Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[SageHill]

Ouch on your foot. Hope that it heals well and quick.

 

[Baymule]

A mail in the foot is not good, please keep an eye on that.

Do you know anything about the non endophyte fescue types? I planted Kentucky 32 in Lindale, it made good grazing and the sheep liked it. There is one called Cajun, specifically for the hot Gulf coastal areas. As hot as the summers are, my best grazing may be fall, winter and spring. July, August and September were a wipe out this year.

I’m planning my breeding for spring, for lambing in September/November. Prices are highest in January/February. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[farmerjan]

Non-endophyte fescue is safe for all classes of livestock. It is not as hardy as the Kentucky 31... but it is well liked by most animals. It will not cause the feet problems and the breeding problems as the K-31 can...
There have been trials done here with it to see how it compares. The stands are not as robust... K-31 will grow anywhere, and it will invade anything else as it reseeds well. If there is any around, it will cross with the non-endophyte and the seeds will then come up with the K-31 traits.
If they are not "made to eat it" , the possibility of them aborting is low. We have fescue in all our hay, except the OG fields and when they get several years of production, they get invaded with the fescue.
Our fescue here will go from being disliked by the animals in the summer, to being very palatable in the fall/winter. Frost turns the starches to sugars and then the animals like to graze it as it tastes good.
Grazing after a frost is the best time, but any time in the late fall here is okay. It is a fast growing grass that is good stockpiled for later grazing... and it holds it's protein content well into the cold weather.
Made into hay it is more acceptable to eat.. and I think it mitigates some of the fescue toxicity.

 

[farmerjan]

Foot feels fine this morning. Forgot I put the nail into it until I read BYH..... I will watch it, but it doesn't hurt.
I am sore and stiff from digging that many potatoes yesterday... since I cannot do it on my knees it is all bending over. I dig them all by hand to keep the varieties in the rows separate... and my rows are spaced close so no tractor or potato plow or anything.

It is cloudy out. Radar showed a few showers skimming by north of here this morning..but didn't see any actual wet here. Air is still pretty dry so it might not make it to the ground yet. 57 to start, it is only up to 60 now.
I am going to go out and transfer some of the ones in the buckets to boxes so I can carry more in that are already dug... maybe try to dig another row... or at least a partial row that is one variety....and looking at the garden "plan" there are 3 full rows to dig yet...6 varieties left. I have got to stick a paper in the ones that I put in boxes as I am going to forget which is which.
Looks like a fair chance of some rain/showers later. I can move the sorghum later. Need to get a few more boxes just to put them in.

I want to go to Sharp Shopper... it is their customer appreciation week and I need a couple of things so will make a run there sometime inbetween. I haven't been able to find the time to get there with the raking and the digging, and cow checking, this week. At least all the field work is done for a few days.

So, time to get out the door and hope that the dew is dried off... it doesn't look like we got very much last night with the cloud cover.

 

[Mini Horses]

Glad your foot wasn't a problem! Don't need a sore foot....can't walk, can't work.

Potatoes used to be a big staple food, often a filler on the table when other crops were slack. I suppose they still are, just not to degree of years back when you cooked at home -- no McD fries I like leftover mashed to make little fritters -- onion, green pepper added, then fried up. Waste not.

Is it possible to back your truck to garden and move those buckets of taters, instead of hand carrying? Yeah, you have a lot to move. I tried a fingerling of those you gave me, I'll check name but, a yellow, thin skinned...inside was creamy and delish. The skin had a touch of bitter. Since I knew they were fresh dug, I've left them to age. Next sampling might have sweeter skin.

I have a box of about 20-25# of sweets that I plan to can next week. Nice to heat & eat. Still have some whites canned last year....like for "fast" potato salad . Last night I had a mess of collards from freezer, heat & eat, ham broth saturated yumminess. . I sure enjoyed them.

 

[murphysranch]

UGH to the nail in the foot.

Brought back a memory from Amarillo Texas, off base. I was in the alley, and stepped on a board with a nail. Hurt and bled like mad. Had to go get a shot. This was in second grade in 1962. Will never forget!!

I'm really glad you were up to date with your Tetanus shot!! Smart lady!!

 

[farmerjan]

@Mini Horses .....I drove the car over there and loaded 4 or 5 buckets in the back, and got some stuff that needed to go to the dumpster... unloaded buckets under the maple tree for now. Then covered with a tarp in case we get some rain. I hope to get some weighed tomorrow then sort through for the ones that I skinned up while digging, or stuck with the hand cultivator when trying to get underneath and around the hills...... and some have some damage from some moles eating on them. Sort out the "2nd's" to keep and use here... might even try to can some....
Oh, by the way, @SageHill ... I don't think that sonic mole thing did much either...

