I have begun to feed hay out to the animals now. There is a little feed left in the fields but they are grazing very low to the ground now. And my fields are very young. There are lots of dried off tops which I have left to shade whatever legume may struggle through from below. This is no time to be topping. Too hot and dry. My plan had been to feed the animals in the fields until November. Hmm. 
Without rain that is not going to happen. Feeding hay in the summer is like sitting on a thorn. 
We were very naughty yesterday and put the sprinkler on the roof to make some cool pretend rain. And to test my theory that it would cool the house. 
It watered all the front gardens beautifully and inside the verandah the hot breeze was morphed into a cool breeze as it wafted through the pretend raindrops. 
I turned it off once the waterbarrels were filled from the gutters. Fun as it was we cannot waste water now. The well is not bottomless and I have heard of a few people running out of water already. Still it was fun for a few minutes. 
After work Our John went out and cut the alfalfa field. Much to Big Dogs dismay, it is his favourite field to lie in. 
Now the green hay needs to lay on the stubble and dry for about four days. No rain now please. We are going to be feeding the animals hay for longer than usual this year, due to the lack of growth in the fields, so we need to get this hay into the barn at its highest nutrition level. It is too short, so there will not be a lot, but see how it is already flowering. Once it starts to flower the protein levels are dropping. It is only two acres of hay, but we do not feed our animals corn so I do not settle until I have two hundred bales of some kind of hay in the barn. We have about 130 bales of hay so far plus I am feeding out already. So fingers crossed.
Good morning. As I write this morning it is raining to the North but our crickets are still loud and dry and the morning doves are calling out in the dawn dark, so we are safe for the moment.
Have a lovely day.
celi
On this day last year .. I had just returned from an overnight stay in Chicago. Utilitarian to Utopia. I love the grandness of some of the old buildings up in the big city.
The Kitchen's Garden 
66 responses to “Country Air Conditioning”
I was talking to my neighbour, Patrick the dairy farmer, this morning before photographing his old tractor from yet another angle at his father’s request. I was asking him how much hay each beast might eat in the winter – the answers are irrelevant as you know the answers. The upshot was the talk of the rise in cost of grain due to the dry weather in America and Russia which your post bears out. I can’t believe how light you make of such a tough situation. Respect:)
yes i know the answer and we are still counting. Soon we will start to cut down on the stock numbers and graze them in the freezer!! It is likely to get tougher..But we have chosen to live without a canopy, so we have to roll with the weather punches. i am planning for a hard winter.. or at least a lean one.. c
I love the sprinkler on the roof pretend rain. ( it did cool the porch for a bit).
Last year here was tough for herds because of the fires destroying pastures – and drought this year will run up cost of hay once again – it’s so early to be needing it.
They cut a nice batch of hay earlier in the NASA compound – and they do bale some along roads and at airports in across the state. Hope the rain holds until after you get yours in…and then showers welcomed.
I always enjoy the dovie calls – sound like they are trying to sooth the world
The doves are lovely, maybe i will put a wee bit of seed out for them.. though i don;t think theya re short of grass seed this year, everything has gone to seed.. c
ugh…as much as you need rain i sure hope it holds off for you. what a neat idea to put the sprinkler on the roof. my roof is way too high to do that but it sure would be fun.
it would be fun, i am going to look at misters.. that sounds like a great idea! c
when my real mother was alive and living in Arizona. they didn’t have central air like we do here. there was a filtering system wrapping itself totally around her home, and through the pipings was water. the water system kept the home as cool or cooler than our central airs……….
huh, I have never heard of that, i must investigate! thank you terry.. c
it is called a swamp cooler system!!
I would never have thought of putting the sprinkler on the roof! What a great idea.
Ah, I hope the rain will hold off until you can get your hay baled and stored. This drought and heat is not for the faint hearted this year…but I do love the idea of the sprinkler on the roof, what fun! An amazing shot of the detail architectural work on that building in Chicago last year. For some reason it reminds me of Ayn Rand. Hope your day is a good one!
When I lived in the south, I can remember reading an article on keeping the house cool in the olden days – I believe that people hung wet sheets around their balconies and it worked. I’m not sure how much cooler it was though 😉
I read your post. I read the comments from your dear friends. It is of grave concern. My goodness you have a lot on your plate Celi. We are thinking of you and all the sweet animals on the Farmy. Virginia
I can remember my mother-in-law cooling down her house with the sprinkler on the roof…I hadn’t thought of that in years and it just brought back a very happy time in our lives. We lived on the same property when we were first married. I am always very interested in your discussion of the relationship between the dry weather, hay, feeding the animals…and the balance between all three! It’s an amazing science, and I appreciate being reminded of how delicate that balance can be! I have been thinking of your bees, and hoping they are doing well with this prolonged heat! oxo Debra
The bees seem to be doing fine, i don’t like to break in too often as they have it pretty sealed up to keep the heat out, but hopefully later this week i will see if there is any honey for me.. c
Our second cutting of hay was a loss…it rained every day it was down. I hope you get rain in a week or so…to lose hay now is not good.
Third cutting of hay will be in about four weeks, we will do hay and then start on harvesting our pinto beans. Summer is fast moving to an end. With all the heat the idea of fall is nice. But being stocked and ready for winter summer seems to be moving way too fast.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Hmm, cross fingers.. I have only just started stocking food away, lets hope the end of summer is not too soon. We are already pushing it cutting this field a second time so fingers crossed. c
We’ve been through a decade of harsh drought here in Australia, so I can only imagine what it’s like for you right now. I hope it eases soon. But not before the hay has cured…
As John keeps saying.. it will rain eventually.. I wold not like to be farming in your part of the world.. a drought here is nothing like a drought over there.. c
How quickly the weather changes by you, we are lucky in NZ without any extremes of temp. I love your homemade rain shower!
It must have been a treat to have that pretend rain for a short while. Do hope you get the hay safely in. You will have to do a sun dance (no rain dances for a week). It looks so green and healthy. Here we are drenched in rain, buffeted by wind and nipped by cold.
This reads like a Steinbeck – though not so grim, of course. Mid Western farmers have been farming now for – what – a century or so? Your work is incredibly impressive, Celi: and it leads me to go back and read about farmers in your part of the world. If they ever had time to write, that is…I wish you rain.
A hundred years ago they must have worked extremely hard.. c