Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Forgot to hit the post on the above that I wrote last night.

No FROST.... only got down to 50... had alot more cloud cover than expected so temps didn't drop so far. YAY...
But today is now going to be hazy/cloudy.... and only get up to 70 maybe?
They say we are seeing some of the clouds from the severe fires in Western Canada... WOW. Some of the western members might want to tell us what is the situation? On the cattle forum I frequent they say it is pretty bad but looks like it might be turning for the better. Said this is partially from the stopping of the prescribed burns several years ago and now when things get dry and fires get started, there is too much fuel and the fires get out of control too fast. Like some of what has been talked about in California fires in the past....

So, going to unzip the one door on the 1/2 greenhouse on the deck before I go to work so it doesn't overheat if the sun does come out more later.

Got a couple of errands to run so going to leave for work a little early. Bottles are in the racks so just have to put them in the car and go.

Time to go out and turn the chickens out and check the garden... maybe put down some paper and mulch... Not going to try to plant anything this morning since I will have to leave in a bit anyway. Tomorrow going to move the round bales off the field across the road so DS can get them in a row.... then work in the garden and do whatever else is on the list.....

 

[Mini Horses]

Potatoes. Used to be that you ate them at every meal . Those small, skin ons are good. I have so many sprouting....red, white, yellow, russets and other but, not fingerlings. Absolutely must till that garden!! We just keep getting rain . Enough to be a clumpy mess -- but, pastures are loving it.

I bought those tomato & pepper plants thinking to do it, now I'm babysitting them. Didn't go back for more as planned since planting didn't happen. It's a mess! They're gowing great, too.

I miss the bread outlet we used to have nearby. I could get a heaping truckload of stuff for $10. Goats & chickens love bread! A lot was close date, not past. Freezer fare they didn't cut bags either. Often eggs went with me for the couple store people and I would find some great returns go home with me. Like -- want some of these, or these?

Also used to get close dated cases of restaurant pack food from a distributor. Now, no. Stopped my pigs since no more cases of veggies, etc. Plus my own "pick out" of good stuff. Even meats from those hauls!! Frozen but, close date & couldn't sell...VA laws. Sure miss it.

We waste so much in this country.

 

[SageHill]

YIKES on the CAN fires - I haven't heard about them - though I admit I don't often catch the "news" since so much of it is xxxxxxxx . I'll do some looking around - I've got a friend in Hope BC I'll check with her.

 

[Bruce]

the forecast is now for a possible SCATTERED FROST .... with temps down in the mid 30's in some places.....

That was here It was 28°F this morning. I'm glad you didn't get it, not the right time of year way down in VA!

 

[murphysranch]

I used to work at a commercial bakery. 5 a.m. shift. We had huge dumpsters out back and all mis packs, mis shapen, or otherwide not perfect loaves with into them. The hog farmers would come every other day and pick up bread for $5 a dumpster.

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday night. It only got up to 67 today and was more hazy clouds than sun. It is already down to 56... not cold but a bit chilly. I closed up the greenhouse when I got home and brought the samples in to get packed so they can go out UPS tomorrow.

Testing went good, Left here at 11:30 or so.... then realized I forgot to open the zipper door... so came back and left again at noon... but that was fine. I didn't make any stops, but nothing was pushing. Got there 1:10... set up 16 meters and we were milking at 2. Done at 5, did computer work and waited for meters to go through the wash cycles, loaded at 6 and home by 7....
I got brave and tried the mower... It did better than I expected.... the grass is more like a hayfield... but it runs easy and fairly quiet compared to a gas mower. I LIKE the self propelled... I wasn't sure about it because I figured it would be a pain... but with the battery ... you have a lever for the blades and a separate lever for the self propelled... so I could use the self-propelled part for small inclines and let it off and push it back and forth over the flatter spots and get the real high stuff cut off pretty good. It was real high and tough, but I am so far very satisfied with it. It is a little hard to turn tight corners.... but I am fighting this "knee high" hayfield growth too... It didn't get all of it, but no more problems than I would have had with a gas mower without all the fumes and as soon as you let off the blade handle... it stops... takes 2 seconds to push the button and start it again....no idling when you are doing something else... Naturally with the excessive height it "layed over" alot of the grass but let off the self-propelled lever and pull it back and it does a good job of cutting it up more. I set it on the Highest height and will go back over and recut it, and catch all the spots I missed.

One problem.... I went alongside a spot and suddenly there was a little baby animal there... turns out it was a wild bunny... eyes still shut but it had short fur... I went right alongside the spot she had a nest... so I tucked it back into the nest, there were at least 2 or more in there, I didn't disturb them to look, and put the leaves etc back over it. Now... will the momma rabbit take them with the nest more exposed and my having touched the one? I put some grass back around it and it is right near where I had been parking a vehicle, so I moved the forester right up near it and put some of the hay I picked up near it too, to give it some "hiding" protection and left the rest of that spot unmowed. I had seen a rabbit in the yard a few times but never gave it any thought. I would feel bad if she doesn't take care of them now... But there is nothing more I can do since it was mowed right up next to them.... I will just go on and pretend there is nothing different... guess it is a good thing I don't have any cats now or they would get them for sure. I will mow away from that area until they leave or she abandons them and they die... I just hope she is enough used to things coming and going there near them that she takes it in stride. Never dreamed that she would have a nest right there in the front yard when there is more grass and taller stuff elsewhere.. I quit then so I didn't disturb the area anymore.

I did go out in the garden and finished the list with the tomato varieties on the plan.... did not do anything else in it tonight. Everything still looks okay.... the onion plants actually look a little perkier... standing up more since we got that little rain....

