Off Road

Years ago, I remember a conversation in the car with my 4 year old son as he asked his father, “Daddy? How come you don’t drive in the grass like Mommy does?” My husband burst into laughter as I alternately glared at him and then my son. He patiently explained that people are not supposed to drive in the grass and that possibly I needed more practice. It turns out that I was practicing for future life experience. (Shows him!)

Our driveway is long and narrow as it winds up the hill to our home. It includes two sharp right-angled turns as well as a horse-shoe turn. It wasn’t made with visitors in mind. Inevitably, friends, delivery men and large trucks run off the side and we spend the spring filling in ruts. Visitors glance with fear in their eyes at the long backup required to turn around at the shop. They often comment that they are afraid they will drive in the grass. I just respond, “Don’t worry about it. Everyone drives in the grass up here.”

Gone are the days of the manicured lawn. After two years of gathering dust, we gave our edger to our son. Now, when we need to load firewood or debris, we just drive the truck, tractor or Kubota through the lawn to where we need it. It offers a certain amount of freedom that is refreshing. No more rules, no more pampering the lawn. Who says that driving on the grass will kill it? If driving on your lawn kills your grass, I think you need tougher grass! My only concern is that when I visit my city friends, I will forget my manners and park two wheels up on the curb on their lawn and they will stop inviting me over.

Hey, Hey, Hay!

I have spent three delightful days being entertained by the neighbor farmer as he harvests hay on the acreage next to us. I sit with a beer in hand, and my trusty camera to record the progress as he works in the July heat and humidity. Harvesting hay seems to be a multi stage process that requires dusty work, patience and big boy toys. I am short on all three, so the best thing I can do is stay out of the way and document his progress.

Day 1: The farmer shows up with a new cutting tool attached to his big red tractor. I was fascinated to watch as this cutter could be swung out to the side, making it easy to get around obstacles. It was easy to track his progress because a big cloud of dust followed as he cut the hay – which looks like a big field of weeds if you ask me. Near the end of the day, the farmer left and I pondered how he was going to collect this mess into bales.

Day 2: I’m finishing my morning coffee when I see a tractor followed by a cloud of dust out in the field. Time to gear up and hit the lawn chair with my camera. It is too early for a beer, so I sit with my coffee and trust Dolly Dog at my side as we watch an odd machine gather the hay and flip it into rows that are called windrows (I know this because I looked it up on the internet!) It is a funny little machine, and I have no idea how it works, but having the hay in rows offers an excellent photo opportunity.

Day 3: As I drive up the driveway, I see a suspicious cloud of dust out in the field again. Sure enough, the farmer is collecting the hay into bales. Now we are talking! This is an amusing process of driving up and down the windrows in some pattern that only the farmer understands. At some point, the baler is full and the tractor pauses and gives birth to a round bale of hay. I kid you not, there is a pause, a grunt and then the back end opens up and spits out a bale of hay.

The bales are round and since we live on a hill I found myself wondering what prevents the bales from rolling downhill. I soon got my answer . . . absolutely nothing! No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when one of the bales started rolling downhill and out of sight. I had visions of a bale of hay going over the edge of the quarry and into the water. Does hay float?

My husband drove up a few minutes later and asked what I was doing. “Supervising,” I reply. “Grab a beer and come watch.”

Dolly supervises hay baling.

Speculation

We were driving to town last night and I saw headlights in a remote field.  It caught my attention because it was 16 degrees outside and I wondered what a farmer would be doing in a field at dusk on such a cold day.  As we got closer, I could see a back hoe in a dark field burying something.  Now I ask you, what would a farmer bury in a field at dusk in 16 degree weather?

Old vs. New

Gene and I were at the bank drive through when I caught this delightful photo of a man with a pair of horses pulling an old fashioned wagon.  I was just getting ready to tap Gene on the arm to point out this quaint sight when the man stopped the buggy, pulled out his cell phone and started texting.  I couldn’t help laughing.   Do you think the law on texting and driving applies to buggies?

Tractor Parade

We watched a tractor parade last weekend. I vaguely remember reading about it in the local newspaper, but since we live so far out of town, I didn’t pay much attention. Just and Gene and I finished our 3 plus hours of mowing, we loaded up in the Kubota to go fertilize some trees. As we headed down the hill, I could see the line of tractors coming towards us. We parked at the end of the drive and watched a line of 20-30 mostly vintage tractors drive by. Each displayed an American flag and most of the drivers were standing and waving at us as they went by. We got several thumbs up as they pointed at our Kubota Utility Vehicle. I’m certain they were envious. We do, after all, have air conditioning! It was quite a site to see a long line of tractors climbing the hill on the county highway. I suspect that their parade route was over 30 miles long. We had quite a chuckle as they passed and we saw a few cars that were unfortunate enough to be on the road at the same time. They all seemed to be taking it in stride.  What a great celebration of country life!

Cutting Hay

I have to admit that I'm facinated by the hay cutting process. We have watched weeds grow to nearly three feet on the 20+ acres south of us. Such beautiful, rolling hills are covered in noxious weeds (see May posting) and something that looks like Queen Anne's lace.

Then last week, a neighboring farmer came and cut the weeds down. The cutter leaves two neat rows of hay. A day later, the farmer comes back and turns the rows into one row, following the next day with a hay baler. Now there is a piece of equipment that I can get into. The baler rolls the hay into large rolls and binds them. There is something so serene in waking up to fields of round bales of hay poking out of the fog.

We have watched the farmer come the last few evenings to pick up the bales and haul them down hill. I'm wondering why he didn't just give them a good push with the tractor. It is, after all, downhill!

I wonder what a bale of hay goes for?

Farmer's Tan

Gene told me that I'm getting a farmer's tan. Just great! Next thing you know, I will be buying plaid shirts and cutting the sleeves off.

Noxious Weeds

A notice in the paper stated that all county property owners were required to spray for any known noxious weeds prior to May 15th. It proceeded to list about 20-30 varieties of noxious weeds, none of which I could identify if my life depended on it. Okay, okay, maybe I could point out a thistle plant, but I have never heard of the rest. then the notice goes on to state that if you have know noxious weeds and don't spray to control them, the county will come spray them and send you a bill for the cost plus a fine. So my question is . . . if i don't "know" that I have them, does it count?

I see farmers out spraying the fields. I suspect they take this stuff seriously. Back to Google to see if I can find some photos . . .

Remote Parking

You know how you notice something while you are driving, then forget about it until you see it again? After harvest season (even I can't believe I'm using that phrase!), I noticed a number of vehicles suddenly being parked in the middle of fields. Boats, cars, RVs, a few farm vehicles. What's up with that?

After near record breaking snows this winter, I have come to a couple of possibilities:
1. These people knew we were going to get so much snow that we would run out of places to put it. So they moved their "extra" vehicles out to the fields so they could pile more snow on the driveway.

2. They moved these vehicles out of the garage so they could park their big @&* snow remover in the garage.

Eight more inches of snow. No place to put it.
Let me know if you know why people are parking in the fields.