Hay and the barn

So our back field was mowed day before yesterday, many thanks to Rob - about 6 acres - finally our first cut - which isn't too bad - until the rain came - really. I got that sick feeling in my belly when Adam came off from the tractor after raking - Adam said it would be good for bedding or mulch....we have 9 sheep to feed this winter - Luckily we have about 10 acres that we could possibly mow and bale - that the sheep have been rotationally grazing - we are in the process of putting together our own haying equipment which is on the expensive side of things - a few thousand dollars.

It is a bit challenging to be a small diversified farm - to make things a bit easier or to make food for animals you need some serious equipment and since Adam and I started this farm with a rototiller and hayfield and a few shovels 5 years ago - it will take a bit more to get the rest of the equipment we need. I just went on Craigslist to look up used balers and hay rakes - so then we could cut when we could and when the weather was right. This past spring we bought a used sickle bar mower and we need to replace the teeth but it works well - it will do until we can get a better mower..

As I type this, Adam is playing silly songs to Sadie on his guitar and Sadie is dancing around with a t-shirt on her head, tomato sauce is boiling on the stove hopefully to be canned tonight:)

We are thinking about making our barn, which is more like a cement bunker with wood on the top - into a house for us - hmmm...It might be cheaper than building a house from scratch, we could build it over a period of time- it has a roof and a foundation already....hmmmm....anyone swing a hammer?

Okay time to nurse the monkey, try to get the sharpie marker off of her legs, and close up the chickens- wish me luck