Big doings this past week - bought a commercial grade zero turn mower. The residential grade one we’ve got has been great, but it’s just not made for mowing 10 acres of fields & it’s beginning to have “issues”. The new mower is a “Beast” compared to the old one. I am thrilled because it has a gas gauge & holds 11.5 gallons of gas - I’ll be able to mow the whole place without stopping to refill the tank. It also has a 60” deck - both of my other ‘old’ mowers have a 48” deck. There are some places I won’t be able to go with the bigger deck (between some bushes, etc.), but I can live with that - will just get out the old tractor style mower for trim work. The residential zero turn will be going to a new home - a family member with a large yard & a mechanical hubby who can keep that mower running.
We’re all getting inundated with squash - yellow is fine because we can keep up with it (fry with onions). The zucchini is another story, but with recipes for squash bread/bars, frying some up, freezing some, and giving some away, I think we’ll survive. The cukes should be here any day now - I seriously think I have several hundred blooms on the vines. The guys at the fire station up the road may be getting a few cukes in the near future & I’ll try my hand at canning some pickles. I already can jelly & jalapeno relish, so pickles shouldn’t be too bad. At this time, there is no room in fridge for ‘freezer’ pickles, which I’ve done in the past - good stuff!
Great weather right now - dry (after 5” of rain in the last week and a half), low humidity & temps, but the heat, etc. is going to start creeping back in today. Happy gardening to all!
I LOVE My zero-turn! I have a 42” mower from Airens with a Kohler motor.
It has had two trips to the shop though, but both things covered under warranty, so no out of pocket expenses for me. It was the one thing I kinda splurged on when I sold my other farm and moved out here. Your mower would be too much for me to handle!
I had an old (and I mean OLD!) Craftsman rider from Sears at my other place; I left that behind for the kids that bought it. It survived 3 teen boys doing the mowing, and, of course, all sorts of dare-devil stunts!
That zero-turn is a BLESSING! I can do the house yard in 2 hours now, versus a two DAY workout with the push mower.
Happy Mowing! :)