Wow! This weather is incredible, and I am enjoying every minute of it. A dry fall is something that all farmers desire. The work you need to accomplish requires some dry days and we all know that we had far too many wet days this spring and summer. The problem is the days are shorter and everyone is working extremely hard because we all know it will end.
At the Station we have started hops harvest and are still trying to ease into the canola. I am working with much less help, so the days are very busy, but I don’t get to accomplish nearly enough. I have a long list, and I am hoping the weather cooperates a bit longer. I am struggling with the canola; the stems are still green, and it is tricky business getting them through the combine without plugging it up. The hops yields are much less but we are getting nice clean samples with less stems going through our harvester. If you are a beer maker and would like to try some hops, please reach out to me, I would gladly share.
At home we were finally able to bale our second cut Thursday night but we ran out of time, and we had to bale more Friday night. We made over 500 bales. The cows will be happy to chew on that for calving. I hope to haul some small square bales of straw this week as well. Those jobs will be off the list at least. Though I don’t want to complain, the lack of moisture is an issue for pasture. You obviously don’t get the same growth at this time of the year but without moisture it really slows it down as well. The animals really grow well on this hard grass right now and it is a pleasure looking at your animals each fall.
Saturday night I attended the Pirates of Riverside Gala. It was such a fun night. The Special Events committee, though small always put their whole hearts into these events are they never disappoint! The decorations, the games, the food, the prizes were all amazing. You all should really plan to attend this event – it is an entertaining night all in the name of raising money for our local Health Care facilities. Thank you to the special events committee and everyone that attended and supported!
I hope that this enthusiasm at the Foundation event will spill over to the 1st Annual Local Harvest Fundraising Dinner on October 5 at the Chapple Rec. Centre. I realize we cannot compare the need for Health Care to the Abattoir but, have access to safe local food is important to all of us as well and without the Abattoir and the local processors we would not have this at our fingertips! Consider attending and joining in on a fun night of raising funds. If you want tickets or have something you’d be willing to donate to the event, please reach out to Kelsey at 289-439-9933.
Sunday afternoon we took the time to celebrate my moms 75th birthday. Friends and family gathered at my place for some visiting and BBQ. There are not many years we can sit outside in our shorts and look for shade! It was a great time, and we are fortunate to have such a great bunch of people in our circle! Though my mom said, “no party” she had a great time with everyone!