Temps supposed to get down into the low 40's tonight so we will see. Heater set low in the greenhouse so the plants will not get too chilled. Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same and then we are up to a 50% chance of some showers and t-storms on Saturday afternoon.... I will take any and all we can get... need to get more of the newspaper down that I have and covered with some hay...so it will get wet if it does rain. At least with this cloudy, hazy stuff it is not sucking the moisture right back up out of the soil....

 

[Mini Horses]

I'm getting your rain sorry.

It's not a huge amount at once but 1/2" every day or two. Guy who hays about 100 acres on my road is ready...fields are ready!...can't do with weather.

Hoping we don't have a July/Aug with extreme heat and no rains then! You know how weather can be! Pastures need rain then. At my elevation heat is a concern.

 

[Baymule]

I’m glad you like your mower. You will be able to tame the tall grass and make the yard look nice for the summer.

Rabbits put their nest in some unlikely places. Your yard makes perfect sense, no dog, no cats, tall grass to hide in. I’m sure their mom will come back and take care of them.

 

[farmerjan]

Friday morning. It got down to 48 last night so cooler than the night before. Clouds and sun again today. The front going up along the coast will probably give @Mini Horses some more moisture as it passes and goes out to sea. It will give us a few clouds again, and there is a front coming from the west that will HOPEFULLY give us some rain tomorrow... but it is going to be spotty. Then we are looking at dry for about a week. I am thinking that DS is going to start mowing hay. He was talking about mowing it yesterday but then looked at the weather. If we don't get anything on Sat he will be mad he didn't mow it, but if we get something then will go at it like gangbusters for next week.
I was looking at the weather and it said that the smoke and all from the western Canadian fires was high and was causing the higher atmosphere to be hazy so the sun will be a hazy smokey sun, and sunrises and sunsets to be more red and colorful. So we are not getting the "smoke" but the affects from it in the higher elevations.
Interesting.

Going in to pack samples as soon as I go out and let the chickens out. Need to take them water.
Then a trip to get milk that I texted farmer to go get, pick up some stuff at the co-op and drop off the samples for UPS.

I so want to go out and look at the baby bunnies in the nest but will refrain so that maybe she will have come back. Will open up the greenhouse when the sun gets a little higher and the temps warm up a bit so the spider plants don't get too hot. I will probably put them out tomorrow for whatever rain we might get.

I hope to get in the garden a bit too today. Make a list of priorities...

 

[farmerjan]

How did it get to be 10:30 p.m. already????

Packed the samples, dropped them off, went to the co-op and got the stuff I needed and some little washers to put inside the rubber tips that go on the end of the cane seat because the hollow metal the legs are made out of, will eat through the little rubber tip bottoms fast. This helps them to last a little bit longer.

Went and got the milk at the farm and came home. Was going to get the truck and move the bales off the field but DS had taken it to work. So, I just told Jim no big deal, I would get it later or tomorrow. He must've called or texted DS, and he called me and said did I come to work and get the truck... and I said no, I was on my way home from getting milk and was going to hang some clothes on the line and could get it later.... He acted like it was a big deal that he couldn't drop it off and take one of my vehicles to the farm. He//, he hasn't returned the explorer yet.... it was at the farm when I went down there. Besides, at that point I had to be here to watch a video for work, that I missed 10 days ago... and 4 p.m. was when I was supposed to watch it so I could do the questionaire afterwards..... So, hung the clothes, then watched the video of our "annual meeting" ....
Went up the road to see about getting the truck at about 6:30.... and it was at his house, and Jim's car , both in the driveway.... and the gates closed so he had the sheep in the yard grazing..... so I just decided to forget it, I wasn't going to go down there and have to park behind all them and then walk and listen to him.... so I came back and got another 3 varieties of potatoes cut and planted. Adirondack Red is an all red potato, skin and inside flesh... Very pretty.... there is an Adirondack Blue that is all blue but they were out of it.... Supposedly both the red and the blue keep their color when boiled so will add color to potato salads etc.... Very nice fine grained flesh so looking forward to trying them. Keuka Gold - that is like Yukon Gold but supposed to be better... The seed potatoes were BIG.... Gold Rush Russet.... white flesh with a somewhat russet skin... supposed to be big tubers also...
I still have about a dozen more varieties to plant. Some, like the Keuka Gold, are big potatoes but have very few eyes, so very short row..... and they sent me 2 bags of the Adirondack Red so had more than I planned on them.... I got 2 lb bags of each of the different kinds so I could do some serious comparisons... and because the deer don't bother the potato vines so can grow them without losing the crop to the deer "mowing them off"..... and potatoes sell good. Really hoping to be able to sell some at one of the "farmer's market" down the road that a neighbor has... he has lots of vendors and it is every other Sat I think.... I will talk to him one of these days and see what is what...
Since the potatoes did good last year for what little care they got with the deer aggravating me, and the knees not working so well, I am hoping that they do good this year also. Next year I will have to rotate the area I put them in to help prevent scab and such... which I had none last year. After I get all these potatoes in, I will put in as many of the sprouted ones I have from last years crop, as I can, in the room I have left.
Leaving room for some green beans and maybe some cukes and cantaloupe..... And butternut squash as I like that. There is just not enough room for all I want to do... and of course I always overdo it anyway...

Temp hit 73 and is still in the low 60's ... supposed to be mid 50's tonight. Closed the greenhouse but did not turn on the heat.... I will move them all out on the deck and table tomorrow for the possible rain... about time to get the chain up that gets "stretched" between the 2 limbs to be able to move the spider plants out for the summer...

I'm going to bed....