We managed to grab more above normal temperatures as well as a little rain as the scurs predicted this past week. Will we see a repeat performance? Starting Wednesday, mostly clear with highs of 60 – 65 and lows of 35 – 40. Thursday, more clear skies during the day but clouding up by evening with a good chance of rain. Highs 60 – 65 and lows near 45. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of showers. High near 60 and lows of 45 – 50. Partly cloudy and warmer with an increased chance of a shower or thunderstorm on Saturday. Highs of 65 – 70 and lows around 50. April Fool’s Day, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower. Highs near 65 and lows around 45. Partly cloudy on Monday with highs of 60 and lows near freezing. Clear and cooler on Tuesday. Highs around 50 and lows around 35. The normal high for April 1st is 49 and the normal low is 29. Due to the time change, we will see the sun rise once again at 7 a.m. on the 29th, the same as it did back on the 24th of February. The scurs remain puzzled by how moist the soils are. One would think with the recent extra hour of daylight, they would dry out faster.
Some of the zeal for early fieldwork last week was suddenly tempered by rainfall on consecutive days, cooler temperatures and cloudy skies. Soils dried slowly and tacky surface conditions didn’t improve much. Underneath soils remain in good spring working condition. Alfalfa really took off with the rain and is making some nervous that a dramatic temperature drop could spell its demise. This could be but in the foreseeable future none of that appears imminent. The unanimous opinion of those who have done some field work seems to be that soils are working up marvelously. The huge hunks of soil leftover from last fall seem to have disintegrated where there has been an initial tillage pass.
In the garden at the ranch, the radishes planted on March 18th were up already on the 23rd so they could be rowed from the patio window. The peas haven’t peeked their heads out just yet and that’s probably OK. They’re probably a touch more sensitive than the radishes to a frost anyway although in either instance, there is plenty of time to replant them even though crop insurance won’t pay for it. The green rhubarb is a foot tall and the red which is a little slower is about six inches in height. The lawn is getting about that tall too in places so that means Mr. Cheviot needs to get the mower ready for action once again. Sometimes it would be easier to just run about another 200 feet of electric fence and let the sheep do their thing.
More phenology at the ranch includes a little toad outside the lambing barn hopping around the night of the 21st.
The first tree swallows were seen around noon on the 23rd. Highly doubtful there is any correlation between their appearance and radish emergence however. There have been large groups of juncos around the feeders, likely making their way through to their summer abodes to the north. The trees also continue far ahead of schedule with small trees such as the nannyberries leafed out already. There haven’t been any blooms as of yet but with forecast temperatures continuing to run above normal it’s only a matter of time.
Received a call from one of my little fat buddies regarding the location of a nursery establishment. I was having a difficult time describing the exact how to get there as the landmark selection was somewhat limited. Anywhere a guy would go anyway. However, when I triangulated the site in relation to the local Dairy Queen the light suddenly came on. There was no question after that. Programming GPS units with that information should be considered essential.
Ruby has remained busy helping move ewes and lambs to the loafing barn. She is so proud of herself and rightfully so. The ewes respect her and she’s always in position to keep them under control. There has been more company too visiting the new lamb crop so she’s in doggie heaven. The last of the lambs hit the ground last Saturday, we think. There is still one big fat ewe that has nothing of an udder yet so wouldn’t count our chicks, er, lambs before they hatch. We thought we were done on Friday and then we saw the same goofball ewe I had slipped on the ice with a month ago suddenly bag up, almost within 24 hours. She was almost as cooperative about lambing too; deciding that a good place was behind the brush pile down in the pasture. I had other ideas thinking that perhaps closer to the barn would be a tad more convenient when attempting to coax her into a pen so we could monitor the situation. I chased her back up into the yard with the others and thought she’d stay there where there was a nice dry area to lie down. Wrong. A half hour later I looked and she was nowhere to be found. Common sense told me she’d go right back to the brush pile and that’s exactly where she went. I tried convincing her again she’d be better off up in the yard. This time she’d had enough persuasion, and tore off for the far end of the pasture! I finally got her headed the right direction and back up into the barnyard.
She then decided going behind the big barn was a safe bet only this time I stayed outside to keep an eye on her from a distance. She’d peek her head around the corner of the barn to see if I was still there then disappear again. After about a half hour of this baloney, I tired of the game and went back in the house, convinced she’d probably go back to her original plan. Besides, I was hungry. Within minutes Mrs. Cheviot arrived home so she went out to check on the ewe I had named Fruit Loop because of all her antics. About 20 minutes passed so I put on my outdoor clothes again as Mrs. Cheviot came in the garage and announced. “All done.” “All done what?” I asked. “The ewe lambed, followed me back to the barn, she’s in the pen, lamb is muddy but fine,” Mrs. Cheviot replied. Geesh, the ewe is half crazy, I wind up putting in a couple hours of roadwork chasing her around and Mrs. Cheviot comes home and just falls into it. Go figure. It has been a relatively easy lambing season though and we should be counting our blessings rather than wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood. Few bottle lambs, no pulling lambs and a very healthy group overall. Things could’ve been much, much worse.
See you next week…real good then.