Keeping Busy Here ...

Finally … Plowing the Garden!

It's been a wet spring until just recently. Then it got really hot this week & went up to the low 90's. During this time, we've had the tractor in the shop and were focused on lambing and moving hay with our skid steer loader. The tractor came back on Tuesday and we immediately plowed the garden area before it rained late the next day.

Glenda & the Brush Hog

 Glenda is always nosing around and was fascinated with the freshly plowed garden soil. She even spent time following the brush hog around as the grass around the garden area was mowed ...
We're expecting our neighbor over this weekend to run his tractor mounted rototiller over the garden.
Now the weather will be cooler for a few days, but should be dry enough to do some planting.

Final Load of Hay ...

The next day we moved the last of the round bales of hay before it clouded up for evening t-storms. The farm across the road was raking and baling this season's new hay in that perfect window of hot weather and sunshine.

Steers & Heifers Watching 

My job is to man the gate. The curious steers & heifers were watching and started to meander over towards me when we pulled in for the first load. They quickly lose interest since we don't have a feed bucket!

Hay Season Returns!

Cool Overcast Day to Haul Hay

It's that time of year again when the fields are cut, raked, & baled into hay.  We've had some good weather between days with thunderstorms or days when thunderstorms threatened.  Local temperatures have already hit a high of 89 degrees & we've had the window air conditioners running ... then a day came along like is pictured above. We're wearing our sweatshirts and it's overcast and windy!

Wary Heifers & Steers ...

We were watched by a small group of young Holstein & dairy cross heifers & steers. They are pastured in the field surrounding the barn where the round bales are stored.
Here they are below on day two, out in the sunshine & cautiously approaching the truck, lol.

Looks Scary - Don't Get Too Close!

Is Spring Officially Here?

We're Looking For Spring!

The ewes were getting a little snack on some grass while their round bales of hay were being refreshed ...  You can get a little glimpse of the pasture just beginning to green up.  As sunset approached, we took a few pictures before the ewes were led back to the Loafing Shed and their boring hay.

Dorset Ewe #1445 & Rambouillet Friend - That's #145 Just Behind (see the 45 on her hip?)

Right now, the ewes look a bit ragged after winter and we'll have to get the shearing done soon. As of today, it looks like the temperatures are going to be up in the 50's & 60's for the rest of the week here at Wild Rose Farm.  Spring is here!

Got Snacks?

Buying Hay ...

Round Bales - Smooth Bromegrass

Yes, it's a bit out of season, but we're buying hay.  Here it is stacked in a barn.  It's the time of year when farmers start to look at their hay supplies and think about where they're going to put the new crop of hay. We keep an eye on the Farm & Dairy weekly paper out of Salem, Ohio, on the chance that someone local to us will advertise.  
We will have hay here on the farm "carried over" and adding this will satisfy us for next winter.   And ... unlike hurrying to haul hay out of the field & get it under cover, we will peck away hauling this as we have time.  We've done this before, but usually with small square bales ...

Hay Season Goes On ...

Backing Down The Driveway With A Round Bale

Temps are in the 80's now, headed to 90 (ugh), and yesterday we got another batch of hay hauled in and stored.  The skid steer makes it much easier to stack bales in the barn and it saves a lot of space.  We put all of our hay under cover keeping the loss to an absolute minimum.

Filling The Empty Barn

Since we have a dirt floor, we also put the bales on top of pallets  ... farmers are always looking for sources of used pallets to scrounge for free or to buy very cheaply!   So many uses around the farm ...

Dorset Ram Approval On The 1st Bale Of New Hay

We're expecting heavy T-storms for the rest of the week, so no one has hay cut and down right now.  We need about a dozen more and then we're stocked up on big round bales for the upcoming year. 

Yep, This Bale Is Good Too! 

Driving In Circles ....

Round Bales On The Trailer!

It's time to haul hay again at Wild Rose Farm.  We've been driving in circles to pick up round bales of hay this last week.  This final group of bales were made just before a rain last week, so here we are picking them up today ....
We like to get the hay in before they get any weather on them, but the farmers out there know that sometimes it's all you can do to just get bales made before a rain!  We've gotten about half of what we'll need for the next year.  More to come .....

Fencing Out Glenda ....

We rigged up this wall of fence panels to keep the marauding donkey out!  There she is up behind the barn .... all of the fresh grass and she will invariably put the munch on the 1st cutting round bales. She just reaches over the panels if they're on the ground.  I suppose it tastes different and also has slightly different minerals, etc., but it's no fun trying to extract & spike a bale in January that's been severely nibbled ..... :) 

Hay Season Already!

It's been unseasonably warm for most of the spring so haymaking was in full swing around here for the last week or so.  Here are a couple of shots from a very busy day yesterday around Wild Rose Farm.
Highs reached the 90's, so we were thankful to be hauling big round bales, not stacking square bales in the barn loft!

Round Bales In The Field

We had some other fun activities too ...... more pics to post when we get home from visiting the Great Lakes Sheep & Wool Show this afternoon!

Temps Drop!

Mike Feeding The Sheep

And boy did the temperature drop at Wild Rose Farm last week.  We went from low 50's to the teens overnight.  Luckily, the rain tapered off as the high winds & cold front came through Western PA.  We had some snow, but it mostly got blown around.  Then on Friday is was really blowing & cold all day.  Our neighbor Mike is helping with the sheep right now.  This is his first experience working closely with sheep & we warned him that sheep were as bad as pigs rushing in for the feed trough!  He thought it was kind of neat (!), but you've got to hold the bucket up and make sure that they don't hit your knees & knock you off of your feet ...... at least he doesn't have to worry about the ram rushing him now that he's back in the ram pen.

Fluffing The Round Bale Hay ......

Step two was sliding in the sides of the round bale feeders.  As the sheep eat, the sides slide in and collapse the feeding area.  The little tunnel on the right of the picture shows how the sheep stick their heads in and eat the best parts of the hay.  The stems are forked out for bedding and the bale is "fluffed" to pull the fresh hay out within reach.  That's why all of the ewes are surrounding the feeders now !  They really put the munch on the hay when the temperature drops.