Monday, June 12 I mowed grass at my boss's house. I also sprayed round up around his pasture fence. When I got home, dad had begun to go around the pasture hay field with the skid steer and dig holes with the 18 inch auger. He did quite a few holes and then went over to the north east corner and started to clear out some more of the brush. I went and checked the conibear traps and had to take 2 woodchucks out of them. I reset the traps and then I took care of them. I filled water tanks at the farm and down at the pasture for the cows; about 300 gallons in all. I fed the cows at the pasture 2 scoops of grain and then at the farm, the steers and the cow got to share 5 scoops. I also fed them 3 bales of hay in the barn.
Tuesday, June 13 I mowed grass at my work and then when I came home, I went right over to my neighbor's house and continued to weed wack along his pasture fence. It sprinkled and misted most of the time which didn't bother me. I'd rather work in the cooler wet days than the blazing sunny days. Dad worked on clearing more brush at the corner of the new pasture. I filled up a small tank at the farm with water for the steers and fed them 2 bales of hay and 5 scoops of grain.
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| All The Weeds That Have To Be Pulled |
Wednesday, June 14 dad went back to the woods and weed whipped around the sugar shack and also weed whipped around part of the pasture fence. Dad had got a smaller 12 inch auger and dug a bunch more holes for the railroad ties to go in along the perimeter. I worked on weeding my sunflowers in the garden. I used the rototiller to make it faster, but the dirt was pushed outwards, so I had to go through and uncover the sunflowers. I ended up pulling the rest of the weeds by hand in and around the plants. Dad rototilled the garden and also in between the corn rows. He usually never does the corn, but we have an invasive vine plant that looks like a white morning glory and just engulfs plants. My sisters and I went on the side by side and checked traps and found we got two woodchucks. We stopped by Mr. Keith's shop to talk with him and show him what we got. We took care of them and then came up to the farm. Dad had pressure washed out the two water tanks at the farm for me. I topped off one of the tanks with water for the cow and steers and then fed them 2 square bales and 6 scoops of grain. I also fed the cows at the pasture a couple scoops of grain.
Thursday, June 15 after work, I looked up recipes to make dinner with the leftover baked chicken from last night. It was a long time consuming recipe, but it sounded good. Dad went outside and worked on putting all the rail road ties in the holes he had made so far and lying out the corners. At home I measured lots of stuff, made some of my own seasoning mixes and other stuff to compensate for what we didn't have. The recipe was for Chicken Pot Pie with Bacon Cheddar Biscuits. I used our own homegrown potatoes, carrots, chicken, and chives. I took a while to measure every individual thing and put it all together, but it turned out great. It is always great to be able to make another meal with leftovers from a previous meal. After dinner, I went up to the farm and fed a square bale of hay and 6 scoops of grain. Down at the pasture, I filled one and half water tanks and fed 2 scoops of grain.
Friday, June 16 I went to Starbard Farms Feed and picked up some more mineral for the cows. I talked with the owners for a little bit on grain for my steers. They recommended I get a higher % of protein in my next order because we are a little behind on feeding the steers to get them fat. They are on a 9% right now, which has helped them get used to the grain and get them started, but now that they are getting a bunch more, I should get the 13% so they get fatter faster. My sisters worked on cleaning up the house and I did some yard work. Dad worked back in the woods for a little bit before coming up to get ready for dinner. Today is their anniversary of 22 years. Mom and dad left, and I worked on getting a bunch of wood split up to build a fire. I got it all built and ready to go, and then I went up to the farm and fed the steers 8 scoops of grain and 2 bales of hay. I filled all the water tanks down at the pasture and then got the fire started so it have some coals when they got back. Paul and Ellen, Greg, and Karen showed up later and we had s'mores and cake with mom and dad.
