Yesterday our new hay farmer (I really like this guy) had some trouble while flipping our hay. (Tedding?) Our pasture is pretty slanted and when he got to the lower corner he lost control and his tractor hit our fence and instantaneously destroyed 5 fenceposts - 1 wooden post, and 4 plastic, including several Tpost insulators.
The thing is, J had just walked out there to observe and was in the worst possible spot at the worst possible split second. He got hit with exploding fence parts in the foot.
I'm so thankful because it could have been his face, but instead, his foot swelled up and we spent the evening icing it. And our new hay farmer stuck around to fix his mess with us. We really like this guy.
And then it rained on our hay. Um....not sure what's gonna happen now. It might be OK or it might be ruined. The sky right now is threatening.
This is our first time making our own hay for ourselves. I mean, we'll be paying Herr F 500Euros to make our hay and then give it directly to us. Normally a farmer will make hay, take it away, and give us a portion for free. J figured that 500Euros for 180 bales is a good deal.
***
Now where on earth would we put 180 small bales. Our hay loft holds exactly 90, and our extra stall holds 20 or so.
It was very charitable of the owner of #72 to help us out by clearing out her little shack for us to use for hay, even though we have not actually bought the properties yet! The last couple days, people arrived to clear out all the junk, and honestly, they had used that shack to store junk for the last....ever.
They left an enormous pile of that junk next to the street for the garbage pick-up, which in this part of the state must be ordered in advance and paid for. There is literally no illegal dumping in Germany, because most of the country has free unwanted items pick-up, and out here, we order it.
Miraculously this morning all that crap was gone.
We were left with a mostly empty shack, that we call "Die Huette" - the Hut. To differentiate between our shed.
Our Hut turns out to be an arachnophobe's nightmare. I screamed...how many times today?
But that's for later. For now, here is the location of our Hut. It's adjacent to the far side of our pasture, street-side.
In this photo you can just make it out after the telephone pole.
It's adorable, to this American's eyes. J wants to rip it down and put in a proper garage. It's the only propery of the 7 we're buying in the package, that is legal to build on. We could build anything we want here! But....it's so cute, and perfect. Except, it's questionable structure-wise.
Amidst the junk inside I found a piece of chalk and drew a big W on the door to show our ownership. (Not shown.)
The Hut is being slowly taken over by blackberries. Cuz, you know, that's my life.
You cannot even access two sides of the building, because of the blackberries.
Unlocking the door, this is what we found. Not too bad, considering the amount of useless crap they removed. Old car seats with the foam torn into by rats, for example.
If you're arachnophobic, you don't want to walk in here. It was coated in spider webs.
Lots of light from the gaps between the wood slats. I won't be putting hay on the weather side.
This portion was originally a pig stall. Now, just spiders. As J cut the blackberries down in the building, I said, "Careful, if you take too many of those blackberries down, this whole building may collapse. The blackberries are all that's holding it together!"
Then I told him after we fix it up, we'd call it "This old Hut" and cracked myself up, but he didn't get it, cuz he's German.
Up near the roof, old wasps' nests.
Blackberries invade the entire Hut.
One quarter of the Hut has a dirt floor, which is really a garbage floor. I found tons of broken porcelain dishes (which I find on our property, apparently in the past people just threw their garbage out the window). Those stringy things are dead blackberry.
I'm so glad they got most of the crap out and paid for its removal, I cannot be upset about the crap they left behind. J and I gathered this all up with our hands. If you'd seen that heap of crap, you would concur.
Blackberry vine and Shelob's webs.
I think J and I gave up a few years of our lives breathing in the moldy dust from the Hut. The inside of my nose was pitch black. We showered after, but our lungs, I can only imagine.
The entire time we were working, we would emerge coughing, and it still tastes wierd when I cough.
Our good hay farmer showed up to go touch our hay and tell us what's up. I thought it was so nice of him to come out and check it after that rain. He also came into our new hay Hut and said, "WOW, it looks much better!" (Below.)
