Farming in the shade

Today we had the third tree guy out to assess the damage and give us a bid. The other two tree guys are wonderful at what they do--but they suggested we take all the damaged trees down. That is not what I wanted to hear. How will it be Shady Side Farm without those big silver maples? So I called a third tree guy. We are waiting to hear back from him. We are also waiting to hear back from contractors, who are apparently busy with other things. We are busy with other things, too, so they don't get reminded much. So, even though the yard is mostly cleaned up, the house still looks like it was in the center of a minor battle. And our crushed grill was called into service just yesterday. We had to prop it up on a block of wood (former landscape timbers) to keep it level. I can't decide if the fact that we are so desperate for grilled lamb brats that we would use a destroyed propped-up charcoal grill is pathetic or comical. Carry on, soldier.

95% of Michigan's farms are single family operated and/or family partnerships. Of the few farms structured as corporations, 99% of those are family-owned and involve multiple generations and family members. For instance, our farm is structured as a corporation. We do this because it's the best idea for our situation, tax-wise. Our farm has one paid employee, and several unpaid volunteers. So, while there is a lot of talk about "corporate" farms, be sure you understand that corporate doesn't necessarily equal huge and faceless.

This year has been almost perfect for our rye crop. Plenty of rain in the spring and early summer, and then dry at harvest time. We harvested the small field in a couple of hours, reaping around 200 bushels total. Enough for seed for future cover crops, and perhaps a bit to sell. The combine makes harvesting so easy compared to the stories I've read about cutting and stacking sheaves and operating threshing machines. The combine cuts the plant off about a foot above the ground, and pulls it in. The grain is separated from the shaft of the plant (straw) inside the machine. The grain goes in a holding area in the combine, and the straw is deposited in windrows behind the combine. When the grain holding area is full, we empty into a nearby gravity flow wagon.  The straw is good for animal bedding. Soon after harvesting started, we started up the baler. Two people are all it takes to fill the wagons with straw bales, but a few more are helpful to put them up in th

Friday started out uneventfully enough: send The Farmer off to market, move sheep, mow thistles in pasture, bag beans, cultivate. Late in the afternoon, The Farmer returned from market and parked in back, as there was a contractor's big pickup truck in the drive. Eventually, the contractor left, and The Farmer pulled the car around and put it in the garage. A couple of us got busy replenishing his bean supply for the next day. The shepherd girl was cultivating the bean field using the tractor, and suddenly the fire pager went off with an emergency. The Farmer/Firefighter roared off in the van which had been parked in front of the garage. It started raining, and we laughed watching my father-in-law carry a large bag of beans across the back yard trying not to get them wet. Soon, our daughter ran across that same back yard, soaked from being out on the tractor. Suddenly the wind picked up. We huddled in the garage, and I quickly reached for the button to close the garage door.

In the day of trouble     He will keep me safe in his dwelling;  He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent     And set me high upon a rock. --Psalm 27:5 NIV

For many years we've utilized filter strips along our major ditches. Our filter strips are about 24 feet wide, and planted with grass. Filter strips provide wildlife habitat, help to slow down erosion and keep nutrients from washing away during rainstorms.  Here is one of our filter strips after a rainy spring and a particularly heavy rainstorm.  Corn stalks were caught in the filter strip, preventing them from clogging up the ditches. The corn stalks moved across the filter strip at least 13 feet. Smaller debris erodes even more and is trapped in the filter strip to a lesser degree. All of the trapped matter would have otherwise ended up in the ditches, drains, streams, and rivers. Eventually, some of it would have made its way out to the big lake, polluting all the way. When this happens, ditches and drains need to be cleaned out more often. And harbors in the big lake may also need to be dredged more often. All of this costs money, and can be prevented to a ce

Our six new Belted Galloway cows have produced four calves so far--three heifers and one bull.  They seem to be thriving on life out in the pasture. They are rotationally grazed, like the sheep. We move them every few days, based on the size of the paddock and the weather conditions. We've had lots of rain, which keeps the grass growing optimally. It's always a joy to see the little ones enjoying life. The calves learned very quickly that they could sneak under the single strand electric fence and wander away from mom. They explore, or play together, or just take a nap away from the rest.   The cows call them to come back. Like human children, sometimes they obey, and sometimes they don't. What did I tell you about picking your nose in public?