Ag Bag Row...

I call it Ag Bag Row...

The yard on the north side of our house is full of marshmallows...more than we've ever had before, and here's why...

This year has been challenging weather-wise to say the least!  We had an extremely wet spring...had a horrid stretch of hot, humid weather in July...had several weeks with no rain...then we battoned down the hatches for Hurricane Irene one weekend...and then amost drowned from Tropical Storm Lee the very next week...

   We prefer feeding good quality dry hay to the cows, but sometimes the weather just doesn't cooperate.  In the middle of the summer when the sun is hot, Jim listens for a forecast of three to four good drying days before he mows hay.  This summer was unusual!  We have one full hay mow of dry hay upstairs in the barn, and part of another, but a lot of the hay was baled wet, in round bales, and then wrapped.  After baling, the bales are left to cure for at least two weeks before being opened and fed.  This is what we call "Balage".

Jim marks them with spray paint, so he knows which field they came from, and sometimes the date they were baled...

E4...fourth cutting, from rental ground at "Esbenshades"
TS...this hay was from next to the "tobacco shed"
H5...fifth cutting from "home"
OFWP...from the "other farm" next to the well pump
OF5  9/19...fifth cutting from the "other farm"...baled on September 19th

We're almost finished with fifth cutting, and will possibly get a sixth off of some fields!  We'll see...

Ag Bag Row might not be quite done growing!

**Linking again to Farm Friend Friday...over at Verde Farm

Sky Red at Night...

Sky red at night...sailor's delight!  Sky red in the morning...sailors take warning!

This is the sky out my west kitchen window at suppertime tonight...it's red enough for me...

I'm sure most of you have heard that saying...I sure hope it's true!

This morning started out warm and humid, with rain showers.  We had all the fans running in the barn. 

 I was just telling Jim this morning how I'm so looking forward to the day when we don't have to run any fans in the barn.  They make so much noise, and I have to admit that we are both losing some hearing!  (today we went out for a lunch date, and one of us...I won't say who...couldn't even hear the server as she took our order!!)

So...after a rainy morning and dreary, windy afternoon, the temperatures dropped down into the high fifties, and we turned all the fans OFF in the barn for evening milking. 

It was blissfully quiet!

*Linking to Farm Friend Friday

My 7 Links...

It's been just over a year since I've started blogging, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge!  I hardly remember some of my earliest posts, so this comes at a good time for me...

Millie...a blogging goat...over at A Goat's View of Eden Hills, has quite a few interesting stories to tell about life on her farm.  She recently nominated me to do this post where I tell you about 7 of my posts.  This took me on a trip down memory lane...

My Most Beautiful Post...

This would have to be a tie...I love the beauty of springtime, shown here in this post...

May Showers

...but I also love the beautiful farmland...the lush, green fields, and this post shows a great perspective!  We're just about surrounded by development, but not quite!

Bird's Eye View


My Most Popular Post...

...I had no idea that so many people would google "meadow tea" and end up here!

Meadow Tea Recipe



My Most Controversial Post...

...I don't do controversy...but this might be controversial to some, especially to those who don't like the idea of eating meat, especially an animal that you've cared for...

It's Bittersweet

My Most Helpful Post...

...This is another tie...I did these two posts at the very beginning of my blogging.  Several friends who know nothing at all about farming wanted to know all about it...so here are the basics...

Dairy Farming 101 - part 1


Dairy Farming 101 - part 2


The Post Who's Success Most Surprised Me...

...This post also had a lot of hits...even before I had any followers...

Silo Filling (2010)


The Post That Didn't Get the Success I Think It Deserved...

...I thought this one was pretty interesting...but then again...maybe I didn't do a very good job of explaining it...

The Brains of the Barn


The Post I am Most Proud Of...

...and I'm most proud of this one, because I am TERRIFIED of heights, and I climbed the outside of the silo just to get these pictures.  And when I was halfway up, I heard a sound like a gunshot!  Made me stop in my tracks...the tractor running the blower shut down, and everyone looked around, trying to figure out the source of the noise.  Check out the last picture on the post to see where it came from...

Silo Filling - 2011

It's been fun reminiscing and coming up with these 7 links.  I hope you enjoy them!

Now it's my turn to pass this on to another blogger...

I think I'll pass this one on to Janis, at Animal Instinct.  I have enjoyed following blogs from as many different states as possible, and she has a herd of cattle in Vermont.  Lovely scenery...interesting tales to tell...stop over and check it out!

Hot Air Balloons...

After a week of rain and flooding in the county and beyond, it was wonderful to see the sun and blue sky today!

We had a special treat this evening...we counted ten hot air balloons passing by.  We regularly see them in the summertime, and some of them looked familiar..but not this one! I thought this tuxedo balloon was unique. 

There was a group of ten balloons that took off a few miles away as part of a special event.  It was a quiet evening, and we could hear the burners in the balloons as they floated by.  Several of them landed briefly in our Amish neighbor's field.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see his horses beside the tan shed in the center.  They were quite worked up...running back and forth...back and forth...



...and off they go again...

... they float southwest...into someone else's view to create some excitement...

It was a beautiful sight to top off a beautiful day!

R.A.I.N...

Rain, rain, go away...

What an unusual week!  The rain began on Tuesday morning...it's now Thursday noon, and it's still raining!  We've emptied our rain gage several times, and the total for the past three days is nearing 8".  Add that to the 3.5" we had last weekend from Hurricane Irene, and you've got a lot of water with nowhere to go.Many people have water in their basements, not to mention some people along the river being evacuated. 

We have much to be thankful for...we live on a hill... we don't have to drive to go to work...and we have a warm, dry place to go to after working outside in the rain all morning...

The kids are enjoying an unexpected day off, due to flooded roads.  It was a good time to read about the Phillies' win, with a little help from some friends...remember them?

They are not and will NOT be house kitties, but they sure are cute!

Rain, rain, go away, don't come back for many days!

On the Lighter Side...

Ok...so here's the real reason that certain family members are glad that the corn has been chopped...

Their playground is back!

Ok...so here's what we're gonna do...

Poor Murphy is tired out by all the action....

I think they had fun!

Irene's Aftermath...

It's been a week since the lovely Irene graced us with her wind and rain...

Many fields were left virtually untouched by damaging winds, but there were others that were left almost flat!  For us "English", who use large choppers to harvest corn for silage, the flattened fields can be troublesome enough.  But for the Amish, who typically use horse drawn binders to cut their corn and then put it through a chopper at the bottom of the silo, it's another story!

This morning we saw our neighbor using something we've never seen before.  When something like this happens, the Amish bishops give their permission for "unconventional" methods of harvesting. 

The horses in front are pulling a two row chopper, which blows the silage back into the silage wagon behind, which is pulled by a team of mules.  This was their first round on this field...this part of the field is still standing nicely...

Every so often they had to stop and unplug the chopper.  The mules wait patiently...

Some minor mechanical difficulties, and they're ready to go again.  Ahead of the horses, you can see the flattened corn...



 And off they go...



It's a bit tricky to hit the silage wagon!  The mules have to walk directly behind the chopper, at least on the outside rows, so the silage blows back over their heads, over the driver's head, and into the wagon.  They got it straightened out!

Some Amish farmers are getting the "English" choppers to come into their fields, but they can't get everyone's corn chopped before the corn gets too dry.  We've even heard of choppers going cross-ways throught the field to try to lift downed corn.  In situations like this, creative juices flow!

Thankfully, most fields aren't like this one!