I've been busy. Really busy. Where all these folks bought bales before I started baling, I don't have a clue.....I can't make them fast enough. And so far it doesn't much matter what I'm baling.....they want 'em, or need 'em. Perhaps it's this tough summer that's producing the demand.
Anyway, a few photos.
Here are a few shots of us baling estrella or "star" at the ranch of Pedro Pino....or Peter Pine as I call him. Estrella ranks about 3rd on the list of material horse owners want for their animals behind bermuda and swasi.
Amazing how much estrella looks like bermuda, though a bit thicker or "rougher".
As usual, I'm baling two places at the same time. Pino's place is in a valley along the river while the other spot I'm baling (La Gloria) is on a bluff to the southeast....about an hour's drive by tractor. Being one to stop and smell the roses, I took a few pics one day in route to La Gloria.
Here's a pic from the bluff looking back at Pino's place and the pueblo beyond. My ranch is roughly in the center of the photo at the base of the mountains in the distance.
Here's a ground dove nest I found while looking for the right spot to take a pic of the valley below. They're small doves, lots of reddish flashing when they fly.
Once on the bluff, the ranches are quite large (as opposed to the smaller parcels along the river below) and they're really beautiful. I tried, but just couldn't capture how pretty the scenery was. Anyway, here's a shot or two as I travel towards La Gloria.
La Gloria
A buddy of mine called me one day and said that the owner of La Gloria wanted to talk to me about baling two types of pasture they have. I was surprised since La Gloria is not known as a cattle ranch or pasture producer. As it turns out, the pasture is pretty much residual from when the ranch was a cattle operation. Not sure how many years ago they made the switch, but they're now a huge mango and lime plantation with most of their product being exported to Europe. They're very well-respected in the area.
Anyway, working in La Gloria as been a real treat for me. They gave me a key to the front gate (which is always locked) and told me to come and go as I pleased....."make bales and sell 'em, we don't need any bales here at La Gloria".
I'm baling one pasture of decumbre which is really suitable for cattle and one pasture of humidicola which is a horse feed. The decumbre pasture will be planted with lime trees soon which is why the owner wanted to extract something of value before plowing and planting it.
Here we are baling humidicola. I've been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to sell.....though found it tough to cut.
Here's a few shots of the mango section at La Gloria. I've not yet ventured over to the lime side but will eventually. I need to ask the owner how many mango trees they've got....it's probably on the order of 20,000 or more as relatively small sections are noted to have as many as 3,000.
Check out this setup. It's obviously used to trim the trees....that I knew. What I didn't know is that the trimming process, along with some stimulate they apply via spray, promotes the growth of the mangos.
Here are some young mangos sprouting where the ends of the branches had been trimmed.
Anyway, a few photos.
Here are a few shots of us baling estrella or "star" at the ranch of Pedro Pino....or Peter Pine as I call him. Estrella ranks about 3rd on the list of material horse owners want for their animals behind bermuda and swasi.
Amazing how much estrella looks like bermuda, though a bit thicker or "rougher".
As usual, I'm baling two places at the same time. Pino's place is in a valley along the river while the other spot I'm baling (La Gloria) is on a bluff to the southeast....about an hour's drive by tractor. Being one to stop and smell the roses, I took a few pics one day in route to La Gloria.
Here's a pic from the bluff looking back at Pino's place and the pueblo beyond. My ranch is roughly in the center of the photo at the base of the mountains in the distance.
Here's a ground dove nest I found while looking for the right spot to take a pic of the valley below. They're small doves, lots of reddish flashing when they fly.
Once on the bluff, the ranches are quite large (as opposed to the smaller parcels along the river below) and they're really beautiful. I tried, but just couldn't capture how pretty the scenery was. Anyway, here's a shot or two as I travel towards La Gloria.
La Gloria
A buddy of mine called me one day and said that the owner of La Gloria wanted to talk to me about baling two types of pasture they have. I was surprised since La Gloria is not known as a cattle ranch or pasture producer. As it turns out, the pasture is pretty much residual from when the ranch was a cattle operation. Not sure how many years ago they made the switch, but they're now a huge mango and lime plantation with most of their product being exported to Europe. They're very well-respected in the area.
Anyway, working in La Gloria as been a real treat for me. They gave me a key to the front gate (which is always locked) and told me to come and go as I pleased....."make bales and sell 'em, we don't need any bales here at La Gloria".
I'm baling one pasture of decumbre which is really suitable for cattle and one pasture of humidicola which is a horse feed. The decumbre pasture will be planted with lime trees soon which is why the owner wanted to extract something of value before plowing and planting it.
Here we are baling humidicola. I've been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to sell.....though found it tough to cut.
Here's a few shots of the mango section at La Gloria. I've not yet ventured over to the lime side but will eventually. I need to ask the owner how many mango trees they've got....it's probably on the order of 20,000 or more as relatively small sections are noted to have as many as 3,000.
Check out this setup. It's obviously used to trim the trees....that I knew. What I didn't know is that the trimming process, along with some stimulate they apply via spray, promotes the growth of the mangos.
Here are some young mangos sprouting where the ends of the branches had been trimmed.
