I'm Dreaming of a Green Pasture

Last week we hired a fellow who had more boy toys than my hubby to overseed our pasture. I was intrigued by the equipment, the process and the anticipated outcomes.

I had heard of seed drilling before, but was clueless as to how it is done. Luckily Mr. S. Driller was a friendly sort of fellow and took the time to describe the process and tell me how his equipment operates. His particular seed drill is fairly small; he explained that you can see drills operating in agricultural areas that are 4 or 5 times the size of his machine. His machine has three hoppers so you can plant three different types of seed, either one at a time or all three at the same time. We were planting a blend of grasses that make up a dry land prairie mixture.

The guys engaging in man talk.

Is that tractor envy I see on Hubby's face?

The first wheels of the drill, the ones with the "ripples", cut into the soil. The next discs are mounted on axles at angles. The seed drops into the wider area at the top and and as the discs rotate they deposit the seed in the cut groove as the discs come closer together at the bottom. As the drill moves along, there are wheels that roll over each groove, in effect shutting the cuts made by the first wheel and the planting wheels.  Thus, the newly planted seed does not blow away in our strong Colorado winds (today we had to put up with enjoyed average wind speeds of 25mph).

         
Colorado high plains soil is notoriously poor. There is very little organic matter in it and the soil is easily compacted. Seed drilling helps break up the soil and incorporates what few nutrients may be found, dried horse manure, for example. The machine acts like a core aerator introducing oxygen into the soil and breaking up suffocating mats of grass (in a Colorado pasture? Surely you jest Mr. S. Driller!)

"Who, me?" sayeth Mr. S. Driller, "speaketh an untruth?"

What do you think... can we believe this guy?

We are hoping that we will continue to have some rain to help the seed germinate and flourish.  However, Mr. S. Driller did caution that our pasture will not suddenly grow thick and lush  This year we can expect to see wimpy wispy blades of grass along the seeding paths. Over the following two years those plants will expand and thicken as long as we have adequate growing conditions and as long as the horses do not overgraze the land.

 This is one cool machine!

Don't you think?

To see other farming dreams and activities, visit Farmgirl Friday!

Who Gets the Marbles?

When I head to the barn in the afternoon the horses usually run up to the gate. They are very rude, jockeying to get in the best spot. Once I open the gate, the first horse takes two steps onto the grass, and plunges his head down immediately. No more galloping out into the pasture with the abandon of a newly released fiery steed! Whoever gets stuck behind has to literally push the grazing immovable horse out of the way, and loses out on at least three chomps of grass! Watching Doc and Pippin mow down the grass and not wasting a minute of gobbling time, I was reminded of this picture, which I originally posted last year. Ironically, it was about the same time of year. My boys think I am starving them since they only get two hours on the lush (by Colorado standards) spring grass.

Hasbro missed the mark when they designed "Hungry Hungry Hippos"! I'm thinking that someone misread "Haffies" and substituted "Hippos" during production! 

Go, Pippin, get that marble! Hurry up, Doc, Pippin's getting ahead of you!

Don't you think the game would be much more appealing with Haflingers instead of Hippos?!

Week 11: Wednesday What's It?

What's It?

 

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Need a hint?

This holds something.

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It is attached to something a person might use with a horse.

I own one of these.

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It has something to do with one of these:

 

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It belongs on something I bought a few months ago... but haven't been able to use.

Haven't used it because I've been so busy and I really need to do a lot of ground work with my horse first.

It belongs on this:

 

This is my new-to-me Amish built road cart. 

Isn't it beautiful?

Oh, but what's it?

It's a whip holder. Technically the driver is always supposed to be holding the driving whip because the whip is used like your legs when you ride a horse, it's your communication tool. But, just in case this little old lady with arthritic hands driver gets tired, the whip holder provides a place to hold it within in easy reach for quick access.

Did you guess this one? I had never seen one until I got my first cart, so I think it was probably pretty obscure. If you figured it out, give yourself 100 points!

