DooWopRidge-FARM

We love our place here which is in the north western part of Marion County, Florida. This part of Florida is not what most folks from the northern states think of when you say Florida. Anthony Florida is a beautiful area just north of Ocala. The country side is dotted with horse farms and horse training facilities.

Evidence of the horse culture is everywhere in Ocala. Signs for farrier services line the roads here which are mostly rural. Many of the farms feature training facilities such as tracks with starting gates. Farms in this area are home to almost all breeds of horses, led by Thoroughbreds, Warmbloods, Quarter Horses, Paso Fino and Arabians. Florida's equine champions are known all over the world.

The colt pictured on the left was born in mid February. This picture was taken when the colt was 2 weeks old. He is a beautiful animal with a lot of potential.

HAY FOR SALE

Most of the pasture lands here at Doo Wop Ridge are dedicated to hay production. The hay grown here is the Tifton9 variety of Bahia grass. This grass, which grows to a height of about 3 feet, is very high in protein and an excellent forage production crop.

The hay is normally cut 3 times a year, however cutting this year was substantially delayed due to several VERY WET storms. Hurricane Fae dumped about 15 inches of rain on Marion County and even more south of us.

Cutting and bailing the hay is a fulltime production. The hay is cut and left to lay for a day or two. Then the hay is raked into rows in preparation for the bailer. The bailer then picks it up and spins it into rolls which weigh between 750 to 800 pounds.

Couple of farmers here!!

I'm Lovin It!

The bailer is an amazing piece of equipment. While bailing, one of the belts that spin the hay into rolls broke and became entangled in the rollers. I asked about possibly cutting it out before being informed that the belts cost five hundred dollars each! There are 10 belts on the bailer. After a two hour delay for repairs we were back in business and within 3 hours we were done.


	Everything cut, raked, bailed and cleaned up. All that's left is to bush hog around the fence line. There is never any shortage of work to be done. Sheba, our outside cat, keeps watch over the back pasture always on the hunt for food!

There is a wide variety of snakes in Florida such as Southern copperhead, Cottonmouth, Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, Corn snake and Banded Watersnake just to name a few. In fact, Florida is home to the largest variety of snakes in the United States. Fortunately I have only come across one black racer since I've been here.

On the other hand, what we do have is SPIDERS! I've seen some of the largest, nastiest looking 8 legged creatures you can imagine. Pictured here are just a few. The Yellow Garden Spider, to the right, is quite large. This one was about 5 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. They are not the largest spiders around but their web is one of the strongest in the world. Their silk, which is gold in color, is known to be almost as strong as Kevlar.

The spider pictured to the left is one that I maintain a constant vigil for. It is a brown recluse spider and it is venomous. I'm not so much worried about getting bit by one but I am concerned about the dogs particularly Hank as he wonders the fence line and is always sniffing around the area where the equipment is. I am constantly spraying insecticide and watching for their webs and egg sacks.

Another poisonous insect in abundance here is the blister beetle. Several months ago I believe that I was bitten by one while mowing under the trees. I developed a large blister with two small bite marks in the middle. The blister, which was on my back, was about the size of your hand. It was quite painful and caused some irritation to the muscles in my back and shoulder. I didn't notice the blister, actually Patty found it, until it was fully evolved. It went away in about 2 weeks. I don't have any pictures of these insects because I have adopted a "squish first, ask questions later" policy.