Stormy Weather II

Winter came early to the farm this year with about 8 inches of snow falling through the evening yesterday, followed by clear skies and sub-freezing temperatures.  We usually get these kinds of storms in December and January, but hardly ever, according to the long-time locals, before Thanksgiving.

The cold probably finished off the mangel tops, which were providing good feed for the chickens and the pigs, but there are still plenty of the roots themselves which should have weathered the cold without much trouble.  The carrots are likely finished, but the collards should be fine.

We spent some time this last summer getting the barn more warm and snug for the winter months.  Mike finished all the doors and windows, and we have plenty of good hay and straw.  

Ed Mowing with Fred and Barney

Here is a nice picture of the early days of the farm. Ed is hooking up Fred and Barney, neither of whom are still with us, to a McCormick-Deering #9 sickle bar mower. The #7 and #9, along with the John Deere Big 4 (see photo on previous post), represent the apex of horse drawn technology. Thousands of these mowers were manufactured from the late 30's until 1945 or so when tractors began to displace horses at a rapid rate. These mowers are ground driven, taking power from the wheels and transferring it, via the pitman stick to the sickle itself. These late model mowers feature an enclosed gearbox in which the gears run in an oil bath "just like an automobile." There are still several thousand of these gems doing good work on farms all over the country, a testament to the good workmanship and sound engineering of the farm machinery of the this era.

Stormy Weather

The fortunate alchemy of air, water and mountains that bless Western Washington with an almost ideal climate for farming becomes something of a curse on those rare occasions when the weather does turn bad.  Here on the farm, in the valley of the Stillaguamish River, the wind hardly ever blows harder than 10 or 15 miles an hour, and usually, not at all. So when we do get a wind storm (with the obligatory downpour) we also get a lot of downed trees.

Last night a strong weather system rolled across Puget Sound with gusty winds, lightning and heavy rain. We were without power for most of the day here on the farm, but that doesn't really put much of a damper on the day's work of cleaning up. Surprisingly, not too many trees came down, and none directly on any of the roads or power lines. In the photo we see Terry looking over a tree that just missed the road, and will probably be stacked firewood within a week.  As luck would have it, last night was the start of our winter schedule for the horses, and so they were all warm and dry in the barn.   

Winter Cover Crops

Here's Ryan mowing a cover crop of oats sown back at the end of July following potatoes. Surprisingly, some of the oats were actually starting to head out. Last winter's oats were killed by a hard freeze in December, which was ideal for planting early spring crops. When a cover crop winter kills, you don't have to deal with knocking back a live cover come spring. With our generally mild winters, I doubt oats will winter kill every year. We shall see. For fields and garden beds that will not be planted until later in the season, and where we want robust spring growth, winter hardy rye is a good choice.

Cover crops are important for protecting soil from winter rains, trapping and holding excess nitrogen, competing with weeds, adding organic matter to the soil as well as contributing to a healthy soil structure. Nature abhors bare ground and so should we.

Still Working the Land

The seasons may change, but the work stays the same.  Ed has been using horses to work the land here at the farm for over thirty years - that's him, above, doing some long-ago spring harrowing down by the old barn. When so much of this area has been put under development in recent years, with strip malls, giant chain stores and fast-food dispensaries now growing on what used to be productive farm land, Littlefield Farm remains an oasis in a changing landscape. Below is Ryan harrowing yesterday, before planting the winter wheat.

Bringing in the Sheaves

We harvested the oats last week, and despite a little bit of rain, everthing is now safely in the barn. Thanks to Ed for these photos.

Good Breeding, But No Manners

Our new Berkshire weaner pigs have only been on the farm for a week or so, but they've already become quite content in their new surroundings.  Of course, who wouldn't be happy with an all-you-can-eat buffet of chopped mangels, grain and table scraps?  We'll keep these two in the barn for a few weeks, and then move them outside to the portable pig house where they can get serious about rooting and digging.  The Berkshires are an old and rare breed, and today's animals are supposedly descended from a herd owned by the House of Windsor more than three-hundred years ago.

Cutting and Binding

Now that the hay is in the barn (finally), and summer is fast slipping away, we've started harvesting here on the farm. In these photos we have Ryan, along with Clark and Fred, finishing up the wheat. There is also an adjacent field in oats that we will cut today.  If the weather cooperates, we should have all the threshing done by the end of the week. 

Norwegian Fjord Power

Sven and Ole provide the horsepower that gets the hay off  the wagon and into the barn.  We're into our second week of haying, and have one more field of cut grass to rake and pick up before Ryan starts mowing again.  Thanks to Ed for the photo.

Loading Up the Barn

We have a great way for getting the loose hay into the loft which allows us to move a substantial amount of hay from field to barn each day with only one wagon and a team. The system uses a set of hay harpoons which are attached to a pulley and ropes (above).  The harpoons are driven into the haystack atop the wagon, and the resulting load is slowly raised upwards to a trolley and track which runs the length of the loft.  

When everything is set, a team of fjords on the opposite side of the barn begin to pull the load off the wagon and up to the trolley.

As the load goes up, one person keeps a hand on the trip-line that releases the hay from the harpoons and makes sure that the ropes lifting the load and the trip-line don't get tangled together.

If the wagon was stacked correctly as it was being loaded out in the field, very little hay drops off on the way up, and most of what does falls right back on the wagon.

As soon as the harpoons latch on to the trolley, the load is quickly pulled inside and along the rail.

As the trolley zips along the rail, a person stationed inside the loft waits to give the signal to pull the trip-rope.

A big advantage to this system is that the hay can be dropped in different spots in the loft, and minimal spreading is needed.

It takes five or six loads to move all the hay from a fully stacked wagon into the barn...or about thirty minutes...which sure beats hauling bales.

When the load has reached the right spot, the person stationed in the barn shouts out the signal, and the trip-rope is pulled releasing the hay from the harpoons.  The trolley is then pulled back into position for another load...and another...and another.  

Thanks to Ed for the photos.