Tucker Talks: Rise and Shine

I have finally figered it out. I know how to get mom and dad out of bed. Ya know, I've tried groaning; and they sleep on. I've tried yawning, ya know, with that drawn out squeaky sound at the end, and they sleep on; I've tried bumping into the bed and putting my wet nose on mom's hand, and she sleeps on. BUT.... last week, really, really early in the morning, I got them both to wake up.... really, really fast. I tried wretching! Mom sat up right away - she listened for a minute then she lay down and rolled over. So, I tried gagging again. Ya know, it is shedding season and those hairs really do tickle my throat. So, I hacked and coughed, ya know, those nice, wet gaggy, gurgly, hacky sounds dogs can make? Mom and Dad both sat up... but, oops, all of that wretching made my dinner come up - all over the carpet... in the bedroom and on the stairs. I didn't really mean to do that. But, it got mom and dad up to play with me at 4 AM. I had some fun! Yes indeed I did!

The Project: Week 19

We are getting so close to being ready to move in. Yippee!! I have been continuing to take boxes of stuff up just about every day. I was feeling great about having cleared out all of the boxes from the upstairs landing... then remembered that I had stacked more in the guest room. Oh well (maybe you could change that 'w' to an 'h')!

This week we:

• picked out counters for our bath vanities. The granite fabricator we used for the kitchen sells 'remnants' for very reasonable prices. The templates are created by a nifty camera-type laser device and a computer. The templates have been made, so we should be hearing from the fabricator some time next week.
• picked out tile for the hall floor and began putting down the hardi-backer board.
• had an estimate for repairing and/or replacing the exterior siding, painting the house and the trim. Ouch! (Oh, and now we have to pick colors - that ought to be interesting!)
• had our pasture seed drilled. We have nice grass, very few weeds and nice patches of dirt between the clumps of grass. We decided to try seed drilling (I'll post more about it on Friday), even though it will take about three years for the new grass to really get established. Now, we'd like a little moisture each week until this stuff germinates and gets going, thank you! Oh, the seed drill keeps track of acreage. We have 7.3 acres of pasture - more than double what we currently have. The boys will be in hog-heaven, especially when that grass becomes established.
• brought up flats of seedlings to begin hardening them off before planting them in our gardens.
• talked to a Realtor about marketing our current home.
• finished tiling the master bath floor, minus 5 small trim pieces (which are cut, but need to be mortared). I learned something this week... I learned that I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again install 16" or larger tile. What a bear! Last night I was exhausted... and moaned and groaned about aching muscles. Mr. Hubby was only slightly sympathetic - not understanding how working on the floor made me that tired. Then, today he had to step over tiles that had just recently been mortared, but had not set. He complained bitterly about the effort to do so - ah hah! Now do you see why I was so tired?!!! I will have to admit that despite being physically exhausted, working on tiling the floor is incredibly great exercise: up... down, twist...up, down, twist...
• entertained guests... well, maybe the word 'entertain' is a bit cavalier - considering that we only had a few cans of Coke, a half box of Cheez-its and a stale doughnut. Not to mention that we only have two chairs in the house! On Friday we had just started to get to work when the doorbell rang. It was one of my friends from the driving club. A short time later, the bell rang again. Another friend from the club saw the first gal's car and decided to stop in. They left around noon. Our son showed up with his girl friend and pizza about an hour later. So, we didn't get much accomplished - but it was fun to visit. 

Our pasture is seed drilled.

 Have a wonderful Memorial Day and take some time to remember those who have served our country and have protected our rights and freedom. Thank those who have fought or are fighting, those who may have given their lives or a limb for freedom. God Bless America!

What a Rig!

As we traveled back and forth, to and from our project house this week we came across an unusual sight. This fellow was traveling on a fairly busy road with his 4 in-hand mule teams pulling a wagon with a trailing wagon. He set up camp in fields along the road, using a portable electric fence enclosure to give his mules some freedom. I wish we could have stopped and talked to him - not so much about Jesus, but about his rig, about his mules, about how far he travels each day, about his cute dog that looks out the window while he goes down the road, about groceries and preparing meals, about where he's going and where he's been.  But, alas, we sped past while I tried to get pictures. I'll just have to imagine his answers!

Oh Deer!

I can hear you!

Pssst.... that human is wearing those spectacle things.
She must have lousy eyesight. 

If we stay really still I bet she can't even see us!

What is she doing in our yard?

Hey, wait for me!

Honey? I think we will need to make that garden fence just a little bit higher!