From the Pastures: Clearing the land

With all of this beautiful weather in September, it was hard to remember what work I did. I weaned the lambs Sept. 4, and the old ewes have been on a 60-gallon galvanized stock tank for their water supply. So, I can visually see how much water they are drinking every day. The water I refill the tank with is the same water they had last year. The first farm is well water and the second farm is from municipal water.

I have been putting apple cider vinegar into their drinking water since April 1, at the rate of 1 ounce apple cider vinegar per gallon of water. The old ewes’ water consumption seems a lot less than normal, so I’m asking my readers: Do you think the apple cider vinegar is reacting with the galvanized tank and making the water undrinkable? Before their water came out of plastic 275-gallon totes gravity-fed to plastic two hole-dog waterers.

The ground moisture is still dry. It’s great for harvesting, and the corn and beans are yielding good in McLean County. The local farmers say it’s amazing considering the wet, cold, dry, wet weather we have had. God is good, but I sure could use a rain on my fall and winter cover crops to help them grow.

I’m busy trimming my trees at my farmstead with a manlift. This is from the damage done on Aug. 13 from the tornado. I was planning on renting it for a couple of days, but it’s looking like I might have it for the whole week.

With the help of two young men picking up the branches, I am cutting wood and using my IH 75C utility tractor — with a bucket and four spears attached to the bucket — to transport the branches to the brush pile. We are getting quite a bit of work done. My brush pile is getting very tall and ready to burn.

With the crops out around me so nothing can catch on fire and calm winds, I think a bonfire is in the future. Hot dogs, burgers, s’mores and cold drinks around a bonfire on a warm fall night sounds like a great way to reward all the help for their hard work.