Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

I have a wild one that came up in the fence row. My nephew has one that came up next to his round baler—it hasn’t been moved in a pretty good while. He’s working in Florida and is seldom in, so I’m going to raid his elderberry plant for cuttings.

 

[fuzzi]

I have a wild one that came up in the fence row. My nephew has one that came up next to his round baler—it hasn’t been moved in a pretty good while. He’s working in Florida and is seldom in, so I’m going to raid his elderberry plant for cuttings.

Good idea!

I read that they need a second elderberry for pollination, so I bought another.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have plenty grown elderberry....plus canned juice, dehydrated berries, frozen berries & canned ones. Want me to bring you a quart for winter -- Gilmanor swap? yes, it works to keep virus from replicating. Take at first sign, or exposure. Also an immune builder. Can even bring some started plants. Advise.

Hope you're feeling better today!

 

[Finnie]

I hope you are feeling better @farmerjan .

 

[farmerjan]

It's Tues eve. Tested Monday night and this morning... got the meters after getting all the computer stuff done... and came on home. It has been muggy and we got some rain... like 5 min shower on Monday... DS said it poured at the field as he was cutting hay. We had a 15% chance and since it has gone around for the past several days... figured to cut... and of course it didn't go around. But according to the couple that owns the one place, it was only about .1 inch although it rained hard. He also cut part of the pasture we haven't grazed yet and the 9 acre hayfield just below it that is not fenced so can't graze it, at the "augusta co. farm" Then he brought the tractor and discbine to the place we make custom...
Then he went with his buddy to bring home the widow of his friend (stepmother by marriage but they are good) .... she is the one that fell... and turns out it was a blessing in disguise since they found out she had severe blockage in the arteries in her heart and said she was a stroke waiting to happen... they did stints, and DS said she looks 1000% better and so that is all good.
After getting back from the hospital and getting her settled at home; he mowed the place we make custom, and the 3-4 acre field right up the road from the farm... then he went to mow for another buddy who could not get through the hay since it is so overgrown, falling over, all that from being so late to cut... Again... no point in cutting it if it is going to lay and get moldy and slimy because it constantly rained. But... that 's just one more thing because he is also going to have to bale it for him since he is the one whose baler seized up and DS baled his last field for him... They are looking for another one... but will not spend over 60,000 for a new one... can't justify it when they don't make that much hay to ever pay for it. It is going to cost them probably 20,000 for a decent used one as it is...

So, I went to the fields late to check on how wet the hay was from the rain, and actually it is not at all wet. There is a fair amount of green (regrowth) coming up through, so DS said it is going to have to be tedded out if we want to get all this baled by Friday night... YEAH.... I am going to be killing myself the next couple of days raking all these places. But, I do not have any farms scheduled because of the chance of making hay... just never thought he would do all this. HOWEVER, if we can pull this off and get all this made and baled.. that will be it for first cutting. OF COURSE, we have 2nd cutting orchard grass ready to cut but that will wait for the next "window.

Then I went to the farm, fed the 12 her/hol x heifers we brought home from the dairy I test... fed the other few heifers in the barn; so DS could keep mowing. I got mineral to take to the nurse cow pasture in the morning when I go up there to put grain in the barn for the calves.
DS moved the pregnant heifers to that field on Sunday morning... We are going to see about maybe moving out the 5 that have the calves there, to a pasture with more grass... and possibly moving the ones that have been with the bull for the last 60 days, somewhere else to grass also. They can get preg checked later on. Bull has to come out so that he does not rebreed these heifers too soon after calving... they will not get bred back until mid NOV.... There are 13 heifers due, plus the jersey and one other young cow.

Need to get the calves off the jersey and the steer off that other cow. There are cows that need to come to the barn to calve after Sept... and they need their big calves weaned off too... The steer calves should have been pulled before they were put out to pasture for the 2-3 months... and sold... as now we are dealing with pinkeye. They might have been 4 wts... but they still should have been sold. BUT DS decided they should get a couple more months on the cow... and now we might have a few that won't bring as much if their eyes don't get cleared up.
I want the ones off the jersey cow and the other holstein steer to go to the sale... he can do what he wants with his calves... BUT.... if we keep doing this, my calves will go to the sale even if they are a bit smaller, next year and NOT go back out to pasture once the cows are preg checked.

