April 16, 2013 — The Perils of the Head Gate

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After a very cold day yesterday, we woke up to thick frost on the ground which quickly melted by 7:30 this morning.  It was lovely.

Although…………….

Wind

We could see Utah dirt coming in from the Uncompahgre (Un-come-pah-gray ..  accent on the pah) Plateau.  By 8.30 it was here…nasty wind, full of red dirt.

The weather guy said we would not see this wind until around 2-3 this afternoon (I wonder if harder wind is coming in at that time), then it would change over to rain and then snow and would snow most of Wednesday then blow out of here.

More-@

I took a couple of photos of Terry cleaning out the head gate.  The Head gate is the out-take gate of the main canal to your farm….our canal, the one that runs by us is called the Ironstone, the water that leaves our place goes back into the Ironstone and into the FNC Lateral…which is a branch of the Ironstone canal.

We are lucky because the head gate to our farm is right at the beginning of our farm…its easy to monitor because it is so close.  Some farms have head gates as far as 2-3 miles FROM their farm.

Checking-the-head-gate-1

All head gates have to be monitored for trash, dead animals, big garbage that someone up the way didn’t want to deal with…on the most part everyone is really good about NOT dumping stuff into the canal for the next person to have to take of.  Sometimes an animal will fall in (or get tossed in) we’ve had skunks, sheep, calves and pigs that have been caught in the head gate.  No goats so far, which is good.

I’m heading out to sort firewood, we have some green I need to get into a different pile and I want to do it before the rain starts.

Thank each and everyone of you for following and/or commenting!  I always appreciate how wide spread the world of blogging is and how diverse our worlds are; yet how very close blogging makes us. I am most grateful for this blogging world and for getting to know so many people from around the world.

Cool-cloud

Sincerely,

Linda

 

19 thoughts on “April 16, 2013 — The Perils of the Head Gate”

  2. The dirt blowing this time of year is just a given isn’t it? We’ve had horrid winds the past week or so with the storms rolling through. I don’t mind the dirt from plowed fields but the irritating ones are those that have overgrazed their pastures so badly that when you drive down the interstate you literally are blinded out from their dirt blowing across the road!

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  3. My nephew and his wife just flew back from your area (they drove a UHaul of my Mom’s belongings up there last week). They live in Prescott, AZ, but flew into Phoenix where we’re boasting beautiful upper 80’s and sunny skies! (We will all be complaining about the heat in no time though!!) While in Paonia, they spent a lot of time on a friend’s ranch feeding a newborn and suddenly orphaned calf! Although the winter-weather has been relentless up there, I admire your tenacity and dedication to persevere in spite of the not-so-cooperative conditions. It’s a hard life for sure and hope that soon the warm spring days and flowers will break through for you. Can’t wait to be up there this summer!! Take care, Teri

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  8. Thats nice the head gate is close! Thats bull about people tossing trash in there, and are the animals dead when they are in there? Do they die from it? Im just wondering.

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  10. I love that last photo! Looks chilly out there! We are having a warm period right now, supposed to be almost 70 by friday and then right back down into the 50’s. High wind seems to always follow the warm weather here. Hopefully he found no dead animals and the like in the head gate. I love visiting your blog. I might not comment all the time, but I sure do visit.

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  11. Blowing dirt is the most unwelcome part of Spring. We had it so bad here that there was a 30 car pile-up with injuries on the four-lane. All the top-soil changes places and then the wind turns around and puts it all somewhere else. Still, the messy air does leave some colorful sunsets. Nice catch and good luck with those irrigation ditches.

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  12. Oh gosh,part of the State of Utah is blowing on to your farm and you’re getting stuff in your headgates… People need to stop giving you things you don’t need. Those mountains in the background of the shots of Terry working are so beautiful, although I doubt he has time to admire them this time of year.

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  13. I enjoy reading your blog. I’ve learned so much about farming that I know I couldn’t survive on a farm. It’s a lot of work and I’m a spoiled city girl.

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  14. Springtime gives us very variable weather but you should be past that already. Dust storms are not fun to be in. When I was a little kid on the farm we had major dust storms. Not anymore though. They do no till farming and year after year the stubble is left and the soil surface is covered.

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  15. Hope you will warm up soon! We’re to get the cold front tomorrow evening, but first we will have dust compliments of New Mexico!! That fine dust can certainly get into every nook and cranny.
    I, too, love your blog, Linda. I love comparing farming practices between us! Hope your water stays nice and clean. My renter just put in a water meter that we are now required to have…just $1,700!! And need to buy 3 more, sigh! Your water is regulated one way and mine another, but it is still regulated. Keep praying for rain!

    Blessings!

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  18. I hope we ALL warm up soon. There is ANOTHER smaller weather system coming through here on the weekend again…..at least we don’t have blowing dirt yet.

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