A huge storm is supposed to come in tomorrow, bringing 40% rain for Monday, 30% for Tuesday, and 20% for Wednesday.
We are still working on the pinto beans. Keep your fingers crossed it misses us and stays in the mountains only.
Talk to you in the morning…we have lots to do today!
Linda
Although, we are doing pinto beans, we keep having little storms pop-up. So far the rain hasn’t stayed or pushed the beans into the mud.
(Which would be horrible, you can’t get the beans out of the mud so the crop is lost.)
But we have been blessed and only received the the gift of the rain.
Linda
A lovely heavy rain came in yesterday, bringing with it cooler temperatures.
We slept with only one window opened last night and woke to a beautiful wet morning.
Other signs of change include: yellowing of leaves on the cottonwood trees, the pinto beans getting ripe, the corn starting to dent, golden rod blooming, and the rabbit brush in bloom.
As soon as the earth gets dry enough and the rain leaves our area the third cutting of hay will begin. Which should be Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
Our sunset last night was just a dot of color the clouds were so thick, and the sunrise this morning was of a huge red orb peaking though the cherry trees. The birds are still here, a hummer greeted me early, early, as I went out to the chicken house, and songs were filling the sky after a very wet and LOUD/CRASHING/FLASHING night.
Good Morning everyone! I hope you have a wonderful day!
Linda
This looks like a repeat of the last post, but really it isn’t. The day clouded up in the afternoon and then we saw showers playing across the Uncompahgre Plateau.
We had been sweltering in the middle of the corn field hoping some clouds would come in from somewhere.
When they did they blocked the sun which cooled us down, even if the rain stayed far away.
Then the clouds cleared of the moisture
And a little wind sprung up pushing the moisture and the cooling clouds in a different direction, leaving behind
a delightful couple of rainbows!
A gift from above….clouds, moisture, the heat from the sun and the corn blocked, and the gift of promise and hope!
Priceless!
Linda
Dad had a meeting to go to last night so it was just Mom, Fuzzy, and myself…oh yes, and Hank. Hank came along since he was spending some time with us while his folks went on vacation.
It was an amazing evening.
Lots of clouds had come in with lightning storms (complete with thunder) running around on the Uncompahgre Plateau and in the canyons next to us. Mom said she really enjoyed being out there with all the majesty of the heavens.
Fuzzy said he didn’t like the thunder so he stayed really close to Mom the WHOLE time.
I only searched for news a little bit….well, because Hank was with us
and I didn’t really want him to get to do something
that I didn’t get to do so I hung around pretty close.
The beans are setting pods, and vining out, and in general looking really good. Mom says we are half way through summer now when the beans vine out.
We had to drive through the grass (well, Hank and I ran through the grass) and it was WAAAAAAAAAAAy over my head and Hank’s head and even MOM’s head! Mom said we really need cows, but that isn’t going to happen.
On we went, moving from the head gate to one field then to the other field.
We saw some cool tracks on the ditch bank….is it a big cat?!?!?!
Or a bear!?!?!?
Mom said she didn’t want to meet it out here in the dark of the night whatever it is.
Mom also said she hoped it was just passing on through and wouldn’t be back.
We sometimes see tracks like this, but so far….we never seen who makes them.
The sunset was rather cool….there was a break in the clouds causing a red wave of light to spread all over the farm, even the corn turned red.
AND SO DID I!
Have a great week everyone!
Boomer
The weatherman is saying that our rain is leaving…which is okay. It’s time to cut the second cutting of alfalfa. Actually, Terry is out there right now cutting the alfalfa so we really don’t need rain for about a week or so.
Still the rain we had was lovely, delightful, and ever so refreshing
Hope our rain makes it to those of you who need it!
Linda
About 3:00 yesterday afternoon the ditch rider came by and locked our head gate down more holes…we are now at 50% of the 100% of water we pay for every year. We will still pay the 100%; there just isn’t water in the mountains. Snow pack was only 4 feet last winter and is gone now, accept for a few tiny drifts here and there.
And it isn’t even July!
What is July going to bring? An even worse thought…what is August going to bring!?
We are back to changing the water every 8 hours. 6 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 10 at night. At least we got caught up and the ground is starting to hold the water. Less water and less rows we can set.
To give you an idea…say at 100% you can set 35 rows, at 70% you can set 23 rows so now we are looking at 15-18 rows. This is just an approximate, a general idea. Each field is different and sometimes each row is different.
IF this heat continues and the hot, heavy wind (we had 40 m.p.h. gusts yesterday) ….. let us not go there. Worse thought yet, is what if there isn’t any snow in the mountains this winter…!!!?
Okay, okay.
July could/can be a wet month–typically that is our monsoon month, with moist air moving up from the Gulf of Mexico…this would be good! RAIN!
