We finally got some good rain! For the last two weeks its been coming a shower here and a thunder boomer there, well we finally got a goos hour long soaker.

Looking out over the back pasture.

The rains have been mostly the summer afternoon 10 minute jobs,  but this one hung around for a while, about a month too late, everything but a few tomatoes and the watermelons have long since burned to a crisp.  Oh well fall garden coming soon!

Another view of the back.

Yep , it kept raining and raining and raining, I wasn’t sure if it was going to stop!  I guess I really didn’t want it to, it was so nice to see.  Not to mention we needed it, we got enough that the county lifted the burn ban!!  woo hoo!

View out the front of the house

So everything is getting greener and it’s actually a little cooler today, maybe its a trend!

We can only hope!

Sorry I’ve been away, had a computer blowout and the heat isn’t doing anything for the garden.
We have had triple digit heat here in my are for at least two-weeks now, probably more but that’s my estimate! As for the computer , im back up and rolling strong with a new 64bit machine, so far I love it. So Till next time , stay cool!

If you have ever thought about a market garden for a little side money or as an actual business venture then I would suggest this book to you.
This book doesn’t tell you how to grow vegetables, It highlights several people who have started a successful market garden, most on less than an acre.

Some of the other topics covered are membership gardens , community supported agriculture, farmers markets and and even selling vegetables on the side of the road from a card table.

In the first chapter the author guides you through the steps he took to make $36,000 from his back yard using tools he had laying around the house.      Throughout the book he sprinkles in stories of regular folks and their success stories.  One example tells of a couple in Maine who made $25,000 off a rocky hillside selling vegetables and cut flowers.

As I said earlier , this book wont tell you how to grow the crops, but it will spark your imagination, and maybe you will open up that next niche market!

Now try to stay cool out there!

Jon

End Product

Last time we talked about getting the hay equipment ready, today we get down to the actual haymaking so to speak.

Let’s Cut shall We?

Cutting the hay is really like mowing a large lawn, except you don’t mulch up the grass clippings, you just cut it close to the ground and let it fall over.  You do this operation with a disk cutter, some people use a sickle bar mower, either one makes one cut at the bottom of the tall grass and allows it to fall over for the curing process. The disk cutter uses several disks that interlock parallel to the ground  and rotate to cut the grass , working like a meat slicer. The sickle bar also runs parallel with the ground but has blades  like a hedge trimmer that move back and forth over a fixed bar.

After the whole field is cut, the grass is left to cure out on the field, until it reaches the proper moisture content. This operation can go one to three days and helps to prevent moldy hay.

Hay drying in the sun

Now Comes The Rake, Then The Baler.

The rake is a contraption that looks like a torture device from the middle ages, it has several wheel full of skinny, metal fingers that when pulled behind a tractor and deployed correctly rake all the now cured hay into a windrow.

Raking a windrow

The tractor pulls the rake around the pasture to make essentially one long windrow that spirals around the pasture, allowing for the baler to follow the row non stop.

So far if everything has gone right, like sunshine thru the whole process, wind that doesn’t blow the rows out of your field, etc, the we bring out the baler.

Round Baler

This is a large machine, it stands around ten feet tall, and it is complex too.  You have to grease, oil, tighten belts, adjust rollers, oh the list goes on and on… Naw its not really that bad, as long as you stay on top of it. But let it go and your bales look like a bomb exploded inside one.

Anyway, the baler hooks on the back of the tractor and by way of hydraulic controls starts the inner workings, the driver lines up on the row and the fingers in the front of the baler begin to take the hay into the roller.

Round Baler in Action

The roller inside winds the hay it has taken in around a spool until it gets the right amount for the bale size selected, our were set to 4 x 5 , when the bale reaches the right size the driver stops the tractor and allows the baler to complete the roll and wrap it , either with twine or bale wrap, we used the twine.  When the bale is rolled and wrapped , teh baler splits openand out pops a lovely bale of hay.

The nest part is the cleanup and storing the hay, they are usually stacked end to end with as much overhead cover as possible.

Pasture after hay is cut and baled

The finished Product

So there you have it, that’s the way we do it around here, Tell us how you do it where your from?

I know hay really isn’t a vegetable, but it is an important crop none the less.  Hay can have a complete crop cycle from planting or sprigging to harvest and storage, in our case we don’t plant, we just cut the coastal bahia grass that is already growing.  Now the breakdown for those of you unfamiliar with the process.

We have an agreement with one of our neighbors to cut our hay, for payment he takes a portion of the hay for himself. He takes most of the hay for himself due to the fact the he owns the bailing equipment.  It works out to be a good deal in the long run, that baling equipment aint cheap!  Anyway, we get enough hay to feed our livestock thru the winter, so the deal works out good.

Step 1:  Equipment

Steve, our hay guy, has his equipment at our place at least the day before he is going to cut. He usually brings two tractors , one to rake while the other pulls the baler, the disk cutter , the rake and the baler.

Massey Ferguson Tractor and Disk Cutter

The equipment is the most important part of the baling. If the equipment isn’t maintained the whole baling operation will suffer.

