There are some things on the farm a person just can’t do without, a shovel for one. I always seem to be in need of shovel….the scoop shovel is a good example. It’s very good for grain and then a separate one for cleaning out the chicken house and the barn (no mixing of shovels for food items, now, ya hear!
Then there is the shovel for the irrigation water, each field has at least two shovels in it….one for Terry and one for me. We like different types of shovels, the shovel that fits best on your shoulder and has a nice weight in your hand is what you look for.
Then I have a shovel for the yard…this one has a large shovel so I can dig up clumps of stuff in one or two digs, not a whole bunch of little ones.
I also have a little red shovel that I use for my water trough flower beds.
And I have two rakes….a leaf rake and a regular rake. I only need the two. They are for yard work and that is all.
There are other implements that are more than necessary but used only for that particular thing…like planters for planting and the lawn mower.
But the thing I use the most for all sorts of things is….
BALING TWINE!!!!
And I only have two left! (WAIL)
Baling twine is what I used to put the top on the chicken run with, baling twine holds my vines to the trellis, baling twine has been know to ‘tie the gate shut’ until one of us could get to town and get the proper latch.
Or to close the garage door until the opener can be fixed ….. that was three years ago and we still have that on the ‘to do’ list.
Baling twine is the farmer’s (at least us) answer to what others use duct tape for.
And I ONLY have two left!
How this all came about was last year when Terry decided to sell the cows, he decided that he would sell ALL the hay, since we wouldn’t need any to feed over the winter. We kept enough for the chickens and Misty’s goats, but that was it.
Gradually the bales were used and I stored the very precious, to me, twine so I would have some when I needed it.
I’m so glad I did.
Terry should cut the alfalfa sometime the first of June (depending on the weather), he will bale up the hay and haul it into the yard. He sell the hay….BUT I’m requesting several bales to hold me through the year. And on those several bales will be two strings of baling twine!
Linda
(P.S. No! I can not go out and cut off any length I might want out of the baler….I can’t EVEN think of that….{{{ shudder}}}!)
Life on a Colorado Farm 
For the first time ever we were short of twine too this winter. Bought a lot of large round bales and that twine is useless. We are buying squares now though and saving every string. Who woulda thunk it?
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There are just certain things we always need to have on hand… For us, we have to have Liquid Fence on hand ALL of the time —to keep the deer away from our yard/flowers…. It’s the ONLY thing which has worked for us. IF we didn’t have it, we would have NO FLOWERS….
I love reading about your life on the farm. I could have guessed many things including shovels, but I would not have thought about so many uses of that twine…. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
Betsy
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I have lots of twine because of the horses but I do miss baling WIRE. Lots of things around here are held together with baling wire, but I haven’t had a new supply of it in 5 years and the old is getting rusty. I hadn’t thought about the shovels, but I bet if I could find them all and put them in one place there would be at least 8. Do you think I could find even one when I need it, though? For a while I’d buy new shovels and they would disappear. Then I discovered that the guys were “borrowing” them to use in the fields. They park their work trucks near my back yard and I was leaving the shovels just outside the gate. I stopped doing that, put I also spray painted a pink mark on the handle and told them that anyone who was caught with one of my shovels in his truck would be beaten with it. They did me the honor of pretending that was possible.
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Alas!!! You are going to have to buy your own role!!! LOL LOL
Or two since thats how the farm store sells them!
I have bags!! LOL use them for everything too!!
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I have never heard of baling twine. Something new every day…
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LOL I have MY own shovels (for this and that) pitchfork, two rakes but I also have my very own ball of twine….it was a wrecked one and I’ve had it for over 30 years 😉
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I think farmers/ranchers actually need 3 things around, always.
Baling wire/twine, duct tape and zip ties.
There’s a farrier around here that uses baling twine to make fake tails for show horses. They have their tails bound up in vet wrap to keep it pretty. He just weaves in a bunch of twine into the end and cuts it off straight at the bottom.. He knows they need a tail to swat flies. 🙂
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Okay I will bite. Why can’t you take twine out of the baler? But — the knife – what about the knife. All those things you listed are vital but there is a knife right? I can’t get by without mine.
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Sounds like you need your very own roll! That stuff is indispensable.
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We have lots of sisal twine that ends up getting burned. I’d be glad to send you some.
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Shovels, rakes, baling twine, I never leave home without them 😉
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Aw. Haha. *Hugs*
For me, it’s duct tape (duck tape, or as we called it in the Air Force, F4 tape), bungie cords, or zip ties.
Oh. And parachute cord (some call it 550 cord, I think). And braided string.
Have a great evening! :o)
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Since I live in the city I have to scrounge pretty hard to keep up in bale twine. As a city slicker like me doesn’t need a vast number of tools. I do have a grain shovel
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Bailing twine is one of the necessities of life for sure. We have a “bucket of twine” at our place in town. Just a spool of twine in a big plastic bucket with one end threaded out through a hole in the lid. The possibilities are endless. I like your twine colors. Good luck finding more pieces before the new supply in June. As for shovels, I understand. I’ve got mine and nobody better mess with it.
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We were using baling twine long before I heard of duct tape. I think you need your very own source of twine so you don’t run out.
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What’s your address? I have plenty! I used to loop the twine from each bale around another piece of twine. I had so much when we moved…. oh, you won’t want to hear this…I actually threw some away!
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LOL! Only you could make shovels and bailing twing sound fun, sounds like ya need to get online and order a few rolls of this prescious commodity just for youself. I have a thing for Bungee cords form the little ones for my camera bag to the big ones to secure things to the truck..:-))
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I save every single strand from the bales all winter and then use them all summer.. I could not do without the stuff. and just for good measure my Pa (grandfather) frequently used a length of it instead of a belt to tie his pants up!! What a perfect post! c
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Yes, I could see where cutting off some would be wrong but couldn’t you go to the hardware or feed store and buy your own spool?
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If you really need twine i’m in cedaredge and have plenty. I tie the ends together and roll it up in a ball for future use.
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I had the same feelings when we quit raising hogs. I tried to save lots of baling wire to use.
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I can give you some baling twine. There’s lots of it where we feed our goats.
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I can give you some twine. There’s a bunch of it by the hay we feed our goats.
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The comparison to duct tape makes it very clear how useful baling twine is to you …anyone with a do-it-yourself background can understand that! I like the abstract art you created with it too ;>)
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We too always have a wad of twine in the back of the old pickup in WY. With baling cornstalks in SD we only use netwrap…so there isnt any twine around when needed.
SHUDDERS….NEVER take any out of the baler!
I have a ball of jute in the house.
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