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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Flowers, you say? And Hay hay hay..

The South field was harvested several weeks after the North field and the hay came off bright green and in beautiful shape - no shattered leaves. Here the John Deere 4010 is getting ready to pull the load up a very steep hill...our friend Cliff at the wheel with Rick making sure the load will stay put... the Case IH 4 wheel drive tractor is at the base of the hill to the left...the one I use around here, especially with the bucket on! I'm not so hot using the forks tho...



Someone loves his B Farmall. Same one he used to drive when he was a little kid - well, almost. As close as he could find in Iowa at the time anyways, and it had to make the long long trip to Alaska to soothe his soul....hehehe. Still works quite well, obviously. The north field of hay got rained on, but was cut early so it will probably test out around 14% protein still. Who knows, at this point who cares! It's dry and waaaaaaaaaay up in the barn loft now too.....




Trolius at the base of a flowering pink crabapple tree....Trolius form a beautiful mound, and my mounds have grown in diameter over the years from tiny little starts. They are cheerful little bloomers...I have both the early and late blooming types here.





One of my favorites to grow, Stock. Night scented stock is perfect for up here in the north country. I put 8 or 10 plants into a big bowl or planter and set them by the deck doors...we open the doors in the evening for fresh air and as the temps go down in to the 50's, their scent comes on super strong and fills the house with a perfume that reminds me of Hawaii or Tahiti......or Moorea or Huahine....heavenly!






5 comments:

North Star Shetlands said...

Stock...? It looks similar to ranauculus (spelling bad lol)...I've never heard of it I guess? Sounds divine though :)

Alaska Shetland Shepherd said...

Yes, sometimes it's called Night Scented Stock. It keeps branching off into more flower stems all summer into the fall too. There's a single and a double flowered type, often mixed with the two and shades of white, peach, pinks, and purples. Very beautiful!

Kathy said...

Suzanne...I need to come to your house! We are just now getting clouds in the afternoon with promises of monsoons. OUr hays have to be "imported" from other states as AZ down't grow grass hay, only alfalfa between cotton crops in So. AZ.
And I loved the pictures of the tractors. (sigh) I can only wish we had a place big enough for a tractor, full -sized. But by then we'll be too old to enjoy one. LOL!
I remember haying as hot, hard work...BUT we were all allowed an ice cold beer at lunch - even a young kid of 10/11 although I'm sure it was just a taste. We were sore, tired and very, very happy. :)

Michelle said...

Envious of all that nice hay! I have less than four bales left of the fine, second-cutting sheep hay; gotta find some more SOON as they won't eat the horse stuff. How is Blanche doing?

Karen said...

Beautiful hay, Suzanne. What a good feeling to get all that baled. And I loved the John Deere...