August 12-13, 2011

What a relief, our heat wave and drought has broken!

Timber Rattler

Sally was in Harrison and coming to the farm directly from there, so I came out the shortcut. I like coming this way because I never know what I'll see – and it is shorter (not time wise, just distance). I was right up on this rattlesnake before I noticed him, but I knew immediately what it was. He was directly in the middle of the track so my tires missed him. I backed up and got out so I could get a couple of pictures. I think this is the first time I've ever seen a rattlesnake in the wild.

Weather

What a nice change. The high pressure sitting over us for months backed off and we were under the jet stream's northwest flow. It brought us some nice rains (5 out of 7 days) and cooler temperatures (highs in the upper 80s and lows into the 60s). Three inches was in the gauge, and we got almost another inch overnight. What a delight and blessing. Since May, we'd received less than an inch of rain total and all the leaves on many trees are brown and falling. You can see the damage to the trees in the field to the right of the road coming down the hill. When we bought the property in 2003 we quit having this pasture brush hogged and decided to let it grow up. We'll just have to wait until next spring to see which ones survive.

Trees

Too bad the rain came too late to save my Red Buckeye, but maybe it will come back. All the other baby trees I've nursed along all summer (weekly waterings) have made it through the drought and heat wave. Something has been eating on the Pixie Delight apple, in spite of the fact that I have a large wire cage around it. I can't imagine deer getting their heads through there, but may be a small one can.

This picture is the Walnut that was completely defoliated a month ago by I don't know what – some kind of worms I presume. I was a bit surprised given the drought to see it putting on new leaves, but these are hearty trees. The babies I put out several years back often die off, but the next year put up a new sprout from the root. The problem is they never get any bigger. The same is true for the volunteers in the field next to the road, the ones I tag to keep from being brush hogged.

Road Work

I dug more mud from the bluff by the barn, scooped up lots of chirt to work into it, and patched more of the road just below the house and in front of the barn. The mud I'd put out to repair the water bars up the road (weeks past) was very soft due to the rain and did not contain enough rock – much of it just squished to the side when we drove down. I hauled some more rock up to work into it, but obviously need even more. Some of the mud I harvest has more clay and is heavier/denser/clumpier and thus better for the road. I couldn't tell the difference when it was so dry.

Garden

As you can see here, the butternut squash continues to thrive and soon will not only take over the entire garden but also the yard (its growing through the fence). We've already picked about 30 and I believe there are that many more if you count the little babies that are just now being put on. The jalapeno is also very proliferate, providing more than we can eat. The basil thrives, providing another 4 cups for another double batch of pesto. (Its a pain pinching off the blooms.) There are lots of small bell peppers, but we've only harvested one to date. We also picked a bit more chard – I'm hopeful it will do better with more moisture. Sally went ahead and put out some seeds for a fall garden, though it was hard to find spots not covered by the large squash leaves.

Bacteria

I thought the pond bottom, at least around the dam, did look better after spreading the Flush It bacteria packets the week before. Near the inlet and the shallow end however, I didn't really notice any change. I also couldn't tell any improvement in the Ben Gay Spring tank. I chunked another one in there. I hope it is warm enough for them to work (spring water being cold).

Mow

With some rain, I went ahead and mowed around the house, down to and around the pond, around the spring, and in front of the barn. The grass south of the pond where the seep is was so thick I barely got through it on the highest setting. It has staid green and growing throughout the summer in spite of no rain.

August 5-6, 2011

Another weekend hotter and dryer than the last. Record highs and all time record highs were set throughout the state during the week. I thought it was hot, at 102, when we arrived Friday but this picture was taken when leaving Saturday afternoon. I moved the thermometer down so it wasn't close to the tin roof of the garage, but at 111 it was just 2 degrees higher than the one on the porch. Luckily, as I write this on Tuesday, we have gotten a break from the heat and a tiny bit of much needed rain – with more in the forecast. This has been the hottest and driest summer I have ever experienced, and I hope I never see another like it.

Garden

After the unbelievable heat of the week, and no rain, we were amazed to find the squash had survived. After a good watering it perked up, and it is still blooming and putting on new fruit. Sally picked over 20 of these butternuts, and found a couple that had split – I presume from getting watered after being dry all week. We peeled them, sliced them thin, and grilled them in a little olive oil. There were very tasty with a little sea salt.

The basil and the two peppers are also doing well, in spite of the heat. Sally picked 4 cups of basil and made a double batch of pesto. She froze most of it, but kept enough aside for us to have on toast with a fresh tomato we had been given but had left at home. She also picked half dozen or more jalapenos. Something had eaten all the leaves off the tomatoes, not that they were doing anything anyway. I never figured out what had eaten them as I never saw any hornworms. I actually thought deer might have gotten in and done the damage, but there were no prints. (I suspect deer are what has been eating the few blackberry canes that haven't died.)

