[mitchmaine]

my only gripe, geoff (probably yours too), is locals being ripped off for “their” natural resourses. poland spring pumps billions of gallons of fresh water out of thousands of wells in many maine towns. trucks it off, sells it away, and maine towns get a few dollars for local taxes compared to millions in profits to the corporation. who owns the water? great argument and not directed at the real point. local economy based on local resourses. same argument for wood chips and pellets. or oil, gold, minerals, fish. you name it, the “farmer” seems to get the smallest check, and it bothers me.

[mitchmaine]

don’t worry about pissin’ somebody off, scott. that’s when you know your gettin’ close to the point. my dad used to say when you get the other guy hollering, you won, he’s out of arguments.

[mitchmaine]

good one , matt. i know that place. wicked thanks, mitch

[mitchmaine]

The game warden pulls this guy over in his truck, and walked up and looked inside. There on the seat was a dead owl. The game warden said “what’s that?” and the man said “it’s an owl.” The warden said “I know it’s an owl, how did you get it?” so the man said “I shot it”. “you shot it. You can’t shoot an owl, they are protected.” And proceeded to scold the man. Finally, the warden said “I’m going to have to write you up, why did you shoot him anyway?” the guy replied “I got seven kids and one on the way, and I’m out o’ work and need some food for their supper.” So the warden started to soften up a little and said “well, I guess I could just give you a warning this time, they can’t be very good to eat.” So the man says “oh no, they’re not that bad, they taste just like bald eagle.”

[mitchmaine]

same here in maine, carl. we have lots of wood, but export most of our generated energy, and the demand “out there” will always be greater than what we can furnish. so the logger who sets up with energy contracts to fill is going to do what with those borderline sawlogs? you guessed it, and low level chipwood and biomass give small stumpage to the landowner compared even to pulpwood, so why would the logger care if his paycheck was the same or better? it’s usually about the money and not the greater good of the world, isn’t it. mitch

[mitchmaine]

goin’ out on the limb here. bald eagle’s bigger than the golden, least in wingspan. and they don’t just fish.

[mitchmaine]

i have a 5 acre field cut off by a gully that i hay and have never plowed down. it’s laid out that same way with dead furrows 5′ – 6′ wide about 100 feet apart. i know it hasn’t been plowed in 40 years and my guess is that it’s much longer than that. and john’s right, it’s a pain to mow unless you run down with those furrows making one acre mowings. i keep planning to plow it out someday by turning soil into those dead furrows and end up plowing out the crowns, but so far not. it seems that whoever laid it out was trying to drain the field to that gully. not sure how well it worked as the field is low with heavy soil. good hay in a dry summer, tho. mitch

[mitchmaine]

thanks ed, that was great. mitch

[mitchmaine]

thanks john, i went to “barefoot…..” wow, what a site. lots of reading to do. thanks again. mitch

[mitchmaine]

hey john, describe a heat fitted boot to me, will you? i’ve never heard of it. mitch

[mitchmaine]

hey donn, right. i think you could do a botch job on a first trim. i think i probably did. i’m guessing i might undertrim being too timid at first. maybe the best way would be to hire a farrier to come 2 – 3 times a year, and trim in between yourself. the farrier could get you back on track, and after you made enough mistakes, you’d be better. there is some connection between picking up your own horses feet and being more in control or “in touch” with them. i’m not saying it well. i just like to handle my horses, the more the better for both of us. mitch

[mitchmaine]

no strong feelings one way or the other. what ever your use is, i think. we don’t go off the farm much, and don’t work the woods like we used to, so pavement, ice, roots and rocks. our nags have been barefoot for about 12 years, and two have never been shod, and it works well for us, cause it’s hard to mess up a trim (i’m gonna catch heck for that one), and we don’t miss the cost of shoes.
we do little minnie trims every three weeks or so, and if you go off a little it’s not so bad that you can’t catch up the next time. google hoof trimming and see what comes up. you’ll be an expert in ten seconds.

[mitchmaine]

hey geoff, seems like you’d only have to manage the hot horse, and forget the other one. we take baths, harness and all, on the hot days. cold water on their feet, then up the legs and onto their backs. they didn’t like it at first, but now they don’t mind too much. one horse even drinks out of the hose now.
it’s the flies that get us. penny came up with a good idea a few years back. we had nets on and still the horses were worked up. so she wanted to try face masks over the bridles. quite a squeeze, but without flies in their ears and eyes they almost forgot about them. quite a dramatic change. mitch oh, and i hate the heat. it’s me who gives up first.

[mitchmaine]

pretty good idea. for that matter, lumber’s so light, you could build a small hovel and pick it up with your boom, set it on the pulp truck and move it in.
i still like carl’s idea. having them home every night. i spent years running twenty miles to do twenty minutes of chores, and it gets old quick. mitch

[mitchmaine]

hi jeremy, can’t remember when it started, but we are a month ahead and have been since before sugaring. could have and should have tapped in february. plowing in april. seeding and others haying in may. we have about 1″ rain for may. too dry. except for a killing frost 2nd week of may that killed all the strawberry blossoms and a good deal of the apples, it’s been warm. that’s the weather from here. where are you?

mitch

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