Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Mini Horses]

My butternuts have always stored well. Too many? My chickens love a fresh veg winter treat so I'm happy with extras.

 

[farmerjan]

Temp was 50 last night. Sun is up and spreading across the field, across the road from the house.

Forecast is saying a 20% chance of scattered showers tonight ... not much and gone before daybreak. Will have to talk to DS about raking the orchard grass I tedded out to see if he is going to get it sq baled today. Otherwise, might be better to leave it to rake on Monday morning... just in case. Expect we will talk here shortly to get some things coordinated and get the tractor moved to doug's farm.

Need to eat some breakfast, been lollygagging around enough, and then get started on something on the list.

 

[Ridgetop]

and most of the tomatoes are either very green

I read somewhere that you can pull out or cut off the tomato bushes and hang them upside down on the porch or in the basement and the tomatoes will ripen. Haven't tried it since I did all my gardening in southern California but read it in a gardening magazine for cold climates.

 

[farmerjan]

Monday late night. Been busy 2 days.
COLD today... sunny but windy... 46 up to 62... compared to the balmy 77 yesterday it felt like "frigid" ... but that is because the wind was going right through you.
Sunday I got things in the car for work... Got on the tractor and moved it to doug's farm. Spent 3 hours raking the tedded out hay (6 acres DS said) and the 4 acres of patchy thin grassy hay on the other side of this big field of multiple strips of crops and hay. Then DS ran me back up to get my car so I could go to work...
Came home right near dark and he and a guy that helps some, were taking a wagon load of sq bales to DS's green barn up the road... I stopped... and then he needed a ride back to get the truck and 2 more FULL wagons of sq bales... from this 6 acre piece I had raked earlier... and he hooked them up tandem and took them up the road to the barn... then hooked the 3rd wagon to the back and pulled them all into/and through, the barn. He got the last one inside the sliding barn doors, then we unhooked the back wagon since there is quite a few feet between it and the middle wagon (long wagon tongue) and backed the truck and the other 2 wagons back a little bit...up tight to the 3rd wagon..... so that they would all fit in and be able to slide the front door shut too.... Over 550 bales from the 6 acres of that real nice fine newly planted orchard grass hay.... More than he thought....
He also had rolled some of the hay... did all that I had raked at Deb's on Thursday when he was gone... and rolled some of a couple of the other fields and then left some for more sq baling of "just grass hay" that he has some sales for...
I finally got home at 9 or so I guess...he called me at about 11... he had to go to his father's again... that makes 4 times this week.... it is getting to him with his father's moods and "neediness" and then his father gets verbally abusive... has always had a sarcastic and somewhat nasty attitude to DS.... tells him to get out and then gets apologetic... I think there is some senility going on there, but he has always been very demeaning to others... one reason I got divorced.... couldn't take the put downs and mental and verbal abuse.... He said he left the one wagon out with some grass hay on it, but the stars were out so the 20% chance looked to stay west of here....

Famous last words.... Got up and it had rained a shower... less than a tenth... but DS said hay was wet on top... there were some puddles in a couple spots... but when he went to check the one field in the subdivision... it hadn't rained there... It was cloudy and WINDY and chilly this morning... He said not to be in a rush to rake the other "field" of orchard grass at doug's ... I did not tedd it.... and it has some weeds in part of it so he mowed it after I had tedded out the "new section", so that I would not rake them together... Plans were to go rake it then take the tractor and rake down to dennis's field 4 miles down the road. I got the samples packed, got bottles in the car, and about 11 or so headed to doug's. The sun was "in and out" and it was WINDY... and COLD..... compared to the day before.
I wore a long sleeved pullover, a regular sweatshirt... and put on the lightweight hooded sweatshirt... ball cap and headphones... and GLOVES.... and raked the other 5+ acres of OG.... then went and filled tractor with fuel on the way out of the farm and went down the hill and raked about 1/2 of the field there that he had cut... 10 or 12 rows mowed... so 5 (or 6) windrows of raked hay. It was totally dry... I don't think they got any... or very very little out of the overnight shower. DS came and got me just as I got done at 2:45... took me to the car and I had to go home and get my boots as everything else I had put in the car but forgot the boots... and I left for testing....
Stopped and dropped the samples at UPS... stopped at the "Sunday farm" I tested and created a report they wanted, in their computer... had all the specs from a report I had on my work computer... then ran by the PO and dropped a letter, and headed to test..... 80 miles north... Got there at 5:30... set up and started milking around 6:15... done at 8... meters had to run through wash cycles and I finally left there after talking to the farmer some... about 9:30... ran into a couple places of night construction/1 lane stuff coming down so slower going... stopped at the barn about 11:15 since I saw lights... DS was getting a few more things finished up since he has a dr appt Tuesday.... and it will be a long day since it isn't until 10:15... I will be driving... we will leave by 8.
He got some other stuff moved around at the barn and the "girl" that went to the PBR with us for my birthday, came and helped him get the plastic liner all in the pit and things ready for chopping... and another neighbor came and helped him get the sides on the wagon that they had taken off for that "mock convention" that the W&L students did several months back... that we pulled wagons and trailers for.......

