Twenty-some-hours on the Tractor

This Spring, between Alan and I, we've spent somewhere close to thirty hours on my tractor, cultivating the hay field here at the house. It hadn't been producing worth a dang, so it was time. The majority of what had been growing out there was some native grass, which doesn't yield much in the way of hay. There were also several hundred old alfalfa plants. I had never seen the roots of an alfalfa plant, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw their beefy taproot! Lastly there were too many varieties of weeds to count (except the one you're thinking, wise guy!). There was hoary alyssum, and musk thistle, artemisia absinthium (AKA, stinkweed), and hounds tongue--those were the major players. The plan is to disk one more time, then harrow (probably another eight-ten hours) and then seed it with forage oats or barley. It's been a fun experience...slightly bumpy at times, however. I really wish I had a taller tractor with skinnier tires...But I bought what I bought and it has been great, including pulling a three-bottom plow over the entire field (which I didn't think was possible).

However, my blogging about our new house, one year later, has suffered for it. By this time last year, the concrete pad had been poured and we were thinking our house was coming sometime in June...pictures of that experience to come shortly.