Just in case...

[Shadowcaster]

Well that spell of sunshine was short lived, back to rain and the chance of thunder down here in Cornwall according to the unnecessarily cheerful weather girl this morning. At least the grass is now cut and any creepy crawlies have been evicted from their winter hiding places.

Cheers
Rich

[Fozzer]

The ugly flower-heads of "Sports" and "Sports Fans"! ....>>>>



Time to remove them, and replace them with some thorn-less, sweet-smelling, Rose Bushes instead!

Paul..... ....!

[H]

Foz,
When I resided in Nebraska, I read an article in a local newspaper buy a woman who'd just visited New England. She wrote, "You can tell there was once an ancient civilization there because of the remains of stone walls along many of their back roads and into their forests..."
She obviously didn't ask a local farmer. These were not stone wall remnants! New England's soil covers bedrock which sometimes is exposed on our hills; atop the bedrock was a profuse scattering of rocks, from pebble-sized to boulders, encased by the soil. As I've mentioned before, to cultivate and provide pasture, colonizers not only had to remove shrubs and trees (including some massive roots) but, also, the various rocks, carrying or rolling them to the perifery of the area being cleared. This late 17th to 19th-century endeavor is what she was interpreting as the remains of an ancient civilization! I should make note here that my native American ancestors also did some cultivation on their own behalf but did not see fit to wall themselves in... or out -- the settlers did that.
As you mention farming in the western U.S., it varies but there is a difference between the East and the West (esp. Ctrl to SW). Much of the West has miles of open range; the East, particularly the Northeast, thus New England, has acres of hilly, cleared land, originally forested (much of it still is). A greater portion in the West are larger herds of beef cattle and often were left out on the grassland (range) until roundup; the greater portion in the East are smaller herds of dairy cattle and spend most of their time in the barn, sometimes pastured part of the day but always herded back into the barn by evening -- or sooner if weather threatened.Sadly, our farmed land is diminishing along with our forests as non-agricultural businesses -- and homesteaders -- move in. For the most part, our roads are also directed away from our actual livestock habitat; your motorcycles (which are a bit harsh to an animal's ears) are not so apt to pass within visual range of New England farm animals, which may be on the other side of the trees, house and barn.

New England Green Pastures Award

[Fozzer]

Blimey, @H.... .....!

You lived in Nebraska!.... ....!

You must have been very lonely there!

I have made enquiries on the Forum in the past, and I have yet to find any of my Sim V Chums, (or anyone else), who actually lives in Nebraska!.... ...!

Regarding news, etc, very little seems to happen in Nebraska!

Its a very quiet place....with very few Nebraskans....

...I reckon.... ....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska

Paul..... ...!

https://ag.umass.edu/crops-dairy-livest ... res-awards

...I spot my famous Herefordshire white-faced cattle there!

[H]

Foz, they outnumber us by nearly 600k...
of course, they've about eight times the area...
and we have six times as much water to tread, not counting our 23 miles of ocean...
plus our majestic cliffed hills; most of our presidential range is higher than their Panorama Point (we have an observatory on our highest, Mt. Washington -- native name, Agiocochook)...
So, we're fitting more on much less space.
Nebraska: 210mi x 430mi_________NewHampshire: 68mi (avg) x 190mi
Nebraska: 840' to 5424'__________NewHampshire: Sea level to 6288'
Nebraska: 0.7% surface water____NewHampshire: 4.2% surface water

Also, I know I've mentioned in these forums that I was stationed at a remote site near Hastings, NE, while in the USAF. After my discharge, I also interned in the ministry in Wymore before my first return to NH many decades ago. Wymore is a ways west of Pawnee City but I don't remember seeing one native Pawnee there. It's almost forgotten that Nebraska had a population in the millions centuries ago. It was a big hairy race with strong compact necks and sturdy legs -- not that they could ever blow their own horn -- but most of their descendants now reside on reserves elsewhere.

As to the small farm I grew up on, about 50 of the main 80 acres was cleared, the largest part for hay with two sections for corn and other vegetables, plus the areas with apples, plums, blackberries, red raspberries, black raspberries and grapes.. The drive up to our house was arched by maples and, early on, we also made maple syrup once we moved the chickens to an enclosed end of the barn and renovated their coop house for the process. We only had one milk cow, a Jersey, although one of her two calves was near age; I got too familiar with our hereford steer (we'd even given them names) and I remember feeling quite guilty eating their meat; fortunately, I never got so familiar with the hogs. However, of the farm animals, by the time my parents divorced only the dogs, cats and chickens remained.

[Hawkeye07]

I really don't like this time of year in the Northern part of the U.S. The snows gone but everything looks dirty. Once the spring rains start it will clean up the roads and parking lots quite a bit. We're still a couple of weeks away from that time frame but the sun is out and the days are getting warmer so I'm not complaining. My brown/green grass is still weeks away from needing mowing. most of it looks dead. I'm still thinking about getting artificial turf put in to replace the lawn. No mowing, no weeds, no sweat.

[Anthindelahunt]

Don't forget about the sport fans Hawkeye.They
don't like artificial lawns.

Just ask Fozzer...

Anthin..

[Fozzer]

I like this Thread!..... ...!

It contains a wealth of useful information, interspaced with Gardening tips, the Times of the Last Buses, etc...etc...

@H posts are always fascinating, with historical information regarding the American Indians, early inhabitants of New England, and the mysteries of the State of Nebraska..... ....!

Lots of previously unknown information is contained in threads like this, and makes society a fascinating subject for examination!

Its not always about pretending to fly aeroplanes, Chums!.... ...!

Paul.... ... ....!

....Warming my Cessna 150 Aerobat up for an exploratory flight around Nebraska, and its Indian Reservations!.... ...!