Yes, it does: ) We didn't do the upper level yet (mostly cuz I'm terrified to go up there and not be able to flee if I see Shelob. But we got the first floor clean, WOO!!!! We collected so much junk that they missed in the rubble. Lots of wood and old rusty metal pieces, that the Schrotthandler will be thrilled to take. We plan on taking our shop vac up to the second floor if we can borrow enough cable from J's school that will reach from our house to our Hut.
There was this huge spider and I threw my broom down and ran out. The neighbors definitely heard that scream.
Check it out, I did good.
This was the old pig stall. Apparently there was a pig door for it to go out of its stall. Hm! There is also a hole in the wall left of center. OK.
The dirt floor section hosts the extra roofing tiles and the pallets we saved from the garbage pick-up, because if we want to put hay on a dirt floor, we at least need those pallets.
I found an actual tie ring in the pig stall! The metal is so worn it's about to crumble.
Finished with level 1. Ready for hay tomorrow or Saturday.
Also J wants to make an escape room style Geocache adventure where people must go through all our new properties to solve mysteries and then end up in this Hut. OK: )
15 comments:
That shed really is adorable! We have one similar here that we used for hay storage at first (before the barn was built), and now houses equipment (riding mower, quad, tools, etc). Yay for you and spider eradication.
I'm so disappointed that your class--which started out so well--is still off-limits. Has there been any progress?
Oooooh poor J's foot. I'm like you, the hut is awesome. Except the webs anyway. Glad you've got things to keep you busy!
How about making some blackberry jam?
You might need to put something out for mice and rats before the hay. They will chew the strings and the bale will bust when you try to pick it up. Also leave droppings all threw the hay. A nice black snake will take care of all the mice and rats. My dad always caught black snakes and put them in our hay storage to take care of whatever decided to move in the hay,
What a great shed. There’s a shed on our property that I call the spider shed. It’s full of wolf spiders and I refuse to go in there.
Aarene, you have a RIDING mower? Well la-di-da. *lol* So far no news back from the unemployment office which is attempting to contact the director of the school and tell him how inappropriate that was, and no answer from the Ministry of Health and Social Services. But it's nice that the lady at the unemployment office called J today to just check-in, she is super motivated to help us, it seems. And she has photos of Victoria Canada all over her office - wow.
We've asked her to help us find another medic class, a third company. I'm trying not to despair and automatically studying anatomy in my mind throughout my day, cuz I'm in the habit of it now. So sad.
Camryn, so much to do on this little farm if I had a full time job we'd have to hire it all out!
ND. *glare* Use the fruit of the curse of the land? I thought you were from blackberry territory. I thought you understood there is no reason to keep a blackberry alive, because they will take over your entire house and horse field. It took us 3 years to eradicate them on our property. 3 long years. And gallons of poison afterwards. And now we have these new properties where they grow 10 feet tall and cover my little Hut, and encroach from all sides of our pasture. 72 is mostly blackberry brambles. I told J what you said and he answered, "What berries?" Truly this invasive species does not yield. Back in Seattle you could just stop your car and fill a bucket and make pies. But here, just the thorns. You hit a raw spot with me in your comment because I've grown up gardening and fighting them, and now I'm 8K kilometers from home, still fighting them. See Aarene's blackberry post for a "scientific" view: ) : )
EK, I will keep watching for signs of mice/rats. Our cat eats a couple every day, and I saw signs when they chewed on things/pooped in my tack room but not for the last few years. They have these weird snakes here that have legs internally - have you ever heard of that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguis_fragilis If animals peed on my hay I'd freak out.
Update on hay - it rained several hours last night on our cut hay: ( But the farmer came again and turned it again and said not to despair. It is supposed to storm tomorrow but he will keep coming and next week should be in the 90s with no rain, so......to be honest I don't know what this means for the quality of our hay, but if it's not a complete loss I'll be happy.
Evensong can advise about hay, she knows how it works.
