Well, summer must be done - the humming birds have left the country. We have two feeders that hang right outside my kitchen window and I've been watching them war over who has access to the sugar water since May. It seems lonely now to look out at the empty airspace before me. Not that you can get an accurate count of how many tiny birds there are circling the feeders at any one time, but we think we probably have five or six mating pairs, and come August when the juveniles join the adults to top up their tanks for their flight south, I almost feel a need an air trafic controller to keep from being speared with their pointy little beaks while I'm flipping burgers for supper.
Harvest is in full swing - or it was before Mother Nature decided to slow things down with a rain. Growing conditions were perfect to begin with this summer. The soil moisture was perfect for planting, the weather was sunny and warm with timely rains, never letting the plants starve for water. Even in July, when the temperatures started to climb, the constant sunshine was still good news for the crops. Unfortunately, it got to be too much of a good thing and the yield potential started sliding backwards. Although the grain heads were there to make big yields, the heat and lack of moisture dried the kernels up and the bushels went down. Now, to add insult to injury, the weather is being finicky with cool rainy days that hold back the harvest and drop the grades on the grain. Such is farming - always next year country.
Because we have so little to combine, we are done except for a few acres of oats down in the low spots where it stays green longer. While we wait for that to ripen, Glen is busy baling straw and swathing slough hay. The hay crop was fantastic this year and we have more than we'll ever use in two or even three years. We'll be putting some of it up for sale, and Glen plans to custom feed a neighbor's herd and add to ours as well, so we'll put a dent in the pile by spring.
I was gone on holiday for a week, so I am seriously behind in my gardening, pickling, and yard work. Glen entertained his cousin and her family while I was away, hosting a bonfire and wiener roast one night. It's something we like to do often during the summer, but I always try to have the grass cut before so that the mosquitos are less of a problem. I spent all day Sunday mowing the lawn - it hadn't seen a lawn mower for three weeks - I hope his guests didn't get eaten alive!
While he was keeping the home fires burning, I was out in Kananaskis Country in Alberta, camping with my sister, hiking a few trails and trying out white water rafting. Although I love my Prairies, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, I do love to visit the mountains.
Now, it's back to the grind. The first day back to work I couldn't even find my office keys (a subliminal message, do you think?) , and once I got back into that groove, our daughter, Jesse, has been in daily contact trying to get plans underway for a wedding next year. Come this time next year, I'm liable to need an extended holiday.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
HOLIDAY WEEKEND - FARMER STYLE
It's Sunday afternoon, on the long weekend in August, and we're doing what we usually do - getting ready for harvest. I remember last year when we actually went camping with my brother and sisters; that was one for the record books - it's not often you can get a farmer off the farm when the grain is ripening and the hay needs stacking.
We are done baling hay now. Mitchell finished that job earlier this week, but there was no sitting back and taking it easy after that. Glen has been working most of this week and Mick has been out at the farm catching up on some of the jobs that needed doing. One of Glen's main concerns this past while has been the weak current going through the electric fencing. The last thing that we want is our cows losing their healthy respect for the snap they get when they touch that wire. The voltage is just high enough to make them want to leave it alone - if they discover that the jolt isn't any worse if they just plow right through it than if they just stand there, it won't take them long to figure out that one good run, and they're through the pain and into the field or ditch of their choosing.
We haven't had any rain in almost a month now so the ground is very dry. Not only could the crops and gardens use a rain, but dust-dry ground is not a very good "ground" for electricity, either. The charge just drains off and there's not much snap in the wire. Another problem is that plant life (weeds and grasses) can grow up and touch the wire as well, which also drains the charge off. Mitchell was sent out to check the wires for these problems the other day, and while he was chopping down cat tails as he went through a slough he tripped and fell into the water and against the fence. He had been doing a good job of clearing off the plant drain so there was a good jolt - especially with him so wet. He says his arm still hurts, and my cell phone, which was in his pocket at the time, is also fried. I don't know if the dunk in the water would have killed it on its own, but the jolt of electricity certainly finished it off. Now Glen and I both have new phones.
On the other pasture's fence Mick said he found the problem right away. There was a tree that had fallen against the fence. He said there were cows not too far away who were reaching through the wires for grass on the other side, and when he lifted off the tree, they all jumped back and bawled with surprise. They won't be going anywhere near it again for a while.
This afternoon the men are out trying to get our old swather ready to cut the fall rye. Every year fixing the poor, olf thing gets to be more of a project. From my point of view, I think we could lease a combine with a straight-header and get the job done in one day, but what do I know? Oh well, the job will get done, one way or another.
I am on two weeks holidays at the moment. My original plan was to spend the first week doing gardening and writing (different projects I'd promised to work on) and the second week camping in the mountains with my sister from Calgary. I'm not too sure how things will all work out now as there is a family medical emergency with one of my brothers-in-law. I am trying to get all these projects all caught up so I'm free to go if need be. I was up by 6:00 yesterday morning to pick, wash, prepare, and pickle yellow beans and cucumbers, and also picked and shelled two rows of peas before supper. I think I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow last night. There's nothing like a hloiday weekend to make you feel relaxed, eh?
We are done baling hay now. Mitchell finished that job earlier this week, but there was no sitting back and taking it easy after that. Glen has been working most of this week and Mick has been out at the farm catching up on some of the jobs that needed doing. One of Glen's main concerns this past while has been the weak current going through the electric fencing. The last thing that we want is our cows losing their healthy respect for the snap they get when they touch that wire. The voltage is just high enough to make them want to leave it alone - if they discover that the jolt isn't any worse if they just plow right through it than if they just stand there, it won't take them long to figure out that one good run, and they're through the pain and into the field or ditch of their choosing.
We haven't had any rain in almost a month now so the ground is very dry. Not only could the crops and gardens use a rain, but dust-dry ground is not a very good "ground" for electricity, either. The charge just drains off and there's not much snap in the wire. Another problem is that plant life (weeds and grasses) can grow up and touch the wire as well, which also drains the charge off. Mitchell was sent out to check the wires for these problems the other day, and while he was chopping down cat tails as he went through a slough he tripped and fell into the water and against the fence. He had been doing a good job of clearing off the plant drain so there was a good jolt - especially with him so wet. He says his arm still hurts, and my cell phone, which was in his pocket at the time, is also fried. I don't know if the dunk in the water would have killed it on its own, but the jolt of electricity certainly finished it off. Now Glen and I both have new phones.
On the other pasture's fence Mick said he found the problem right away. There was a tree that had fallen against the fence. He said there were cows not too far away who were reaching through the wires for grass on the other side, and when he lifted off the tree, they all jumped back and bawled with surprise. They won't be going anywhere near it again for a while.
This afternoon the men are out trying to get our old swather ready to cut the fall rye. Every year fixing the poor, olf thing gets to be more of a project. From my point of view, I think we could lease a combine with a straight-header and get the job done in one day, but what do I know? Oh well, the job will get done, one way or another.
I am on two weeks holidays at the moment. My original plan was to spend the first week doing gardening and writing (different projects I'd promised to work on) and the second week camping in the mountains with my sister from Calgary. I'm not too sure how things will all work out now as there is a family medical emergency with one of my brothers-in-law. I am trying to get all these projects all caught up so I'm free to go if need be. I was up by 6:00 yesterday morning to pick, wash, prepare, and pickle yellow beans and cucumbers, and also picked and shelled two rows of peas before supper. I think I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow last night. There's nothing like a hloiday weekend to make you feel relaxed, eh?
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