July 6-7, 2012

It was another hot and dry week, but we got some very welcome rain over the weekend. Sally and Tender staid in town, so it was just me.

Water

First thing was to water everything. Since there was a chance of rain over the next couple of days I wasn't as thorough as I would otherwise have been. After getting
the garden and the trees and flower bed out front, I put the soaker hoses on the apple and pear trees (there are still 3 apples and a couple dozen pears). When I was done storm clouds began forming to the south. Then it got dark and windy, and finally some rain. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was hard. Then I checked the gauge and was disappointed to see less than a tenth of an inch.

Gutters

I'm building some rain barrels, so wanted to get the gutter over the front of the garage straightened up. Since there was water in it, it was easy to see where it needed adjustment. Its a mess, but I pulled some of the nails and got it draining on both ends. It also leaks at a couple of joints in the middle, but hopefully I can just caulk those up. I then gathered some big rocks for the end near the garden where a barrel will go.

Deer

For some reason the deer prefer the maple trees. They had stripped several limbs from this one, and broken one limb off. I hung some CDs in several of the trees as they are supposed to spoke the deer and keep them away. I hope.

Garden

The zuchinni just got too dry and died. Probably just as well since it was infested with squash bugs. The only red tomato had a huge byte out of it. There was another beginning to turn, so I picked it. There were also a couple of green ones that had been sampled. The green beans had lots of blooms, but only a handful of beans. The jalapeno's are beginning to put on and I am giving the bell peppers more time to see if they turn. I did pick another 4 cups of basil.

Spring

I have never seen it so dry. There was not a drop of water falling at the spring, not one single drop. I wonder why the pool beneath it hadn't dried entirely up.

Fill for the Dam

For a Saturday project I decided to harvest some fill for the dam where it has settled around the culverts. I don't know if the settling is just natural after I dug them out several years back and refilled (due to a leak), or more dirt that has washed out due to new leaks. I really haven't noticed much of a problem once I stuffed plastic bags into the leaks under the mouths of the culverts, but I know there was, and probably is, still a problem. Anyway, I dug dirt from below the lowest culvert on the place -- the bottom of the hill where the road curves back to the east. There really is no place for it to drain so I wanted to clear it out a bit so that it doesn't silt up (like the first one did on the road at the top of the hill). So with pick, adz, and shovel I filled all my buckets, hauled them over to the dam, and dumped it all in the hallows there.

More Rain

More storm clouds blew up Saturday afternoon and we got another quick shower, but I only dumped about six drops out of the rain gauge. But while driving into Eureka on my way home it started raining again, and really hard. Later that evening on the news I heard that Eureka had received almost 2 inches of rain. But I also saw a rainfall map, and it looked like it was much less at the farm. I'm not complaining though, it is so nice to finally see some rain.

June 29-30, 2012

This has to be the worst June ever, still no rain and temperatures around 100 all week -- and its only the beginning of summer. I thought it was dry for the wedding, but now we are really toast (literally and figuratively). We went from a mild drought, to a moderate drought, to a severe drought in three weeks, and that was two weeks ago. I wonder if it's been classified as an extreme drought yet (the last and worst level)?

Garden

Only a few things have died so far, but its not looking good. Even the summer spinach was all wilted. Sally picked green beans, two tomatoes (with lots of green ones on the vine), a couple of zuchinni, chard, enough basil for a double batch, and most of the remaining onions. I watered and weeded, and found only 1 tomato horn worm (but knew there were others disguised amongst the leaves). Some green beans and sunflowers didn't make it.

Watering

I spent 3 hours Friday just watering. Beside the garden, I put the soaker hoses on the apples and pears, the sprinkler on Sally's sole tree, and hand watered all the trees and the flower garden out front. The peach had lost almost all its leaves, so I think it is a goner. A couple of my little transplants out front are struggling and I doubt they will survive the summer. Now I have begun to worry about the well running dry.

Pond

I drove the mower down to cut the grass in the low area by the Sycamores and on the south side of the pond, and to get there to spread more bacteria (to eat up the muck on the bottom). I distributed 16 packets, and now have only about 10 left form my purchase of 80 last summer. I'm going on faith they are doing some good in my battle with weeds and algae in the pond. The pond is very low.

I checked the bird house while there, and sure enough there were three good size deceased bluebird babies. Such is nature. I cleaned out the house.

Creeks

There is no water running anywhere, not in the creeks or the spring. This good size sycamore along one of the creeks looks like it is dying. In the foreground is Knapweed, which doesn't seem to mind the hot dry weather, in full bloom.

Barn Piers

Before leaving I took my tape measure, chain saw, and drill down to the barn. I wanted to erect two of my largest cedar posts on top of these empty piers and then attach them to the truss above. I cut them to what I hope is the right length and drilled a hole in the bottom. The re-bar extending out the top of the piers should fit into the hole and keep the bottom of the posts from moving. Its just something else to do with some of the posts, and I think will look better than these empty piers. (Why were they poured anyway?) I may need some help holding them up while I attach them at the top -- perhaps a task for Armin when he visits.