Farm Fresh Blog

     While other parts of the country are suffering from floods, Texas has been hit with the most severe drought we've seen in 40 years.

This is a pond at the cow house.

     Shortly before it dried completely, we were tooling through the pasture and Other Half noticed a flash of silver in the pond. We stopped, and much to our dismay, we found that the sludge left in the bottom of the pond was filled with catfish and perch trapped by the drought. 

     As if we don't have enough drama with the animals we raise, we found ourselves tending to animals that flew in on the feet of birds. But nevertheless, they were in need, so we spent the evening with nets, catching fish, and transporting them to a stock trough in the arena.  It was muddy, yucky work, (mostly for Other Half) and the fish were not tremendously grateful, but in time, we got the bulk of them moved.

They are in cramped living conditions, but until the rains return, they're better off living in a water tank that gets filled with a hose daily.  The next day we checked the pond.

Everyone too crafty to be caught, or too tiny for the net, was dead.

     Things like this always fill me with wonder. What are the odds that Other Half would see one flash of silver in a deep pond when driving through the pasture?  What are the odds that he would see this on a night when we were both available to scoop out refugees?  What are the odds that these things would line up on the last night before the sun would overtake them? What are the odds that fish pray?