The rain has stopped for the summer. The pasture is not growing anymore. We have about another two weeks of rotation before they are off the pasture until the rains return, hopefully in September.
This means we have to buy in hay. Last year we got about a hundred bales from Papa’s field. This year the hay is thinner and we aren’t going to get much, so we have decided to buy hay from the local hay market. Not ideal, but that’s where we are right now.
Ultimately, one of these years, I want to ring the pastures with enough perennial forage bushes and shade enough of it (but not too much) to keep the grass cool and slow the summer moisture loss. Hopefully we can extend our pasture season through the whole summer. However, with the PNW climate, there will always be a period of reduced growth, every summer and every winter.
Only one part of the pasture is green right now. That’s the part that was our sacrificial paddock last winter. I seeded it with a pasture mix and have been irrigating it for an hour a day a couple of times per week. It is pretty fragile and the animals would destroy it in a day, so it is going to be out of rotation for the next few months.
It was also time to change oil and air filters on the truck. We took the truck to a shop to get the oil changed, mainly so we wouldn’t have to worry about disposing of the dirty oil, but air filters are a good place for a young man to start with learning.
He’s a short fellow. It’s a tall truck.
I had to help with the downward pressure so he could turn the screwdriver.
Actually, that air filter doesn’t look too bad.
A lot of dirt and debris in the intake, though. Had to suck that out with the shop vac. It was a good, quick job, and now we have a few thousand miles before we have to do it again.
Little Farm in the Big City 