We are getting closer and closer to the the first cutting of alfalfa…probably the end of this week of the first of next week. We like to wait for the alfalfa to just start to bloom
You can see the tiny purple dots on the stems right now…you can also see some dandelions. This is the field that will be plowed up next year…it’s starting to get old.
A hay field is old when you can see dandelions and/or other weeds in it. We don’t spray for weeds we take the field and plant something else to give it a rest from the 3-5 years of alfalfa. It’s called rotational farming, which we have always practiced.
The sunset last night was on the weird side — really yellow.
As I was watching the sun set I saw a
Sun dog!
Actually that is really strange as we just got through with cold windy weather of the last four days and the weather people are saying we are heading into two weeks of extremely hot weather.
Usually if you see a sun dog it means frigid weather is about to hit……… humm.
Odd don’t you think?
The pinto beans are up
We are planted as much as we are going to plant this year and the crops are all up. (We don’t need any type of freeze now…that is for sure!)
Rumors have it that soon, very soon, they will be around to cut us down two more holes on the head gate…I hope they don’t do it for a couple of weeks, maybe longer. I’m sure that is just “hope” on my part.
Enjoy your Sunday everyone, today at 4 p.m. my oldest granddaughter is coming to ‘spend the night with us and part of tomorrow. It should be lots of fun for her grandpa and myself!
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 
It’s good to see all the crops up and the alfalfa about ready for cutting. I’m proud of you two for practicing rotational farming.
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saw the sundog in your header – really beautiful. but, yes, odd!
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Beautiful sundog… Didn’t know it means that frigid weather is on the way.. Hope that is a mistake for you all…. You certainly do not need anymore frigid weather this year!!!!
Enjoy that granddaughter. I’m sure you will.
Hugs,
Betsy
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Hopefully it was just cold up where the Sun Dog was. I’d send you some of our heat if I could!
Have a wonderful time with your granddaughter, and a blessed Sunday. ♥
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Maybe that sun dog means cold weather will come, cancel out the heat, and leave you with beautiful mild weather! There’s my hope for you.
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I just hope and pray that you will not get any of the bad weather which is forcast for many states. Enjoy your time with Grandaughter
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Dumb city dweller question: What do you do with alfalfa after harvesting it
Have fun and take pictures with the granddaughter.
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Well the 35 degrees last night in NE Minnesota might have been the Sun Dog! lol Cold here after high of 75 last week…brrrrrrr today but sunny. Lovely sunset for sure and lovely fields…Thanks for the thoughts and information. I love farming being from the Midwest in Illinois. Have a fun time with dear grandaughter!!!! Best!!! Merri
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Oh this is my kind of post, Loved it, those skies, never even knew there was such a thing as a sun dog, wee are looking at 70’s for at least a week. Your alfalfa looks gorgeous. Our field needs to dry right out before we cut, it is sopping wet still. Plus i am still trying to clean up the mess from cutting the grass hay when rain was in the forecast. Terrible waste, i am hauling it little by little into the chook house and the pig pen as bedding. And drying the rest in the barn for bedding later on.For a while i just fed it out fresh but it is rubbish now. But John learnt a valuable lesson that i could not teach him with words. Don’t cut the hay unless you have ample warmth and sunshine in the forecast! Wish you were down the road, he could do hay with you and learn all these things. he does love to make hay. Your beans look good. I was thinking about your crops this morning actually so i am glad to have a look.. take care!! c
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I’ve never heard the term sun dog but I love it. In my whole life, I think I’ve only seen a couple. I am in awe of those of you that live close to the land and in harmony with it. I love the way you intuitively read the signs…Have a great time with your granddaughter. .
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I so love the smell of alfalfa when it’s blooming. Also when it’s cut. I even love the smell of it when I open a bale a year later, and I always have to taste it. Hope you get good weather for your first cutting.
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Excellent pics, any chance you can get some closeups of the alfalfa blooms? 🙂
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You live in a fascinating area. I like the wide open vistas. Where I was raised we had horizons that wee visible. Sunsets and sunrises were part of a normal day. In the city you don’t see that. So nice sunset photos.
Rotations are practiced here as well…wheat, canola, barley, silage and some peas.
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Oh a granddaughter sleepover is the best (mine are all grown up now, but I remember when they would get excited about staying over).
That yellowish stripey sky is really strange…I hope it and the sundog are omens of good weather. and plenty of water)
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Hope those icy skies pass you and your bean crop by. I’ve seen plenty of sun dogs and, although they are amazing, they can forecast incoming cold. Time with grandkids can be all kinds of fun!
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Great shot of the the sun dog. It is strange, but I did some looking around on the internet and what I found said they can occur any time of year. Maybe we just see more of them in the winter.
Your hay looks wonderful. I won’t start until at least the 21st, but lots of years it’s the first part of july. Not only does the grass and alfalfa have to be at the right stage, but the weather has to be right for getting it cut, cured, and baled.
The water thing is so frustrating! We just had another storm…a gully washer! Water running every where. Not the good kind or rain. It just runs off.
Hope you had a good time today and a fun time tomorrow.
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I’ve always heard crop rotation is best. That’s still a pretty sunset, no matter the color. I know you’ll enjoy time with your granddaughter. Another city girl question: What does “cut down two more holes on the headgate mean?”
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So much in this post, Linda, the sun dog – I’ve learned something again, the alfalfa, the rotational crops – just like the earliest farmers did, and all through history in England, so sorry about the worry of the water and liklihood of a storm, but so glad you have the comfort of being with your grand daughter…
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I miss seeing pintos and hay growing in the fields . I’m not in farming country anymore , but somewhere a lot hotter we are in the high 90
s this week 😦
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I have not seen a sundog in the summer..usually it has to be cold..maybe it was cold up there in the atmosphere for the sun to shine on the ice crystals. Who knows.
You fields are looking good, I hope that gate guy stays away for a while. We are wet here..but cold:(
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