Watchful Eyes

The cows and heifers that occupy the show barn for their meals have both a barnyard and a gate they can go through to go down into the woods past a large field of grass. They spend most of their days out in the field of grass or under the tall fir trees as they graze and lounge. These critters are also just a fence line away from the garden and orchard and spend time along the dividing line when anyone is out working in the yard or garden.

We happily share the bounty of both yard and garden with critters in the bull pen, the weaning side of the show barn and these show animals. We do not use chemicals in the fields, the garden, the yard or around the farm so we are comfortable feeding everything from grass clippings, to overgrown garden vegetables to apples and pears from the fruit trees.

This year we already mowed the grass once, the sound of the mower was a signal to the older cows that activity in the garden was picking up and that there would soon be goodies tipped over the fence at varying intervals. The cows are keen to sounds around the house and barnyard, they know when I open the door from the garage and click the lock on the gate to head out to the barn for feeding time. They can be nearly an eighth of a mile away and still notice as I walk in the dusky pre-dawn hours toward their barn. (They are all good eaters and get offended if their mealtimes get off schedule). Since that first mowing, they all are on high alert for any garden/orchard activity that may produce a handful of fresh grass or other vegetation.

With the rain holding off for a couple of days, we were out in the fruit trees trying to get them pruned before they come out of dormancy. I finally have the big Bartlett pear tree finished (it is not pretty, but done enough for this year), the Gravenstein apple tree completed and have moved onto the Yellow Transparent with winter apple graft. These are some of the tallest fruit trees and moving the ladder to reach the upper branches takes more time than the actual trimming.

The cows and heifers from the show barn saw us working in the fruit trees but did not leave the comfort of the large field where they were sprawled out in the sunshine. Once we started tipping wheelbarrow loads of sticks that we had pruned and threw them over the fence  line the  critters showed up to see if there were any pickins’ for them. The heifers spent the most time along the fence, picking up one stick at a time and working down to the tip where they could nip off the swelling buds. It was more fun watching the heifers than clipping branches but we were able to get a little of both done.

We still have the Red Delicious with a fall apple graft and the Yellow Delicious apple tree to finish after the Yellow Transparent. With rain moving in it may be another week before I get back out to the orchard to finish the pruning.

Thank you so much for supporting our stories. We appreciate every reader we have and love it when you spread the word about SchmidlinAngusFarms, fill out the FOLLOW information so you get each story right to your email each day and/or leave comments about the stories. I would also like to take a moment to thank those who click on the icon to do shopping with the affiliate, your clicks give me credit for directing people to their site (clicking on the affiliate icon does not make you purchase, only gets you the their site) and sometimes I get a small commission from your purchases if you do shop, without a cost to you! As always, Prime and special codes work with the icon and you do not have to purchase any item that I promote. Please consider using my link when you do your cyber shopping. Thank you for your support

I am so pleased to announce that MaryJane Nordgren has made her new book available to the public! Click here for your copy of Nandria’s War.