The weather has changed for the better. Hurricane Dorian decided to go away, but dropped significant rain to make the land too wet to plow. The sun has been kind in the last three weeks. The land has dried.
The tractor and bushhog have each been repaired at least twice. The fields and strips have all been cut. Roundup spraying was started Monday then stopped due to the golf cart (which holds the sprayer) tire getting punctured in the field, going flat without a spare, and the battery running down, both being corrected later this morning.
The 20 blade 3-point hitch disk has been restored and is in the process of being rebuilt. Its strongback was welded together with a lot of new tube steel, without cost to me for materials or labor, for the sole remuneration of allowing the master welder to hunt my property with his friend (my friend) who also bow hunts my property. Win-win. With a few new bolts, some in-hand steel shims, and a little elbow grease, the disk will be ready to rip fields and strips next week.
Seed has been located for agreeable cost, in species agreeable to the deer and turkeys (WGF sorghum, Rye grain cereal, soy beans, wheat, and clover), and in sufficient quantities to plant (with one over-seeding if required), but two hours and one hundred miles (+/-) away by car. That trip will be made Saturday morning I think.
I am feeling better about hunting this Fall but am not going to S.C. to hunt this year, where the out of pocket cost to non-residents has become an impediment. Instead, I have used the same funds to bring my "Broke Down Farm" and its equipment back to their full potential. Now, if the deer participate, the hogs will, and a turkey or two, it is shaping up to be a decent hunting season...and one for which this old "hobby farmer" has earned his State lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, without cost, for having lived to age 65!
Life is good!
The tractor and bushhog have each been repaired at least twice. The fields and strips have all been cut. Roundup spraying was started Monday then stopped due to the golf cart (which holds the sprayer) tire getting punctured in the field, going flat without a spare, and the battery running down, both being corrected later this morning.
The 20 blade 3-point hitch disk has been restored and is in the process of being rebuilt. Its strongback was welded together with a lot of new tube steel, without cost to me for materials or labor, for the sole remuneration of allowing the master welder to hunt my property with his friend (my friend) who also bow hunts my property. Win-win. With a few new bolts, some in-hand steel shims, and a little elbow grease, the disk will be ready to rip fields and strips next week.
Seed has been located for agreeable cost, in species agreeable to the deer and turkeys (WGF sorghum, Rye grain cereal, soy beans, wheat, and clover), and in sufficient quantities to plant (with one over-seeding if required), but two hours and one hundred miles (+/-) away by car. That trip will be made Saturday morning I think.
I am feeling better about hunting this Fall but am not going to S.C. to hunt this year, where the out of pocket cost to non-residents has become an impediment. Instead, I have used the same funds to bring my "Broke Down Farm" and its equipment back to their full potential. Now, if the deer participate, the hogs will, and a turkey or two, it is shaping up to be a decent hunting season...and one for which this old "hobby farmer" has earned his State lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, without cost, for having lived to age 65!
Life is good!