The First Lawn Mowing of 2017

On March 4th it warmed up to 80 degrees.  Like clockwork I heard the neighbors, one by one, cranking up their lawnmowers and then weedeaters to get their lawns looking nice.  It takes a little work to get the winter grass and clover cut back.  Not to mention the leaves.  The live oaks are dropping the old growth leaves while putting on new leaves and tassels.

Pulling the lawnmowers out of the garage after the winter hibernation takes a little work.  Of course the tires must be aired up to the proper pressure level.  The changing temperatures always affects the air level in the tires.  I read that for every 10 degree Fahrenheit change in air temperature outside the tire, results in a 2% change in air pressure inside the tire, either up or down, depending on air temperature increase or decrease.

I'll clean the battery posts and connections with a wire brush after I loosen the connections to scrape away the corrosion.  I'll jump start 'Ol Betsy and run some Sea Foam fuel treatment through her until she purrs like a kitten.  Then she's ready to go.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First I "pre-mow."  I'm not going to just chop down all that white dutch clover growing in the yard without letting Daisy and Rosie eat it.  But first that takes some preparation by stringing up our solar charged portable electric fence.  During the off-season when the grass doesn't grow, I take down the cross-fencing paddocks in the pasture that I rotate the cows through.  Toward the end of the season I noticed that our old solar charger wasn't 'hot' enough.  The cows were going right through it without being shocked.

When I pulled it down, I had it shipped off to the manufacturer to see what the issue might be.  I learned, to my dismay, that it was more economical to buy a new solar fence charger than pay for the repairs needed to refurbish it.  The old fence charger had done its job over the years, but finally petered out.  I purchased a new one for a little over $154.  I sat it out in the yard and let it charge up for a while and then I strung the portable fence up, hammered in a ground rod, hooked up the wires, and went and got the cows.

Harnessing the Power of the Sun

Funny thing is, like Pavlov's salivating dogs, the sound of me unrolling the poly-wire rope on the reel, captured the cow's attention.  They remember that sound equates to fresh grass and they start lining up at the fence and mooing loudly.  One at a time I walked over, opened the gate and got the matriarch of our little herd, Daisy...

Followed closely by Rosie.  Poor Clarabelle, Luna, and Chuck have to stay in the pasture.  Daisy and Rosie are still in milk and we give them the best grass so that they'll produce the best milk for us.  If you notice both above and below, they both made a beeline for their favorite item on the salad bar - white dutch clover.  I left them in the side yard for about three hours and they manicured it nicely. Meanwhile, if you look below to the right of the live oak, you can see the John Deere lawn tractor warming up, ready for duty.

With the "pre-mowing" done, I put the cows back in the pasture, roll the poly-rope back on the reel, pull up the temporary step-in posts and get on the John Deere lawn tractor.  Nothing runs like a Deere - or our Jersey cows to white dutch clover.