This one is on the farm where I grew up. This is not the silo we had, our silo always had silage in it, we fed it to our cows in the winter time. Silage was made by cutting up the entire corn plant, and putting it into the silo. The silo was filled in the fall, there was a wooden door that you used to open up and you would take a fork and remove some silage for the cows. Silage smells sweet and the cows loved it. Late in the winter as the silo became emptier, the silage would freeze in huge clumps, my dad would crawl in and use a pick ax to bust them up so they would fit through the door. The frozen clumps thawed out in the barn. Men were the only ones allowed in a silo, and whenever anyone went in, someone stood watch just incase the silo gas was bad. We were told if Dad stopped talking to us, that we should run to the house and call for help. So we would stand there, and keep asking him if he was ok..luckily he always was. Some farmers have died either from the nitrogen dioxide or silo gas, or from the lack of oxygen in a silo.
This is from my archives, I took this back in April of 2009, a very old silo on a very old farm.
An old farmstead at sunset.
Very cool pix and the story behind it also very nice..:-)
ReplyDeleteFarming sure wasn't a job for wimps, was it? Love the pics.
ReplyDeleteLoved your pictures and especially your story! Love old stories!
ReplyDeleteI loved your story as well, and your pictures are really nice, even the sad broken silo. :(
ReplyDeleteGreat shots. Just beautiful. And thanks for the story as well. My favorite post so far. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love all of them, for different reasons. Love the sotry too!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots. Love that golden sky in the last one. I had never heard of silo gas. Makes all kinds of sense though. Really enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteB E A U T I F U L!
ReplyDeleteLovely images, Connie....The last one is stunning!
Like you story. The photos are very good too. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteNice shots and the stories behind them make them even more special.
ReplyDeleteThe voice of experience...
ReplyDeletefarming is not for the faint of heart.
That last shot makes the utilitarian silo very pretty looking.
Well done, the second shot is interesting, and tells it's own story of disuse and neglect.
ReplyDeleteAll really nice ones! I especially like the bottom one. It really sets a mood.
ReplyDeleteThe stories were as nice as the photos! Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the personal stories behind the grain silos. Very interesting. Nice pics, too.
ReplyDelete~Lisa
love the old silo pic
ReplyDeleteLovely Pictures! And a cool post about them! Cool!
ReplyDeleteI have never been to a silo. I always wonder how one works. You mean your Dad actually went inside with a zillion tons of silage on top of him?
ReplyDeleteThe reason I asked, is once a cocoa bean worker in a chocolate factory somehow got the system jammed, and the cocoa bean fell onto him and he "drowned" in the cocoa bean. I was trying to figure out how it happened, as I have never seen a machine.
BTW, how did you put the silage into the silo. Did you have to climb all the way up?
Cheers,
Ann :)
Ann, All the neighboorhood farmers would get together and fill the silos. Taking turns at each others farms, I believe that the silage was shoveled onto a conveyer belt and emptied into the silo. In later years there was some sort of machine that blew it into the silo. The silo was filled gradually, every silo had a series of vertical doors, it was actually like a ladder with little doors. You opened the little doors to gain access to the level of silage that you need to, and threw down the silage onto the floor. The silage would sometimes stick to the sides of the walls, and make shelves, those shelves would freeze and have to be knocked down. You always entered the silo through the little door that was just above the level of the silage.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helps you understand it better. Keep in mind that I am only sharing how I remember we did it on the farm in the 1950's. I am sure that many things have changed over the years:)
Hi Far Side!
ReplyDeleteFirst let me say I LOVE your new header. He's such a dreamboat :)
Your pictures are great and your story was very interesting. I am another one of those that didn't really know much about silo's. I never knew they were dangerous - wow!!
Kisses for the dreamboat!
Emma Rose
I feel the same way! We have so many old silos and barns slowly crumbling to the ground. Very pretty photos!
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and memories. Takes me back to summers spent with my maternal grandparents in Illinois, right on the edge of the prairie. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics and a good story!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful photos! Each and every one of them! Thanks too for the explanation about the silo.
ReplyDeleteGreat shots, but I esp like #2 and #3. And thanks for the lil bit of silo history, VERY interesting.
ReplyDeleteOops, forgot to say, I like your new header too... any pic with Chance in it is a great pic!
ReplyDeleteLate getting here but trying to catch up! Love your Sunday Stills shots! Beautiful! :-)
ReplyDelete