Tag: Snow

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Hey, hay buffet

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Busy morning today.  Up to Tufts to grab a round bale for the cows, but now they are all set for the next few days, at least.  Paul and I spent some time trying to rake the snow drift off of the barn roof, to make room for more coming.  Looks like some snow – just a bit – this weekend, but hey, at least it will be mixed with some rain.  And then possibly some more mid-week, but we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.  One thing is certain – this year, we’re going to have one heck of a mud season.  Might have to invest in a pair of bog waders just to get anything done during the month of April.  But spring will come, one way or another, and we better get ready.  Time to get the seed order finished, and to start tracking down some animals to stock our pastures.

More snow may be in the forecast, but it looks like we are in the clear for Monday.  Plenty of carrots, beets, and celeriac to go around, and still a decent selection of beef and pork.

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Back in Business

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Just before the first big storm in this completely unholy string of snowstorms, the John Deere tractor decided that it was not going to start.  And so, in spite of the kind efforts of some neighbors and a mysterious stranger with a very large machine, the snow has really been piling up in front of the barn.  Well, after a lot of head-scratching and a full complement of scraped knuckles, I finally got the tractor running again.  Starter motor had finally given up the ghost after 40 years of service – a relatively simple and inexpensive fix once I finally figured out what the problem was.  There’s really nothing like the sound of an old diesel motor turning over and roaring to life on a cold winter afternoon.  And those fumes, those incredible fumes!  That is the smell of victory, my friends.  And just in time to get things cleared up a little bit before we get whacked with another foot of powder.  Let’s hope that the old tractor can push through the accumulated snow drifts deposited in front of the barn by a very crotchety Old Man Winter.

Looks like we’ll finally have a snow free Monday, so we’ll be back in business at the Brigham Hill Community Barn.  Hit the website to place your orders.

Thanks!!

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Buried

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I’m not sure exactly how much snow we got here in Grafton on Monday and Tuesday, but I’m guessing it was more than 30″ based on the record 34″ reported for Worcester.  Reminded me a lot of the blizzard we had 2 years ago when we got about 30 inches of snow overnight.  I think at some point, you can’t really tell – I mean, what’s another 6″ after you have 2 feet of snow and the wind isn’t about to let it stay where it fell anyway?  I don’t a huge frame of reference, but it sure seems to me like these big storms are coming more often.  How many of the top 10 biggest snowstorms in New England have happened in the last 20 years?

It’s funny how storms like affect the landscape around the barn.  The wind comes from north and northeast, whipping around the northwest barn corner and up over the roof.  With light fluffy snow like you get in a cold storm, this actually keeps a section next to western outside wall of the barn (in the cows’ paddock) pretty clear.  It also keeps the parking lot somewhat clear, while at the same time dumping huge piles of snow right in front of the barn.  Check out the pictures to see what I mean.

All the animals are good, though their world has shrunk quite a bit.  The fence lines are buried, so I don’t really want to let the cows out into the field.  Not that they would go out there, anyway – cows like hoofing it through 3 feet of snow just as much as we do.  And Mattycat!  What an amazing beast.  I didn’t see him on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, so I was getting worried.  But he magically reappeared Wednesday afternoon, ready for a meal.  That makes 2 serious blizzards that he’s survived up on the hill.  He must have 9 lives and then some.

Now, if only the tractor would start so I could clear some of those piles…

Those that know are being a little cagey about the forecast for Monday.  We’ll plan to have pickup as usual, so get your orders in.  Thanks!!

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