Third cutting

After I finished teaching swimming lessons today, one of my student's moms gestured to the tractors driving past our house said, "So, all this equipment going by is yours, then?"

I told her yes, because we were cutting alfalfa today, which we used to feed our cattle.

Another friend said, "Wait - didn't you JUST do that?!" 

The answer is ... yes!  Farmers cut alfalfa three or four times a season.

If you think about how often you have to mow your lawn, it gives you an idea of how fast alfalfa grows.  (Then you add in great seeds, good soil, and fertilizer.  I don't do any of that to my lawn.  Which you would know if you drove past my house.)

And then you add rain.  Or in the case of this cutting - almost no rain. 

Our lawn is brown and dry.  Our alfalfa looks pretty good in the field, but it's thin.  We were able to cut a lot of crop today in just a little time.  Not preferred. 

You can't get perfect rain every year - as another friend said, "That's why you buy crop insurance!"  Unfortunately, it's not that easy, because everyone needs feed for their animals, and money's a poor substitute.

But there's hope for the next cutting, which will happen in about four or five more weeks.  Rain dependent.

At least the weather is good for swimming lessons.