Saturday, June 17 I woke up and made breakfast for mom and dad because it was his birthday. After breakfast we went outside and began working on the garden. Dad weeded rows of stuff by hand while I watered the garden. The girls helped hold the hose above the rows, so I could reach farther into the garden. Dad's friend from work came out and brought fresh fried rice in his corvette. After he left, we went back to watering and weeding. Dad later went up to the farm and brought the 784 back to the sugar shack woods. He worked on rigging up a system to lift and pull out the old syrup arch. While he did that, I worked on replanting sunflower seeds that did not grow. Paige and I went back to the woods on the side by side and got back there just as dad was pulling the arch out. He set out in the woods out of the way and Paige and I put concrete blocks under the legs. Dad had us put all the remaining bricks and firebricks on a pallet outside. I came up to the farm later and fed 8 scoops of grain and 2 square bales to the steers and cow. I then came down to check on the pasture waters and ended up filling one tank and feeding a scoop of grain.
Sunday, June 18 I went up to the farm and got the pressure washer out. I brought it over to the garage by the house and pressure washed out all the dirt and weeds that were in the big cracks in the concrete. Dad had gone back to the sugar shack and cemented in the cracks and gaps in the concrete back there. Later dad came up and filled in the cracks in the driveway with concrete. I had brought up the rototiller yesterday fix it up a little after it wouldn't run right. I blew the air filter out and cleaned off all the dust and dirt from it, but that was as far as I got. Dad would later drain the carb do some other stuff before it started running right again. I filled 150 gallons of water in the pasture water tanks. We headed to Grand Rapids for a Father's Day Dinner at my grandparents house. When we got home, I fed my steers 9 scoops of grain and 2 square bales of hay.
Monday, June 19 dad worked on digging more holes in the ground. When making the perimeter straight, we used a long piece of baler twine to mark where to dig along. We caught another woodchuck, so I got it out of the trap and reset it. While I was filling water tanks at the pasture, I went up to the farm and fed the steers 9 scoops of grain and 2 square bales. I filled 1 1/2 water tanks at the pasture and fed a scoop to them. Mel had brought the dogs down to the crick behind the house and had them swimming in the water. I went over and threw sticks in the water for them. Dad and Paige later came down to see what all the splashing was. We took turns trying to swing out over the crick on the dangling willow branches, and when it was my turn, I fell in. The water was pretty cold, but it felt good on this hot day. Mel came in later and swam for a quick minute. We had to give the dogs baths outside before letting them in the house.
Tuesday, June 20 dad and I left right after work and came home to get his truck. We went down south to Dowling to an auction that had some fence stuff. We walked around and looked at all the stuff that was there and found what we wanted. The auction started, and we waited for them to get to the stuff we wanted. It always seems the stuff we want is always one of the last things to be auctioned off. There was lots of amish people there bidding on stuff. We tried to get the fencing stuff, but it went for more than we wanted plus the auctioneer was selling everything in the room, not singular items. We ended up asking the guy that bought everything for just the fence stuff which he kindly said yes to. We paid him and it was a win win. We waited for them to sell some fence posts, but they went for too much. We got our stuff loaded up and then headed home, stopping in Freeport at the Shamrock Tavern for dinner. When we got home, I went and checked traps and took care of a woodchuck we got back at the shack. I filled waters at the farm and fed them 9 scoops of grain and 1 bale of hay.
Wednesday, June 21 after work dad and I stopped by an auction place to look at some old trucks they were selling. One was a 1990 F-250 manual which was in great condition. We then headed to the Caledonia Farmers Elevator to pick up my order of 1,000 lbs of grain. They loaded it on a skid into the back of his truck and then we came home. I brought dad's truck to the farm and unloaded the grain and set it just inside the barn where the steers are. I came back with the truck and then began to water my sunflowers. Mel had watered the rest of the garden prior to me getting home. We went and checked traps, and we got another one, so I got it out of the trap and we went and set it in the hay field behind the farm. I filled waters at the farm and pasture and fed 10 scoops of grain and 2 square bales to the steers.
Thursday, June 22 dad went around the perimeter of the new pasture and brush hogged the grass down again. Mel and I had walked down to the crick and saw some fish in it, so we decided we wanted to try and catch one. We used some loose line tied to a stick and a bobber. We dug a ton of holes in the dirt looking for worms, but it is too dry. We checked under rocks, in the black pasture dirt, even where it was moist ground still, but nothing. We used some little berries on the hook, but didn't catch anything. I went up to the farm and fed 2 square bales of hay and 12 scoops of grain to the steers and cow and filled tanks with 100 gallons of water.
