It was another beautiful day! My hay collection trip fell through and I figured with a free day, it was time to dig up the carrots and process them.
It was only two rows of carrots, but they produced real well, enough for 17 big feeds! They are now residing in the freezer.
The topping and tailing was not so bad, nor was the blanching. The irksome part was peeling those gawsh darn carrots. There must be a better way than using a potato peeler on them. It did a great job, but talk about time consuming! That is a bushel basket, by the way.
Anyway, they are all processed, and my short term memory loss will take care of that issue by next year. As long as I don't plant 4 rows.
The balance of the day was lining up a big truck and trailer to go and get the winter hay supply. My supplier for the last 5 years, decided that they didn't have enough to sell this year. I found that out Friday after talking with her since July. It looks like they waited too long and the hay went brown and moldy, which is a big no-no for horses.
A few phone calls rounded up an alternate supplier about 40 km away. More work and more travel, but by the looks of it, better hay. I will be hooking up a borrowed Ram 3500 and 18 foot trailer and hauling for the next few days. The trailer looks big enough to get 150 bales on ( I hope) then I will only have to make 2 trips. The tough part will be getting it into the hay shelter since it will have to be double handled. It might be worth while to relocate the hay shelter for next year. Nope, bad thought!
The weather looks like it will hold for the next 10 days.
good luck with the hay! i need to make a trip to the feed store to buy more bales again - at least this year we can find it here...
ReplyDeleteSo hay is a worrisome subject up there, too? We have so little available down here this year (Kansas), and I am going looking for trouble tomorrow (ponies) ... I'm glad you were able to find some.
ReplyDeletethose are good looking carrots, can't you just wash them with a stiff brush and leave the peel on? Of course if you are feeding the peels to chickens or other critters they won't be happy if you don't peel your carrots.
ReplyDeleteYou've been working hard with what sounds like, still a lot to do. Two trips for 150 bales of hay... it will take 300 bales to get through the winter for three horses? That's a lot of hay! I hope all goes smoothly for you. My friend up north is ready for winter. She says she needs the rest from working in her garden.
ReplyDeleteGood hay sure is valuable stuff. Glad you could find some!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful carrots! Glad you've found your hay for winter - always a sigh of relief to get the barn filled. My mom used to freeze carrots and she just scrubbed them with a stiff brush before blanching and cutting. We are having hot weather too, hit 91 F yesterday and almost that today, with no signs of rain. I'll be happy for fall to arrive with cooler temps. I'm looking forward to all that fall has to offer this year! Just not ready for the rainy season yet. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you found a hay supplier. I know what a worry that can be!
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to hard work, short term memory loss can be a good thing or we'd never do anything a second time!
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