The middle of July starts to see the Winter Wheat being harvested and the sweet corn crops going into to market. (The sweet corn harvest starts in July and ends the second week in September.) As these fields are harvested the farmer does NOT continue with water on the field. This reduces the strain on the canal. So if these two things come together…rain and crops being harvested the rest of the crops in our area—onion, shelling corn, hay,and pinto beans all the farmers in the area should make it.
We will just have to wait and see.
The hummers are back!
This year instead of one soft tiny nest in the tractor shed we have TWO! I tried to climb up on the tractor to see if I could peer into the nest, but it was just too far up there for me.
At least I can see the nests, maybe if I keep checking I will see the baby hummers!
Sorry about the worry/rant…sometimes I think farming very stressful.
Linda
Coming back from irrigating last night the moon was just delightful!!
We had some rain storms in the mountains that have helped (sort of) the irrigating situation. Enough that Terry thinks he can go ahead and plant his new alfalfa field.
Don’t get me wrong, water is still short, and we are still having trouble getting the ground wet because it has been so dry. But water in the hills brings a little more water down the canals. Enough to put out two more tubes, or open two more gates for a short time. If we get more rain in the hills or steady rain, that would be great.
Every little bit helps!
Sara did a cool post on Moon Music I would like to share….just perfect, just perfect.
We don’t have frogs or fireflies, but we still have the moon and last night was just beautiful.
Moon Music is right!
Linda
After several days of extremely cold weather, we are gradually starting to warm up. During that time the Sour Cherry trees started to bloom
Then we dropped down even colder — 18*– a couple of nights in a row, which took out some of the blooming fruit I’m sure.
Still the Wild Plum trees that I have growing in a thicket started blooming
We have these trees along the edge of the canal to keep the water from eroding the bank
By the weekend the Crab Apples were in their full glory
Terry sat up the alfalfa marker and got that field ready for water. By which I mean he marked out all the rows so we could turn water into the field. Several morning this week there was ice on the furrows. Not heavy amounts of ice, but still ice.
When you think of it that is cold….it takes lots of cold to form ice on running water.
The good news is that cold front has moved on, the bad news is this very same cold front is what causes horrible storms in the plains….cold air moving out of the Rocky Mountains hitting warm air coming up from the oceans.
My heart goes out to everyone in those storm damaged area.
Linda
We are back to work! Hanging around and just doing what we want is now over, our work has begun. That’s what Mom told us yesterday as we headed out to help irrigate.
See we don’t farm with Dad. We stay with Mom wherever she is. Our job is helping Mom, always. Sometimes Boomer will go out some with Dad but Dad is always on a tractor or something and that is just not fun running alongside a big piece of equipment.
We ride (like Mom does) and then we work.
Boomer and I really like it.
We really like helping out too. There is so much to do. Sometimes there are mice to snap in two and sometimes not, but there are always smells to smell and for ME there is water to play in.
It’s getting a little harder every year to get OUT of the ditches, but I don’t have any trouble getting into them. Mom doesn’t like for me to get into the ditches anymore because I can’t get out very well. But I still do it — I just wait until she isn’t looking and I jump in.
The day before Dad made all the ditches on the place—first he made the main ditches, these are the ditches that carry the water to the fields from the head gate (the head gate takes the water out of the canal onto our place).
Then he made the waste ditches, these are the ditches that take the water away from the field and drop the water back into the canal so the next farm can use the water.
After that we had to wait for the ditch rider to open the head gate so we could begin work.
Work started at 6:00 last evening. We worked until 8:00 because there were so many weeds and burn trash in the ditches, but we made it.
Boomer and I helped. I even got into the water a couple of times which made Mom yell at me. She said the water was too full of trash and it would stick to my fur so I had to get out.
Geez!
Trash on fur is not a big deal.
But she made me get out.
It was rather hard to get out, so I hung with Mom looking for mice in the tubes while she dug out ends and started the tubes with water.
Dad had to work on the trash in the head gate and the transmission ditch, and then he came and helped Mom set tubes.
The trash WAS bad.
And the wind was bad. The wind kept blowing in other trash so we had to stay out and keep the water from flowing over the sides of the cement ditch for ever so long.
Boom and I really enjoyed it.
Mom and Dad said they were tired.
They worked all morning, then helped Evan move furniture into his new house and set up his new kitchen and then chased water all evening. The second they sat down in their chairs they were asleep.
Boomer and I were still good to go, but since the folks were so tired we decided maybe we wouldn’t chase Freddy Fox or any of the raccoons tonight or even get on the barking telephone system.
Around 11:00 Dad had to go back out in the wind to check tubes again to make sure they hadn’t trashed back up and stopped or the water was flowing over the sides of the cement ditch into the work fields.
We went part way and then turned back. ½ mile is pretty far to run for me anymore and Boomer didn’t want to leave me.
By that time we were tired so when Dad got back we went to bed also.
Anyhow our work has begun.
We love it, couldn’t ask for a better life!
Fuzzy (and Boomer)
Life on a Colorado Farm 