autumn at the farm

… preparing for winter.

We bale some grass, and buy what more hay/​silage we think we're gonna need to feed the animals well over the winter, with a buffer to handle whatever next spring may bring. We got plenty hay in store, so our “home­made” bales are left out in the fields for now.

Not much grass for the animals out on the pas­tures this time of year, but three meals a day con­sis­ting of silage/​hay and con­cen­trate keep them in good shape – not skinny and not too fat.
Extra minerals in the form of salt-blocks with trace ele­ments, are fixed inside the feed station and avail­able all the time.
The water post is near by the feed station, and a creek running through the far end of the pastures acts as safe backup when the water pipes freeze during winter. Relying on natural fea­tures like that creek, cost a lot less than frost­free pipes and other “modern solu­tions”, and they just work when all ad­vanced tech­no­logy fails.

daily routines

Following the same routines day in and day out may not sound like much to the unin­i­ti­ated, but I can assure that it is quite rewarding. Much preferred over 9-5 scedules.
1) they provide us with neces­sary exer­cise for body and soul. Many pay quite a lot for hours at noisy and sweaty training centers for less use­ful train­ing than we get daily.
2) they bring moments of order and sanity in a world seem­ingly domi­nated by dis­order and utter stu­pid­ity. Much needed these days.
3) they are flexible. Plus or minus an hour (or even three) makes no real dif­fer­ence for the animals we care for, as long as they get enough food often enough.

Only motorized devices for handling feed are shown in the pictures. In real­ity the hay­fork, buckets, and other tools are used a lot more than the crane and Gator.

quiet days…

Gray and quiet autumn day at the farm, like yester­day and the day before. The cows are slowly leaving the feed-area after the morning meal, prob­ably going to one of their favorite places to lay down and chew cud, same as yester­day and the day before. A lazy life.

Many will find living like this all too boring. I find it peace­ful and inspiring, the perfect place to live for a tech­no­crat in retirement. Pays to be resource­ful on a small farm, as there's always some­thing to fix or improve, or leave alone.

sincerely  georg; sign

Hageland 12.oct.2020
last rev: 12.oct.2020



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