Latest from the Homestead

Twin Magnolias said:
I spent my youth picking up square hay bales and chucking them onto a trailer and then loading them into the hay barn. It was always fun when the baler raked in a fire ant bed or even more exciting a ground rattler.
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This first time we actually had a good time loading those bales. It was a whole lot better than raking it up last year and forking it into the trailer...LOL
The hay is growing well and we are on track I think for a better second cutting later this summer.
 
jscusmcvet said:
Finished our first hay harvest of 2021 a couple weekends ago. Since last year we picked up a 1956 New Holland Super 66 square baler and damn if we did not get that thing working. It was a real family affair with me driving, Joe watching from the front and Ann making adjustments to the baler as needed. We pulled 145 bales out of the field. One windrow is not bale-able since there weeds from that section had taken over and were more like sticks. It just would not go through the baler. The field can be much more productive than it was on this cutting but will take some time to get there. Immediately after gathering the bales and just before our first rain in a couple months, we spread nitrogen fertilizer. Our first time doing this. We'll see how things go. All in all not bad for an old Jersey boy.
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I can still feel the scratch of square bales through long sleeved shirts in the humid, summer heat of the Ohio River Valley in Warsaw, Kentucky. Walking the fields and throwing 'em up on the wagon; getting up high on the pile and stacking the wagon taller making sure to interlock everything so the stack wouldn't separate and tip, and then getting it all in the barn.

I worked for Ol' Henry across the road, on a dairy farm doing everything from cutting, hanging, and stripping tobacco to building the stripping shed, from helping with milking to shooting one of his favorite old cows who'd just about died after we pulled a dead calf from her, so he wouldn't have to watch her die.

But those hay bale days were the damned hardest, sweatiest, days.
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jscusmcvet said:
This first time we actually had a good time loading those bales. It was a whole lot better than raking it up last year and forking it into the trailer...LOL
The hay is growing well and we are on track I think for a better second cutting later this summer.
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We only had to bale once a year because grass still grows during the "winter" in Florida, but it did slow down a little. It was always a thing we looked forward too. We'd break for lunch and cook sausage and baked beans over a campfire. All my high school buddies would come and help my family put up hay, and then another weekend I'd go over to their ranches and return the favor. We'd usually camp out the night after "hay day" and spend our day's wages on Budweiser and Marlboros.
 
Twin Magnolias said:
We only had to bale once a year because grass still grows during the "winter" in Florida, but it did slow down a little. It was always a thing we looked forward too. We'd break for lunch and cook sausage and baked beans over a campfire. All my high school buddies would come and help my family put up hay, and then another weekend I'd go over to their ranches and return the favor. We'd usually camp out the night after "hay day" and spend our day's wages on Budweiser and Marlboros.
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I am completely digging the idea of a campfire close to the hayfield for cooking lunch... and I assure you the guy driving the tractor always has a few cold ones at the ready. Hydration is important, ya know? LOL
 
Road said:
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I can still feel the scratch of square bales through long sleeved shirts in the humid, summer heat of the Ohio River Valley in Warsaw, Kentucky. Walking the fields and throwing 'em up on the wagon; getting up high on the pile and stacking the wagon taller making sure to interlock everything so the stack wouldn't separate and tip, and then getting it all in the barn.

I worked for Ol' Henry across the road, on a dairy farm doing everything from cutting, hanging, and stripping tobacco to building the stripping shed, from helping with milking to shooting one of his favorite old cows who'd just about died after we pulled a dead calf from her, so he wouldn't have to watch her die.

But those hay bale days were the damned hardest, sweatiest, days.
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We had a great time baling so far. I am sure it will lose it's luster. In comparison to my day job (I am an administrator), I love it. As for the animals, this old New Jersey boy has learned over the last 11 years here at the compound that our animals come and go. When it is time for them to go, whether for reasons as you state or if we are processing them, it is my job to take care of that. Ann and Joe, as tough as they are, have soft hearts and it is just easier for me to do it.
 
