Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Watching the Corn and Beans Grow...

A couple of years ago, I did a series of post throughout the growing season, following one particular corn stalk...from seed to harvest.  You can read that series of posts here...

I decided to do it again this year...but I'm going to compare the corn and soybeans.  They were both planted on the same two days...last Monday and Tuesday (May 15 and 16).  Over the weekend, I noticed a few shoots poking through the soil, and this morning you can clearly see down the rows.

Here are the soybeans...



...and the corn...



It's clear the the first time I did this (2012) that the corn was planted earlier than this year!  The weather has so much to do with it...but by Memorial Day, which is fast approaching, the corn that year was already several inches high.  We'll see though...with the rain we just had, and the warm temps to come...it's going to grow in leaps and bounds!

Friday, May 19, 2017

Update...the War On Chickweed...One Month Later...

This is a happy story...

One month ago today, I posted about  the downside of a mild winter. Chickweed had overtaken my flower bed along the meadow fence. Granted, it's at a spot where weeds from the meadow can easily creep in, but I'd never had it look this bad in the spring.  Using mushroom mulch didn't help a thing, as it not only builds up the soil and feeds the good plants, but it feeds the weeds as well.

One month later, I'm happy to show you pictures, not only because it took a lot of hard work, but because I'm flower happy this time of year!

Most of the iris came from a former neighbor who grew hundreds of varieties to sell, as did the peonies.  The roses, which are struggling a bit, came from another neighbor.  That's just one of the beauties of perennials...you can enjoy the flowers as well as the memories of friendship!

I know...the edges of this flower bed aren't straight...and that bugs me.  A lot!  Actually, the intended edge is straight...and mulched.  You can see it if you look closely. However, the chickweed also crawled into the grass.  The weed killer that I used worked quite fine...except that now I need to seed some new grass to fill in the gaps.

Here we go...







The peonies will be open any day now.  Their fragrance is wonderful! (and much nicer than what I'm smelling from the fields right now!)

Do you see who photo bombed my picture?!


Iris and peonies don't like mulch, as their roots need to be on the drier side...so I mulched around them, leaving some space around each plant.  It doesn't look as tidy as I prefer, but whatever keeps them happy!  I also used regular bark mulch this year, hoping that it well better hold back the chickweed.

My war on chickweed isn't over.  It never will be, this close to the meadow...but for now I'd say this battle has been won!



Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Signs of Spring...2017...

I'll ask you to forgive me ahead of time for the picture heavy post, but SPRING is here. Completely here, and the sounds and colors make me quite happy!

I like sleeping with the windows open,  hearing the birds singing in the early morning...

I love so many flowers, I might just have to show them all to you...


Dr Ruppel, my early blooming clematis...



Coleus are some of my favorites, and they do well on my porch where they get both sun and shade...


I call this "Happy Row".  The challenge is keeping the dogs from knocking the pots off the bench...


These old fashioned Rhododendron bushes must be around forty years old, at least!


The house finches have once again built nests in my Begonia hanging baskets.  I love hearing their sweets sounds...



And yes, rain is part of spring.  The only sure way to dry running shoes without the dogs dragging them off and chewing them up...


Can you see him?  The corn planter is here!


Phoebe is loving the weather...and is loving destroying the ball that Eric gave her last week...


We'd better enjoy SPRING today, because summer is coming tomorrow!

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Rye Grass 2017...

Well the spring/ summer work has officially begun...

Jim had the rye grass mowed on Thursday,  tedded it and raked it up on Friday, with plans  to bale and wrap on Saturday morning. Then...a surprise thunderstorm rolled through early Saturday morning.  Change of plans.

Saturday ended up being a good drying day, so he tedded it again so it could dry out, raked it back up, and baled over evening milking time...


Yesterday morning he used the bale hugger to stack the bales...




We have twenty eight bales of rye grass stacked up, fermenting and hopefully turning into good feed for the cows!