Sooooo, he can do some more sq baling of the og I raked today... and whatever grass hay he can fit to fill up the other 4 or 5 wagons he has.... do what he can when we get home from the dr.... and the rest will wait until we are done with the corn chopping....
I have to test Wed morning early... then get home by 8 or so... and they should hopefully be chopping by 9 or so.... and I will spend the better part of the day in the tractor back and forth driving on the chopped corn to pack it so it will ferment/ensile.....

I just ate since I was hungry, getting home so late... will go to bed and get up at 6:30.... to be ready to pick him up at 8... he is tired tonight... and it shows. Said he had to take a break for an hour or so... head got hurting and dizzy... and it is in part that we have been pushing the last 2 1/2 days ... since he was gone Thurs/Fri to the car parts flea market... and Sat to deliver the meat and the stock yard... Oh yeah, he managed to pick up 6 more steers/bulls so now has 16 bought ones....

They are calling for the first snow in WV in the next 2 days... 1 inch or less... but the heifers are going to have to come out of WV as they are about out of grass... as soon as we get our corn and hay done the next couple days...

Yikes.. it is after 1... going to bed....

 

[Ridgetop]

OMG! Back to nonstop tedding, raking and baling again. Time goes by so fast! It seems like you were just planting the potatoes yesterday!

 

[farmerjan]

Wed morning... 34 at the house... had a good frost on the windshield when I went out to leave to go test at 3:30.

Yesterday we left a little early to go to the dr appt... AFTER we put 2 wagons in the arena at Deb's that he had sitting there... because we were getting some more of the sprinkly stuff... just enough to make it damp... we went by Rural King for a couple things, at Dr at 10:15... he said he felt better when he came out... and I guess was relaxed a little because he slept all the way home... I got the samples from Monday night late, packed.... dropped off the pole saw at the barn with the batteries charged for him to trim some branches/limbs, for the trucks that will be hauling the chopped corn today for the silage. Deb had come in late Sun and had her friend coming Tues aft so wanted to go out to supper... but then she left late so would be late getting here so we went earlier to eat right here local.... and DS came right about 7:30 as it was dark and he had gotten most everything ready at the barn. We ate, saw some neighbors that we have 6 heifers at their place to keep their grass eaten down... and Deb and her husband had actually bought her place from them... so talked a couple minutes... Deb and I left and she dropped me off and was going to go to the store since her friend was going to be late... and she knew I needed to get some sleep to go test.
It was cloudy and a few sprinkles off and on but nothing really to amount to anything. Hay already raked will dry out on top and be fine to bale in a day or 2 again... I think that all that is cut is now raked... so he will start cutting again tomorrow or something... then I will be raking maybe Sunday????

Sat is the Apple Butter Festival at Wade's Mill so I will be busy from 7-8 a.m. until 4-5??? I will sleep good Sat night !!!!

Left at 3:30 a.m. tested, things there went well as usual.... Left and got home and texted DS and asked when he wanted me at the barn. He said he would call when they got to the barn, so I said I would pack the samples...
They are packed... and they are ready to put in the car. I will take them with me, drop them off at the vineyard even if they aren't open until noon... Sun is out so they will be okay outside the door....

Had to scrape the windshield this morning... car thermometer was 30 when I left the farm about 7a.m.....
I had brought most of the plants in, and covered the spider plants that are a little hardier..... will go out and uncover them in a little bit before I go down to the barn.

Ate some breakfast... pretty much ready to go... It's cold out there... I think I will be in a cab tractor today though.... so no wind at least.

Hay that was raked will be fine to bale in a day or 2 after the sun gets the damp evaporated off it.... dry out the dampness...
Gotta go....

