We are getting rain / snow and here at the house 25 degrees with a hard freeze. So much for the fruit trees this year. The green house is lit up in candles and clay pots. Spent so much on feed and food today didn't dare add more cost in lime too. Next week. Nearly 400.00 in 2 hours out, with 190 be delivered in a few days. Should be good for a few weeks though. Glad because both dogs hit the vets on Friday zip 300.00
The forecast here is stable temperatures above freezing some rain mixed in for at least the next 10 days, so they say.
28 already and hours away from coldest part of morning. Zero wind and clear skies, freeze is settling in.
Ground was frozen solid. Lots of vegetation blk once sun hit upit. My green house plants looking great! Running out of cabdles I don't like though. Going to be same tonight so need to restock the candles.
Got the plot disked again, ran the drag over it then planted it with 2 different clovers and a mix of oats and peas. Drove on it to pack it all down, now we wait.
Well…. We have gotten over 3 inches of rain in the last 4 days, most of the time it was a really nice rain but there were some heavy downpours at times. I may have to re plant this again. They suck at forecasting. I will go up there soon to assess the damage
So a typical spring is at least one broken equipment this year has been every one. I got the Gator fixed, the tractors clutch is slipping. I had hubby check troy tiller, besides mice nest we discovered a bad leak. I feared the transmission, it's 8 years old. No it was the seals on the wheel axel. Which is still the gear oil. Transmission is life time. That said the seals are not. He checked with our mechanic and due to weeks wait time, they told us how to do the fix. JD mower needs demousing and a once over, as well as the Dr. weed mower. That is 30 yrs. old and is STILL the most reliable puece of equipment we own. So Ive had to put way more muscle into my planting in hand weeding , soil turning then planting. Ok at 66 it's tearing up my back and legs and caused my food plots to grow well over a foot in WW. The rape is flowerd out. I'm not sure what to do with that and all wood plots are a tight carpet of maple tree seedlings
I checked on the plot today, getting some germination. It is hard to tell how bad it is so I will have to check it again in a couple weeks. It is extremely wet right now and needs to dry out and warm up little bit. Maybe it was packed down good enough so most of it didn’t wash away, who knows.
Seeing some now... Thank heaven because there may not be plots this year if things don't change. Winds,equipment fails, rain, rain, rain, more winds.
Your right ...honestly that is a plot right behind the house I have been working the last 3 yrs. It did have grain and clovers in it. It's not just plots, it's the woods floor everywhere. When we actually had enough deer they would clean up this in years past. It happens every so many years corresponding with the gypsy worm and tent caterpillar attacks. We also have a wild root suckering in the beech trees Plots I can mow and till, but the woods will have a huge change, especially in the areas that the ash and beech are dying If you think my woods are too wide open, well already that has changed. Cherries, ash, brush are also exploding. Not that it will do me any good. Seriuosly I'm rarely seeing turkey or deer in the beef hay field. Hens are nesting on us but it's obvious where they are coming from their morning " breakfast ". The same places the deer are hanging out.....
Well all is not lost yet, I went and checked on things and to my surprise there was a bunch of germination happening. Still not great but better than I anticipated. My plan was to spray for grasses in all the clover plots so I went ahead and did that. Might kill the new stuff but oh well, I already have seeds for the back up plan. We are going to get 2-3 inches of rain over the next few days and when that is mostly done I will go there again and over seed some more. All the other plots are doing good since we have had enough rain so far.
Went up and added seed to the new clover plot, added the same mix of clover as before, also added some crimson clover and buckwheat. Checked on another small throw and grow spot that I blew the leaves off this spring and it looks pretty good
Been so busy a haven't walked the property in a bit. Well the lower big tree plot is head high in rye with areas of vetch and areas of a very thick mat of ????? It's tiny clover type leaf 1-2 " tall with tiny yellow flowers.. deer beds everywhere so I'm just letting it stay as is.
