Yeah, I know...

...I was complaining about the heat.  But a friend called, and instead of wanting to go to Dinky's (the local weekly sale barn), he decided that this evening would be the time to bale the last of his oats as hay.  He and his son-in-law had cut the patch earlier in the week.  Now, with that impending 40 percent chance of rain looming, he felt like he'd better get it all baled.

So, braving the heat and humidity (about 106 and 65 percent humidity) we commenced to baling.  Well, the son in law did the baling and I followed along tossing bales as they came off so the horses wouldn't stomp them the next time around.  I also went along and tossed any missed parts of the windrow over into the next one.  Oats have rather smooth stems, and the baler missed a bit here and there.  Right now, every bit of hay is needed and is worth baling.  Below are a couple of shots of the afternoon.  Once the horses were tired out, we pulled the plug and headed in.  The horses were watered and fed, then we were.  Supper was great, with everything fresh from the place, except the hamburgers and noodles!  We had slaw and tomatoes, new fried potatoes, sweet onion slices, tomato slices, peaches and strawberries...all washed down with big glasses of sweet tea.

In the morning, we'll load all the bales onto the hay wagon and haul them in to the barn.

Despite their huge size, the heat really sapped the six draft horses.

Hot and dusty.  The team of six plod along, pulling the baler.

The next photo shows a couple of things.  First, it depicts one way the Amish adapt to some modern equipment.  You can see the steel wheels inside the rubber tractor tire treads.  The rubber is bolted to the steel rims.  This is permitted among the Amish, as the tires do not contain air.

This photo shows the unique arrangement for the wheels as well as the PTO drive.

The next thing to note is the power drive for the baler.  It consists of a used two-speed truck rearend.  The business end of the differential points rearward and not forward as it would if in use in a vehicle.  That point where the universal joint would normally be located has a pulley attached.  That, in turn, connects via a chain to a power take off (PTO) point.  You can see the two connected pulleys and the universal joint from the baler attached to the PTO.  This type of set up allows the user to operate most any PTO driven implement.

Another busy day!

My raspberries are about done for the season.  I did learn that the CDs turning and flashing are not the cure all for birds.  In fact, in the morning, before the breezes pick up and put the discs to moving, I saw a mockingbird and a robin helping themselves to the fruit.  So, yesterday evening, I stopped by Wally-World and found one of the yellow beach balls with eyes that I hung from the overhang on the shed.  It does seem to be helping.  We'll see.

I stopped in at the Friday version of the produce auction this morning and discovered that I should have paid the $1.50 / pint for black raspberries.  Today they were selling for $3.75 to $5.00 per PINT!!  No thanks.  I am attaching some photos of just a bit of the offerings at the sale today.  The Amish do not care for having their photos taken, so out of respect for them, I am showing only the produce and not the big crowd that was there.

Lots of cauliflower, broccoli, summer squash and other veggies.

Beets and Zukes

Black raspberries are nearing the end of their season and brought a big price.  Home grown onions ('Candy' variety) and cabbage were also on the auction block.

Late strawberries, new potatoes (Pontiacs), and some early tomatoes (Mountain Spring, I think)

I left the auction and went over past a friend's place to check on getting some lumber for a small project I'm planning.  He is one of about fifty cabinet makers in the area, but I've gotten to know him over the years.  As I pulled in, he came out and right off the bat, he wanted to know if I wanted to see his tree plantings on the back acres.  He and four or five of his kids--and the dog--piled into the Jeep and we bounced back across the pasture and checked out his plantings of persimmon, oaks, maples, and other assorted varieties.  He is rightfully pleased with the stand.  The kids enjoyed the ride and soon we were back at the shop and he found me some good scraps that will be great for my project.

This wall to wall John Deere combine filled up the road.

On the way home, I noticed this beast going down the road. The big green machine took up the entire roadway, as you can see.  Turns out it was a friend from church who was turning in just ahead and would be combining the field you can see in the left of the photo.  Ironically, as I got closer to home, I passed another wheat field where an Amish neighbor was combining wheat on a much smaller scale behind a team of four Belgians.  Interesting contrast within a few miles of each other.  I stopped to pick up one of the neighbors as he was walking from that field towards his home.  He asked if I saw the combine going and that they would be threshing the wheat in a week or so, after it had dried down a bit more in the shocks.  I ended up getting invited to the threshing and I am looking forward to helping.


