Cattle Call Farm Blog

The pictures will tell the story.......

As you can see the field is on top of the ridge. Which has really made it good for drying out. We only cut about 5 acres at a time, since it is hard to find any one to help. We have been lucky to get 2 days in with out rain here and there. It has been so hot and humid that we have been getting on and off thunder boomers about every evening. We are halfway done, and are going to try to get some more cut Friday. It's kinda like rolling the dice. The weather man says hit or miss showers for the next 7 days, we will see if our luck holds out.

At 83 Homer still refuses to let anyone, including me run his equipment. I sometimes get to use the kicker and rake where it's not real steep, but it just kills him to stand around and watch other people work so I just let him do what he feels like doing. Sometimes we have help with another tractor but the weather has been so wet that everyone else is in the same boat we are in trying to get up their hay. But it will get done sooner or later, it always does.

Not enough hours in the day.

Just wanted to let everyone know I am still here. I have been leaving my house at 6:30 AM and not getting back in until 9:30 PM and haven't  had time to update. Pictures will be coming if I can get a day off. Hay is about 1/2 done, girls have been going to volleyball camp and I am keeping up with the greenhouses while Stan,Janet and the little man are sucking up the sun at the beach.Catch up when I can.

Why do people litter? Is it laziness or stupidity???

The girls 4H club adopted the road that goes to the school to clean up. It amazes me how much trash people throw out along the road. The dept of highways gives them the vest, gloves and bags and also pays them so much per mile. We cleaned up a couple miles of highway, but give it a couple of weeks and it will probably be bad again. Most of the trash is beer bottles and  take out bags from the local deli. So sad that the people that litter are usually people that have nothing better to do but set on their butt's drink beer and order take out. What a"life" they must have. We ended up picking up 19 bags of trash then we rewarded the kids with a pizza party.

I also had a run in with my neighbors dog when I was picking up trash on my side in front of their house. They have a mini-pincher but don't let the size full you, and don't let her tell you he won't bite because the bruise on my leg will tell you otherwise. Funny thing, since I borrowed a trash bag from her and made a comment about how it was funny so much trash was in front of her house, it has remained cleaned. Go Figure????? Usually if I keep the  road banks clear we don't have too much trouble with litter.

It is still raining in lovely WV. Just enough to mess up a hay field. Some of my friends are getting theirs up, since they round bale. But a few have gotten theirs wet. Homer refuses to cut any hay if there is any chance of rain. We didn't get started last year until the 23rd so at least we aren't behind yet. I am starting to get a little stir crazy though. I have been weed eating and mowing between showers. Trying to keep the weeds out of the garden. The weeds are loving this weather. I did get my first squash and cucumbers this weekend, and I went to the local market and picked up a watermelon that was actually eatable, it should have been since it cost $6.75. What's the going price for a watermelon where you live? This was one of the big oblong ones. I bought a seedless round one for $4.99 at the grocery store but the only ones who could eat it were the chickens, but I think they will eat anything or at least mine do.

Waiting their turn, seems like everywhere you go there is a line..

I went over on the ridge the other day and of course this is where I found the cows spending their day. It was so funny, it looked like they were standing in line, waiting their turn to use the cattle rub. It seems like they want to stay over here. The grass around the house is tall and thick so I guess if I want them to come over and see me I will have to get a new rub to put up at the house.

 

I ran out this week and picked up a new bottle of Permetherin-10. This is only a small bottle, 8oz. but you only mix 2oz. to 1 gallon of diesel to pour on your rub. I do this every 2 weeks, so this bottle will last 2 months and it only cost $6.oo. I use old diesel that was left in the bottom of the diesel barrels, and diesel is a little less than $3.00 per gallon here right now. So it cost about $18.00 to give my cattle a nice fly free barn to hang out in 2 months on hot, humid summer days. The rub is 10ft long and I priced one the other day for $22 and then you can buy the "flips" for a few dollars more or make your own from old rags and socks.I have had mine for 5 years now and it has more than paid for itself. I take mine down and store it in the months I don't use it. 

By the way if you notice on the bottle it can be used on almost all livestock. It can be diluted with water to use as a spray, but the diesel makes it absorb in the rub better.If you need more info just leave me a comment. I found this at Tractor Supply.

Trying to decide if I should cuss, scream or cry???

