Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Cloudy cooler morning, 60. We were supposed to get some rain/showers last night. Radar showed maybe a little around 4 a.m.? I am on my way out to go do the cow this morning... Future radar shows a little more promising weather around 10-11 so we will see. We could use it. That beautiful no humidity sun the other day with the breeze that dried the hay so nice also dries out the ground fast.
I have been fighting a cold since we went up north and both DS and my brother have had it... my body said we give up last night I guess. Got a sore throat and stuffy head this morning... don't know if I can take enough C to push it off... Got 2 farms scheduled this coming week and a 3rd that wants to test the end of the week.
Checked and TSC still has the sheep and goat fencing for the $399.... I may just go get the 4 rolls for starters. Keep hoping that there would be some sort of coupon offering to help with the price....but with the supply chain problems and all, doesn't seem likely.
Well, time to go to the cow. I am going to take 2 - 15 gallon barrels of water for the calves in the pen...haven't had any rain to help fill the water troughs and even if we get some today, won't be that much by the looks of it. They are eating a little hay and grain now so need something to "wash it down with"...
Can't believe it has been 4 weeks since she calved. I am thinking that they are FINALLY, getting along good enough, that I may be able to let them out with her in another week or 2. I want to get them banded and tagged before they go out though... hopefully DS will be doing the others here soon and he can do these at the same time. Need to get these others moved to a pasture for the summer and let this place grow up for fall/winter grazing... expecially since we are supposed to get the animals out next spring. Gotta have my fence up at the house if I have to move anyone there too....

 

[Baymule]

Prices on fencing are not going down any time soon, and if they do, it will be because the country is in a total crash and there won't be any fencing to even buy. Fat lot of good low prices will do then. So I'm sucking it up and getting done what I can now. I'll have to pay more for round 2, if there is any to even buy at any price. You are wise to just go ahead and buy the wire. Get enough to fence your place, posts too, so at least you'll have it and can get it done, even it you put up one roll at a time. After I use up these 10 rolls, I may have to buy it 1 roll at a time. $$$$$

 

[farmerjan]

Went and did the cow, went by the P.O. to see if there was anything from DMV on the title for the explorer correction... nope.... went to the co-op and got some feed for the nurse cow, and dropped off a couple things at the dumpster... all this in a 5-7 mile radius of the house. I came back and am feeling really wiped out... although stuffiness is less with taking some of the guafenesim (mucinex)... although I take the generic.
I want to go out and put a few more things in the garden but the sun is half out and I just don't feel up to it. The possible showers did not materialize... and now looks like pretty much nothing until tonight even remotely in the radar. If we had hay on the ground you know we would have something pop up out of no where and soak us.... I wanted to maybe work up some of the "row" to plant some lettuce and not rework that whole section of the garden... but since it did not rain, I will wait... It will be much nicer if it is damper and more "workable".

I just ate an egg salad sandwich, and trying to see if I can get up the energy to maybe go get some more of the old hay I saw in another heap out where we were making the hay yesterday. Maybe I will try to go up there...the old hay will lay better as it is not as "fluffy" as the straw.

ANOTHER farmer called and wanted to test this week and I told him I could not... so we set it up for the following Monday....

Always feast or famine....

 

[farmerjan]

Pushed a little and went out to the garden. Sun was behind the clouds again...
I filled in the spots in the wax beans and the row of 2020 green bean seeds. Extended the row of purple beans where some other old hubbard squash seeds did not come up. Scuffed up and put in a short little row of lettuce and planted some other zucchini seeds I found. They are old(er) too... so if they don't come up in a week then I will probably put in something "new" there.
Filled 2 - 15 gallon barrels of water for the calves and went up and did the cow, rinsed out the water tubs and put water in them. Just as I was getting the cow to come out, we started to get some rain... sky was real dark overhead.... got some BIG PLOPPY DROPS.... came home and heard it on the carport roof and got the windows in the outback closed and came in the house.... and it STOPPED. Like about 20 drops? They looked like 4 inch big plops and then nothing. . I just looked on the radar and MAYBE some more coming in tonight after midnight??? I don't believe it. There was 10-20% chance for tues/wed.... now on the latest there is 20-40% tues/wed/thurs.... DS plans to cut the orchard grass there at the farm tomorrow he said. It is totally headed out... way past mature.....How do you figure it?

I am going to make some pudding since I got some milk and see if that feels better on my throat. Ought to make up some jello too. I think it is going to be an early night.

 

[Baymule]

Pudding sounds good! I love homemade chocolate pudding.

You know, you need to take a day to not do much. Take care of you.

 

[farmerjan]

Sunday morning. Getting ready to head up to do the cow... but kinda waiting for the RAIN to let up.

Yep, we were supposed to get a little bit last night and then less than 20% chance... by the past radar we may have gotten a little bit around 3-4 a.m......then around 6:30 it started and we have had rain and thunder and all that good stuff for about 1-2 hours. By the looks in the bucket outside the door we got ALOT of rain.
I am so glad that DS had decided to wait for today to mow. I asked in a text last night if he had mowed and he said he planned to do it in the morning....I would have been so wrong if he had done it last night like I thought he should.

