blade. This is the seventh year on my original tractor tires. I am going to try and milk them along for another 2 years. It will be an expensive fix to replace all four tires, probably around $1500-2000.

I did manage to get the entire field disced except for the two hawk nesting areas and the upper end where the super wet low spot is located. I have circled the wet area on the picture below. It is probably almost an acre and it is still too wet to work with my light tractor. What I want to do is let it dry out a little more then get in there and drag it down about 18 inches and use that dirt to build up the entire surrounding area to keep it dryer and let a natural swamp occur. The real trouble is it always dries out in the summer which limits the type of plants we can plant. I would like to plant some type of native grass that can survive the wet time and the dry time. I want to place tall “pecker poles”, 2-3 inch wooden posts that are 8 feet tall. These will be easier to see when the alfalfa is planted, therefore allowing us to avoid the damp area with the haying equipment and tractor. I may even put up some bird nests for the red winged blackbirds. I would love to put up bluebird boxes but I have only ever seen one bluebird here, we are too low in elevation.

I started dragging the dirt out of the swamp area but the predicted rain turned into a deluge and I was loosing traction and body heat fast. I stopped long enough to hike up onto the rock bluff to take pictures. Zeke decided that he had enough confinement time and had dug his way under the yard fence and joined me. He did kill lots of vole and mice while he was busy getting covered in mud.

Every time I go up on the hillside and see the old rock wall I want to rebuild it. Since it has taken me multiple years to work on the one behind my house this will have to wait until I win the lottery or a parent needs a summer punishment for their child. The child must not be afraid of snakes and must be able to move 150# rocks. This probably limits my options way more than they were before which was slim to none before the lifting requirements were added.

Next week I attempt to get the yard mower running as I told Perm Boy that the fuel container was in the old wood shed. Turns out he found the only can of diesel not out in the machine shed. I had to drain the gas out today and managed to get the mower to start once and then it died. I put fresh fuel in it after emptying the tank. I also need to spray some weeds! Oh and the trim inside the house needs to be finished. I did no trim this weekend as the field took precedence. I will now be able to spray both fields and then they can sit idle until this fall. I suspect I will need to spray one more time this summer.

It’s still winter

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It snowed again!! Mother Nature has decided that winter is not quite over yet. This week has seen the snow and mud come back. The only real problem with this is we are running low on high quality hay. We have 7 tons of grass hay that is on the lower side, it has been sitting outside all winter in the weather. I had to give the sheep two bales, the upper prime pasture cows two bales, the alpaca got the bale I accidentally broke open with the tractor and the other cows only got one bale as they still had lots. I was barely able to move the bales due to the mud and snow. I don’t mind the snow when it freezes the ground solid but that did not happen this time.

We were thinking about lowering the fences over the back creek but we have not had a spring yet and that creek is straight winter runoff. It is pretty mild right now and there doesn’t appear to be a lot of snow in the mountains that is going to last very long. We have surface water every where so we are currently not short on ground water. The wheat looks very nice.

The animals all know to complain to “Mom” when they think they are starving. Annmarie “Mom” called me this week to say the sheep were desperate and needed food. I have been pushing big bales out to the old lamb shed for them and they can snack all day long. She fed them some alfalfa from the barn. The problem with this is we don’t have much alfalfa left stored in the barn. We do still have a stash of 100# bales in the machine shop. So I have been feeding around 150# of that a night. After two nights the animals are leaving food behind. I don’t think they were starving. Every animal we have knows this and they all bug her for food and she in turn bugs me until I feed them. Sometimes the animals have a valid complaint and need food, but most of the time that is not the case, they are just looking for a handout.

It’s been a long week

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It was a long week, as Annmarie was out of town and I was alone. I had big plans of painting the entire house during that time. Those plans did not come to fruition. I had to do the morning chores and then come home and do the evening chores, go to work and get cows back into their respective “fenced areas”. Fenced should mean they cannot get out but it doesn’t really work that way. The bull needs another fence to keep him away from the creek crossing. I think I am going to run a fence up from the corner of our yard. We have a fence already up the hill slightly for the ram pasture enclosure. I just need to run it directly up to the top of the hill. The only real problem is the hill is solid rock! I will have to put in rock cribs the entire length of the fence. I may get 6-8 T posts in the ground if I am lucky. I really need a teenager to come over and help me when I do that fence. If you have two people on the fence driver sometimes you can drive them in when I cannot do it alone. It will have to be very wet ground also. Luckily, filling up the rock cribs will not be hard as they are readily available and close at hand.

The big score this week was the stock racks for the pickup. They actually work as is but we are going to look into having them painted. I got an amazing price and I will call the powder coat shop in Hermiston and see what they would charge to paint them. If it’s over $300 then I will be doing it myself with a grinder and a multitude of cans of spray paint. I am hoping its under the budget! We will be able to move any of the sheep we need in the pickup and not have to pull a trailer. I need the racks to look nice so that I can get them mounted to the pickup.

Winter decided to make a strong comeback. So now we are dealing with snow and mud. This makes moving the large bales very hard with my small tractor. I am looking forward to no more large bales. I am going to get the tire fixed on my beat up pickup bed trailer. This will let me store 20 bales of hay on the trailer and just hook onto it with the tractor and feed the cows out of the trailer. I can keep the trailer under cover in the machine shop and still feed 2k pounds of feed at a time. Zeke is making us crazy again. He has decided that he doesn’t appreciate the constraints of being fenced into the yard. Since we have taught him to go around, under or through fences as part of his herding jobs we have created a monster. He now knows that the front creek bank is a weak spot in our fence. He keeps digging into the bank and under the fence. I have added three separate panels to plug various holes. Nothing is working to keep him in. So now he is back on the overhead run. I am going to have to lay horizontal fencing down along the banks and wire it to the vertical pieces so that he cannot dig down within two feet of the creek bank. I suspect this may work. I cannot guarantee my hypothesis until I do the actual experiment.