Monday 29 October 2012

If you go down in the woods today......

...or anywhere else in the country for that matter, don't expect to see any teddies or any picnics.   For today's the day the farmers are spreading their muck around.   It is a dull and dismal day and the air is full of the scent of FYM to put it politely.

Everyone has been holding on for fine, dry weather.   But the time is rapidly coming when cattle will have to come in as the fields are so wet.   They will all wait until the last minute because Winter feed this year will be very expensive as there has not been enough dry weather to get on to the land to make a third cut of silage grass.

I have been down to the city of Ripon this morning to my hairdressers and all along the way the fields are full of the flying stuff as the giant spreaders go up and down.   And as soon as you get off the main road (as I do on my way home) every farm lane is thick with great clods of the stuff.   Still, my mother always said it was a good healthy smell and as I can't get away from it, what can't be cured must be endured as they say.

I am thinking about all our blogging friends on the Eastern seaboard of the United States (Elizabeth of the world examining works for example - she lives in Manhattan) and hoping that the forecasts of this enormous storm on its way are exaggerated.   It must be awful living in a hurricane area.   Makes a bit of farmyard muck seem small fry.

11 comments:

John Going Gently said...

yes pat, I wont complain (much) about our weather again!

angryparsnip said...

My goodness what a day.
Much different from mine. The gardeners just reseeded The Square Ones small grassy area and I was out there enjoying the earthy fresh smell of mulch, soil and seed. Quite a bit different from the muck that is being flung around your area. It does boggle the mind !
I hope your bad weather holds off and the cows get to stay out in the sun a bit longer.

cheers, parsnip

Heather said...

That impending storm in the USA must be very worrying indeed - it makes our own weather grumbles seem very petty.
They used to say 'where there's muck, there's brass' but after this year's awful weather that may not hold true for farmers.
Happy Muck Spreading anyway.

Jinksy said...

I'm watching news of that storm on TV at the moment - scary! I'll take your FYM anyday. :)

MorningAJ said...

I remember muck spreading from my childhood. It's a distinctive aroma, isn't it?

Dartford Warbler said...

Muck spreading happened a few weeks ago down here. Much better than spreading the land with artificial fertilizers, despite the smell!

Sorry that you were not able to get another cut of silage this summer.

Pondside said...

It's the smell of prosperity!

Robin Mac said...

I am just catching up on all your wonderful blogs after being away.Cattle and sheep stay outside all year round here, so muck spreading is not an operation I have experienced, but it is certainly a good farming smell. Check my latest blog, I am about to post photos of the sheep and cattle pastures in New South Wales. Cheers

Gwil W said...

When I was small my dad always said it was good fresh country air.

Have just posted some pertinent info on the US storm and related matters under the heading WE HOLD OUR BREATH

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the comments - you lot can't smell it of course, so you can afford to be kind.

megan blogs said...

I lived for a time in a place that grew a lot of mushrooms and many of the growers decided to create their own compost using anaerobic methods. I much prefer the smell of muck to that.

I live far enough north across the Pond that i did not feel the full effect of Hurricane Sandy, for which i'm glad. My hometown didn't fare well, although no lives were lost there. The people who were told to evacuate did so. Still, the damage is unbelievable.

We lost power for a day, a few limbs came down, and i think one or two large trees toppled in neighbouring towns, but it could have been so very much worse.