It’s terrible, @KristijanL . I can’t imagine the loss you get.
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Where is the unlike botton 20 times over. Sorry for what happened.
Nature can throw things at us, that we just have to take cover.
Hope and pray the crops are alright and recover.
Bob
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Oooh, nooo!
Kristijan, I’m glad you’re safe, but sorry about your crops and car. I’ve never seen hail that big.
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I didn’t know it hailed like that in Southern Europe. I’ve only seen hail like that in my neck of the woods. Some as big as a golf ball.
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Im at work currently. I fear coming home to be honest… will report later.
Cody, unfortunaly wife has quite big hands for a woman so the hail on the pic is about golf bal size.
I have never seen hail this big in my life.
I guess potatoes will grow back but this year we were suposed to get apples, walnuts and stone fruit for the first time in 2 years (spring frost) but l dubt much survived that.
If this is natural, l am humbled but forgiving the nature. If this is man made it makes me wish humanity never existed.
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Normally we don’t get hail until Hurricane season, mid to late Summer when the heat is intense. Do you guys get hurricanes or tornadoes?
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Summer is, at least temperature wise, in full swing in my area. 92 degrees in town. Yeesh.
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First sorry to see the hail.
Mini round bales are popular for small horse farms around here, which I think the balers are imported from japan or s. korea, but they are cost prohibitive for 1-2 acres since they are like $10k
This is a knock off of the 1920s case haypress. It doesn’t have the knotter so they still have to be hand tied. I liked it because they used a tire for the transmission which is cheap and simple.
I haven’t looked for a knotter design recently. I didnt find one the last time.
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I hesitated to post those pictures, not to ruin your guys excelent mode at Argos. But figured most will read this at home any ways.
Yeah… not much of the crop left. 3 roof tiles broken and lights on the car.
Also, no hay to harvest. Hayfealds look as if they have been brushhoged.
Second reason l decided to post this is because it is tyed to the topic above, Jims way to mulch the garden with hay. The cabbage plants l planted yesterday were the least damaged. I planted in deep hay mulch and when the storm started it partialy covered the seedlings with hay. Out of 50 only 15 dyed while other crops like broad beans, peas, beans and onions, the loss was 100%. Just one more feature of the sistem!
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Sigh. Sorry for that news on your crops. Is it to late to replant, not sure about your growing length of your season where you live. Timing is everything where you do no irrigation.
It is written in the text of old, to praise and thank The Yehovah in all things. This is a very hard thing to do when destruction comes and when it happen to you and your family for your food supply. We ask why? We have worked so hard, why. It just makes my heart sink in sadness for you all in your area.
Bob
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I don’t like that post because its good, but because it is part of the world we live in. Mother nature can throw some hellaciose curve balls at us, and we just have to roll with it. The heavy mulch seemed to be helpful, and even if you had a hoop house hail that size probably would have damaged it as well. Way she goes some times just happy you and the family are ok, all the rest can be fixed repaired or replaced
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Poking around for the knotter I found the ‘will never pass US safety law’ rotary cutter. That mounts to like a wheelhorse type of thing, or I saw one mounted to a garden tractor but I can’t refind that video. 
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Of course I have my tomatoes and peppers all started in cups Kristijan but almost everything else is just going in the ground now. Cucumbers, beets, summer and winter squash. Pumpkins. and it seems that your growing season must be longer than mine by the looks of the stuff you lost. I have many times been through battered garden syndrome. There may be some things you don’t have time to replace, but then you just double up on others that will still fill your root cellar. Potatoes, pumpkins and winter squash will get you through a winter, Plenty of time to plant kale, some types of corn. I’ve had my potato leaves and grape leaves turn black from a late frost and they all recovered. It is wise to consider growing much more under cover in a hoop house. Also alternate ways of growing. Are you familiar with Dutch Buckets or the Kratky method? You can grow an enormous amount of produce in a small area. Lots of video’s. This guy is one of my favorites.
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I remember working on a dairy farm when I was a kid in the 1970s. We made a lot of 40lb hay bales. I listened to old timers talk and learned that bales are not so good. Too many grass leaves broken and lost, so nutrition lost also. Better the ancient loose hay system. Maybe for 100 bales worth, about 4000 pounds, it would be possible to use just use the pitch fork.
Rindert
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Got all my grain seeds. Going to do a test patch of Buckwheat this season, I live in Zone 7a so if I sow soon I should be fine.
Winter wheat will have to wait(say that ten times fast). I’ll sow them in mid to late Autumn since we don’t typically get a frost until November.
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We sow buckwheat after grains tipicly so plenty of time
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I use it as a cover crop because it grows fast and the stalks breakdown quickly. Plus you have to do about zero tillage to get it to grow. I have never bothered to harvest it. You do get some yearly carryover from ungerminated seeds and if you let it go too long, the seeds are viable. If you grow corn, or soys, you MIGHT be able to plant it in like july, or august between the rows, and still get a crop. But they use it in deer plot mixes along with things like daikon radishes. The radishes can be invasive too but they kill off easily with frost, and if you are on clay, help the soil quite a bit, because they can go fairly deep.
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I know people use it for cover crop, but I would only use daikon for that because of my heavy clay dirt.
I’m planting for the nutrient heavy grain.
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Daikon is a brassica. You don’t necessarily want to plant it every year. They are susceptible to some of the same diseases other brassicas are. You want to rotate accordingly. Otherwise, it worked wonders on my clay soil and they deteriorate fairly quickly as well.
I just throw seeds down between the rows, after harvest before I mow over it. I do that with all the cover crops though. I also do the fall mow to help reduce pests that overwinter in stalks and help it break up the residue.
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One word of caution on buckwheat thugh, l forgot the right term but it releases toxins in the soil to retard other plants growth. Great to clear the feald of weeds over the winter but not good for companion planting
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