Isn't this a beautiful view? Well take a good look at it because if the power company gets their way there will be a 200 ft right of way cut through the middle of the farm . I won't go into details right now because all of the facts are still coming in. It is called the PATH project.(Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline) This will be a 765-kilovolt line that runs approximately 275 miles from Amos Substation in Putnam Cty, WV to Kemptown Substation, southeast of New Market,MD. The worst thing is the power isn't even going to be used by WV.We were told it would bring jobs, but the contractors are said to be from Chicago, the steel is coming from India and we are the ones that will be getting the increase in the bill to pay for it. So I really don't see a plus side. I have been told it will take 24 acres, but corrected their lines on their map to show them if it's going where "they say" then it should only take about half of that. But at last glance of their map it still shows 24 acres on me and they have not contacted the other land owner. The one thing I hate most is you can't get a straight answer. They are still conducting meetings and research studies to try to get their permits. If you are any part of this please know, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LET THEM ON YOU PROPERTY UNTIL THEY OBTAIN A PERMIT!!! And do not let them tell you otherwise. If you signed a survey permission form YOU CAN REVOKE your permission to keep them off your property until permits are issued.

There is a lot more information that I will bring you up to date on later. My daughter actually did a social studies project on the PATH project and some of her findings were pretty scary. I am not a "power person but what I did find out was pretty clear. This line will put out 75 milo-knots on low flow and 125 milo-knots on high flow standing close to it at 100ft. The health dept. standards to be safe are 2-4 milo-knots. Yeah, I want to have that running through my back yard and they are even talking about putting it over a school. I will not Begin to rant at this time, I am still gathering facts.

But the one thing I do know is we bust our ass to make this place what it is, and now someone has come on my property and told me and I quote, "It's not like you are going to use the property for anything." So yes I am pretty disgusted and aggravated, I usually don't get on the band wagon but If we don't get some help or get some support we are going to be looking at a huge tower right where these pictures were taken. 

If anyone else is being affected by this and would like to share info, let me know. Until then I will be keeping up with meetings and hearings. If you would like to read more about Path they also have a web site www.pathtransmission.com But all the details aren't there. I will keep you updated on my end.

Turkey update.

I have been a proud owner of turkeys now for 8 days. We did lose one, but by the looks of them when they came in I say they had a pretty rough trip. So here's what I have learned this week.

Turkeys are different than chicks, They aren't as noisy. I hardly know these guys are in the house. When you walk up to the cage they freeze and kind of squat down like they are hiding. They don't seem to eat as much. I did finally  get turkey starter ( also learned to ask the woman at the feed store where the feed is, the man said I had to buy 50lb bag of game feed, woman showed me where to buy turkey starter in bulk. I only bought 10 pounds at 1/3 of price) I also great tip from a new friend, Marianne that said you can put a boiled egg in chick starter for extra protein. She too is raising some baby turkeys. (Marianne, if you are checking in please look at reply to you last comment.)

All in all it seems to be working out. They aren't feathering out as fast as chicks either.So they will probably be inside turkeys for awhile. The weather here is crazy, hot, humid, muggy during the day then major thunderstorms and gauley washers at night.I have been doing so much running with my kids since they are in the last days of school that I haven't researched the next step.I do see a difference in a couple of the chicks, so I am guessing 3 gobblers and 2 hens. We will see, well it's back out the door. Have a great day!

Bad weather for hay, good weather for garden.

This may not be good hay weather, but the garden is loving it. Everything is blooming and I will probably start getting squash next week. Having trouble with bugs on my potatoes and since we have been having rain showers almost everyday I can't really treat them with anything, it just washes off. The pepper plants aren't liking the wet ground, but I keep pinching back the blooms and they seem to be coming out of it.

 

Here's the field we cleaned up the other day. Hard to believe 3 months ago this was a winter wonderland. 1 Acre down, 30 to go. If anyone has some extra sunshine send it my way.

 

So what have we been up too since it has been raining?

I am still weed eating road banks and fence lines. Homer usually goes out and gets into something. The other day he came up and said I need you to help me tomorrow. He was out and found some fence down in a very rough spot and needed to take the "man tool" as he calls it. Check out this post driver he made. It's made from 6 inch pipe with the ends and handle welded on. We have to use it to set some old road sign post we got from the state road. A regular post driver won't fit over them and for some dang luck it seems to always be in the roughest spot where we have to drag this thing too. After making it over the hill I helped Homer line up the post then we both put the driver over the post. I have seen a few people grab this thing and thought you could just fling it up over your head, I have also seen a few people fall flat on their a@@ when this thing takes you over the hill. After finishing the fence we then had to double team the ManTool and carry it back up out of the hollow. I sometimes wonder why a cow would even go into some of these places, usually they don't but if we have dry weather they do sometimes wander so it's better to be safe than sorry.

Here's looking from the 4 wheeler to the bottom of the hollow. I made this trip a couple of times getting more fence and of course you always forget something. After all of these I was thinking about going to the gym and working out a couple of hours, "NOT".