Native Grass Straw

Harvest is mostly finished on the farm and now we are focused on cleaning the seed and getting ready for fall orders.  We also have most of the straw for the year baled up and ready to be used on projects. 

Leymus triticoides, creeping wildrye, straw freshly baled

Straw stack mover collecting the bales from the field

Straw stack mover dropping off another stack of straw

The majority of the straw we have now is really nice Leymus triticoides straw. We also have a limited amount of Hordeum brachyantherum and Nassella pulchra straw. We sell the straw by the bale as well as the ton, depending on how much you need. Our straw is certified noxious weed free.

The straw bale sizes are variable but they are roughly 3.5' x 2' x 1.25'. The Leymus triticoides and Nassella pulchra straw bales weigh around 80 lbs each (~ 25 bales/ton) while the the Hordeum brachyantherum straw bales weigh around 90 lbs each (~23 bales/ton). 

Native grass straw can be used for erosion control, mulch, and as seed cover. Most straw contains viable seed, but we do not recommend using straw as the only seed source. 

Straw is used to cover a hydroseeding trial on the farm (more on the trial to come!)

Snakes on a Farm!

This spring and summer there have been numerous snake sightings in and around Hedgerow Farms. There are several species of snakes that have been found here, but more of the snakes being spotted this year are rattlesnakes. Below are some pictures of a variety of snakes found on the farm through the years:

Rattlesnake found on the farm in 2003

Gopher snake found on the farm in 2006

A king snake found on the farm in August of 2010

A rattlesnake found in May of this year digesting a large rat!
(It was roadkill and John opened it up to see what was inside)

Another rattlesnake found in the seed storage barn in June.
In that same week 4 other snakes were spotted, 3 being rattlesnakes.

With large numbers of snakes comes a high probability of bites. Within  a week there were two dogs bit by rattlesnakes on the farm. One snake bite occurred in some grass along a canal right before the fourth of July weekend and the other happened in the outdoor dog kennel right in the yard (no one saw the second snake, we just saw that Rottie, the farm dog, had a very swollen face).  The two days after the second dog was bit two additional rattlesnakes were found.

Rottie, thefarm dog, appeared to have been bit on the lip while in her kennel. She received one round of antivenom and recovered quickly

Darin, a black lab, was bit on the inside of his forearm. He received two doses of antivenom and after two weeks of recovery is back to normal.

We are all being diligent when it comes to being aware of snakes while walking around. There is an abundance of them this year!

Shop Fire

NOTE: WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL! BUY SEED!

On Monday, July 18th, Hedgerow Farms lost its machine shop to a fire (this is the mechanic shop that contained tools for fixing farm machinery, NOT the seed cleaning shop or the storage barn! Those are fine). We still aren't certain how it started, but the whole building burned to the ground in about an hour.

It happened around 3pm and from the office we noticed some suspicious looking smoke (it actually looked like a dust cloud at first) coming through the front door.
Within a minute there were visible flames.

It was a three alarm fire with Madison, Yocha Dehe and Esparto fire trucks and additional crew from Winters. We also had several water trucks assist, one being from Willow Oak Fire.
We really appreciate all these folks did to keep the fire contained and under control!

 Here is a sequence of photos during the fire:

 

The roof collapsing

The fire created a large smoke cloud

There were several water trucks that brought additional, necessary, water.

After the fire had burned, there was a pile of scrap metal

 The frame of the Honda that was in the shop