Six Reasons Hill Giant Farm Needs Rain

We hate to be too "farmerish" by dedicating a whole post to why we need rain, but the simple fact is, we do. Badly. Here is a list of ten reasons why Hill Giant Farm could use some rain. Some of these might be obvious to you, but others we're hoping will shed some light onto how a farm (and things on a farm) work. 

1. Our garden is in really bad shape because of the drought. The tomatoes and pepper plants have died, the peas, beans, beets, lettuce etc. are growing much slower and the potato beetles are thriving because of the dry conditions. We'd water the garden except for reason 2. 

2. When your water comes from a well, or a spring (as in our case) you begin to think and care a lot about the aquifer that feeds it. There is a limited amount of water in the underground aquifer. As it rains, the water taken out of the aquifer is replaced. When it doesn't rain....well, you begin to run short on water. We're ok so far, but the other day we noticed that our water pressure is dropping. So, we've implemented water saving measures; all animals get watered daily (obviously, as this is essential), we try and eat foods that require limited water to prepare, we either do a load of laundry or have a shower/hair wash each day, and we only flush when absolutely necessary. Needless to say, in this kind of situation, watering a 100x50 food garden is out of the question. 

3. Pasture doesn't replenish itself when it doesn't rain. As the sheep graze down one area of the pasture we move them to another, or they move themselves. Under normal circumstances, this allows the mowed down area to grow back and replenish itself. At the moment, all we have where the sheep have already eaten is weeds and dead grass. Not very encouraging. This will mean we'll have to cut more hay. See reason 4.

4. Without a substantial amount of rain, we will not be able to do a second cut of hay. Typically farmers in Ontario try and cut hay in June/July and late August/early Sept. in order to have enough for the winter. This depends on how well the hay field replenishes itself after the first cutting. At the moment we have enough hay cut for this winter, provided we can pasture the sheep until mid Oct., which depends on reason 3. 

5. Grain requires rain in order to properly form. At the moment we have a beautiful field of oats and barley growing nicely in one of our back fields. However, they are at a standstill. The stalks have grown and the heads have formed, now we just need the seeds to form and solidify within the heads. This, no surprise, requires rain. Our grain crop is very important to us as it will form the second leg of a 2 leg feeding program for the sheep this winter. 

6. Dry ground negatively affects the electrification of our fence. We use electric fence on field perimeters to keep the sheep where we want them. We aren't 100% sure how this works, but as the ground around the ground wire on the electric fence gets drier, the fence loses power and is much less effective. This evening M watered the ground wire for 5 minutes in order to increase the fences effectiveness. That's right, she watered the fence :)

There are no doubt many people who would welcome some rain. What are your reasons for wanting rain? Tell us in the comments section. We'd love to hear from you.

Picture Perfect

There is so much going on at the farm this time of year. The grain field we planted is coming along nicely, the chickens are enjoying their free range lifestyle, birds are laying eggs and waiting for them to hatch, and the garden is beginning to produce. What a wonderful time early summer is! Here's some photos of life on our farm over the last few days. Enjoy!

A close up shot of some of the barley that we
planted.  In about 6 weeks it should be ready
to be harvested.

This nest of Bobolink eggs was discovered in one of our
hay fields.  Because of our discovery we will leave this field until
last in hopesthat the eggs will have had time to hatch and the
birds will have fledged.

Last year we planted buckwheat to outpace the
weeds in this years grain field. While we didn't
plant any this year, we have had several
volunteers emerge. They're lovely at this stage.
Once the white flowers turn black they are
ready to be combined.  

This lovely young lettuce is nearly big enough
to eat. It's amazing that the bunnies haven't
found it yet. Last year, only one head of
lettuce survived the bunny invasion. 

An exhausted Allis chills out on the couch. It's a lot of work
barking at every bird and moth that flies across our 100 acres!

While weeding the other evening, M discovered
that the peas are finally just about ready to eat.
The lack of rain means everything is growing
much slower than usual. 

You may not be able to tell because he has no tail feathers,
but this is one of our 2 roosters. He had a run in with Allis.
He escaped with his life, but she sure got a lot of his feathers.

Ever wonder what your oatmeal looks like before
 it's harvested? This is a nice example of oats on the
stalk. Once the stock dries it be harvested 
and fed to the sheep this winter. 

Wildcard Wednesday: Hay Jude....

Our hay elevator, purchased on Kijiji for $150 is a real energy saver.

75 of last years bales mark the beginnings of the pile. 

Late June and early July are an exciting, if not busy, time on the farm. It's haying season! There is, in M's opinion, nothing more beautiful than a freshly cut field of hay laying in the sun to dry. There's also nothing quite as frustrating as the inevitable breakdowns and delays that seem to accompany haying season. This year's hurtles to getting that beautiful fresh hay into the barn dry and before it rots included; a broken hay wagon courtesy of the strong winds we got this Spring and a broken clutch on the baler. However, thankfully we have great neighbours who are always ready to lend a hand. Our next door neighbour's lent us a wagon and when it became clear that the baler wasn't going to work for this particular cut of hay, they baled it for us.     As a result of their kindness and the help of our friend P McM we have 225 bales in the barn so far. A good start on the year's requirements. With 3 fields left to cut, here's hoping the baler is easily fixed. Here are a few photos of the process of putting the hay into the barn. In the first photo you will see the elevator- the machine we use to move the hay from the wagon into the barn. It acts like a big conveyor belt and is a back saver! The other two photos are a before and after of the barn/hay ratio.

What have you been up to lately at your place? Comment. We'd love to know.

2 hours later, 225 bales fill the corner of the threshing floor.