Northern Farmer

It was in the lower seventies here today and it felt like a heat wave after the week we had. But I’m telling you I haven’t seen it as good as this around these parts in a few years! Is it ever green! And on Thursday evening we received a strong two inches of rain and the land took it without a problem. Most all of the corn is up and looking pretty good considering the cool weather we’ve been having. The alfalfa field are actually starting to lay over, or go down as we call it from being so top heavy and thick. That’s not much of a big deal, the haybine can pick it up and cut it good when the time comes. Plus one rule of thumb, when the hay starts laying down by itself that means there’s allot of hay out there and we can sure use it. Might be interesting if we’d have a winter where the only thing I have to do is feed from all of our own feed and nothing boughten to worry about. That’s the way it always was till these multiple severe droughts taught us not to take things for granted. With seventy five acres of corn even half a crop will be more than enough to carry us through with silage. But I’m hoping for a decent crop and having the silage pit heaped and corn cribs full. This year with the moister in the ground, which we never had the last two years, the corn should go quite a bit further even if we have a severe dry spell.
I had to laugh at myself last evening. I was out in a large pasture and wasn’t satisfied with how the solar electric fence was working. The tester I use is a five light tester and all I could get was four very weak lights and that meant that a cow would hardly get a shock at all. The grass was grown up and was over the bottom wire. Now I sure haven’t had that problem for a couple years. Then it struck me, years ago, when it rained regular, I always had to go out and cut the grass under the bottom wire by hand or else the fences would lose their zip. Ah, to be getting back to normal, what a blessing! And with that rain we had the creek sure is a long way from dry. Almost out of its banks, might even spur the carp into running upstream from the near by Mississippi River. Wouldn’t mind if they did cause I can smoke early season carp into tasting like a good ham, even put pine apple slices on them in the last phase of smoking. Pretty good stuff!
During this in between phase, in between because the crops are all in and coming up fine but its a little to early to cut hay means allot of smaller jobs being done around the place. Tuning up fences and such. And with that job comes wildlife watching. There’s plenty to watch too! As I was working here and there today with the sun shining and the sky a beautiful blue I could only appreciate the wonderful creation that God has provided for us our here. We live in a shallow valley and many times of the year it ain’t all to impressive but this early June its spectacular! Just bursting with life. On the gravel road that passes by our place sometimes you can go for hours without one car or pickup going by. Its so peaceful that its hard to describe. Off in the distance one can still hear the thunder of the county road. But its not to disturbing. In the morning out in the back woods I can hear the tom turkeys gobbling, pheasant roosters are making a racket, a multitude of other birds are making the sounds they were created to make and its just something else! Maybe that’s why I like working on fences so much. The peacefulness of it, no noise except the noise that God put there. Its really difficult to put it into words.
Late afternoon we moved a hundred White Rock chickens to a couple of chicken tractors and the rest will have to wait till I mend one that had the chicken wire ripped apart last year by some strong varmint. Then in a couple weeks we’re getting an order of broilers to fill the remaining chicken tractor. The Partridge Rocks are doing well in the old hen house and I’m setting up a chicken area in the huge old dairy barn for the hens that I want to cluck in a few weeks. Another small building behind our house here we’re getting ready for a small batch of ducks that will arrive with the broilers when they are delivered to the local co-op. This year I want to get it all done by the time June is finished because its so nice to just drive to the co-op and pick everything up. Plus there’s no postage, plus buying through the co-op we get a five percent discount from the hatchery’s catalog price. Best of all worlds with that deal.
Yup, farm living, not all that bad when a person gets right down to it. Oh, got some Amish wanting to buy seed corn from me this next year. I thought isn’t that a turn around! Old farmer Tom supplying the Amish in the area with seed corn. I’da never dreamed that a few years back, but the word does get around just as the word is getting around about our beef and chickens. It seems a person puts their nose to the grindstone and their faith in God things do happen, beyond their wildest dreams!

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