I put gates at the end of the lane and an electric fence around the house and barnyard, and turned the cows into the fields for the fall grazing. The cows ate the new hay seeding, (Square-Foot Saturday), as low as they could, pictured below.
Square-Foot Saturday 26, November 19, 2011
November 19, 2011
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Autumn for Square-Foot Saturday
October 21, 2011
We had a short, yet brilliant, season of fall colors.
I’m going to give Square-Foot Saturdays a rest, checking in occasionally if anything changes. We are expecting a hard frost tonight, so the growing season is pretty much over.
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Square-Foot Saturday 25, October 15, 2011
October 16, 2011
My friend Mark came over on Tuesday and helped me sort the cows away from the calves. Then we ran them through the chute and gave them their second round of vaccinations.
We like to leave them in the corral for a couple of days until the bawling slows. If you move them right away, the cows will go through about any fence just to stand next to their calf. It’s probably driven by milk hormones. After three days the cows are ready to go to greener pastures.
Unfortunately we received two inches of rain on Wednesday. The corral dirt turned into slop, and Dad and I had to slog through the mud to sort and move the calves. The steers are now at my farm, and the heifers are at my parent’s farm.
We still haven’t had a hard frost. The light frost of a few weeks ago only browned the pumpkin and squash leaves.
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Square-Foot Saturday 24, October 8, 2011
October 9, 2011
We buried a family friend yesterday. Sgt. Jakob J. Roelli was killed in action in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. He was 24.
I remember talking to a friend in the late 80’s. He had joined the National Guard to help pay for his college. We thought there was no way he would ever see active duty, because the US was done with war. Vietnam was still fresh, and the Soviet Union was collapsing. He ended up seeing active duty in the first Iraq war.
Now this young man who I’ve known since he was a baby is dead. We’ve been in Afghanistan for ten years. The original intent as I understood it, was to oust the Taliban and bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. I don’t know what our goal is now. I’m sad.
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Square-Foot Saturday 23, October 1, 2011
October 1, 2011
Still growing.
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Square-Foot Saturday 22, September 24, 2011
September 24, 2011
Growth is slowing considerably.
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Square-Foot Saturday 21, September 17, 2011
September 17, 2011
A cold week, we started the outdoor wood burner today.
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Square-Foot Saturday 20, September 10, 2011
September 11, 2011
I got about three round-bales per acre. Now we’ll see how much growth before frost, and grazing with cattle.
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Square-Foot Saturday 19, September 3, 2011
September 3, 2011
I cut it this week. Of course it rained twice, including an inch just this morning. It seems to be a “Murphy’s Law” of farming; ‘Cutting hay makes it rain.’
I am happy to see the new growth coming up. I hope taking the weeds off will leave a nice growth of alfalfa before the fall frost and winter.
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Square-Foot Saturday 18, August 27, 2011
August 27, 2011
Another week of growth.
This is not what I envisioned when I started this series. You can hardly see the alfalfa through the weeds. I eat a huge slice of humble pie every time I post.
So I’m including a picture of last year’s new hay seeding for my wounded pride. It’s ready to be cut for a third time this summer, and there isn’t a weed visible.
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