What's Happening on the Farm Today, July 26, 2013

This is something that grows on every farm in SW Mo. It is a beautiful flower, but the leaves are razor sharp. Cattle will eat them, but get a sore mouth and then lose weight because of the sore mouth. The seeds fly by the thousands and create more plants. The only way to kill them is to dig out the entire root system, which is what I did as soon as the picture was taken.

Here is an old stump from a dead elm tree. I cut the dead tree off at about 8 feet. The trunk was destroyed, but filled with decayed wood. This spring it sprouted grass at 8 feet in the air. It also has a Virginia Creeper vine growing on its back side. The vine will eventually overgrow the stump and give us an umbrella type shape to the tree stump.