Started to dig another row around 6:30 and DS called to see if I was busy, he was bush hogging next door and wanted a ride to the truck... then he managed to bury the tractor back wheels in some real soft stuff... so will have to bring the other tractor tomorrow to get it out...
Took him to barn, we put a wagon with sq bales in the barn, then took the tractor and baler down to Deb's covered arena and put it in and then took him back to the truck. So, didn't make much progress with digging more... no big deal... There is only a 20% chance now of passing showers tonight then sun by tomorrow afternoon. Chilly temps for 2 days then getting back to the low-mid 70's daytimes... and dry again. I think DS will cut the OG out back at doug's as it is out in the open, inbetween the sorghum we just did and some we did a week + ago... so wide open to the sun and it will dry good.
I will have time to dig again next week.
DS wants me to go with him Sunday, Doc is going out tomorrow to his place. There are 2 steers missing for the last couple weeks... the guy out there looking after them has searched and searched and they can't find them or any trace of them... dead... or across the fence.... or where they could have gotten out anywhere. That's over $3,000 in money terms missing. NOT GOOD.... that is all the profit for the year on them... I think Doc wants to go out and look around tomorrow and they will stay in the family house out there... This place sits a mile off the road and the gates are locked... but it borders a place where there are several horses running on over several hundred acres.. and maybe they got over there???? Or maybe they got over there and "disappeared" ????
We are leaving at 5 a.m.

Guy that owns the place where we had cows get over into that know it all neighbor..and the other place and they said the cows were skinny, not getting fed... brought the papers to DS the other day to sign for the land use taxes .... for next year.... so I guess we are still going to be in those 2 places after all.... GRRRR. As long as I don't have to deal with the owner.... and I suspect that the fence between him and the neighbor at the one place, will be getting rebuilt, as there are also several trees that are dead and they will come down before you know it, and have been the topic of discussion several times the last couple of years...we are required in the lease to do fence maintenance, but if any of them come down DS told him that is not maintenance, since they are dead and will take out the fence and it will have to be rebuilt new... not fixed.

I think that neighbor also did not want to pay the price we are paying for the rent.... or do the required stipulations that we have to do... the bush hogging etc......

I took the bale truck and got the sorghum bales moved to one end of the field across from the house so the guy can come in with the "subsoiler" and "rip" the ground... get down into the hardpan and try to level it out and make it a little smoother and not all the ridges in it...so DS can get it planted... The sorghum is looking all green and regrowing, but it does not like the cold and will die off as soon as we get some cold weather... which is fine...

And I went to Sharp Shopper and got a few things, picked up some extra cat food and some other things as they had "sale prices" on some things for their customer appreciation week.

Need to check on those pears, too....

So, right now I am going in to figure out what to eat tonight...

 

[farmerjan]

@Mini Horses ; pretty sure the yellow skin fingerling would have been Austrian Crescent...I don't think I had dug any of the Russian Banana ones yet. Yeah, sometimes the skins are a little bitter on fresh dug ones after the vines have died... not like brand new ones you sneak out early... BUT.... good to know and if they don't improve in taste, will be one to maybe not grow again.. This is what I need... a taste tester....
Wish I had gotten more of the varieties dug before the Poultry swap so you could be an "official" taste tester...

The sun came out mid day... much nicer day than yesterday actually. Looked at the recording thermometer..and it said 78... I think the sun hit it late afternoon now that the leaves are starting to come off the trees. But it was quite comfortable this afternoon...
Looking like we might see some showers/rain after midnight... but alot of the clouds look to be falling apart before they get here. Temps aren't going to be much below where they have been the past few nights... tomorrow only into the 60's, then tomorrow night will cool way down into the 40's.... and some serious windier conditions.

Oh well, it is fall....

 

[farmerjan]

A mail in the foot is not good, please keep an eye on that.

Do you know anything about the non endophyte fescue types? I planted Kentucky 32 in Lindale, it made good grazing and the sheep liked it. There is one called Cajun, specifically for the hot Gulf coastal areas. As hot as the summers are, my best grazing may be fall, winter and spring. July, August and September were a wipe out this year.

I’m planning my breeding for spring, for lambing in September/November. Prices are highest in January/February. We’ll see how it goes.

Don't want a "mail in the foot".... don't you love electronics and spell check and hitting the wrong button ????

 

[farmerjan]

55 this morning. It did rain some last night. Started around 11 or so and when I woke up at 3:30, it was still raining a bit. Not hard. and no wind last night. The wind is supposed to come in later and be real windy tomorrow. Some sun and clouds out there and is supposed to clear off.

Tarp still on the potatoes in the boxes so we are good. Would like to get some weighed and sorted and boxed and on the porch. Going to stop at the neighbors and see if he is having the farmers market soon...

Going out to the chickens in a little bit and check the rain gauge. Time to see about getting the new shelter cover on the frame for the "greenhouse" over top of the chickens.

If not much in the rain gauge, I might just get the rest of the row dug that I started when DS needed the ride last night, so they can dry and won't be left in the sun for more than a day. Or I could just pick up the ones I dug and hold them in a box until I get the rest of the row dug in a couple days.
I imagine he will call me to help get the tractor unstuck... drive one of them, preferably the stuck one, to steer to get it out of the soft spot. He is in where he had been feeding alot of hay over the past few years and it is deep with manure and old hay and such. He said he thought it would be dry enough with all the dry weather -drought conditions... that was not smart....

Going to go to McCormick Mill Day in a bit too, since it is close. No money to spend this week, paid bills etc and pay check is next week... oh well.. nothing I really need either... Have to scare up some money for some cobbler they make in big covered cast iron cookware over a fire though.. it sells out fast. I imagine things will be pretty expensive this year too... everything else is.