Dart Creek Farm

by Michael Lobby

110 bales so far (a little over 3 tons) and only 350 more to go. I’ve decided this will be my daily or every other day…mmmm… or every other other day workout…50 bales, five at a time up into the truck, ten up into the loft, then up the ladder and stack. I’ve got a system going where I load 2 bales onto a platform I built to sit on top of the truck bed. Then I load 5 bales at a time into the truck, stack the bales onto the platform, then climb onto the platform, standing on the 2 bales, and load the 5 bales up onto the loft floor. After two cycles of 5 bales, I climb the ladder up into the loft and then stack the 10 bales. It seems a little like Daniel waxing Mr. Miyagi’s cars or sanding his floors, but then the muscles begin to remember and the progress is slow but steady. Only 6 more workouts until the job is done! Next year…a hay elevator.

my temporary hay elevator

the first hay in

I did have a couple of bonus discoveries…eggs. The chickens have been out of their coop during the day since all the hot weather started so they can find some cool shade and take dirt baths. The downside to this is we have only been getting a couple of eggs out of their nesting boxes every day. Well today, after taking bales of hay down out of the stalls, I discovered two different nests with eggs totaling a baker’s dozen. And some new darker ones that I’m sure are from the youngest hens. Score! I have two people at work who have prepaid for a dozen eggs and I haven’t been able to deliver…until now. We picked up some chicken wire on our supply outing to mend a few holes in the coop fence. Tomorrow, Kaitie and I will put up a platform for shade inside their yard. We’ll add some nice fresh dirt to the yard too for them to bathe. That, along with the new nesting boxes we added this week should make them happy enough to give us a good dozen and a half eggs a day.

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by Michael Lobby

This is the third year I’ve picked up hay out of the field for our horses…the first year out of our own field. For some reason I never remember how exhausting the work can be. In 2006, with Kim driving the truck with our two-horse trailer being pulled behind, I loaded a total of about 140 bales in two trips (nearly 5 tons). It was then unloaded and stacked in the small barn at our house on West Lane Road. Being a rather large fellow and not exactly in the best of shape, I tend to sweat…a lot. By the time the day was over I felt as if I had contracted tetanus as my entire body was in a state of cramping and contraction from dehydration. Note to self: Drink some water the next time!

Last year, again in the same field, with Kim pulling a new (used) flatbed trailer I was once again loading hay. And again thinking “Oh, this shouldn’t be too hard, just a couple of loads.” And again not drinking enough fluid brought me to the state of complete body tetani. Geez, why am I so daft? I did hire a kid to help me load the trailer that time, but still being in the “out of shape” state, I found myself, once again, writhing in pain at the end of the day. And I haven’t yet mentioned the bum foot and the fact that I can’t walk the day after this type of activity. It sounds quite miserable and full of self pity but for some strange reason I now look forward to this every year. There is just something about it. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but the work I do for the benefit of my family and animals, however difficult, brings me such a great feeling of satisfaction.

This year was the best so far. We worked hard all year mowing and spraying and babying our new field. We had help…a lot of help (the city boys Craig and John came from Portland). And even though it was more than 3 times as much hay, everything went so well. Four loads over about 10 hours and all the hay picked up, the last bale being thrown on the trailer just as drops of rain were felt from the thunderstorm rolling in. The loaded truck and trailer were parked in the barn just in time to protect it from getting wet. Only one thing wasn’t thoroughly thought out…how to get the hay into the loft. Next year I will have a hay elevator. Until then, the hay stacked on the trailer will serve as a stairway to get the majority of the hay up top. Today I managed to get 30 bales neatly stacked up there. And…Kim kept us well supplied with a cooler full of drinks and lots of encouragement…and forced me to stop and replace everything I was losing in sweat (which was a lot, sorry) and keep the full-body muscle contractions at bay. She was a trooper, driving and bucking hay and making sure we had a delicious meal waiting for us when we were finally finished. Oh I can’t wait until next year! It will be a hay bucking extravaganza!

6/29/08 The First Bales

Almost done.

First load going into the barn.

View from the loft.

Stairway to the loft.

Pretty impressive for a city boy John.

Hay, sweat, and tears.

Our motivator and resident horse woman in her big truck.

Elsa, Zoe, and Kaitie

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by Michael Lobby

She has given us a plentiful amount of food for our horses. It was touch and go for a few days but everything came together and we had a bountiful harvest. 460 bales…enough for the entire year and probably more. A humongous thank you goes out to all who helped…Daryl, Mr. and Mrs. Kreman, Craig, John, Zoe, Elsa, and of course the whole Lobby clan.

Charles Barkley hiding in the soon-to-be-cut grass.

View from the driveway.

Wider view from the driveway.

The end of the week brought us hot weather with temperatures up into the high 80’s. All of the elements have to be just right to cut the most nutritious eats. No chance of rain for a few days and the ground dry enough under the uncut grass.

Finally the hay gets cut!

It was a long year of hard work and patience and it all came down to this…the hay was finally being cut. Our first cut of hay ever and mmmmm it looks good!

Cutting…

…cutting…

View from the barn loft.

Ah, the beautiful cut grass hay.

The hay was cut on Thursday the 26th. It then had to dry for a couple of days. Normally it can take up to several days for hay to dry but we live on a hill with a nice wind that comes form the West and dried it out quickly. The next step was to turn the hay and fluff it up into rows to be ready for the baler.

Our first casualty…Kaitie’s vollyball.

The cut hay before being formed into windrows with the hay rake.

Closer view. Our driveway is to the left of the white posts.

Our Field Queen Harvester Maddie and mama to all those Labradoodles.

Oops…a preview of THE barn.

Stay tuned for baling and bucking.

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by Michael Lobby

This year will be the first that we are cutting hay from our largest pasture. There is a very small window of opportunity where we live in which to get the hay cut, then have enough time to dry, have it baled, and then get it picked up and stacked under cover before any rain comes. It seems the last three years the window has come later and later in the month of June.

The forecast for this week brings us warm to hot temperatures by Friday. We’re hoping to have hay cut and ready to be picked up by Saturday.

I’ll post pictures after it all happens…

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