Of course the hail stones were NOTHING to compare with the ones in Weld County, but they can do damage.
Tornados in Weld County, Colorado/BIG Hail Storm on our Farm
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Category Archives: Life on a Colorado Farm
Disaster in the Hen House
A nasty skunk got into the hen house last night and killed all but one of my wonderful hens! I am so upset! The hen is so upset!
I found where the skunk got in; he/she must have had to dig most of the night to enjoy this delicious meal of my hens!
Needless to say, we are setting live traps and the skunk, or skunks will have a new adventure in skunk heaven soon.
This is a necessity as we have 30 baby girl chicks coming Thursday, May 29th, and I don’t
want to lose them to wild life.
Delta, Delta County, Colorado
We farm about 5 miles from the heart of our progressive little town, Delta. We are both ‘natives’ to the Delta community, Terry being raised by a second generation Dairyman, and I by a second generation Orchardist/and Business owner.
Delta has grown over the years to the point we now have a WAL-MART! This has brought an assortment of mixed blessings, and huge tax growth for the city.
Sunset and the End of the Day
The sun sets around 8:30 in May, so the days are long. Work isn’t just 8-5, but starts around 5:30 in the morning and ends after the sun goes down.
Saturday Bladen and Linkin Came for the Day
Gated Pipe
The gated pipe system can move water through the field with a small amount of effort on the part of the farmer. Just open the gate!
Blade and Linkin like to help ‘set water’ when we are watering the gated pipe fields. Of course, they have a bit of trouble understanding just how ‘wide’ to open the gates, but they are catching on. Open the gates two fingers wide of Grandpa’s, or four fingers wide of theirs.
The Water is in the Ditch
This is the same ditch I just wrote about in Waiting for Water.
Siphon tubes are one of the oldest farm tools still in use. They have been lifting water from irrigation ditches and putting water into waiting furrows for thousands of years.
Once this field gets wet, then the water will be moved. Probably to one of the fields with gated pipe.
Waiting for the Water
Permanent ditches are lined with concrete to eliminate one source of water loss and increase the conveyance efficiency of the water (the efficiency of the water delivery system). Water losses from open, unlined ditches may be as high as 60% from seepage, evaporation, and water used by weeds in or along the ditches.
Ditch riders try to “foresee” problems that could occur during their 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shifts, for the water runs higher at night. The water association has 16 ditch riders who work the six-day shifts from April 1 to Nov. 1, while the ditches are in use.
We have a really good ditch rider his coverage area is 54 miles along California Mesa, including 26 lateral canals, several users and about 150 pumps. With estimates about 75 of those pumps are illegal.
Linkin Spent the Night with Grammy and Grandpy
Blade had his first sleep-over, which left Linkin wanting to do something too. She asked if she could spend the night with us, which she could.
The next morning, Grandpa (Grandpy, is what Linki calls Grandpa) was taking a nap, and Linkin decided she would sleep on him.
The Upper End
Our place isn’t just made up of farming ground; Terry has left acres in its natural form, making a great place for the cows to hang out in. Also for wild life to flourish, we have fox, coyotes, pheasants, quail, rabbits, and other wonderful creatures.
Everything is just starting to green-up, in another month the red-winged black birds will be every where!
Life on a Colorado Farm 