Blackberry vines with no berries? You really are cursed. Ours are just about to come ripe, although they are the worst plants in the universe I do love blackberry pie. I am still trimming vines down to the ground in the yard every year--where they once covered the grape vines and blueberry bushes and grew 10+ feet up the adjacent fir tree, now (after 10 years) I can keep them down to a dull roar with a pair of hand loppers a few times each summer. But heaven forfend that I don't do the hand lopping, we'd be over our heads in thorns by midsummer.
The riding mower came with the property...errr, that was three mowers ago. Jim buys them, I'm so allergic to cut grass that I hide in the house whenever he mows so I don't accidentally breathe it or let the aerosole-ized bits touch my skin, so I do not have a vote on equipment money spent on those things.
Try not to think of animal pee on the hay but seriously, it's grass, animals have definitely peed on some of it at some point.
As long as he keeps turning the hay, So it doesn’t get moldy, it should be okay. Make sure it’s good and dry before he bales it! It will have lost some nutritional value, but Mag is a pretty easy keeper, right? And Bellis would be, of course, being of the donkey persuasion. You might want to add a vitamin/mineral supplement, just to cover yourself. Hay is roughage, which horses need in abundance, so as long as it’s dry, it’s good for them.
For your “leaky” hut, maybe tack tarps up on the walls and ceiling? When we first built our barn, the lower walls were horse-sturdy T&G, but the upper walls were all tarps! The only trouble with pallets is that they become a condo for mice. Can you put down a good layer (3-4”) of gravel? And we put tarps under the hay, to prevent moisture from seeping up from the ground.
I got no advise about the school thing, but I can always talk my hay experiences!
Aarene, I'd love to have a riding mower but there are only isolated areas where it would be safe to drive one without kipping over. I have 7 individual areas that I mow, no one single area big enough to not require a hand-mower/weed whacker. I think you have a lot more yard than we do, and a lot more of it is continuous. And less slanted.
I didn't know you're allergic to cut grass. Grass and not hay, hm!
Now that we (soon) own 72, we've finally decided it's time to get a chain saw. There are 7 fallen pines right now, and a couple fall every year on 72 alone, I have no idea about the other 6 properties. Time to make our own firewood. It would be awesome for you to be in our place with 7 wooded lots, because you actually heat with wood. Can you give us a recommendation for a newbie/girl-friendly chainsaw? And a safety course? (lol) I've always been afraid of them but hiring someone every single time is ridiculous.
ES, Mag is an easy keeper in the Summer but in Winter he getes pretty bony, so my vet told me to feed beet pulp. I always supplement in Winter even though they're on the pasture all Winter.
It's threatening to storm now (at 30 degrees C! (like 90F) and full humidity. They hay was fully dry this morning. We'll see what happens.
Thanks for the tips about the Hut. I can't imagine us ever having enough hay to require the entire thing, but if we do we'll have tarps involved. What is T&G? Wow, it sure is convenient to be able to keep our hay up in the lofts - we never have a problem with moisture.
AAAAAND now it's raining. But is supposed to be in the 90s and dry all week!
My favorite part of summer is riding on the trails that have borders of wild blackberries and picking them from the back of my horse. I definitely would not want them in my backyard. Especially if they bear no fruit.
ND, thank you for sympathizing despite my snappy response. I'm glad you understand. You live in Canada, right?
We have blackberries invading from the backyard, and every single border fence of my horse pasture, and now all the new little pieces of land we're buying, ugh.
My favorite horseback harvest was actually in Capitol Forest, Olympia, Washington. Up high there are wild blueberries, can you believe it? My favorite berry. I know in Montana they have the mountain huckleberries up high, but I was thrilled to reach blueberry height at home in Washington. I just prefer the sweeter berries to the sour. And my front yard is full of Red Currants and Hybrid Red Currant/ Goose Berry, called "Josta". I picked some for Mag and he said, "Nu uh, too sour." J harvested them this year and brought them to the end-of-year party at school, and somehow they all got eaten up. !!!
