Sorry for not posting for awhile, but I have been busy, busy, busy. Both at home and at work.
Over the weekend we headed to the plateau to cut firewood…winter is coming on so we need to get a huge pile of wood for heat.
A fire wood cutting permit only costs around $20 for a cord of wood. BUT you are required to purchase 2 permits at once.
You are only allowed to cut dead standing trees—which helps clear out the potential of fuel for a forest fire.
So we took a truck, Evan came and filled his truck, and Misty and her family brought thier truck. Between all of us we were able to get our permits full.
We have several deer that live on our farm and love to eat with the cows and snack on the corn. They are NOT appreciated when they start snacking on the corn! This big fellow seems to be the head of the herd and you can tell he has lived here a long, long time.
Third and last cutting of hay is done for the year,
and the pinto bean harvest has begun.
The only irrigation now is to water up the hay ground so it winters over well.
We should be able to harvest the corn some time in October.
Gosh this growing season has gone fast!
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 
I have said it before … you are one hard workin gal (o:
I did not see as much beetle kill trees there as we see around here..hate beetle kill
I thought that was a Jackalope at first,,,silly me
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You burn aspen wood? Does that work okay? I’ve got a shed full of California live oak, with an assortment of soft woods that are needed to get the oak started. About the only thing that I avoid is black walnut, it’s hard wood but it just refuses to burn well. Locust isn’t much better. Of course we have a lot of black walnut and locust on our property. Most of what I burn is from my own property, just what falls down or needs to be trimmed. The only thing I have is a wood stove, so putting enough wood away for the winter is a big deal in my house, too. The county government has banned wood burning during some days in the winter, they’ve allowed too much building and there’s too much traffic, so now they’re desperate to lower pollutants. I use my wood stove whenever I want, though. I figure if they throw me in jail at least it will be warm there because, while they don’t seem to care what happens to taxpayers, they won’t let the prisoners suffer. Have a good harvest!
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Great photos! And that is some buck. We don’t grow them like that out here.
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I love the silhouette photo. The corn is starting to come off in this neck of the woods too although the hay seems so much more behind yours.
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You and hubby really have your work cut out for you. No, that’s wrong. You had to do all the cutting. But you’ll enjoy all that work later. Seems like most jobs on the farm are like that. Put in hours of work with the faith that everything will fall together for good results later. Your harvests look great. Even the buck is big and healthy.
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You are definitely better at being busy than I am. I’d starve AND freeze to death around here ;-). Nice corn shot and I like the moonlit hay pic!
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Hi Linda
That is an excellent idea for cleaning/removing the undergrowth and dead wood from the forest
areas to cut back/limit the threat of bushfires. I have not heard of it being done here in like type areas
in Australia. I will ask some questions and let you know.
Another plague of locusts is appearing, the spotter planes are in the air to locate them and then the aerial
spraying will commence. They gave the numbers (on last nights TV news) per-metre of the eggs being found
– it was so unbelievable that I didn’t write it down. If I get another report, I’ll e-mail the details. It reported
that this, after all that beautiful winter rain for the river systems, could result as it gets warmer, into the
greatest rural disaster since the 1950’s!
Farmers as you mentioned above, work their “bloody” guts out and then can be “Rewarded” with
this plague! Maybe you should have started this entry “busy, busy busy and pray, pray pray”????
Look luck with the pinto beans and the last corn harvest.
Cheers
Colin (HB)
Brisbane.
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That deer buck is enormous! We don’t get them so large here. But I bet he can put away the corn like crazy.
I wish the close to summer were here for us too. It’s blazing hot this week. Really late for us to just start to get heat. Otherwise this summer has been a dream weather wise.
A touch of rain would settle me right now. I’ll keep stargazing though since the rain is going to be a long time coming. 😦
Glad your harvest stuff is mostly finishing up too. That must be stressful…
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Linda, do you ever sleep? This post has made me feel very guilty for floating in the lake all day. I need to ask, Is a permit required to cut firewood on your own property?
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I think you will be ready for winter in the fact that you are getting lots of firewood and the deer looks like he is ready as he is fat and looks a little sassy, too. We had a norther blow in about 1 1/2 hours ago, so temps are dropping for a few days again. Supposed to have 50 mph winds with it, but they haven’t arrived yet.
Love your moonlight hay shot! Do you have to let the pinto bean dry some before combining? Hope prices are where you want them when time to sell.
Blessings! CottonLady
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Boy you are busy, when do you get to take a nice long breath. Love your photos and the statue ones too. ( The Mushrooms)
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Oh Linda, your photos are just beautiful! Love it. I know it’s a hard life you live, but it’s just so neat. I still think you live a wonderful life – albeit hard. Cheers to you and I’ll keep you in prayers for strength! 🙂
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LOL about not appreciating the deer eating the corn. I am loving your blog not only because it is beautiful but also because you are giving me an insight into a life far-removed from my sub-tropical suburban Australian existence.
For example, we don’t have to worry about firewood. We don’t need fires in winter and at our home we only have them as campfires outside using logs and fallen gum tree branches. We don’t have to worry about permits.
We also don’t have to harvest hay … though our farmers do. So a big hay pile like that seems really interesting.
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Just to let your viewers know re: this locust plague – hopefully aerial spraying will stop it!
Today from a Sydney newspaper.
This on the locust plague from the Sydney paper. My mother will be having fits – Young is
in the Riverina area of NSW!
“Plague locusts need soil temperatures in the mid 20C’s to hatch and we tested our soil
today and it’s 26C’s, perfect for them”, Nyngan senior ranger Lisa Thomas said yesterday.
“In our area there’s an egg density of 5000 insects per square metre. That sounds bad
enough, but in the Riverina they have densities of 22,000 per square metre waiting to
hatch”.
And God help the orchard growers in that area!
On that sombre note of GLOOM, we can but wait developments that the aerial spraying will
commence soon.
Life on the land is not easy – sometimes everything that can happen will happen.
Farmers, croppers and ranchers are the “life blood” of a nation and we should NEVER forget
that when doing “supermarket” shopping.
Colin (HB)
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Rather be busy than bored any day, wouldn’t you? Love the pics – great as usual.
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Doesn’t every year seem to go faster then the year before. It can’t be because we are old. I must be something to do with the time continuum. Yeah, that’s it. 🙂
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It is good to have that firewood all stacked up and ready for winter..ours will be under cover soon..we have a woodshed when it is full then we have enough! I can also be 72 degrees all winter..which I love! It looks like Fall at your place 🙂
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Its great that you are allowed to cut firewood like that! We ar ealso cutting wood now. There are quite a few old trees on the property that need to come down. I love to watch the deer too. We get a lot of them coming in close to eat the acorns from our four large oak trees.
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Hello, I just discovered your blog today. I enjoy reading blogs about farming and hope to one day be able to write about my own farming adventures. I also live in Colorado, so if you would like me to come harvest any of your mule deer, just let me know : )
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