Farming in the rain

We have had a very dry June, so it is a welcomed sight to see the rains we've had in July so far. Today has been one of those rainy days with periods of no rain to misty rain to downright downpours. Most folks would just enjoy a lazy day indoors, but when you have livestock they must be cared for every day regardless of the weather. We have 26 pastured laying hens that roam about on a section of pasture enclosed with electric poultry netting . Every so often we move the fence to a new section of our small pasture. Today just happened to be the day they needed to be moved. The longer they stay in one spot the less grass they have for eating (which really saves us on feed costs) and the more manure is deposited on the soil, a little is good fertilizer, but too much will burn the grass since it is so high in nitrogen. We did our best to pick a lull in the scattered showers, but as soon as we moved the birds to the small holding pen and got the fence down the sky just let loose, it came a good ole gully washer. Our only choice was to work in the rain. We got the fence back up in record time and got the shelter moved and the waterers back in place and headed indoors. When we arrived in doors we had more work ahead of us. Our large garden is in full swing, there where cucumbers and tomatoes to can as well as apples and basil to dry.

Earlier this morning the neighbor and I went on a feed run. Since we both raise poultry we just made one trip between us. Picked up 100 pounds of chicken feed that will hopefully last us about a month if our pasture holds out. The grass is just now growing again after the dry spell. Growing good green pasture is becoming one of our biggest concerns now.
All this may seem like pure drudgery to some, but we absolutely love it. There is nothing like watching those chickens scratch around in that fresh pasture, or seeing a beautiful stand of sweet corn, or opening the cupboards and seeing jar after jar of homemade pickles,jellies, salsa, and tomato sauce that you made. This is why we choose to live on three acres and a dream.