[dirtywhitehorse]

Good greif you guys and here we are in Delaware yearning for some snow . It is a howling March wind now with daffodils blooming and fruit trees getting pruned . We were thinking of moving north but not sure we could handle it! I now realize how spoiled we are ,though I am sure when the heat of summer hits, It is you that will be grateful for your place in the universe!
We have our first ever plow days at a local farm April 5th (KC’s 59th birthday ). We hope to put Rosie to the plow for the first time in the next week or so plowing in some cover crop rye on 1/2 acre CSA garden . Hopefully it will go well . We are trying to beg some experienced teamsters to be there to assist us .
I do remember deep snows and freezes here as a child. We could skate on the rivers . Even in “78” we were snowed in for a week . We have not seen more than an inch or two in years . I think there was a foot in 97 . Perspective from southern Delaware . :)Sharon

[dirtywhitehorse]

Hi,
Sharon from Delaware here. When I was a child growing up on a diversified 160 acre farm ,we put up loose hay for the animals . My grandfather farmed with horses before I was born near Ithica, New york and the old work horse was buried here in Delaware 1942 when he bought the farm .
We used tractors for the haying job . We would put up about 20 acres at a time ,loaded on a flat wagon using pitchfolks under the instruction of my swiss grandmother. Each forkfull was woven into the load . The load would go as high as 10 ft, getting gradually narrower. The wagon would be backed into the barn and the tractor hooked up to a rope which was hooked to some huge curved blades that were stuck into the 4 corners of the load . It would pull up to a half of wagon load of hay at a time to the top of the barn and then to the back of the loft or anywhere it was wanted and then released Our job was to pull the hay to the sides. There were chutes above the stables below to feed each stall from the mow . All the labor was supplied by us girls . It was some hot, humid ,sweaty work on a hot august day . I remember a competition with the neighborhood boys who had only handled baled hay before . The girls won! I remember sleeping on the ground outside in the summer as it was too hot in the house . We did not have fans .
We have not reached the point where we can work our horses yet . We do mow the pastures with a riding mower when the grass gets too tall and rake and put up that loose hay by hand . The animals do relish that hay . It has been to dry here for the last 3 years to get any of that hay . We also feed all the cornstalks to the horses ,which I have seen the Amish do for food as well as bedding . :)Sharon

[dirtywhitehorse]

Well said Brent about the” keeping team under control “We are at the” keeping one horse in control ” before we even think of the two . Accidents are easy to happen and harder to prevent!
Welcome ! I will introduce myself in another post :)Sharon

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