I've been writing in an online garden diary here on this blog since the spring. I thought I'd post my latest entry here for all to see as well as in my running
Gibby's Garden Diary 2012 post. The entries are a little rough around the edges much like you'd find in a handwritten diary. Enjoy!
Here in Maine the vegetable gardening season is coming to
a close. I myself don’t have much left in my gardens except my tomatoes, green
peppers, broccoli and corn. Despite the slow and wet start to the season, I
have a freezer full of organic vegetables to last me through til the next
growing season.
I’m not sure if my popcorn is going to produce anything
before the first hard frost kills it off. As of last week the stalks had formed
some ears and I’m hoping they’ll fill out soon. I picked whatever sweet corn
was ready, blanched and froze it.
Speaking of my sweet corn, I had one heck of a bad day
last week.(It ties into the corn) The green grass in the pasture is pretty much
done for the season after being eaten and walked over by the cows and horses
all summer. My brother and father, when they have time after work during the
week, have been chopping grass in the field and feeding it to the animals to
help supplement the hay we’ve been giving them - trust me they are well fed.
Well, they worked late all last week so the animals didn’t
get any chopped grass, only hay which is fine. One afternoon the big bull decided he wanted some green grass and was going to sneak out of the pasture
and help himself to some in the field. 2 of his buddies decided to follow.
Needless to say I was the one charged with putting them
back in the pasture because my brother and father were still at work and
wouldn’t be home until after dark. If you’ve ever had to wrangle up loose farm
animals you know it’s twice as hard after dark and leaving them out isn’t an option
for their own safety - the coyotes might come calling.
If you can picture what I’m about to tell you, you’ll
probably laugh or at least crack a smile
- I know my brother and father did. Our driveway runs parallel to part
of the pasture. It’s not your average driveway, it’s long, bumpy and made of
gravel. Our only neighbor lives about a quarter of a mile up the driveway from
us. At the top of the driveway, the road curves going around a bend and up a hill. At the top is the neighbor's house.
Well the 3 loose cows were slowly making their way towards
the curve so I needed to usher them back down the driveway towards the pasture.
I tried walking behind them clapping my hands loudly, tapping them on the butt
and chasing them but they weren’t having any of it. Once they had tasted that
green grass they were not about to give it up and go back into the pasture.
After about half an hour I had enough of trying to coax
them in so I turned to a usually fool proof plan - the grain bucket. So here I
was in my flip flops running down the driveway shaking a grain bucket with a
bull and 2 cows, all three who are almost full-sized, chasing after me. Well,
the good cows that had stayed in the pasture heard the grain bucket as well.
Mind you I had cracked open the gate before running with
the grain bucket in hopes I could run right into the pasture with the cows
behind me, toss the bucket, shut the gate and call it a done deal. Well, that didn’t
happen. Here comes the funny part - I’ll set the scene.
About 30 feet before the driveway curves, the pasture
curves too and goes into the treeline. There are trees between the pasture and
driveway after the curve. The rest of the herd was in the corner of the pasture
in the area where it curves while the loose cows were close to the bend in the
driveway.
Here I am booking it as fast as I can down the driveway
with the bull and 2 cows hot on my heals trying their best to get a taste of the
grain. Well, the entire herd was watching and must of heard the grain sloshing
around in the bucket. Before I knew it, I’m booking it with 3 large animals on
my heals and the rest of the herd running parallel to me on the other side of
the fence.
I’m sure I muttered a few colorful words as I dropped the
grain bucket and sprinted for the gate. Mind you I’m in my flip flops and
there’s a giant mud puddle in the area that the open gate swings over. The gate
needs some work and has to be lifted in order to move or the bottom drags
through the mud. I thought it a much better idea to close the gate rather than
have the entire herd of cows loose. Needless to say the 3 that were already
loose remained loose and enjoyed what little grain was in the bucket.
Seeing as I had to babysit for the afternoon, I left the
loose cows where they were and went back to deal with them after dinner. It
took me about an hour to finally get them in using the Cub Cadet, whip and my
mother to open and close the gate for me while I chased them. I thought I had the problem solved and went on with my night.
The Next Morning . . .
After jumping in the Cub Cadet, I drove past my corn on
the way to the barn to clean the chicken coop. On my way, much to my chagrin, I
noticed that half my sweet corn had been completely leveled and the ears eaten
and low and behold the bull and a cow were loose once again. Now I was mad.
Screw the whip and the Cub Cadet - this was personal. I put way too much time
and work into my gardens for an animal or person to come along and do what they
please. (I don’t hit the animals with the whip, only the ground next
to them)
I was pissed. I cracked open the gate over the mud once
again and wearing my sneakers this time, ran after that bull like there was no
tomorrow. I got him and the cow back in the pasture. I went to the barn to clean the coop and a
few minutes later the bull was loose again. Time to fix the fence.
I got a hammer and some U-shaped nail things in the barn,
hopped in the Cub Cadet - I found out I really like driving this thing - and
headed up the driveway. There the bull stood once again in the center of the
driveway just looking at me. In the two minutes I was in the barn, he had
walked right back out through the fence where the barbed wire had become loose.
Arg! I decided to fix the fence and then put him back in
and that’s exactly what I did. Once it was fixed I set my sights on the bull
again. By this time he was in the field across from the barn. As I made my way
towards him I noticed the same cow that had been loose that morning trying her
best to go through the fence.
Since I had just fixed it she only made it halfway
through; she got her front legs through but not her back. She was stuck with
the barbed wire cutting into her teats turning them bloody. I couldn’t leave
her there so I undid all the work I had just done to fix the fence and finally
got her free. This time she stayed in the pasture. I fixed the fence again.
By this time the bull must have had a full belly cause he
ventured over to the open barn door that the chicken feeder was sitting in
front of in my earlier attempt to clean the coop. He managed to knock the top
off the feeder and gobble down all the grain. Eventually I got him in a fenced
in area that the animals hadn’t been allowed in since a new steer going through the weaning process had managed to jump several times. (This is
in a previous entry)
The fenced in area happened to have green grass. I gave
him a bucket of water and there he stayed until my brother and father came home
and could deal with him. The cows and bulls have been penned in for the past
week. They get hay on week days and chopped green grass on the weekends when my
brother and father aren’t working and have time to chop some.
Last weekend my brother went around the perimeter of the
fence in the pasture making repairs. This weekend we’ll probably let the cows
and bulls back into the pasture until hunting season when they’ll be penned
until spring. We’ll see how that goes.
Feel free to read my entire Gibby’s Garden Diary 2012.
I hope you get inspired to keep one of your own the next growing season.
