Farah's Pasture - A Day Away~

Saturday was a total gift!  A cool day without the high humidity & a nice breeze.  We were determined to get the fence done at the farm!

Overgrown!

It was pretty disheartening to see how the weeds had taken over the pasture area.  With all the strong storms, a large Willow had come down & fallen right on the fence.

Willow down~

When we first walked the area, we knew that the trees would be an issue.  We went back for the chain saw.  Butch said it will probably be the first of the many that we'll have to clear as time goes on...

Wild Carrot~

I started in on the weeds...  Higher than my head & interspersed with Stinging Nettles, it was a jungle, full of bugs.  Water vascular - so very easy to cut down, even when the stems are a couple inches around.

Farah watches :-)

Butch had the weedwhacker & hacked his way up the walkway to the barn.  The west side still needed to have the wire put up.  The problem with all the fast growing vegetation is not only that it blocks the breezes, but also harbors every kind of biting bug.  Now that farmers are not supposed to disk the fields, pests like the Japanese Beetle, who lay their eggs in the dirt, flourish.  Last year they were bad, this year I think they are worse...

Farah on her ground tie

I brought Farah over to enjoy the seed heads on the Brome grass.  Since the Wild Carrot shade so much of the soil, there was very little grass.  Now that it's down, we hope to get it sprayed & allow the Brome to grow.  The vegetation on the outside of the fence will have to be knocked down too.  I think it could get heavy enough take the fence down over time.

Dean & the Tractor

Covered from top to bottom with bug spray - I was hacking away at the Wild Carrot & about half-way across the pasture, when I heard the tractor!  Dean to the rescue!  He'd driven by earlier, saying something about; "Too much work." That mowing blade made quick work of the rest of the field! With the sweat dripping into my eyes, even with my headband - I was more than ready to watch as it all went down!  I wish I'd know enough about the weeds here, to realize what a huge problem they would create.

I wanted to leave some of the Brome, but the guys said it would all grow back in no time!  Not the weeds! Please! One more day's work & the mare will have her pasture!