thoughts while cutting grass related plants

15 June 2008
I spend a lot of my time harvesting alfalfa. We go out and harvest some for the four cows and 13 or so sheep and goats twice a day most days. We also cut down the weeds of the fields and bring those back. What are you picturing right now? A big, glossy John Deere tractor and hay rake behind it? Perhaps you were more conservative, and thought of an old-fashioned hay-rake behind or horse. Or, closer still, a long handled scythe. All of these are incorrect… we squat on the ground, grab bunches of alfalfa with one hand and fit the small one-handed scythe behind it, cutting it off, bunch by bunch by bunch. Then it is loaded onto the back of a) a mule b) a donkey c) a woman/girl or d) rarely, a man/boy. This is loaded high and wide and cinched down tight with a long rope with a wooden hook or loop on one end of it.
Skills I did not know I would learn… but I’m getting pretty good at it now. It’s not hard, but if you’re not careful you can slice yourself. No, I have not done that… merely abraded one of my fingers slightly…
Speaking of cuts, I also ended up helping out with a large cut on a mule. Now, I’m not a veterinarian, or even a health volunteer, but this was a big gash (4 inches long and pretty wide) and I do know a thing or two about taking care of such things. I am a lifeguard, I have worked with horses for the greater majority of my life, and I have spent long hours following vets around in Wisconsin. Thus, I know that it is quite important to get the wound clean!! And olive oil is OK for little cuts and stuff as far as keeping it clean goes, but you have to wash it thoroughly first… Anyway, we got it flushed out with clean water and ran some good disinfectant through it followed by more water, and attempted to bandage it, but the olive oil put an end to that idea. She seems to be doing OK anyway. Eating and drinking and looks bright-eyed and all that good stuff.
And I wonder once again: is this what I should do with my life? Get my DVM and then find a place to work? Would I want to be a part of the factory farming that is the reality of so much agriculture in the US? I doubt it… sigh. Quandries.