Third Cutting of Hay

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Dayphoto

Terry finished cutting the last alfalfa cutting of the season. (We get three cuttings here.)

Gosh, this summer sure has flown by! I guess it went so fast because it was my first full summer without having to go into work everyday. I had worried that I would miss the excitment of registration and then all the students coming back, but I HAVEN’T!!!! I guess I was ready…time to retire and let others take over the reins.

Both grass and alfalfa and mixed ( part grass and alfalfa) hay is leaving our area by the semi-loads. People are coming up from Texas and Arizona to get hay to feed thier critters! It’ really sad. I wish rain would start falling in the south! Days and Days and DAYS of over 100* temperatures without even a cloud in the sky is horrible. Our news here said that Texas has beaten it’s own record for the longest amount of over 100* temps…something set in the 1980s or thereabout.

Unless Terry decides differently we changed the last set of water in one of the corn fields last night, we will finish up the rest of the corn this week.

We are just waiting now, for the ground to be really (bone) dry so the pinto beans can be pulled and rowed. They will dry in the rows until all the stems and leaves are brittle, then we will start combining the beans.

The corn has dented or is in a stage of dent. Once reached that will be then of the irrigation of the corn. After that we wait for the whole stalk to dry down and then we will combine.

The largest field of alfalfa will be plowed up next year so we will be done with the irrigation of it, but the smallest field will still need water. The field must go into winter with enough green leaves to not die over the winter.

So in away the work is ending, but will pick up for several weeks of harvest then the 2011 farming season will be over.

Gosh, that seems to have gone fast!

Linda

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

What Is This?

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Dayphoto

Late last evening as we were finishing up the last set of water I happened to glance into the sky and saw this

It must be some sort of reflection of the setting sun on the near-by clouds, for sure it wasn’t a rainbow.

Rainbows occur with the sun behind you and the rain clouds before you. But this was next too the sun, both of them in the west.

If we were in the months of either January or February I would say it was a sun dog, but this is August.

The sky is so amazing…many thing of wonder are in the heavens just like down here on the earth. You just have to look for them.

Have a wonderful Sunday,

Linda

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

Look Close

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Dayphoto

A Momma and her two babies ran right in front of the pick-up. As they scurried across the road and over into the field I was able to get out my camera.

Pretty cool.

Linda

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

Crop Report

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Dayphoto

Summer is fast coming to a close. It doesn’t seem possible that this is the last full week of August. School started here for everyone. The big busses passed our house early this morning (there are two). This afternoon my little grandchildren will get off the bus and walk down our lane until volleyball season ends. Misty is one of the volleyball coaches at the middle school so the two oldest grandchildren will ride the bus to our house. The littlest kid will already be here. 🙂

The pinto beans are starting to turn yellow and the bean pods have striped up, Terry should be pulling them in about two weeks if the weather stays warm.

The hay is getting close to the third cutting which should also hit in about two weeks (crops have thier own schedule…they don’t take yours into consideration 😉 )

And the corn has moved from the blister stage (where it is soft…if you stick your finger nail in one of the kernals it will pop) into hardening up. We raise hard-dent corn…. this is the corn you cook with to make corn bread or it is ground up and put into animal feed. Only about two maybe three more irrigations for the corn.

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We will still have to irrigate the hay to make sure it has a good healthy start into the winter, but our work is rapidly winding down.

The last week has brought moisture into our area…I only saw one rainbow, but it was wonderful….hitting the pinto bean field just about the time I was out picking corn! It was raining closer to the south side of Delta … we didn’t get wet. They got the rain, but I got to see the rainbow!

Linda

Prisoners Were Rescued on Day They were to be Executed

The Beauty of Summer

Gallery

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Dayphoto

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Wordless Wednesday—HOT

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Dayphoto

Linda

http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/

August 16, 2011

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Dayphoto

I heard this really loud bird up in the cottonwood tree….loud! Finally I had to go see who/what was making such a racket. There, next to a little Hummingbird nest, sat this tiny hawk. (At least I think it was a tiny hawk) I watched for a long time trying to figure out what was going on—was the hawk after the hummer? Were there any babies in the nest? I never found out the answer to either one of my questions, but for sure, I never saw a hummer fly even close by.

I think the nest is empty, after several days I have not seen any type of activity around or close by it from any of the hummers in the yard.

As for the tiny hawk…he flew away.

A very fast thunder and lightening storm blew in causing a forest fire some where behind Grand Mesa somewhere.

Other than that life is really busy. Its canning season…that speaks for itself. The pinto beans are getting close to harvest…the lower leaves are starting to turn yellow and the pods are starting to stripe. Terry is thinking that maybe, just maybe….there will be one more irrigation for the pintos, or not. Terry will check all the soil and see if they need more water. Terry really doesn’t want to water if they don’t need it….trying to combine in mud is NOT good.

Linda

The name Delta

Wordless Wednesday

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Dayphoto

Linda

The CC Building in Delta, Colorado

Harvests are Starting in Our Area

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Dayphoto

It doesn’t seem possible but we are on the last irrigation of the season for the pinto beans. The pods are full and the beans are starting to harden up, once the pods stripe Terry will put the bean puller on the tractor and pull the plants. This will allow them to dry. Then he will combine.

About the middle of September (is our prediction) we will begin the harvest of the pinto beans.

This year I have raised 10 different varieties of dry bush beans (like pinto beans). Because they are in the yard they are ripening and getting ready for harvest sooner.

I just harvested my Red Mexican bean.

I have several others in the drying stage,

of course my harvest is all done by hand 🙂

The sweet corn harvest is in full swing also. We wake up every morning (5:00) to the sound of the sweet corn pickers on thier way to work. The first load of corn heads into the cooler around 6:30. They stop picking about dark. If you see Olathe Sweet or Mountain Sweet—-sweet corn in your market you will know it came from a farm somewhere close to ours!

Enjoy your summer, it’s starting to some to a close when the harvests begin!

Linda

The first correspondent of the first newspaper in Delta

Hay Customers

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Dayphoto

Amanda and Matt from http://barnraisin.blogspot.com/ Barn Raisin blogspot came to buy hay. Once more meeting blog friends is like meeting old friends.