Well, went and checked my garden patch last evening...........seems like some of the toms are making an effort to regenerate. Peppers.............not as enthusiastic............parsley.........maybe.........Cursed birds didn't touch the broccoli, cauliflower, or brussel sprouts. Oh, and they macerated a few of the dahlias that were coming up. I need Clint Eastwood's 44 Magnum........the most powerful handgun in the world. Now, I ask you birds, DO YOU FEEL LUCKY, PUNK?????
Name: Cheryl Eastern Ky Truth should be everpresent.
Glad your tomatoes are making an effort.
My garden is coming along but it seems to be slow. It has finally warmed up at night now too. Things should get going soon. I fertilized today with goat manure that was dried and crushed to dust. I also got out early this morning and planted out a few melon and squashes. Then O turned some tomato cages over them and covered them with some empty feed sacks to give them some shade. It got in the mid 90s today. Our AC needs freon so we are not running it right now. We have ceiling fans in 3 rooms and a box fan blowing in the front door. It is over 80* in the house but bearable.
I have an unwritten rule never to turn on the AC until June at the earliest. I really don't like having the house closed up but the humidity here can be oppressive, and this year the drought has caused DUST to blow in everywhere. So I guess I'll have to give in and turn on the AC and clean the house - ugh!
Well, haying has commenced here. Stan mowed hay on Sunday, thinking he and SIL could get it on Monday, but we had a quick flashbang of a storm Sunday night that put down 3/4 of an inch in about 20 minutes, so no haying on Monday. Stan mowed some more on Monday, and chopped on Tuesday with SIL coming after school (he's a high school/junior high math teacher) and more of the same last night. Today, the young man who does relief milking will be here all day to help. I feel a bit superfluous, having done all the chopping and baling at one time, but they still need lunch and cookies, so I guess I am needed a bit.
I'm just thinking of putting in veggie garden today. They have issued a frost warning for the deepest valleys inland from Lake Erie. We will be spared, but it will probably be in the low 40s, possibly upper 30s.
Kathy Jo, we rent three pastures and pay a set rate - mostly we cover property taxes, I think. Of course, we rent from one of Stan's brothers and one of my brothers, but I think we pay the guy who's not related to anyone about the same. The property taxes are based on agricultural use, as all the properties are in state designated Ag Districts. Keeps them from getting too out of line.
I don't really rent pasture - I have a free lease from a neighbor in exchange for tax reduction and maintenance. However those who do rent pay by the head, often with an upper limit specified.
We rent pasture by the acre ($40 for one field and $45 for another field). Some do by the head around here. We have to pay for and apply fertilizer. You might check your local county extension for rates, advice, etc.
Been a crazy week! Last Friday I took off work. In between trying to get some weeds pulled, etc. I had to heat check the cows. We have a "fixed" jersey bull. I walked in the lot and was at least 20 feet from him and he proceeded to try to herd (CHASE) me. I kept walking away from him and waving my stick at him and hollering at him. About that time dh calls and I said I was being chased. He says - don't let him chase you - he won't hurt you, blah blah blah. I did get out of the pen. I told the rest of the family he should not be around here. The next morning we found our year old jersey junior bull dead. We're confident the old bull killed him. I was very torqued that they had those bulls together. Fast forward to Tuesday. (3 days later with 90 degree weather on Sunday.) I called for the bull to be picked up. We had to assure he was less than 30 months old. I had to pull the ear tag out and paint a U on his side. I'm breathing out my mouth and holding my shirt over my head. FUN!!!!! I sent e-mails to the "crew" stating this was not in my job description.
It finally quit raining long enough for dh to cut the hay. Hope it stays dry. Have you heard of the flooding going on in this area? My sister-in-law's parents live in South Dakota about quarter mile off of the river and they may be out of their house for several weeks or more. Counting my blessings we are far away from the Missouri and on high ground.
Hubby works for facilities division of the Lincoln Public Schools. On Tuesday morning we woke up to the news that the administration building was on fire - $20 million loss. There was no sprinkler system and with false ceilings, wind storm, etc., it went up fast. 250 employees displaced, etc. So they're scrambling to find work space.
It started raining yesterday afternoon and has not stopped! They say on the Radio that we have had more rain in one night than since the end of March, through April and May.
I know we desperately need it, but not all at once. It is cold with it as well, plus the wind is strong and bitter.
Strange weather indeed!
Regards.
Neil.
Hot as billyblueblazes here.......south wind but it is hot too. Fans running in the house........nope, no A/C here. I'm sweating in places I didn't know I had. Am SO glad I don't have to think about going to the barn 2x/day in this. Told SU the other day another summer like last summer probably would have killed me this year. Pffftt.............I seem to function best on a personal level when it is about 70 out.
It's hot here - 97 right now! Too hot for this early in the year. I have to water my potted plants twice a day. DH found a white rooster on the driveway - it's not ours and we're the only one out here with chickens so we suspect someone dumped it here. Probably an "easter chick"!
Yesterday we broke the record here for June: 105! I was trying to paint some doors in the garage and the paint was drying so fast I couldn't spread it. I read the directions on the can, but it didn't specify a maximum recommended temperature, however clearly 105 is too hot.
Right now it's rather cool and wet, but we are promised low 80s later this afternoon and high 80s, low 90s tomorrow and mid 80s Thursday, rain and then cooler on the weekend with clouds, etc., etc., etc. What fun. Really sorry I can't send some of this rain out to where it's needed. We've been getting 1/2 an inch per shower in the space of an hour or less. Even the guys down on the gravel ground are getting stuck.
The family farm is the basis of much of world's economy, from the smallest farms that supply eggs and vegetables to one family to the largest farms that supply the world, everyone wants to have a connection in some way to a farm, even if it is several generations back and long gone. This Cubit is here for all the farmers, all those who dream of farms and those who don't want to lose that connection, no matter how tenuous. Bring us your stories, your concerns, and your questions will be always welcome.
