Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Ridgetop]

planted along the side where the pine trees are and not very good production, but nothing does very good along there

Is the soil really acid under the pines? We had an area under our pines (deodars actually) and grass wouldn't grow there because it was too acid from the pine needles. Maybe do a PH test.

Well, I ache... but the potatoes are all dug. . . . I can barely stand up straight after all that bending over...

Hearing about the potatoes made me think about that old joke -
In WWII young wife writes to husband in the army "Everything is fine here but I don't know how I will dig the 20 acre field for the potatoes." Husband writes back "Don't dig the 20 acre field - that is where the guns are buried." Two weeks later the wife writes back to husband "A bunch of soldiers came and dug up the 20 acre field looking for guns. What should I do?" Husband writes back "Now plant the potatoes." LOL

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop , it could be low PH there... but the soil its self is not near as nice as 20 ft in from the trees. They are not exactly on the line but close... I will probably do a soil test... in fact.. might just put that on the list to pick up since they are moving all the garden/outdoor stuff around and doing clearances... plus they are ALREADY putting out Christmas stuff... right next to the Halloween stuff... .

So, it is funny though because one variety did terrible and the next row did okay... the rows ran from the tree side into the garden area... not along side.... so there were several rows that went from better soil to the not as good soil part... and so when there were 6 rows coming from the tree side into the garden and 2 did okay and 2 did not it makes you wonder... But the ones on the other end of the rows did not all do super duper... some did real good and some did okay... Still, overall, there are ALOT of potatoes...

Love the joke... I remember hearing it once and forgot about it... Thanks for the reminder....

 

[farmerjan]

Not quite as cold last night, 45.... Sun is coming out in the field across the road and I will go up to rake the hay about noon. It is supposed to get cloudier from the storm passing to the south but no moisture is coming this far north.
Then clearing off and sunnier tomorrow. Then a system coming across from the west coast and some rain and such and then temps dropping to the 30's and 50's.... It is supposed to be bringing some snow to the Rockies on it's way through...

Hope to weigh some/most/all of the potatoes in the next 2 days. Need to get some more boxes to put them in.

Called the man about the NH bantams and left a message. Got a lead on some NH standards out of show stock also. Hope to get some this fall. We'll see.

The ham steak and the mashed potatoes were good last night. Plenty for another meal or 2.... YUM....

 

[farmerjan]

Got the hay raked and it was real pretty... very "green colored" but quite dry. Turning the bottoms up it will have dried quite a bit in the light breeze and tomorrow it will be sunnier and warmer so will be good to bale. Only "green " is along the trees at the one end, and I raked it in single windrows, so it is not very thick; but it gets next to no sun so I told DS he would have to probably bale it and then just bring the couple of sq bales to the barn and just feed them right out because it will not be dry enough to store and will mold. But it will be fine to direct feed it and therefore not waste it.

Then DS wanted to know if I could get the bull in at the nurse cow pasture, as soon as possible, as he has to bring home some heifers that have been out at some guys place... he doesn't want to mow all that grass so he offered it to DS for nothing... he likes to "fool" with them a little during the nicer weather... retired and all.... and all we do is provide the salt/mineral.... The grass is getting shorter and he is ready for them to leave... and they are going to the nurse cow pasture ... the cows there are either bred or not... and with no bull in there, now, and no other animals up against the fences, there is no chance they will get bred. There are a couple of bull calves there that need to be worked...and I will get them into the barn/catch pen now that there are fewer cows in there.... they have been going in through the creep gate but the couple times they have been in, DS has not been "available"; and today they came right back out when I opened the gate to let the cows all in... and I wasn't going to fight with them. Needed the bull and cows in, more than working the calves today.

Well, I got the bull in and also the heifer that was in raging heat last week, and a heifer that was supposed to been bred... and if she slipped it or her calf was stolen by another cow that had a dead calf... regardless... she is not feeding a calf and not keeping her. Also, an old cow that DS said he was not going to breed back.... she has been exposed to the bull for a couple months... but he is not keeping her... and took her and her heifer calf to doug's also... cow will get shipped and calf will get put in with the others on feed. The cow is in real good shape, and it is time to ship her while the prices are good.

DS had the friend come by and looked at the calves.... they both decided that we should ship the smaller ones... and feed the bigger ones for a bit... have another guy that wants to come and look at the bigger group of steers.... So, since we are shipping these calves we are also going to take the couple of culls too... And they are going this Saturday.... that is good... I'll be glad to see some income too as the 2 heifers are mine, the old cow is DS's, and when I see what he takes in the calves, I will know who/what are mine... don't think there are too many of the smaller calves that are mine... I have no argument with whomever he decides to ship in the calves... they are the "lower end... and will be worth good money for their size and we can better feed the others if they are gone... plus they would not get a chance to eat as good because of being smaller and having to "fight for their place" at the bunk. It will take more feed to get them to grow, compared to the bigger ones we have, so it is not worth the extra costs when prices are good. If the market was down, we might have put them in a separate pen and tried to feed them out for awhile... but not with things so high.

So, Sat will be to load at the barn, and then spend the afternoon/eve at the stockyards selling the calves and cull cows. Tonight is the bred cow sale I had thought about going to, but there was too much going on with getting the animals moved out of the nurse cow pasture.