Second cutting started this evening. A little early, but we are trying to make sure the weeds we have don't go to seed. 1/2 the field today, after walking in the Independence Day parade and will do the other half tomorrow. Thankful for relatively cool temps for NC in July.
 
Little hay update for you. No pics this time around, but here it goes. We did 145 bales from our first cutting. In fairness we did not actually bale all we could due to the crapola quality of the grass/weeds. We baled 203 at the second cutting and 218 for the 3rd (and last for the season cutting. That is 566 bales. We feed 2 bales a day to our cow, bull, pony and our last remaining goat. That is 283 days of feed or say, 40 weeks. We also sometimes throw a bale to the pigs, lets say once per week, so let's say 35 weeks. Total cutting, raking, baling, storing time was roughly 50 hours. Not bad. 67% of the year. Really enjoying this. I know it is different than the spirit of the this forum and I appreciate you reading and @Dave keeping this part up.
 
jscusmcvet said:
Really enjoying this. I know it is different than the spirit of the this forum and I appreciate you reading and @Dave keeping this part up.
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The home front is where all adventures begin, you can't really thrive without that solid foundation so I find all this stuff super interesting myself!

:home
 
Hosted the annual reunion for my USMC unit at our place a few weeks ago. some choice pics of a bunch of fat old Marines getting together from literally all over the country. Lots of good food, BS stories, more than a little beer... and a carbine training session provided to us from a retired SGM from the US Army "Special Missions Unit" sorry no pics of this portion... :cool:. Good times.
Reunion 2021 Saturday.jpg

Reunion 2021.jpg
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Can't help it. A few more pics from the reunion. The first one is a guy some of you might recognize. He is clearly the baddest one of the bunch.
Reunion 2021 the baddest.jpg

And the some various pics:
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Reunion 2021 DC goin hot.jpg

Joe showed up everyone when we were doing the 50 and 100 yard engagement from barrier portion of the training. He pinged metal every time, regardless of position. Young eyes help. :)
Reunion 2021 Joe shoot.jpg

And finally the group pic you expected to see:
Reunion 2021 FU.jpg
 
Latest from the forge. I have been using charcoal from our firepit instead of coal for a while. It burns just as hot but not as long. One cleaver (Joe design) with a heart pine handle and one general purpose camp knife from an old file with a hickory handle.
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Thank you man. I kno
Celt II said:
Those knives are certainly coming along nicely. I love the craftsmanship that goes into a home built knife using hand tools.
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Thank you. I know it is nothing I am gonna make a living at but I do like pounding the crap out of some hot metal ;) I don't think anyone would pay for one of these but they will be with my family for all time i hope.
 
This is Joe's first knife done 100% by himself. Old file for the metal. He did all the hammering and ran the forge (it is hand crank, we are using home made charcoal), He melted brass for the guard (first time any of us tried this, not that easy) he did all the grinding/sanding/beveling/sharpeing, made the handle of old heart pine and pinned it. He used solder to help out the guard a bit. Old motor oil for handle finish. I am super proud of him. 12 years old

Joe first knife.jpg
Joe first knife.jpg
 
I have not been on here much but I have the start of a big update at the compound. Maybe my biggest project ever. Anyone care to take a guess?
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@Greg and @smlobx Those are great ideas that I may have to reconsider my current efforts :) Nope this is the start of my solar project. We are moving our homestead to 100% off grid. It is a huge project that I think will take me a couple months but I am excited to get started. We have purchased "everything" we'll need, so just a matter of time and work. I have completed the racks for 14 panels. Those are home built using treated lumber. The other 16 will be mounted on racks I bought (not delivered yet) from the same distributor where we got our panels and system. We have a field about 600' feet from the house (you can see a young version of Joe sitting it it in my profile pic) where we get sun 90% of any day any time of the year. The process of putting together the system looks pretty straight forward and luckily I have some electrician friends who should be willing to do the final tie in to the main box.
This is our "final" step in cutting the cord, so to speak. We get our TV over the air, water from a well, internet from starlink, phone from a cell tower. Much more to do at the compound, but after being here for almost 13 years, when we flip the switch to solar power, will be a peak moment.

I will post more pics as I stumble forward.
 
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