Hay, Straw and a Heat Wave...

Jim says that the week that the barley is combined is always the hottest week of the summer, and this year is no exception!

But first, there was hay to unload.  Jim's in the middle of 2nd cutting of hay this week, and with no rain in sight for several days, he was able to get several wagon loads of dry hay.  We pulled a small crew together and they got it unloaded this morning.  Oh boy, was it ever hot! I think the temperatures were close to 100% today.  Yuck.

Just a few short weeks ago, this mow was completely empty, and housed a puppy kennel for the chilly nights (which are but a distant memory)...

We'll see how full this mow gets this summer.  It's not quite at the half way mark yet.  I climbed up the elevator for a different perspective.

The crumbs left in the wagon got shoveled into the hay racks in the meadow, for an evening snack for the cows.  That's the first place they go when they're left out of the barn for the night...and if there's nothing in the racks for them, do we ever hear about it!

Then it was time to head over to the barley field.  Those windrows of straw are what was left behind by the combine...

Jim started baling around lunch time, but the straw was still a little tough, so he stopped and waited a few hours to try again. It was nicer (drier) by then, but still not as nice as he would have liked, so he left the rest lay for another day.

I'm glad today is almost over, and right now, I'm thankful for a shower, clean clothes, and for the cool breeze blowing in the window beside me.

Barley 2014

I think in my last post, I updated at the end, that the barley was being combined that night!  It's been a whirlwind ever since and I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures from over the weekend.

The barley yield was really, really good...just over 100 bushels per acre.  No complaining about that, for sure!

I was on my way on an errand, when I saw the combine in the field, but didn't have my camera along.  So no pics of the combine in action, but here are some from another year if you'd like to see them.  You'll notice the barley looks different in the two posts.  Any ideas why??

I went to the other farm after milking, just in time to catch Jim finishing up with the baler in the first field...

Jim's Dad ran wagons back and forth from the other farm to home...

...where the kids unloaded it above the outside pen.  It'll make nice bedding for heifer pens...

Just as Jim finished up baling, his cousin Wes showed up at the other farm with his dirt bike.  He was on his way home from a day of riding in Delaware, and Jim took a quick spin in the now clean field before heading home...

All the barley straw has now been baled and unloaded.  Today one field was replanted with soybeans, and the second field will be replanted with short season corn this afternoon, as soon as the corn planter gets here.

It must be summer!