The Grass is Always Greener...

We've had some type of wild grass take over most of the back pasture. Since it wasn't so great for grass anymore, we let the horses out on it sometimes when we shouldn't have. It was pretty tore up, but we planned to redo it this fall...

On the fifteenth, I posted about Hubby and Mark preparing and planting our new pasture. It had been drier than usually. We prayed for rain. It was dry for the first couple of days, but it's rained almost every day since.

Here's what the pasture looked like about four days ago...
Then, after some more rain...
And today...I think this project was a success! Hopefully, with good weather next year, it will be ready for four-foot traffic by mid-summer.

A Tale of Two Tractors

I hope my horses are happy. I gave up my new front yard for them. We've lived in the middle of this old corn field for six years. Each of those years Hubby promised me a new front lawn. That lawn always gets knocked down a notch on the to-do list when those other random farm projects pop up.

This is it. This is the week that I was supposed to definitely get my new lawn. Guess what? Not gonna happen. But that's OK with me. We were going to do the lawn and the back pasture. Then some things happened that made us rethink the investment. We decided we should only do one or the other. I picked the pasture. Yep, me. My horses rank pretty high on my priority list. 'nuff said.

Hubby had already sprayed the pasture, killing all the grass and weeds that were growing there.

Here is Hubby on our tractor tilling all the dead stuff under and loosening the soil.

Hubby has a part-time job in the summer working for Mark's landscaping company in exchange for grass seed and fertilizer. It's nice to have friends with heavy equipment! This is Mark's harrow rake. He uses it to smooth the tilled ground.

Mark has a really nice tractor. I'd love to have an enclosed cab! When I sell my book, a bigger tractor is on my list. (I know... I dream big.) This is Mark using the harrow rake to smooth the pasture, getting it ready to plant.

Hubby took the tiller off and installed Mark's seeder. This is Mark on our tractor, spreading the grass seed and then the fertilizer.

The best time saver of all... This is Mark's straw blower. Hubby is just getting over a bug, so he gets to drive Mark's truck. A friend volunteered to cut open the bales and heave the straw to the blower. Now that's a real friend! The boss is operating the blower.

I am a safe distance from the mess, using my zoom while standing on the bedroom deck. It makes me want to gasp for air just looking at this picture!

So now the field is ready, but the weatherman said it will be dry for several more days... Come on rain!