Butterflies

There have been lots of butterflies around this summer. Sally found the one in the picture above (to the right of the squash) dead but complete. I saw several others like that. This orange one was in the garage and was briefly opening its wings and then closing them up. The picture is blurred as I could never catch it with its wings open. I suspect it was trying to keep cool. It was very pretty.

Flush It

Also in the picture of the squash, to the right, you can see the container of bacteria I purchased for $150 (contains 72 packets. This brand is sold primarily for septic systems and they had some amazing testimonials on their site. They also promote them for ponds to eat the muck – reduce the organic matter and thus the food source for algae. Other sites sold bacteria specifically for ponds, but I decided to try these guys. The packets are small and seem to be plastic, but they dissolve in water in a few minutes. They recommended 24 per 1 acre pond. I've estimated our pond at 2/3 acre, and I walked around the perimeter and chunked in 22. The inlet end is the shallowest and the most mucked up, so I put more there. In another month I am supposed to do it again, but the water temperature has to be up so they can't be used over the winter.

The pond was down 3-4 inches below the culverts, there was no water leaking through the dam (that I could tell), and there was absolutely no water running into the pond. I've never seen gum spring totally dry like this. The grass is still green and growing on the south side and I could just detect some water seeping into the pond in that area where there is a small spring/seep.

The tank that catches the water from the spring by the house (I've decided to name it Ben Gay spring since to my knowledge it never had a name) is also mucked up. It catches lots of leaves and limbs from the three big trees clinging to the bluff directly above it. I raked out some of the bigger stuff and then put 1 of these Flush It bacteria packets in that tank. I am very anxious to see how it does here since it should be real easy to monitor.

I also flushed one packet into our septic system since they are also supposed to help in the field lines. (I know our tank is okay since I had it unnecessarily pumped last summer, but how do you know the condition of your field lines?)

July 29-30, 2011

Sally was off on a girls trip, so the boys went to the Farm. To make the trip bearable for Tender and I, we brought some cold watermelon for afternoon refreshment.

Damn Hot

Everyone is so tired of this miserable heat and dry weather. I just can't imagine what it is like for those poor Texans. We're setting record highs regularly, and even a record all time high for Ft. Smith of 115 (tied it in Fayetteville, 110). This picture was Saturday afternoon. I was using the mercury thermometer to verify that the two outdoor thermometers were actually correct. They were. But this one on the garage registers higher in the heat of the afternoon than the one on the porch (it was only showing 102 at the time), but lower in the morning. I think heat off the gutter and tin roof are affecting it, so I moved it lower on a different post. I think the concrete of the porch is keeping the overnight temperature a bit higher on the porch. That's my theory anyway.

Mulch

I had picked up a load of mulch from the city and brought it out to spread under the trees. Practically all of it went under the two pears and the two apples. The rest made small rings around my baby trees out front. I could easily use another load. I like it under the trees because it helps keep the soil cooler, retains moisture, and keeps it loose so that when the weeds do grow there they are easier to pull up. I also brought out two old soaker hoses with plans to cut them in two and bury them in the much under the pears and apples. But I didn't have the right hose end connectors, so that has to wait until next weekend.

Water

Other than spreading the mulch, the only other thing I got done was watering everything -- several hours Friday and several more Saturday (why I want to use soaker hoses). We desperately need rain, and you can tell it everywhere. The squash was really dropping when I arrived, so I put some water on it first thing. Then it was droppy again Saturday morning. I watered it heavily Saturday, thinking maybe I had rushed it the day before. It perked up. Then in the afternoon it was dropping again. That's when I looked at the thermometer and realized just how hot it was, and that no amount of water was going to help. On Sally's instruction I did pick three of the butternuts (I counted over 30 more), the orange bell pepper that had turned, and more chard (that stuff is amazing). Given the price of butternut squash at ONF of $2.59/lb and an average of 2 pounds per squash, we have over $150 worth of squash in the garden!

Roadrunner

While watering the garden, a roadrunner appeared on the other side of the fence. He was big and quite colorful with a cute crest on top of his head. I've rarely seen them this close. He ran back and forth a couple of times and then disappeared down the hill. (I really don't know if it was a he or she.)

Blue Birds

The babies were all gone. I am presuming they grew and flew off, and that nothing got them. Perhaps that is just wishful thinking. It was interesting to find this baby snake all dried up and stuck between the nest and the door. Another presumption would be that it was intended as food for the babies but got misplaced, or maybe was too big for them.

Apples

We only had three apples this year. Had! Now we only have 1. It looked to me like deer pulled two off and bit on them but decided they were too green. They also ate some of the leaves and broke some limbs. I decided to go ahead and prune out a couple of limbs that were still green and growing, but had severe damage (hail or scuffed badly some time back) and looked like would not survive long term. Partly because they were trying to put on new leaves -- let that energy go to part of the tree that has a better chance of long term survival.