Fall is Here!

Last night it got down to 33 degrees!  Tonight it is supposed to be the same.  In anticipation of the very early cold snap, I rolled out a round bale of hay for the cows and goats to eat on.  It's last year's hay, but it's been covered up out of the weather.  We use a tarp that is made from an old billboard.  The sign advertised the Isle of Capri Casino in Lake Charles.  It was damaged substantially during a hurricane and lay in ruins for a while.  It got the nickname of Pile of Debris Casino.  The tarp has kept the hay in good shape.

Rosie and LuLu immediately started eating on it.  They get all excited for new hay.  You can see that they eat the very center of the hay first.  We always joke and say that it's like the center of a cinnamon roll.  You can also see the bull hanging out by the hay in the background.  I forgot to mention to you that we found out the bull's name.  It's Nick.  We call him Slick Nick.  No one is in heat yet, so Slick Nick hasn't done any romanticizing up to this point.  He's pretty quiet and calm.

This morning when I went outside, there was a frost on the ground.  It didn't get down to freezing but there was frost.  Since I didn't cover the vegetables in the garden, I was concerned about the warm-weather crops we have growing like green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes.  Fortunately, the sun warmed things up quickly and the crops don't appear to be hurt by the cold snap.

The photo below shows some of the cole crops.  We have two rows with two different varieties of cabbage, two rows with two different varieties of broccoli, and one row of cauliflower.  It seems that every seed has germinated, so they are too thick.  I've been thinning them out.  I transplanted some and gave to Russ and my Mom & Dad.  I'll also give some to my brother-in-law and his Dad.  In the background, you can see the experiment underway of fall potatoes growing in pots.

The seedlings are all looking real healthy.  These are Brunswick Cabbage plants.  

I've moved a bunch of these seedlings to the bed in the side yard.  Most have made it, but a couple are in poor health due to the shock of digging up their roots.  I think they'll make it.  As we looked out in the pasture, the animals are enjoying the cool weather.  They're frisky and are jumping and running around with all kinds of energy!  Fall is indeed a great time of year.  Maybe we'll light a fire in the fire pit this weekend.