June « 2016 « pdfangus

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RANDOM SHOTS FROM AROUND THE HOMESTEAD TODAY

THIS FIRST ONE IS MY FREEZER STEER AND THREE OF COURTS FOUR HEIFERS, THE FOURTH WAS LYING AT MY FEET

THIS IS THE PATCH OF MOSTLY CHICORY AND CLOVER THAT IS IN THE GARDEN…WELL THE WHOLE GARDEN HAS IT BUT i MOW PATHS BETWEEN THE ROWS. DECIDED A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO TO LET THIS PATCH GO AND SEE WHAT A COVER IT MAKES. WILL BE THE SPOT FOR TOMATOES NEXT YEAR.

THIS IS COVER CROP BROADCAST ON A SACRIFICE ARE IN THE HORSE SIDE…SOWN ABUT SIX WEEKS AGO AFTER GRAZING.

I AM LIKING MY PLANT TOWERS….PICKED TWO CUCUMBER AFTER TAKING THIS PHOTO

PICKED MY FIRST TOMATOE FORM THE TOWER AS WELL….OKAY IT IS A CHERRY TOMATO BUT ITS MINE. AND THE WIND HAS BROKEN THIS PLANT OFF TWICE.

GETTING A HANDFULL OF KIOWA BERRYS EVERY DAY FOR A FEW DAYS NOW…

NIMROD LIKES TO LAY IN THIS SPOT TO WORK ON HIS TAN.

THE SQUASH ARE DOING OKAY BUT THE LETTUCE HAS BOLTED…HAVE SOME MORE ON THE WAY

MARIES GUARD DOG….HE WILL ONLY LEAVE HER TO GO OUTSIDE WITH ME.

NEW SEEDLINGS BEHIND THE CHICKEN TRACTOR….I PUT DOWN SOME SEED EVERY TIME i MOVE IT

GUARD DOG ON THE LEFT…..WATCH DOG ON THE RIGHT

NELLY IS BACK TO WORK EATING WEEDS

PEPPERS ARE DOING OKAY EXCEPT THE DEER KEEP EATING THEM…ATE ONE DOWN TO THE STALK THE OTHER NIGHT AND WAS STANDING THERE WATCHING ME WHEN I WENT TO WORK IN THE MORNING.

i DO LIKE MY PLANT TOWERS…PRETTY AND PRODUCTIVE. THE COLOR IS FILLING IN WITH THE FOILAGE…THE TOMATO IN THE TOP WAS A BRANCH THAT FROKE OFF OANTHER PLANT AND i STUCK IT IN THE TOP…THRIVING

ROCKS AND WATER….THIS IS A TUB OF GRAVEL FROM A FAILED AQUAPONICS EXPERIMENT….i COULD NOT ECONOMICALLY GET THE PUMPING RIGHT….SINCE THEN IT HAS BEEN A COVER CROP EXPERIMENT…HAD RYE AND VETCH IN IT OVER THE WINTER….NOW PEAS AND MILLET

THIS MATER IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BASEBALL….NOT LONG NOW

SPATTER IS HEADING FOR THE SHADE

SQUASH AND ZUCHINI ARE DOING WELL IN THE BALE GARDEN ROW. CUCUMBER ON THE FAR END ON THE TRELLIS

SQUASH ARE BLOOMING AND BOOMING…PICKED THREE TODAY THE SIZE OF FOOTBALLS AND GAVE THEM TO THE CHICKENS.

SUMMER COVER CROP BUCKET 1….THE DEER LIKES THIS AS WELL…KEEPS IT MUNCHED.

SECOND PLANTING OF SUMMER COVER PLANTED LATE MAY

TWO BUCKETS OF THIRD PLANTING SUMMER COVER…PLANTED EARLY JUNE…THESE BUCKET HAD COOL SEASON CROP…i CUT OFF THE COOL SEASON…SCATTERED THE WARM SEASON SEED AND CHOPPED UP THE COOL SEASON RESIDUE ON TOP OF THE SEED…IT WAS MOUNDED UP SIX INCHES AND THE SUMMER COVER IS COMING THRU IT.

THIS BUCKET OF SUMMER COVER WAS PLANTED MID JUNE…PREVIOUS COVER WAS FED TO THE GOATS

SUMMER COVER POT 1 THE DEEER HAVE NOT BOTHERED THIS ONE

SUNFLOWER HAS SHOT UP IN THIS ONE

DID I MENTION THAT I LIKE MY PLANT TOWERS

TOMATOS…3 PLANTINGS….3 VARIEIIES

OLDER CHICKEN TRACTOR TRACKS….NOW THE HORSES GRAZED THIS LOT IN EARLY JUNE AND i MOWED IT AFTER THEY CAME OUT SO THIS IS ALL REGROWTH.

