Life of a Farm Blog

The garden vegetables have finally reached their peak here on the farm. Madison, Garett, and Nana (my mom) have been busy stewing tomatoes, making spaghetti sauce, freezing peppers, and processing corn. It’s become a daily ritual to gather the ripe produce from the garden and deposit it on the log house porch for Nana and her little helpers. I stay so busy I haven’t been much help with the preserving this year. At least I’ve been able to help pick and dispose of the scraps to the goats. It’s pretty neat to watch them fight over corn shucks and watermelon rinds. They really will eat anything. I’ve had the brush hog on the 6000 the past couple days clipping the pastures and getting the hay field edges. We’re planning to do a bunch of re-seeding this fall so the grasses will all have to be short. I’ve moved the goats, calves, and a few horses to a different pasture to keep it short. We’ve been working with Thumper a little this week to get him broken to lead. He’s now out in the pasture with other horses and he is much happier. My friend and neighbor Wade borrowed the Mahindra and the Vermeer roller to put up some hay this week. It will soon be time to start cutting mine. My dad picked up a used disc a few days ago. I haven’t seen it yet, he is supposed to bring it down to the farm in a week or two. Madison is having a terrible time with her thumb sucking device. One side has come loose and she is slobbering like a rabid dog. The dentist doesn’t have an emergency number so we will have to hold on until Monday. I feel so sorry for her. I suppose I will leave work early and take her to have it glued back in. Kaylee hurt her wrist at cheerleading practice Wednesday night. Luckily it’s not broken. It is sprained though and very sore. She has been keeping it wrapped with an ace bandage. Someone told her vinegar takes the swelling out so she has been stinking like vinegar a lot. The children started school this week. Garett and Kaylee wanted to ride the bus, but Madison wanted me to take her. Needless to say I took her and spent a little while getting her accustomed to her new teacher. We made sure to go check on Garett. I got a cute picture of her giving him a hug that morning. They seem to be fine with school. The heat is hard on them though. My heart has been very heavy this week. I am so very sorry for the Utah coal miners and their families. My prayers include them. I have lots of memories of coal mining. My dad worked in the mines for many years in SE KY. Actually he even owned a mine at one time. I myself have my mining card and still consider going to work in the mines from time to time. It is terribly sad that miners put there lives on the line every day. I cannot help but think mining would be a much safer occupation if more miners were represented by the United Mine Workers of America. I know that here in McCreary county there was a horrible strike over safety. It started shortly after the Scotia mining disaster in Oven Fork Ky.. Both mines were owned by Blue Diamond Coal Company and the miners here felt unsafe enough they organized with the UMWA asking for a safety committee with authority to shut down parts of the mine. The miners were already making close to union scale all they wanted was a safer working environment, but the company didn’t want them to have that. The strike was bad for everybody and eventually the Justus mine closed. Well there is lots to do so I better get at it……………….Be sure to check out the pics I’ve added to the site and check back soon!

This week has been one of the most trying times I can remember. We were rolling right along with the excavation on the chickenhouses until I noticed something in the siting requirements that has us stopped until we can figure out who’s right. According to the siting regulations given to me by the company, we were within spec, however according to another siting guide we are too close to a house on the county road adjacent to the house site. My contacts at Cobb tell me that the siting requirements are merely recommendations and that a lot of their houses are not the recommended distance listed in the siting guide. The siting guide does list them as recommended distances, however the Ky Poultry Federation and an Extension Professor in Poultry at the University of Kentucky both say they are legal distances required by law. I am waiting on a written legal opinion from Cobb’s attorney and someone higher up at UK before proceeding. It has us in a holding pattern so to speak. I don’t know how long I can expect the excavator to sit idle while we sort this out, but I certainly don’t want to build $700,000 buildings that are not in compliance with the law.

We got a chance to attend another rodeo this weekend at the Southeast Ky Horseman’s Arena in Strunk, Ky. This one was much better than the one we attended earlier this year. The kids enjoyed all the bull riding, barrel racing, calf roping, and bronco busting. They participated in a boot race too. It was neat all the kids took off one shoe and the clown scattered them all over the arena. Then the kids had to race to find their shoe, put it on and run back to the clown.

Madison and Garett both went to the dentist this week. Garett to get a cavity filled and Madison to be fitted for a device that will keep her from sucking her thumb. I have felt sorry for Madison ever since. She says the device is hurting her mouth and it has affected her speech. I am afraid with school starting Monday the kids will make fun of her. Hopefully in a month or so she will be able to have it removed.

I’ve used the 6000 to haul crossties to my friend James and moved a bunch of topsoil with the bucket this week. I’ve got to find the time to do some more cleanup at the rental trailer and spread several loads of topsoil for neighbors that want to buy it.

I noticed a used 7010 cab Mahindra on the local Deere dealer’s lot. It has 700 hours and has obviously been used kind of rough. Depending on the price though it might be a good buy. I’m going to try to talk to the previous owner. Who knows I may end up with another Mahindra. Its just tough to justify buying used with financing rates as low as they are and the warranty you get with new.

Well there’s tons to do so I better get at it………..Check back soon and thanks for reading!

Spent most of the week away from the farm this week. The kids and I spent some time in the Great Smoky Mountains. We took in the great veiws from all the way at the top of Clingmans Dome and visited a very old farmstead on the North Carolina side of the park. The old farm is very neat, with it’s split rail fences, molasses processing pans, lye soap making, apple house, chicken coop, heirloom garden, smokehouse, barn, blacksmith shop, springhouse, and pig pen. It was great for the children to see just how the old timers made it. The farmstead leaves me longing for simpler times and wondering if someday I might find some remote peice of land and give it a try the old way myself. The children learned all about games kids used to play and even made some toys and played some of the games like buzz buttons and corn cob tipped feathers for darts. I enjoyed the park the most, but the children enjoyed the shows and rides. Madison said her favorite part of the trip was our dinner show at Dixie Stampede. She especially enjoyed the trick riding. My little girl is quite the equine enthusiast. Kaylee and Garetts favorite part of the trip was Dollywood and it’s roller coasters. They like the rides. We rode all the roller coasters even the new Mystery Mine. I think later this fall I will try to take them to Kings Island. We all played miniature golf at Ripley’s Old McDonalds Farm Golf. The animated farm animals were cool. The kids all posed for pictures with them. While there we visited a dinosaur museum that had an old half track out front. Half tracks were used in WWII. My grandfather drove one through most of the war. It was great to be able to show the kids one and relay all the stories about my grandpa. He was 15 when he lied about his age and joined the army to go off and fight. It’s hard to grasp just how rough things must have been here to see a war as an improvement. I have always said the WWII generation truly is our greatest generation and I take my hat off to them all. Back on the farm. We have decided to go ahead with the poultry houses. After much discussion we have decided that it is an opportunity. It will allow me to get out of the factory and be on the farm. It will also pay for the farm and allow us to grow if we so choose. I geuss bottom line it was going to be very hard to justify passing up a steady income. In farming there aren’t very many ways that you can make it anymore and this seems to be one. Cobb has a very good reputation in this area. I’ll keep you all posted as to how it progresses. I better go for now, I have promised to use the 6000 to move some topsoil and fill some holes in the yard of both the log house and the double-wide. Be sure to check out the pics I have added and check back soon!