Friday, June 23 I went around the new pasture perimeter and leveled the rail road ties in the holes. I then put dirt back around the ties a little bit at a time and compacting it down with a long 2 by 4. It was hot in the morning and early afternoon with the sun beating down on you with not much of a breeze. I took a break and brought the rototiller up to the house with me from the farm. I had lunch and then went around the back side of the garden and laid out metal posts every so many feet. I then went around and pounded them in with a sledge hammer and tied a plastic meijer bag to the post as if it were a flag. With the slightest breeze, the bags will blow and move and make crinkle sounds which helps keep the deer away and help save our corn and plants from being eaten. After that was done, I went and watered the flower beds and then the whole garden. I filled water tanks down at the pasture and fed 2 scoops of grain to the cows. I went up to the farm and fed the steers 11 scoops of grain and 2 bales of hay. I helped dad get his truck topper on for tomorrow.
Saturday, June 24 Paul Seese came over for breakfast and then helped us load up our 56 meat chickens into the back of dad's truck. We headed over to Lake Odessa where we dropped of the birds to a couple that butchers them for us. We stopped at the bakery in Lake Odessa to grab a donut and then headed home. We started weeding the garden a little bit to kill some time. We pulled up the viney invasive plants and Paul helped out to. Dad and I headed down the road to get the livestock trailer, and then weighed it on the big scale. It was 10,580 lbs. We came up to the farm with it and Dad backed it up to the barn. We worked on trying to get the cow up here into it, but she didn't even want to come inside. It took a little bit of work and some time, but we managed to get her on the trailer. I fed the steers some grain and then we headed back to the scale and weighed again with her. The total now was 12, 520 which means she weighs 1,940 lbs which is almost a ton. That's a huge cow. We headed to the farm where she was going and when we got there, we unloaded her. We talked with Mr. Crissman, who bought her from me, for awhile before leaving and coming home. Dad and I went back to the woods and put some tin over the arch we set outside and then we closed up the shack and brought the tractor to the farm. I pounded in some more posts for a little bit and then later closed up the barns because it is supposed to rain. I fed the steers a bale of hay and 8 1/2 scoops total today.
Sunday, June 25 I went up to the farm in the morning and worked on cleaning up and organizing the barn a lot. I threw all the hay that was in the small pen manger out and into the big pen as bedding because it had absorbed a lot of moisture and was moldy. I then swept up a lot of chaff and fed it. I then restacked the pallet of grain bags up in the barn out of the way and swept up all the straw chaff and threw it in the big pen for bedding. I used the dolly and moved the old smaller freezer out of the barn and replaced it with a newer bigger one that doesn't work. We use freezers to keep food and stuff for the cows and cats out of reach of the raccoons and other wild animals. I threw out a bunch of twine and junk and cleaned up the area so you could get through without an issue. Dad fixed the window panes in the garage window and re-caulked them in. Dad also cleaned up scrap and leaves and wood around the shack to make it more nicer. We later worked on weeding the garden before the rain came. I weeded my flowers and dad worked on the corn until the rain became too heavy. It only rained for a little bit which just got everything wet. Hopefully we get a bunch more rain tomorrow.
Monday, June 26 we got some of the rain we needed over the night through today. We accumulated about 1/2 an inch or so of rain which is more than welcomed, but the land and plants need more than just that. I was inside most the day while it rained and worked on this. Later after the rains passed, my sisters and I went for a walk back to the shack woods to check the conibear. It was a nice long walk. It is about 1/2 a mile just to the woods. We walked barefoot the whole time because the ground was super soft. We walked through the woods on a lot of the trails and found a maple tree with a big broken off branch. Nothing was in the trap, so we walked back home crossing over the corn stalks and bean plants at one point in the field. Usually you could never walk barefoot in a corn stalk filled field because you'd be sure to get a splinter or cut from the hard stalks. But since it rained, everything was soft and mushy which made it nice to walk on. I later went up to the farm and fed the steers 5 scoops of grain and checked the other conibear which had a little one in it. I went home and a while later I came up to the farm and dad spray painted some rust preventative paint on the fertilizer augers that go in the corn planter. I got the loader started and forked up some rail road ties. Paul stopped by and picked them up to use as crane mats. I went and fed the steers another 4 scoops before coming home.
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