pear bloom | Life on a Colorado Farm

I am late today!

Very late!…

LATE!

But I have a very good excuse. Terry and I had to be at the bottom of the pinto bean field picking up an extremely large branch broken from one of the Johnson cottonwood trees in the huge wind storm yesterday.

Shannon saw us and came out to help so the process went much faster than just the two of us.

Back home now. Terry is marking out the pinto bean ground so we can start water on that field. He will be planting pinto beans in about two to three weeks.

The wind left us last night just as the sun started setting—leaving the plants more than slightly leaning over

But the sun sat in a lovely sky all bright and golden, with a true sense of peace falling on the land.

And a hush on everything living.

Wind is so important this time of year; wind brings the sap up from the roots of all the plants and trees, melts the snow and dries the mud. But that huge massive wind (sometimes 40 m.p.h. gusts) tears upon everything and every one leaving a feeling of being ripped apart.

Then last night the pale wash of moonlight, and the glow of Venus next to the moon, lent a dream-like quality to the cold still air. Everyone and everything breathed deep allowing the stillness of the night of gather in and lend calmness to all.

The cold got down to 22*F –(-5c). I’m sure the pears have joined the apricots in being frozen for the year.

Still today is bright, tangy with spring, the intoxicating scent of ‘new’ floating over everything. Joy seems to be bursting forth in song and in my heart!

Well, off now to help Terry set water in the pinto bean field. But I wanted to make contact with you, before the day grew old.

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

I dug out a camera I had purchased awhile back. It wasn’t a real expensive one, I think I got it for around $90, since I knew my other dear old battered and well-loved camera would someday bite the dust. This camera doesn’t seem to take too bad of photos so I shall continue to use it.

We finished watering our largest field. Which means it was time to move the water. We had to take the water from that field down to the one by our house.

Therefore we had to open the ditch. (Winter is not good for my body, but I’m fast getting into shape.) We only have to open the ditches once, but, oh my, is that ever a job!

Even though Terry makes the ditches with the ditcher there is still lots of trash in the ditch, he turns the water down and then leaves and goes on down to the trash gates, I stay behind and fork the trash out of the ditch.

It starts small, but by the time I make it to the trash catchers I’m hefting huge wads of wet weeds out the water. ( I couldn’t get photos of the wads — I think Terry would have been a tad upset to see me taking photos while massive amounts of weeds were heading toward him.)

Weeds plug up division gates and get caught in the pipes causing floods. Floods are never good as they always go where they are not supposed to go.

By the time I get to the trash screens Terry is already in the field flushing the pipe. This field by the house is set with gated pipe, trash in that pipe is one major pain. It plugs up the little gates and backs up the water. You are looking at a screen that has stopped trash.

We like gated pipe for some fields and cement ditches and siphon tubes for other fields. We even have dirt ditches with siphon tubes for even other fields. Terry is thinking of changing out some of the gated pipe back into a dirt ditch, they (dirt ditches) really are lots easier to work with than gated pipe. You wouldn’t think so, since it would seem all you have to do is open a gate and the water flows out. Pouring another cement ditch is financially not feasible so if we change it will be to dirt.

Trash is the main reason. Here in our part of Colorado when the wind blows heavy it always blows in weeds and icky stuff which lands in the water and then get caught in the gates. With a tube the weed will usually flow on by since the tube is under the surface of the water. With a gate the weed runs right to the gate and tried to get out with the water and plugs up the gate. You then have to put your hand into the water and dig out the trash. For every gate that is open all 20-30 gates.

Anyway, I could lift and toss an 80 pound bale of hay now if I had too. Three weeks ago I don’t know if I could even pick it up.

The pear trees are blooming! They sure are pretty. We’ve had three nights of bitter cold (18* one night) and another cold front moving in by Friday. I remember these days from my youth and how my Dad and my Grandfather would stress out during spring.

Being and orchardist isn’t for the faint of heart that is for sure.

Linda