PETE IS ALWAYS CURIOUS AND ASKING ……WATCHA GOT?

Sunday, June 12, 2016	BEEN AN interesting couple of weeks. Marie has had cataract surgery on both eyes since I last took keyboard to hand. First one went smooth as glass…a week later the second was more difficult and she had pain in her eye for a couple of days….it is rapidly getting better now…she is not even wearing glasses and only needs a 1.50 magnifyer off the shelf store glasses to read. Definitely cheaper than my auto tint bifocals……. Now after the rainest May on record it has gotten hot and dry……. Hay making is going on at full tilt whereever you look…… My second cousin Lee, came by yesterday and I helped him pull a new wire to the outlet where the freezer is….there was a short somewhere and he had us up and going in no time. people everywhere having experiencs with copperheads….I wear my judge when ever I am out side…but all I have seen are black snakes until yesterday….I was pulling some weeds from a bed in the garden and apache was following something…all of a sudden a good sized garter sanke appeared in front of me…and right below my hand. Almost fell over backward. not having any cows here the grass is taking over. I decided I needed a few calves to eat some grass and hold the snakes a little farther from the house. So this morning I put a bridle on Perkins and we did some cow moving…Three of the weaned calves had gotten back with the cows…so first step was to open the gate and gather the cows and sort off those calves….one of them was a steer that I am bringing home to begin feeding for freezer beef….Then I sorted off four of Courts heifers and we brought those five over to my house. Finished around 10:30 or 11:00. It was beginning to get hot…. Perkins is still a great old man and is beginning to like cow work…He had one moment where he apparently thought the mineral feeder was a grizzly bear…thought he was going to unseat me for a bit but we worked thru it…Then we rode up on a lame turkey dusting himself in a dust hole….may flies and small black horse flies were both pretty bad…….then after lunch I mowed and reseeded the paddock the horses have been in this week…. Our nanny goat Nellie, finally had her long awaited Kid….A single male goat born on D Day….I named him Ike…got off to a slow start with him being a little dumb and her not wanting to stand to be nursed….I milked her and fed him with a syringe the first evening…next morning he had a full tummy…I check him two or three times a day and he always has a full tummy and she normally has one teat or the other flaccid, but this afternoon was the first time I have actually seen him nurse. She apparently is a pretty good milker and one side is all he can take at a serving.
Friday, June 17, 2016	I would have slept thru the storm if Dee Dee had not been so scared of the noise.,,,Court just came by to check on us…I said that I did not think the storm was bad here….I watched out the window as the southern sky was continuously lit up with lightening and thought to myself that Richmond must be catching hell….about that time we had a brilliant flash that hit within a mile or two and the whole house reverberated….next one was 12 to 15 miles away…Court said that Hoge Smith lost a hay barn,,,didn’t know yet what from…I just poured out and inch of rain from the gauge but the power did not even blink here…..the rain was hard enough that the direct teevee was out for about 49 minutes…it is still misting rain this morning…..turned on the news and sure enough Richmond got hammered….thousands without power…trees and power lines down ….roads blocked and the schools are closed.
Sunday, June 19, 2016	Well when I went out Friday morning all of the cows were in the ell behind my house…they were not supposed to be there…I had apparently left the electric fence off and they just helped themselves and walked thru and tore down a lot of electric fence…..so I spent Friday morning moving cows and fixing fence….when I got it back up and on it turned em okay….Friday afternoon I managed to sow one of the front paddocks and mow the grass the horses didn’t eat.. Marie had to work Saturday morning and I spent the morning cutting grass and trimming. In the afternoon she wanted to take me out to eat for Fathers day…I told her I was not her father but she was insistent. early afternoon I put Nelly and Ike in the garden lot so she could get some grass…she had pretty well mowed where she was….Ike was running and playing…I went to the house to get the camera and when I came back he dashed into the horse round pen and got stepped on….he was dead before I could get to him….I cried like a baby while I was burying him, and Marie is still bummed out and angry over it….when we went to eat we drove across Hewlett road to Jericho Road and saw why Hoge Smith lost a barn….both sides of the north Anna River looked like a war zone…trees down everywhere…..there was a storm cell that went thru there that must have been ferocious…. Sunday morning I took Perkins to Lake Anna and we rode with a small crowd to celebrate the 75th birthday of Jim Leahy….I hope to still be riding if and when I hit that milestone. we rode 4.77 miles and then had some snacks and birthday cake and came on home….Perkins did well but he is not in the shape he was in….He was ready to quit when we got back to the trailer….we got back home before it got hot.

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Ramblings of the Mad Man in Beaverdam

Monthly Archives: June 2016

PDF FARM SHOTS 6 26 2016

PDF update 6/19/2016