The baler is a complex machine and must be kept in top condition to put out the best quality bale.

Once the equipment is set then its on to the next step the actual cutting and raking.

Next time: The Cutting!  Stay tuned

Hay Rake

Mulched Asparagus

Here is the asparagus bed that I planted this earlier this year. All of the crowns came up , which is good.  In fact they are really doing well, they all have three or four ferns coming up, with extra shoots too.     I have fertilized once so far with a weak shot of fish emulsion, Then a thick layer of grass clippings for the mulch.    The first couple of shoots came up around the size of a pencil, but with the fertilizer and mulch they have gotten a little thicker and quite a bit taller when they open up to the fern stage.

Here is my mulch maker, its a Cub Cadet, It has side discharge, mulch or bagging capabilities. For my purposes the bagger is king!     I use this to gather grass clippings for the compost and for mulching beds.  In the fall I run it over leaves to pick up for the compost as well, it works great.

Cucumber Trellis

Here is a few cucumber plants I planted next to the goat shed. The trellis is a 16 ft cattle panel stood on end.  At the top i nailed it to a section of 4×4 lumber and tied that to two old pieces of pipe that were already buried in the ground, so far so good.

More Cucumbers

This is another few plants on the same pole , but different panel material, it was a smaller piece we had laying around.  you may be able to see the Tomatoes in the foreground. I planted some beets and bok choi in the bed next to this one and it looks like the slugs wiped the all out overnight, Oh well , just have to try it again.

The old saying in Texas is “If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes, it will change.” Aint it the truth! Last week temps were reaching the 80′s, Seedlings were put out , sweet potato slips planted, fig trees were putting out strong buds, even some small figs showing. Then whammo!!
monday morning brings near freezing temps at my house, cold enough to burn all that tender new growth, figs ..brown and crispy, sweet ‘taters shriveled, pepper seedlings…layed over like newly felled timber. Oh the pain!
Oh well, if its not the cold , its the summer blistering heat…what ya gonna do? Guess i’ll just replant!

On a bright note, The spinach, onions, garlic, horseradish and asperagus were unharmed ! lol

We have been lucky these last few weeks, we have had some much needed rain. The temps have been fairly warm for this time of year, Highs in the upper 70′s low 80′s.    Been pretty busy with work around the farm, lets see whats been going on…..

• Got the tractor running , wasn’t too hard , just a carb rebuild, some new wires and what not.
• put in another 8′x8′ raised bed, planted some peas in it.
• Ruby the milk cow calved, also we had a diary goat kid, tis the season you know!

   I’m into the compost, well not literally, but I have 2 good size piles going right now.  One has pretty well worked itself out , the other was started in October, so its not really rolling yet.  The good thing about living in southeast Texas, most of the winter months are nice and mild.  Its been a little cold this week , but we have had days in the sixties. So my compost can work longer than most, just a little slower sometimes.

Check this article on food waste in the compost pile, I do this too.  I drink lots of coffee and I put all the coffee grounds I can get into the compost, along with other food waste like vegetable cuttings etc. 

Composting Your Food Scraps, The Easy Way

Each year around May 1st, give or take a day or two depending on the weather, I begin my vegetable garden. I turn the soil over (by hand of course), mark the rows as to where certain vegetables will grow and so on. When it comes to picking my vegetables, or as farmers say, harvest them, people I give them to always give me great compliments. Long before I ever plant the seeds or begin to water and long before the weather turns to warm spring, I work the soil in my garden. When I say work, what I mean is contribute to increasing the nutrient content giving my vegetables an ideal growing environment.

Believe it or not it is easy to do, takes only a few minutes of your time and in that short time you are doing a world of difference to your garden and the environment. What I simply do is compost my food waste. I am sure you have heard of composting where you take leaves, grass etc., and put them all together and every so often you turn the pile over to create great compost.

Well you can also compost your food waste (well all except bones of course). Food waste and scraps are a great way to add nutrients to your soil. In a nutshell here is how it works. You collect your food waste, dig a deep hole in your vegetable garden, place your food scraps in the hole and then cover. Now wash, rinse and repeat what I just wrote, over and over again, year after year.

What happens when you do this is worms will find those food scraps and eat them. Their waste, known as castings, are filled with nutrients that your plants require. When you turn the soil over in the spring you are actually bringing those castings close to the top where the vegetable’s roots will be.

The best way I find to collect food waste is in an airtight Tupperware bowl. I add my scraps to this bowl and then when the bowl is filled, I bury it in my garden. I then mark that spot with a stick so I do not dig it up within 3 months (gives the worms plenty of time to do their thing). That is it. Composting doesn’t get any easier than that.

If you were looking for a way to have a better garden (vegetable or flower) without doing a whole lot of work, then this is it. You make your soil more nutrient rich, you do not use any chemical fertilizers and you reduce the amount of waste you add to your landfill all in one swoop.

Now go and bury that garbage and enjoy!

By: Bruce A Tucker