I ate a 2nd serving of the ham steak and mashed potatoes and have one more meal left.

I am getting tired so going to take a shower and go to bed.

 

[Ridgetop]

Sounds like you have everything figured out to cash in on the high cattle prices right now. You will still be holding back enough good cows to breed as well. Someone on Cattle Today was talking about people selling so many animals because of the good prices now that there would not be enough breeding cows to buy even if prices drop.

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday morning. Sun is out nice across the road... 47 and up to 70's they say. Already 62 at 11.

Didn't get any potatoes weighed yesterday, so I started this morning. Get one kind weighed... DS calls, do I have any packing tape to strap up a box. Then can I take a car down to doug's and go help him set up some corral panels to go get the heifers that have been out on pasture, get them to come to the pen a time or 2 and then get them out... there is still some grass but people are ready for them to go home... okay, no problem. Then, can I take the tractor down to doug's (hence the car there) so he can save that much time when he gets off work... it is at Deb's in the arena...

I said yes, but he needed to get it out of the arena since he has everything parked in there tight and I am NOT going to try to maneuver it out... he said he had taken it out already, for me...
So he came to doug's, picked me up, we went to set up the panels he had on the truck, and talked to the guy a few minutes... he actually used to own Deb's before they moved and built the place they have now... it is only a little ways up the road from the vineyard... next to a farm that DS used to work for when he was alot younger... then he dropped me off at my house.. I will take the other car to deb's and get the tractor then have a way home from doug's farm when I take the tractor and baler there. Then someone can take back to get the car at Deb's...or DS can take it back to doug's when he takes the baler back... he was going to take me to deb's and let me take the tractor and baler right then, but I didn't have my hat or ear protectors and said I would go do it in a few minutes.... he said as long as it was there by the time he got off work.

So, done with the panels, going to head to deb's, take tractor and baler to doug's here in a few minutes... then I might actually get a chance to work on weighing these potatoes...

Weather is real nice out today already. Would be good to see if I could get some more of the garden weed eated off and then see about taking the electric netting down... well, I want to redo it to enclose in the greenhouse shelter and area to keep the chickens out of the front yard and off the porch and such...

So that is the "start " to my day....

 

[Ridgetop]

"The best laid plans . . . . "

 

[Baymule]

Taters can wait!

 

[farmerjan]

Best laid plans... yeah....taters are still waiting. Got the tractor and baler down to doug's and talked to jim a bit as I wanted him to look at car... thinking the power steering pump is going bad with the whine, and losing some power steering fluid. Also the little bit of shimmy... so he took it for a test drive sometime after DS and I left it there earlier, and then I got the tractor and baler down there. He says it is the rack and pinion that is leaking a little... that it will lose some fluid but it is okay to drive for now... it is a big PITA job to do... and he said that it could go like this for a long time with the small leak... well, it has been leaking for a little bit and I just add fluid occasionally.
So, I said to see what it would cost to replace it... and I will get an estimate down at the garage I usually use... I am thinking in the neighborhood of 1500.... maybe??? It has 225,000 on it.. so can be expected... but at least I know that the stupid computer won't go bad like the explorer if they take the stupid joint out... didn't go bad when they replaced this engine a couple years ago....
Left doug's and went by the garage to see what the status of the explorer was... seems like the guy at the ford place looked at it... it is in a computer component... and cannot be reprogrammed... has to be replaced... and they are trying to find one..... I can drive it without the radio and the screen being blank... I don't use the backup camera anyway... but no radio for any length trip?????
I left there and came home. Got another of the varieties of the potatoes over to the scale I have set up, and started to sort and the phone dings... DS... can you come to doug's and get another bale of twine... jim's phone is dead and he can't reach him... he is at the farm... but DS is 1/2 mile out back on the tractor and baler so not very convenient to getting back to the barn to get it and then taking it back out there... AND... as I get there... he also needs jim to go get another wagon... hay is making alot more than he expected (YAY) and it is really NICE hay.... so I take the twine out... jim is there and his phone is on charge... so I come back from taking the twine out... and tell jim about going to get the other wagon... and he has to take the ball off the hitch because it has been in there forever and we cannot get it loose to just switch the hitch to one with just a hole for the wagon with the drop in pin to pull it....got lots of pb blaster stuff and cannot budge it with a small sledge hammer to break it loose... so we took the ball off...
We go up to DS barn to get the other wagon that is half full... I hook jim up and he heads to the back field at doug's with it.

Finally got home and started again... but it was starting to get dusk... DS calls and said he got it done. And he was at a neighbors seeding his hayfield... which he gets paid for.... and to thank me again for getting him the twine and getting the wagon and all hooked up for jim to bring him...

I put in the rest of the ham and mashed potatoes to warm and got the chickens locked in... and here I am....
Maybe tomorrow I will get the potatoes done???

The latest forecast says that we will be partly sunny tomorrow for awhile, and rain/showers not coming in until after midnight. I will try to do the potatoes again in the morning...

Going to eat as it is warm....

 

[Baymule]

DS called and said thank you, that sounds more like the before GF son you used to have. How nice!