Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

[SSDreamin]

I don't understand people who buy a pet, then either ignore it or expect it to train itself! We walked Rocky along our property lines as soon as we moved in - paying special attention to the front/road line. He isn't allowed to even tag along when we check the mail - he must wait at his 'line' for us to return. There hasn't ever been an issue (knock on wood), but we started doing that (teaching him his territory) when he was a puppy. Our previous dog was an outside dog (by his choice), but never left his territory. Not teaching the dog it's limits is doing it a huge dis-service, and putting its life at risk!

 

[Denim Deb]

I got out to the farm today and found ALL of my horses in the seeded area again. I've been turning off the electric when I work in that area so I can get under the electric rope w/out getting shocked, and forgot to turn it back on when I left. So that meant I had to clean that area again, plus fix the rope. And of course, they broke my posts and some connectors. Needless to say, I was NOT in a good mood this morning,

I commiserate!

This morning I found a minor tragedy on my own place - I'd forgotten to pull the retractable elec-fence wire across our front gate last night, and a bear got in, went for apples, and broke off the trunk of one of my semi-dwarf trees! (By climbing, no doubt.) The trunk is splintered about five inches up from the ground. Made me feel sick to look at it.

Of course, I'm more mad at myself than the bear.

We only had four fruit trees - two pears, two apples. Now we're down to three. Thank goodness we have three hazelnut trees, a lot of berry canes & bushes, and a strawberry patch.

Joel, didn't think of this until this morning. Is the trunk broken above or below the graft? If it's above, you may be able to salvage the tree. As long as the roots are still good, it will probably send out new shoots. Pick the one that looks the strongest, and prune the rest off. Let that grow, and in just a couple of years, you'll have a new tree.

 

[Denim Deb]

Today I decided that I was going to be really nice to my chickens-I opened the gate and let them out. The older ones accepted it as nothing out of the ordinary, but the chicks didn't quite know what to do! They were running around, flying around, and trying to figure out who was the leader. But, I didn't open the gate to the parking area, I want them to get used to being out B4 I do that. When it was time for me to go home, I went ahead and called all of them. The girls came running and were the first ones in there. Then came Ralph and 3 of the older hens. The only one that didn't come running was Angel. She took her sweet time getting over, and I thought I was going to have to leave her out. Then I saw her-over by the run in, so I went behind her, and encouraged her towards the pen. She went running, so I went back, and opened the gate for her. She went right in! So for now, I'm only letting them out w/the horses. Once they'll all come running when I call them, I start letting them into the parking area.

I spent some time getting rid of the pig weed. It's just taking so long, but I've been reading up on it some. And, pulling it is about the only way I'm going to get rid of it. Once I have it all out, I need to keep up on. And, it just might take awhile. I've gotten rid of most of it near my tack shed, but I still have some coming up on occasion. But, when I first started trying to eradicate it over there, I had nothing but pig weed! Now it's mainly grass and clover!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Glad you're making progress on the pig weed. When you get through with yours will you come do mine - you have so much eperience now!

 

[Denim Deb]

No thanks! Wish I didn't have to do it at all. It's a pain, quite literally!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Is your pig weed the prickly kind? That stuff hurts!

 

[Denim Deb]

Is your pig weed the prickly kind? That stuff hurts!

Yep. I've looked trying to find a use for it, and while it's edible, it's also not something that most people eat because of the thorns and the seeds. It spreads too easily.

 

[Denim Deb]

Worked some more on my field today and was able to see quite a bit of progress! I went from being about 1/3 done the section I'm working on to about 2/3 done! And that first part took me a few hours over several days. They're calling for rain tomorrow, but I'm hoping it will hold off for several hours. I'm wanting to go to the hay auction tomorrow as well as finish up that section. The last part that I have to do there isn't as heavily weeded as the rest was, so hopefully, it wouldn't take long.

I'm also planning on bringing home my RB feeder. The horses have managed to knock off 2 of the bottom supports, and one of the top sections is coming off. Hubby's promised to teach me how to weld, so this will be my first project!

Fall is in the air. I had on several layers when I rode out to the farm this morning and was thinking I should have worn my insulated jeans! My legs were cold.

I had planned on doing some work around here, but I got interrupted when I was weeding this morning. So, that threw my whole schedule off. Plus, I couldn't get the mower started and almost forgot that I had planned to scrub the water tank and refill it. They didn't have enough water to last until tomorrow, so I had to turn around after leaving and add some water to the tank. By the time I got home and had lunch, it was almost 3:00. So, I didn't get anything done other than dishes.

I'm thinking of making some brownies-if I can get the energy to do so. Anyone want to come over and motivate me?

 

[mississippifarmboy]

It sounds like you are making a lot of progress with the pig weed. I had to do a web search on it, I don't think we have it here. Not that I remember seeing anyway.

I need to get a RB feed ring too. Our knotheads are wasting more than they are eatting. I sooo prefer SB.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm feeding too many horses to do sbs. I don't have any place to store that many. Plus it would be more expensive. So, RBs it is. Though what I'd really like to find is the large squares. If I could find them for the same price I'm getting RBs, I'd do it in a heart beat. I could store more of them in the same space, plus I wouldn't have to put out a whole one at one time. That would save me some money.

Be glad you don't have the pig weed around you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to completely get rid of it as long as I'm on the farm. I'm the only one that's really attempted to get it under control, so it's growing in all the fields. And mowing it doesn't really seem to work. From what I was reading, 1 or 2 plants is basically enough to seed an acre!

Brownies are in the oven, so now I'll sit back and relax while they're cooking and watch the Phils-at least for now.