The scurs need to get the Weather Eye back to the Nash Rambler dealership. Seems the fan only blows on high or not at all. Will the breezes be in between this next week or will we continue getting blown away? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows around 50. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a continued good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a modest chance of showers. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of evening showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a good chance of a rain shower. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. The normal high for April 11th is 55 and the normal low is 34. The scurs are certain that their Easter candy stash will tide them over to May basket time. Or they’ll always think it should have.
Spring weather continued to smile on area farmers and, as predicted, anhydrous ammonia was in full swing over the weekend. Conditions were ideal for its application with virtually no leakage and very little compaction. Also some rumblings of corn being planted. That’s all well and good, but it is well before the replant guarantee date of April 11th. One can rationalize it on a small acreage perhaps, but large scale planting prior to mid-April results in no larger potential yields and increases potential risks. There are limits regardless of how great the genetics are nowadays. This debate was underway already over 40 years ago. As a lad, I recall reading about one smarter than the average bear in our area who was convinced he could plant corn in the fall using then “revolutionary” seed coating techniques. Never heard anything more about it after that fall. Things that make you go hmmm….
Sowing small grain should also have been ideal. Soil conditions and the calendar date were both favorable. Equally good conditions for establishing a new seeding of alfalfa. Alfalfa survival in established stands appears to have been favorable in spite of the 15 degree low on April 1st. That’s a good thing because due to high corn and soybean prices, odds are many acres of hay will be converted into row crops. Can’t figure it out. Plant a crop, watch it grow to maturity, harvest it, stick it in a bin, pull it out, haul it and be done with it. This versus worry about winter survival, harvest three times, worry about getting it dry enough to bale each time, sweat your tail off stacking it, then worry if it’s dry enough to keep without burning the barn down. The crowning touch is to have someone complain if you’re selling it that it’s not perfect and want to dicker on price. Some people’s kids...
Need to pick up the pace pruning trees at the ranch. The warm weekend was a signal that time is running out in that department. Pussy willow harvest is over. It appears the last of what was harvested came from male plants. Makes sense. Like people, they mature later if at all. I got the production apples pruned as well as the pear trees. After last year, pears were definitely a priority. At least I performed the major surgeries on the crabapple and oak trees. Critical to get the face snappers, eye gougers, headphone grabbers and glasses snatchers first. Will focus on cosmetics next. There are enough tree pruning jobs, not to mention some major tree removal projects at the ranch to keep someone busy for years. In anticipation of that, I even went to the People’s Republic of Steele Co. law enforcement center to get a burning permit. After playing “Captain may I” and “Simon says,” it may be my golden opportunity to clean up many moon’s worth of storm damage.
Gardening also has had its challenges this spring. The radishes survived the below freezing temperatures, but showed signs of injury as did the iris. The crocuses and daffodils were covered. Both rewarded us with beautiful blooms after removing the buckets and other coverings. The rhubarb also was covered and really took off after back to back 80 degree days Sunday and Monday. Monday night I trenched and incorporated manure around the two main plants of red rhubarb. I also applied some additional nitrogen. While those plants were productive last year, they’d fallen off the pace of earlier years. Last year’s residue was also removed from the peonies. They’re a little pokey, so additional treatment may be called for there as well. Finally, I removed the blanket of grass clippings and leaves that covered the lilies of the valley or lilies of the alley as my late friend, Gene, liked to call them. They’d grow anywhere he claimed. I had lots of Ruby’s supervision, so they can’t miss.
We were able to go on an impromptu cruise Sunday after getting the Silver Hawk through its annual checkup and oil change. One of my old tractor and car enthusiast friends was in on Friday, wondering if we’d be game perhaps on Sunday. Why not? Sure enough, I got a call on Saturday and it was a “go” for 2 p.m. Easter Sunday. There were only four cars, but sometimes it isn’t the quantity but the quality. We wound our way on the backroads up through Cleveland and back to Waterville, where we set down to take on some nourishment and refreshments while unwinding at a local watering hole. The afternoon burned into what is normally choretime, but it was totally worth it. We wanted to get away, all of us. So we did.
When we got home, we’d decided we were going to move the last two pens of ewes and lambs out of the lambing barn after chores. I’d gone ahead to feed the ram and a small handful of ewes to keep them out of our hair. One ewe came out of the barn after the others and within a few seconds a tiny lamb joined her. What the??? We’d been debating whether or not any more ewes were bred and we had our answer. We corralled the ewe and picked up the small newcomer (oddly enough a ewe lamb) then got the ewe to follow after some coaxing and use of a few descriptive terms. We then got the others moved and decided that the new lamb needed a name. Reckon you can’t have Easter without a Bunny, now, can you?
See you next week…real good then.