A "Finishing" Day...

It was a "finishing" day today...

We finished filling silo for the year...Jim finished baling and wrapping fifth cutting hay...and it was the final day of the fair...

Each year we chop corn to fill the silos, and a few weeks later we top them off with "late corn".  Late corn is corn that has intentionally been planted later than the rest...usually after wheat or barley has been harvested...for the purpose of refilling, or topping off the silos.  It's a way to make sure that we have enough corn silage to make it through the winter and until next summer when we chop again.

A forage wagon full of corn silage...

Unloading silage into the blower at the bottom of the silo...

What is he looking at?

He's looking at Jim who is at the top of the ladder, watching to see when the first silo is full.  Jim will wave at him, and he will stop unloading until Jim can swing the gooseneck at the top over into the other silo.  Rather him than me, up there at the top!

It didn't take them long here at home.  Then they unhooked the blower and took it over to the other farm to chop a little more corn over there for the heifers and dry cows...

It's a great feeling to have this job finished for the year.  Tomorrow, Jim will level off the silage in both silos, and we'll get the unloaders set up.  That sure will be a lot nicer to feed silage using an unloader rather than a pitch fork!

I made it over to the fair tonight for the livestock sale and to pick up a few things that I had entered.  Jim finished up wrapping the hay that he baled this afternoon.  Fifth cutting is now history, and as I walked in the door from the fair tonight, it started drizzling.  We could use a little moisture again!

What kind of things are you finishing up?

Fall Is Back...

Ah...the cool breeze is once again blowing through my windows!  It's actually a little chilly, but I'm not going to be complaining after the week we just had...90+ degrees and high humidity in September is just. not. ok!

This morning I was thrilled to see this...

...and I was thrilled to do this...

Jim mowed the last few acres of fifth cutting hay, and after milking we spent the evening at the West Lampeter Fair!  I watched the dairy beef show and Jim spent sometime looking at the old tractors and watching some of the happenings in the arena.

This is my brother-in-law Marty's tractor...a 1936 John Deere D...one of the many antique tractors entered in the fair this year...

It sat in the middle of a field in western Kansas for years until he convinced the owner to sell it to him.  He had it hauled east and restored it in my Dad's "shop".  A bunch of the family was around to cheer him on when he started it up for the very first time, and his Dad in western Kansas was listening in on the phone. Over the past number of years he's spent a lot of time working on this old tractor. Not too shabby for 81 years old!  (the tractor, not his wife!  :)  )

The only problem is the color...

Silo Filling Prep...

It looks like today is the day.  The chopper is scheduled to roll in around 2:00 - 3:00 this afternoon, so we spent the morning doing some final prep work in the silos.

We have two silos here at home.  The west one had been empty for some time already, so Jim put that unloader up a few weeks ago.  This morning after feeding the cows, he got the second unloader ready to winch up to the top of the silo.  There's some prep involved...first, the unloader has to be lowered so that there's enough slack in the cable for him to hook it up properly for the journey upwards.  That's my job...cranking it down.  And it's a pretty easy one...

That big electric cord is unhooked...

And here's the cable fastened to the bottom of the silo.  We don't crank it the whole way up by hand, but rather remove the handle...

...and use the electric drill that you see in this second picture.  This picture was taken when the unloader was the whole way up at the top, and you can see how much more of the cable is wrapped up...

Doesn't it look kind of like a lunar lander?  I enjoy seeing the unloader from this perspective, with the shadow against the inside of the silo...

By this time tomorrow, Jim will hopefully be leveling off the full silos, and we'll be setting up the unloaders from the top!  There's a lot of climbing the silos involved on the agenda these next few days!

To Chop Or Not...2017

We've done it before...and we'll do it again this year...

...walk the corn fields and test the moisture level in the stalks before chopping corn, aka filling silo.

This was my view this afternoon...

...and there's one of my helpers!

Phoebe and Murphy tagged along this time, and they had so much fun!  It was like a maze for them...running through tunnels of corn, stepping on the stalks I was dragging...STOP IT!...and getting out some of their pent up energy after several days of rain.

The corn is being tested this afternoon, and we'll have to soon commit to a day for chopping.  There's a narrow window with our small silos...too dry, the silage won't pack well and the air will allow the feed to get moldy.  Too wet, and there's juice, juice, juice.

We'll see...

Granola Recipe aka "Keeping the College Kids Well Fed"...

Earlier today I posted a picture of a pan full of delicious granola that was in my oven...making my kitchen smell soooo good...

I sent both of our college kids on their way this past month with a box of food.  You know...in case the cafeteria doesn't feed them enough.  Things like nutella, peanut butter, popcorn, dried fruit, granola bars...all kinds of things...and of course homemade granola!  Bonnie, a friend of mine, gave me this recipe a while ago, and it's the only granola we've eaten ever since!

One of the kids asked for a refill this week, so this morning I threw a batch together.  It's that easy.

A bunch of you on Facebook, asked for the recipe...so here it is!

HEALTHY GRANOLA

4 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 c. raw nuts and/or seeds (I used sliced almonds)

1 t salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 c melted coconut oil (she has used olive oil and likes it, but I prefer the taste of coconut oil)

1/2 c maple syrup or honey (I use 1/4 c of each)

1 t vanilla extract

2/3 c dried fruit (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts/seeds, salt and cinnamon.  Stir thoroughly to combine.  In another bowl, mix the melted oil, maple syrup/honey and vanilla together.  Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.  Spread the granola evenly on the lined baking sheet.  Bake until golden, about 21-23 minutes.  (I set the timer for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through baking).  If you prefer to have chunks of granola for snacking as opposed to a cereal, don't stir, but be careful to not let it get too dark.  Allow the granola to cool completely, undisturbed before adding dried fruit.  Store in an airtight container at room temp for 1-2 weeks, or in a sealed freezer container for up to 3 months.

Enjoy!