Full Summer On The Farm

I already had 200 small square bales in the hayloft, but then the big round bales I'd ordered began to arrive - 80 of them, 28 at a time. I unloaded them with the tractor and bale spear:

They will feed the herd for 6 months of winter. Paying for them was difficult, though, and I now have trouble seeing the horses from the house because the bales block my view:

The dwarf Red Delicious apple is producing fruit nicely, though they're still only babies now:

I found a dead mole in the north field. It looked like a Star-Nose mole but didn't have the star nose. I looked it up and discovered that it was a Hairy-tailed Mole (Parascalops breweri):

I flipped it over on its back and could see its bare nose (without a star) and its tale, which gave it the name, Hairy-tailed Mole:

Two big sections of apple tree had died over the winter, so I used the chainsaw to cut them off:

Then I used logging chains to drag them behind the tractor, across the gravel road and hay field, into the woods:

The Magic Carpet Spirea did well over the winter and began to bloom:

They are pretty flower clusters but apparently this variety doesn't get as big or bloom as heavily as the Bridalveil Spirea:

The tall Cedar tree near the county road needed to go, so I scored its trunk with the chainsaw and then pushed it over with the tractor, thereby avoiding the electric wires overhead:

I used the logging chains to tow this tree into the woods, just as I had the apple tree sections:

I left the trunk sticking up. I've learned that I can't cut them low enough to mow over, and then the grass grows up around it so I can't even see where it is:

The Last Days Of Summer

As our nights got cooler, the morning mists and dew grew heavier. This morning view is looking from the dog yard out over the Ninebark bushes, gravel road, north field and the trees beyond:

One pair of pigeons produced another baby. I feared it wouldn't make it, but it's been doing just fine:

The Wild Cucumber vines bloomed everywhere but were especially dramatic atop the old-fashioned rose bush. Alas, no photo of the combination turned out and I had to settle for just a photo of the Wild Cucumber blossoms:

Goldenrod, Burdock and Cattails abound along the fence line:

The New England Asters began to bloom. I hope they'll attract masses of butterflies like they did last year. There are a number of Monarch butterflies around but they won't hold still for photos:

One day I found half of my north field mowed:


And the next day my neighbor began tedding the mowed hay. Tedding is turning it over so it will dry thoroughly in the sun:

There was so much dew that he had to ted the mowed hay repeatedly:

And then, just before rain was expected, he and his uncle came to bale the hay. There were only 54 bales because the drought had kept it from growing for a month, but it was beautiful hay:

The best part for me was standing around afterwards and chatting:

The pink Rose Mallows began to bloom. They produce all their buds at the top of a big stalk which displays nicely outdoors, but renders them unusable for cut flowers, at least until the end of the season when there are just a few left. As you can see, the opening buds are gigantic like the flowers:

With the neighbors' barn and horse across the road, I thought they made a great late summer picture. You can see a red Rose Mallow bud on the top left, just about to open and add to the color:

The Red Poll Girls

The cows were fat and happy, lazily grazing on the short grass in the south field:

Life was good, but they were bored:

Their thick, winter coats were shedding and they did their best to rub off the extra hair on the Box Elder tree:

Then I opened up the far south field for them, just about the time the Shadbush tree blossoms were fading. There was longer grass there:

Gracie and Amy were so full of grass that they could only stand and burp up their cuds:



Then, on the same day the apple trees burst into bloom, I walked into the barnyard with bowls of grain and began ringing the cowbell. They knew that meant to follow me out the gate and across the gravel road - and that's just what they did:

And the reason for the move was to get them into the north field before the grass became so long that the weeds would take over. It looked to me that my years of fighting weeds had begun to pay off. All I could see across the field was grass, clover and dandelions:

Fat and happy:

A big thunderstorm was predicted for that night, but it never happened - just a mild rain to help the grass grow even faster:

I followed the cows around for a while, snapping pictures:

And then I exited through the gate, taking one look back:

Later on in the day, I snapped a photo from across the road, just as some of the cows were coming in for a drink of cool water. I have a pipe running under the gravel road, through which I can pump water to the their stock tank:

Springtime Romp Across The North Field

It was a lovely spring afternoon and I was didn't want to waste it by sitting at my computer. Suddenly I jumped up from my chair, called the dogs, put on a coat (it wasn't very warm) and headed out the door. We crossed the gravel road and entered the north field:

There had been no livestock in the north field all winter so there was no manure to worry about. I let the dogs run without much hollering at them to keep them nearby. They were ecstatic (look at little Jack, running joyously on the right):

It was great fun and I loved seeing my dogs so very happy. That yellow rectangle in the foreground was one of the plastic "Electric Fence" signs which I conscientiously placed around the perimeter when I first moved here. Alas, they've been blowing off ever since:


The electric fence was turned off, so when we reached the other side of the field, we crossed right through. I had to lift the wires for gigantic Seamus and we all then began walking east along the outside of the fence. Those white pipes up ahead were just that - white pipes, part of the great quantities of junk left behind by the previous owners. After hauling away multiple dumpsters full of junk and finding a home for about 80 old tires, I still have quite a bit left. But at least it's not in the fields anymore:

Once we were across the fence, the dogs slowed down - and instead of running ahead, they were locking onto interesting smells and lagging behind. I'd say that a lot of wildlife had been using this path when we weren't looking:

With five dogs on the move, there seemed to be dogs going in every direction. It is hard to keep an eye on them all:

We were headed for the corner, where there is a gate and a path down into the woods and back up to another field (of which I own a tiny sliver):

I considered following the path downhill into the woods but knew how wet it would be:

So instead we headed back in the other direction:

We investigated some big rocks, probably dug out of the field when it was first prepared for farming:

And then we headed back toward the house and barn:

There was no traffic, so I let them run on ahead and cross the gravel road. It had been a short but happy romp on a sunny spring day:

A Tractor Drive Along The Fence Line

We'd had a snowfall overnight which coated everything beautifully, so I took a break from morning chores and drove the tractor down the gravel road, stopping briefly to photograph the Red Poll girls in the south field:

I drove down the road and turned left into the periphery of the north field. My intent was to snap pictures of the wintry beauty, beginning with this collapsing entryway for a mobile home which once stood here:

The driving was difficult because much of the snow was above the tractor's axle, but the scenery was glorious:

This road down into the woods is on my land, but outside of the fenced field. I seldom go there except to dump brush (on the left of the lane) and boulders (on the right):

A spruce tree:

The woods were coated with white powder and altogether lovely:

A fallen tree added a focal point for this photo:

An old dead tree which sprouted a new attempt to live:

A White Pine, starting up, and a large fallen hawthorn, which I cut out of the field after I bought the property:

A wall of huge boulders, hauled out of the field with large equipment, many years before I bought the property:

When I reached the far northern edge of the field, I looked back at my own barn and house. I used the zoom lens, which makes them look closer than they really were:

And the neighbors' farm, pretty enough for a Christmas card. But I hadn't finished the chores yet, so put my camera away and began driving back to the barn: