Ok, I'm tired of dull December skies and rain, so I'm taking you back to a sunny day at the beginning of November. I had to go down to Kitchener-Waterloo for a catscan (the one that ended up showing that I didn't need surgery, so in retrospect this was a day to be celebrated!). And the north end of Waterloo Region that I drove through is filled with beautiful farms. I took the back roads and got some nice shots.
When I do get a clear view of a farmstead (trees get in the way a lot here in the valley), the barns tend to be far away like this, but in some ways I think it gives a better view of the farm landscape.
The corn harvest was going on, though it's now long finished.
These all looked like quite prosperous farms, many of them dairy farms. Silos like these are usually in indicator of dairy farms in southern Ontario.
Did you notice that these two shots are of the same farm, just from a different angle down the road. I had to look twice myself after I got the photos up on the computer.
I don't think I've seen a farm with a corn crib in use for a long time, but then maybe I've just been driving around in the wrong places.
I had also never seen a large rectangular baler being used to bale fresh forage. I've only ever seen this type of bale used to bale wheat straw, which is left in enormous stacks at the edge of the field. Then later it's taken away by truck, I presume to horse farms and race tracks, to be used for bedding. Presumably this fresh forage will be fed to cattle.
I realized after that this picture may be misleading - these aren't the old small square bales that farm teenagers threw onto the hay wagon! These are the large rectangular bales about 8 feet long, 3 feet high, and 3 feet wide. I've only seen them around southern Ontario over the past decade or so, but they're getting more common, at least for wheat straw.
And of course there was some manure spreading going on. Many farmers in more prosperous farming areas (not in the valley) have switched to liquid manure systems. It looked like a good day to be doing it, when it will get absorbed before it gets a chance to run off. Hope you enjoyed the break from dull dark December!
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Another Christmas lunch today with friends in Owen Sound, followed by shopping errands. I think we're ready for Christmas now. But my walking suffered for the second day in a row, with only a 30-minute morning walk with Roxie completed. We drove home from Owen Sound in the rain, and listened to it on the roof til well after dark.
Now that's quite a farm! In this area silos have fallen out of favor and larger bunkers are now used for silage storage. Nice alfalfa hay in that field. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post and I hope to see you back again.
ReplyDeleteYup me to all though the temps here are warm got up to 16C here the rain is just to much I need sunshine . I am thankful this rain isn't snow though or we would be digging out for sure lol ! Lovely photos , thanks for sharing , have a good day !
ReplyDeleteA nice refreshing change of photos. I have never seen a corn crib here in NB. I wonder if there are such a thing here. We're getting some very nasty weather here tonight with freezing rain after ice pellets earlier. The other half of the province will get a lot of snow - kind of nicer than freezing rain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Pamela, nice change of scenery. Our weather is getting colder again.
ReplyDeleteLovely rural photos and cute farms. Yes, sometimes revisiting nicer days make the gray, gloomy ones easier to bear.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me so much of my late grandparents farm in Southern Ontario. I used to climb silos just like that. Cannot imagine doing that now. And those rectangular bales are very familiar to me - it's just like the ones I used to throw onto a wagon and then stack in the hayloft and then drag out to fields every morning. Nothing beats that fresh smell. They hay I mean - not the stuff in the spreader. LOL
ReplyDeleteThat farm is within five minutes of my house.
ReplyDeleteThirty minutes is better than no minutes, and it's hard to make myself exercise in the rain. Which has been pretty constant around here lately. I enjoyed the blue skies and the farms, a nice break indeed. :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful properties. I've no doubt passed through the area and have seen at least a couple of these farms.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see a working farm, great series of photos. Have a happy week!
ReplyDeleteWe now have the large balers in our area. They seem to be using them to bale up the corn stocks and are stacking them into one location on the field. I don't know who will buy them but some use them for bedding for animals. In drought times they would force livestock to try and eat the corn stock stems. Your photos are all so great of the skies. The green bales of hay look really great. I can smell that hay all the way down here.
ReplyDeleteVery attractive properties and interesting views of all the activities.Yes, corn cribs are uncommon in NE Illinois-- at least those containing corn. Many old empty relics are present.
ReplyDeleteAfter Rory's comment above, I realized that the second picture above may be misleading - these aren't the old small square bales that farm teenagers threw onto the hay wagon! These are the large rectangular bales about 8 feet long, 3 feet high, and 3 feet wide. I've only seen them around southern Ontario over the past decade or so, but they're getting more common, at least for wheat straw.
ReplyDeleteWe saw so many beautiful farms in Wisconsin and across Ontario this past summer!
ReplyDeleteWe saw a semi load of those huge square bales going through town recently,,,found it curious...perhaps they were from Canada, I was too busy looking at the bales as we usually have round bales down here. Your farms are very pretty, no I have not seen a corn crib in a long time...I can remember working in them when I was a kid taking kernels off the cobs:)
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