I am so relieved that it is finally September. Of course, that is primarily because of my memories of the month in other parts of the country. In Ohio, September marked the ending (sometimes abruptly) of summer, Black Swamp Arts Festival in Bowling Green, jackets becoming a requirement (although they never were packed for the summer), and the start of the school year at the university. Maryland, was a little delayed compared to Ohio's temperature decline, but started the process of the color changes in the leaves (and there were lots of leaves to change compared to the sparse sprinkle here in the desert). Now September gives me strength to push forward through the end of the very hot season here. I believe this year has been the most difficult for me personally.
As Donald's work load has required him to be away so much of the time, the farming responsiblities have fallen to me. Now I am not a strapping young buck that has the strength to toss bales around or wrestle with heavy machinery, so when those challenges would arise, I simply had to wait until Donald came to take care of things for me. If I ran into a problem first thing in the day, the progress for that day would come to a halt. This has made me very frustrated at times. The solution, albiet late in the season, was to try and hire a helper. That proved to be a challenge in and of itself. With the controversy involving the immigration within the state of AZ, the risk of hiring a worker of Hispanic descent could get one in trouble if the worker proved to be illegally in the country. So we looked to high school aged kids that might be looking for summer work. Many leads fell to the side, as calls were not returned. I really need someone available during the week to help as needed as I am working the fields or any of the other projects around the ranch, but high school has started back in session. We finally had some help this past weekend from a young man from Casa Grande.
As Donald and I are scrambling to get things done on the weekends (assuming Donald doesn't have to work), the tumbleweeds are continuing to grow. I decided to have the tumbleweeds cleared as a starting point for our helper, and then have him load some hay for delivery. The idea was that Donald and I were to try and get some repairs done while our helper worked. As the day wore on, I realized the tumbleweed clearing was being done, but not to my expectations. A lot of the weeds were left and with just the humidity in the air it seems, could rejuvenate and would probably be as lush as they were in a matter of a week or two. Not really, but those blasted weeds are hardy pests. So that task was not going to be done by this particular helper to my specifications. He was able to load hay and worked with Donald so that Donald could show him how to organize and eventually load on his own. Donald usually takes an hour tops to load a full trailer for delivery. As it turns out our helper was not able to keep up with Donald in strength or speed. The next load we had him work on his own and it took him almost two hours to get the job done.
Our time is valuable, and we have worked hard to make sure that expenses are always kept to a minimum for the obvious reasons. We decided that the per hour payment was not effective and the tasks were not being done to our expectations. We have offered him a project for a price and have calculated how much time it has taken Donald to do the work in the past. We offered him a price that allows him double the time it should take. We want him to shovel the last section of the concrete irrigation ditch that accumulates the sand and dirt from the irrigation water. We need it cleared so that we can move forward on preparing the fourth fields for planting. Something that is becoming more pressing as the season wanes. We will see if this chore is accepted, and evaluate the work to decide if we need to try someone else.
The mosquitoes have been an issue, but we are hopeful to have a solution to this problem soon.
The house that was on the property when we arrived is another culprit in the frustration factor. The house is very small for four people, with no real storage, and it provides a constant flow of repairs to keep the basics functioning (water, electric, and structure). "Cabin Fever" was definitately a contibuting factor to the difficult season. The ongoing diversions of the repairs on the house has taken our time away from the ranch projects that we have wanted to complete.
It seems that the demands of the ranch as a whole really have stolen from our family this season. Maybe the realization that Erin is a senior in high school and will potentially be leaving next year makes my feel guilty for not spending more time with her and the family in general. I suppose everyone has these concerns to some extent. I have made a family getaway a priority in October when both girls have a fall break. I just hope I am successful in the preparation, planning and execution of what turns into another project.
I have ordered our broilers for our first attempt at raising meat chickens. I am excited about this and have worked out a setting that will be minimal work on my part once the chickens are put to pasture. I will talk about this at another time. The lambs should be going in for processing later this month, early October at the latest. I am seriously considering holding on to one of the rams and getting a ewe to provide us with some "workers" for next season.
I would like to put together a mobile pen that would conform to the borders that divide our hay fields. The sheep would be put in the pens and they would eat down the grasses that grow on the borders, leaving the fields to grow for haying. They would "earn their keep." I have lots of these ideas, just no time to move on them....
The fall should be exciting with the processing of our first bunch of Bourbon Red turkeys. We will have a surplus for our needs, so I will calculate the cost of raisng the birds and sell accordingly. I intend on doing the same with the broilers. With all the uncertainty of our food industry, the opportunity to avoid the unknowns as much as possible is satisfying. The fact that we have the ability to do so is rewarding. Rewarding in so many ways.
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