Do you have salmon berries were you are? I remember riding through those and enjoying them. Who maintains your trails? Who keeps the blackberries from taking over your riding trails? Is it the local riders or the government?
I'm also allergic to hay. And animal hair/dander, and mold/mildew, and pretty much all pollen everywhere. And dust. And strawberries and green peppers. Basically, I'm allergic to the surface of the planet.
But, ya know. It could be worse. :-)
T&G= tongue and groove...2x6” lumber that “locks” together to form a more solid wall.
Beet pulp is a great weight maintainer in winter! A couple of ours get it. Many senior feeds include it for the bulk.
For a chain saw, you might consider a little battery powered one...mine is a Ryobi, but if I had the money I’d go for a DeWalt, as they’re higher quality and sturdier. You don’t get a long cutting session per charge, but I mostly do trimming and a few actual cut-downs per year. (And I keep a backup battery charged.) It would have trouble with trees over 8-10” around, though. When I had a gas saw for actual forest management, a 14” blade was plenty because we didn’t have huge trees, and easy to handle. I just don’t like the mess (and gas is noisier!).
I’ve wondered, once you own your different parcels, can you sell them? Maybe to neighbors that have always wanted “just a little more land”? Even if you didn’t get a lot, it would recoup some of the cost of 72, and relieve you of maintenance responsibilities (especially if you don’t burn wood).
Aarene, omgosh i had no idea! I have gone through my life always feeling sorry for those with allergies until this year I kept coming in after working outside and having to mop up my nose drippings. I honestly didn't even think about it twice until a friend mentioned it this Spring, how allergic she is to everything, and she had a pack of tissues. (All Germans carry tissues all year, it's a thing.) I am afraid to do the math and end up with the answer that weepy nose after outdoor work might mean something in Spring. OK that's enough of that: )
STRAWBERRIES! Oh I must tell you one of my funny medic school stories. I'm quite a comic in class (esp in English, but I'm working on German too). I often accidentally make a call for the police (#110) instead of a call for the emergency doctor (#112) and they laugh at me and say "The police are refusing to come because you're in need of a doctor." OK then.
So I had this test patient gasping for air and I asked her what her allergies are and she said Strawberries and admitted she'd just eaten some. I immediately notified the emergency doctor "We have a patient who is allergic to earthquakes and she just had some earthquakes."
Earthquake and Strawberry is almost exactly the same word in German.
ES, Oh yes I know this, our living room is T & G planks.
My cat food has beet pulp as a grain replacement but lately I've begun to worry that it's no better than grain, when you're talking about obligate carnivores. (Thoughts?) Thanks for the tip - our trees are rarely bigger than 10 inches. But there are so many of them.
I spent 1.5 hours cutting a low branch off an apple tree once with a hand saw. That is not a proper use of my time: ) Our next door neigbhor helped us recently with his chainsaw and both J and were awe-struck at how nimbly he took down every dead part of that tree. Effortlessly! My mind was changed: )
You have exactly the idea we have and we are systematically going through the neighbors who have land (bits of useless land) adjacent to our 6 unwanted parcels. So far no luck. I have great hopes though for a family who just built a home near our pasture, with a useless wooded lot between their house and our field. They have kids - why not more land? (Is that a ridiculous, American-bred idea? *sigh*)
Hey, question for you - is it true you can test the dryness of hay by snapping it in your hand and seeing if it breaks cleanly? That's what our farmer said today after he flipped our pathetic totally brown hay. The only good thing I can say about this hay is that each individual piece is very thin, and I think horses like thin hay rather than big stalks.
Oh, I'm so worried! Tomorrow afternoon he will bale it and we'll spend the afternoon packing it into our new Hut, and our two little lofts, and our extra stall. And it's gonna be 40 degrees........
You did Good! Looks great cleaned up! Similar to the barn we cleaned out for Farah, it had been used for pigs too, but we did find a concrete floor under years of packed dirt & hay! You'll have your work cut out for you!
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