Later in the day, Patti and I got to work mulching the garden.  Putting down a thick straw mulch in the garden is a habit we got into many years ago.  As I recall, I picked up the idea from the old Ruth Stout book, "The No Work Garden".  I have been keeping up pretty well with the hoe, and I gave the patch a final once-over for any weeds I'd missed.  Patti then put down a layer of newspapers and I followed scattering the thick layer of straw.  After the mulching was completed, I even splurged and gave the whole garden a good soaking to help settle the straw--and to give the plants a boost.  Now, weeding will be limited to pulling the occasional stray that pops up close to the garden plant.  It's much easier than constant hoeing.  The mulch does a few things that I like:  it keeps weeds down; it helps retain moisture; and it breaks down over the season and is eventually tilled into the garden soil to add to the tilth of the soil.

First goes a layer of newspapers

Straw is put on top of the newspapers

Done!  In the left, you can see a row of tiny turnips emerging.  We were careful to leave them plenty of open space.

Puttin' Up Hay

Since we moved from our old place, one thing I've missed is putting up hay.  I remedied that a couple of days ago when I helped some neighbors get some hay up and in the barn.  The weather has been pretty well prefect for haying--clear, bright days, low humidity, very warm temps, and cool nights.  There has been a lot of hay made during the past two or three weeks.  On Thursday afternoon, I went over and helped some friends put some good mixed hay in the barn.  It was cut from an old alfalfa field and they plan to pasture the horses on it after this cutting of hay.  There is a good mix of remnant alfalfa, some orchard grass and bit of clover and other plant varieties.  Good hay.  As we worked, the owner and a friend worked on the baler, which had developed a 'hiccup'  and had quit tying bales.  We went ahead and got a good load put on, then walked out behind the horse drawn wagon.  We loaded the jeep full of kids and headed down the road to the barn where we'd stack the hay.  It was soon off loaded and even the small kids pitched in.  In no time, we had it emptied and the horses were nibbling the leavings on the wagon.  Then it was back to the field and another load.  This finished the chore, until the baler could be repaired and put back in action.

I like putting up hay.  It is good, honest work...a lot like cutting firewood or digging postholes!

A Good Saturday

A very cool, overcast and windy morning. I visited a farm auction this morning. Over in the Amish settlement, the widow and family was selling a lot of the farm stuff. The father/farmer had been quite a collector of farm related items. In fact, he was the neighborhood go-to guy when it came to tools, handles, hardware, harness and other repair items. There was a LOT of farm stuff!!! Wagon loads of hand tools and handles. Set after set of harness. Nails, screws, bolts, and other fasteners. Gas lanterns, stoves, and clothes irons. Furniture of all kinds and a dozen or more old treadle sewing machine cabinets. There was really too much to list!! I called my brother and he came to see as well. We agreed that our Dad would really have liked the sale and all the 'junk boxes' (they were his specialty and his weakness!). Things were going a little high, due in part to the many grandchildren present who wanted to get some of grandpa's stuff. It was a good sale and I think the family did well on it.

This evening, I scrambled to find some coverings for the tomato plants I put out yesterday! I don't think it will frost tonight (maybe tomorrow night), but I didn't want to take a chance. So now I have a row of buckets and boxes covering the new plantings. In our area, May 10 is the average frost free date, but the early spring has everyone gardening early. I had waited until I thought the danger might be past, but...here we go!

Got some Gardening Done!

After yesterday’s successful program an Vincennes University Jasper Center, I came home and worked on our garden for this year. I first headed over to the home of an Amish friend who had said I could have all the horse manure and bedding I wanted to shovel! I took him up on it and soon had the better part of a pick up load. His sister also showed me the new colt of one of their driving horses. Back at home, I scattered the manure-straw mixture around my blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I also put a bit as mulch around a small plum tree.
Most of the plain manure went on the garden. I then hopped in the jeep and went over to the nearby greenhouse, also run by some Amish friends, to pickup my tomato and pepper plants.
Back in the garden, I ran the tiller through a couple of times to mix in the manure. Then, I measured off and made holes with the hoe for each of the eighteen tomato plants. A dozen are Celebrity and a half dozen are Viva Italia paste-type tomatoes. These should give us all the tomatoes we need for canning, juicing, and salsa.
I also added eighteen hills of pole beans, sowed five to the hill. I used a variety called Kentucky Blue, a cross between the old standby Kentucky Wonder and the popular Blue Lake (which I was not able to locate seed for). I will head over to our Martin County acres to cut some sassafras poles to use as bean poles.
Four sweet pepper plants and a trio of Jalepeno completed the day’s plantings.
All in all, it was a good day for ‘homesteading’!!