Of course it rained, I hauled water to the calves last night. Maybe that is the trick.....Hmmm, have to think of that. This rain will do the corn SOOO much good... It hasn't seemed to run off that I can see... good steady rain, then let up, then another round, then let up.

Boy, am I glad that I pushed myself to get into the garden for a little bit last evening. I just have to get the mulch hay now to get the weeds and grass, sprouting in the tilled part, covered up so they will not take over the sections that are not yet planted. This ought to really settle the fluffy straw down around the plants and in the walkways. Perfect watering in of the seeds I planted to fill in spots.

I didn't even make the pudding last night, I just took a shower and went to bed. Woke up with a stuffed up head and throat still raw but it is a little better now. Ate a bowl of cereal. Time to get across the road to do the cow.

 

[farmerjan]

Came in for some lunch... egg salad again as that is what is made.
We got 1.1 inches of rain... WOW.... I had to tip my planter boxes as they don't have any holes in them... poor plants were swimming.

Did the cow, and the water tubs were all 3/4 full.... went and got a bucket of chicken feed from the upright bin for these guys here. I am so congested with runny nose and coughing from this cold but throat is not as sore... I have not even been out to the garden yet. I figured I ought to try to do a little in the house since it is so wet out. REALLY am glad we got it though. Now we could use a week of sun for hay making..... Please....

 

[Mini Horses]

I got nothing in garden yesterday...gone all day...rain last night didn't happen. This morning I mulched beans and eggplants. Even wet it good to help settle.....THEN, thunder and clouds in distance. Ran to truck to get it to barn, had 3 bags of feed I'd picked up yesterday to move out. Just in time. Came in, showered my dirty self and had lunch as I watched a steady, ample rain! Less than an hour of it but a real good soaker.guess that mulch is wet enough now!! . Squash will get it next....and I'd love to put out more seed but, appears the rains are still coming around. . Always tomorrow. What's out there is doing well. . I'll just be harvesting later than some. That's actually ok because my jobs are just starting to slow...I'll have time to can.

 

[Ridgetop]

You are doing soooo much! Relax and take care of your cold! The knees must be doing well.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop ; At least getting outside seems to make me breathe a little better.... sitting around makes my head stuffier.
Knees are getting better. I don't feel any pain while standing which is the greatest thing. They get stiff and the dr straightened the right one so much that it has completely changed the way I walk and I honestly am not very comfortable with it. I find I don't pick my feet up near enough and balancing on one leg or the other is not working well. I hate the feeling of my thighs rubbing together so much, and it makes me tend to not "walk freely"..... Very aggravating for me. Plus the muscles do not have the "push strength" in the knees.... I find I compensate alot with pulling from my arms still, getting up and climbing up on the tractor and all, and that is frustrating. Yet I seem to be able to do any/all of the exercises, like with the stretchy bands.... yes, make sure you do the ones that pull the legs back under you as it gets more and more of the angle that they want you to have.
I can do some kneeling on the left knee if there is a good cushion there.... hard to get up and down on them, though.
I do most of the planting in the garden standing and bending over at the waist.... including the fill in planting yesterday and today.

I went back out this afternoon and put in 2 rows of "dry beans". One row of Vermont Cranberry bush beans and one row of Tongue of Fire bush beans. The seeds are 2020 and did not want to waste them. Also added 2 short rows of the top crop green beans to use a space where the cucumbers did not come up. Going to replant cukes tomorrow...different spot..... and put in some butternut squash seeds that the old ones did not come up. I found a pkg of watermelon seeds that cannot read the date on so might try them along one edge just for sh!ts and giggles.... My country Gentleman corn did not come up and that is only 2 yrs old... corn usually does alot better than that as far as germination. So tomorrow I am going to replant the same spot with the last of what I have and see.
Decided to intersperse some more lettuce in the row with some sunflowers and they will give a little shade... and maybe start the later broccoli in the other row with some of the other sunflowers. I have some that are White sunflowers and some that are a "chocolate stripe".... got them for the fun of it.... The one spot I "planted" what I thought was an empty row with the purple beans and it was some of the sunflowers. I did transplant some of them into other spots. And I do see a bunch of the mammoth sunflowers coming up along the edge of the garden that i stuck in there before we left.
I also weeded the short row of dill... they are so tiny and fragile when they first get started.
Then I quit as I was getting tired. This cold/stuffy head is aggravating. But the sore throat didn't last too long so that is good.

Got to get the sample bottles in the trays for the herd tomorrow afternoon. And then load the meters and hoses tomorrow morning sometime. Probably won't get to the garden much tomorrow. I am going to go by the "cardboard" dumpster and see if there are any longish/bigger pieces I can get to use between the hills of squash and stuff and then put the hay on top of them. Smother bigger areas .
Weather calling for 20-40% chance of showers now through wed or thursday... so no hay mowing. I will see about getting as many farms tested then since I won't be needed on the tractor for a few days. Waiting on the one farm to get back to me on whether they want thurs or fri afternoon... already got mon aft and wed morning on the calendar....and next monday aft....