The End of Summer

Summer is officially over and fall is now upon us.  Here in Ohio, summer ended with very cool days and some down right cold nights.  Fall has ushered in with above normal temperatures.  I would be confused except that it is Ohio.  

We have been enjoying the warm weather to get some fall chores finished and final preparations made for winter.  We have a long way to go, but here are a few things we have been doing lately.

This was our second year to participate in the Centerburg Old Time Farming Festival Parade.  This year we had beautiful sunshine and didn't have to fight umbrellas on the back of the tractor.  

After the parade, we rushed home and wolfed down some lunch before heading to the hay field.  We had our final cutting of hay to get baled and in the barn.  Rain was predicted for Sunday, so it was do or die.  The weathermen were wrong again and we didn't get rain, but everything was in the barn anyway.  We were under the gun because Daniel and I had a banquet to attend in Columbus that evening.  It was a whirlwind day, but we made it all happen.

We now have enough hay for the winter...barely.  It is going to be tight and I don't think there will be any to sell, but we should make it through.  

The cows have been moved to our hay field to finish up before the snow flies.  We usually are able to keep the cows pastured on the hay field until it snows or until early December.  We finally got some much needed rain this week, so hopefully the grass will have a growth spurt.  If not, we may have to start feeding hay earlier than normal.  

Daniel could spend hours out in the field just watching his cows.  The cows certainly don't mind Daniel or the ocassional back rub he gives, but they weren't quite sure what to think of me and the camera.

The neighbor came over to do a final clean out of the barn before winter.  The boys will love playing on the much larger manure pile all winter long.  

We decided not to rob the bees this year.  We never put the extra boxes on this summer and we didn't have time to harvest the honey before the goldenrod bloomed.  The Farmer's Almanac is predicting another hard winter, so we decided to give the bees and ourselves a break this year.  We will get back in the groove next year.

There is so much left to do, but we just take it one weekend at a time.  What doesn't get done now will just greet us in the spring.