DS is going to tedd hay tomorrow since he is going to use the bigger tractor that I really don't like to use on the hills... I will be raking late in the afternoon I am sure and probably all day Thursday. Luckily, the guy he is cutting for now, will rake all his own... but DS is going to bale it all. That will be the last place to get done. It will be a marathon, but I think the hay is going to dry good and if we have a little luck, we will get it done. I am not looking forward to all that time on the tractor raking though... But it is what it is.

I'm going in to get a shower and go to bed. Might try to do a load of laundry in the morning to hang before I have to get on the tractor. I stopped at the feed bin and got a 5 gal bucket of feed so will fill the chicken feeder in the morning and do the turkeys and all the waterers. I did water the potted flowers today, some were actually looking wilted... Kept thinking we would get some rain, but these sprinkles and .1 inch stuff does not cut it.

 

[Baymule]

How are you feeling now? Any lasting flu symptoms?
That’s a lot of hay on the ground, lot more work to be done, but you and your son will get it done.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed morning. Nice 66 out overnight. Not as humid. Today is supposed to be mostly sun and some clouds but no precip. Good drying day I hope.

Still have some aches ... back is about the same. No real other effects... but then I usually have a 24-48 hr thing and then get back to normal... Off and on headache but that is nothing new. I need to call for an appt.. they ought to get the bone density report back... want to discuss with her the blood work and bone density scan... and then do something about this back ache... possible solutions....

Heading out to fill the feeders and waterers. Got to eat so I can take something if this back ache doesn't "back off" a bit. I am sure I will be on the tractor and rake this afternoon.

At least it is not stifling, humid out there.

Hope everyone has a little better weather and can enjoy the day.

 

[Mini Horses]

Your back isn't getting rested, that doesnt help -- but you can just stop using it! My arm had same issue as I needed to use it. Slack July work helped.

You might have something going on that can be "fixed". I didn't beyond rest & Aleve. Im pretty ok now. Get to a DR.

 

[drstratton]

Wed morning. Nice 66 out overnight. Not as humid. Today is supposed to be mostly sun and some clouds but no precip. Good drying day I hope.

Still have some aches ... back is about the same. No real other effects... but then I usually have a 24-48 hr thing and then get back to normal... Off and on headache but that is nothing new. I need to call for an appt.. they ought to get the bone density report back... want to discuss with her the blood work and bone density scan... and then do something about this back ache... possible solutions....

Heading out to fill the feeders and waterers. Got to eat so I can take something if this back ache doesn't "back off" a bit. I am sure I will be on the tractor and rake this afternoon.

At least it is not stifling, humid out there.

Hope everyone has a little better weather and can enjoy the day.

Hi Jan! It's been awhile since I've been here. I'm sorry you have not been feeling well. It's so hard when you have so much to get done. I'll be following along again. Hope you continue to improve and that the Dr can figure out what's going on with your back. My Dr sent me in for physical therapy, it was getting harder and harder for me to walk. My PT had me try a couple of simple things and pinpointed exactly what was going on. I'm happy to report that I can freely walk again. Hopefully it will be the same for you.

 

[Ridgetop]

Oh, they did call about the blood work... NOW... please EXPLAIN to me... if Vit D3 is the "sunshine" vitamin... how in god's green earth am I DEFICIENT... with all the time I spend in direct sunlight... but I am, so back to taking vit D3...

For some reason white women don't metabolize Vita D well. About 16 year ago - right about when the medical community discovered this fact, I had a major Vita D deficency. It was so bad I had to use the battery operated shopping carts, had ain in my joints thought my ulcers were back, could barely move, and ended up falling asleep while driving, luckily on the road to our house (and luckily not the cliff road) where I almost hit another car. The doctor had me coming in for tests every week, and was surprised when the tests came back with Vita D deficiency because I had such a good tan. I ended up taking massive prescription doses for Vitamin D for months. I have been feeling tired for weeks now and DH told me to go back on over the counter Vita D. It has helped.