 

[farmerjan]

Little bit of change today, but that was okay. DS spent the day in the tractor, and I spent 2/3 of the day with the water hose... Added water as they dumped each load... it is a little drier than we would have liked... but the lower field was greener and it went on top so some of the moisture will permeate down into the drier stuff... Adding water will help it to ferment (ensile) once it gets covered, it needs a certain level of moisture to get the "juices working"....
It won't be quite as good as if it had gotten chopped 2 weeks ago... but it will make decent feed for the beef animals... and the one good thing is there is alot of corn in it... even with the drought, when it started to rain it really grew fast, and we got some good weather and then some more rain as it was tasseling.... so set some good ears. There also was more than he thought... we figure there was about 260-280 tons... They weighed a truck load... 7 tons + and there were 40 truck loads... if it had been a little greener like is should have been, it would have weighed over 8 ton a load... But.... we are not complaining... it will still make some decent feed. It is not like we are trying to feed dairy cows for optimal milk production..... it will provide a good feed with the corn that is in it, for feeding the "grandma cows" , and those with fall calves, and the steers and heifers he will be feeding in the barn lots for the winter.

It got colder as the day went on... clouds and sun, but quite windy... I got chilly out there... had my hooded sweatshirt over a sweatshirt and long sleeved pullover shirt... and word gloves after about 2 pm. Not frozen but got chilly....
I went and picked up Ryan, when he got off work, to come help DS after they finished the last load... DS went out to do some sq baling since the stiff breezy conditions had dried off any of the dampness... he got 2 wagons filled... then took a partial wagon up to unload in the calf barn at the nurse cow pasture... it has some weeds in the sq bales and he can't sell them... it will give me some to feed this winter in the bunk in the barn. Then he will have 2 more of the smaller wagons to fill up and he said that will be mostly all the sq bales he does... He will take the sq baler down the hill to do some at Dennis's since he wants some... and that goes for payment of the hay filed rent cost..... but for the most part, once he fills the other 2 wagons, any other hay will get rolled.
Weather forecast is calling for no more rain/precip for the next 10 days again.... I am hoping he will get all of it mowed that is left to do, and we can get it done... The temps are going to be cold the next day or 2 then warming back into the 40's at night and the 60-70's during the day....

I just found out that he is going to go get Fred's calves tomorrow eve, take them to doug's for overnight, and they will go to the sale Friday morning... told him that I cannot help tomorrow aft because I scheduled a farm... I need more than a day's notice for something like that. He knew that the farm had texted me and he said that we would be done with the corn so go ahead and schedule the farm if I wanted....
So, he said he could get Ryan to help..... he has helped us do cattle some in the past... not going to lose any sleep over it....

Went by Deb's and learned the feeding procedure for the 2 cats while her and her friend are gone to the horse event... They are leaving tomorrow (Thurs) morning... be back on Sun aft.... so just a couple days to feed and check on them and clean the litter boxes... they are strictly inside cats.

Recovered the spider plants, made sure the cover was still on the squash plants.. I never took it off as it is some of the "greenhouse plastic" from the one that the wind tore up on the deck this past spring... covered the squash on the back of the ranger....

I am ready to go in and get a shower and go to bed. I am tired after getting up early and leaving for work at 3:30 a.m. ...... and then outside all day... I will take some tylenol so I can go to sleep and not ache right off the bat....
Have the bottles all in the trays for tomorrow's herd to test... have to add the extra meters (they use 16 and I only had to have 8 for the other night) and hoses tomorrow. I would like to leave early enough to go by the Goodwill locally on the way, so we will see.

I'm quitting for the night.

 

[Ridgetop]

Sounds like the corn and hay crops were good this year. The weather held for you. Supposed to be a La Nina year this year.

 

[Baymule]

I’m glad you got enough rain for the hay to make. We are in drought now, under a burn ban. Got over 4 feet of rain the first 6 months, then nothing. I’m going to have to start feeding hay, probably set some out this weekend.

 

[Mini Horses]

We're back into a "no rain" period in VA. Nothing other than a spitty sprinkle in 2 wks. Nothing looking to come along for another week or more. The cooler temps have helped to keep things from totally drying out. Weather has been strange all year, everywhere!! Food crops will shop how strange as prices soar when used up stocks deplete. Hang on! Food and feed will increase, not from inflation.