Life After Cows...Trip Part Three...

It's time I get back to the details of our trip!  Work has been quite busy, and we're still adjusting to life after cows, so some things aren't getting done as quickly as I'd like...

I left off the last time with our arrival in Hesston Kansas, where we met up with Jenna!  We stayed at the guest house on campus, which is super convenient when visiting someone at the college.  Our first full day there, Jenna had classes all day, so Jim and I did some adventuring of our own.

Over 30 years ago, Jim spent a summer on the wheat harvest, cutting wheat from Texas to Montana with a crew based out of Inman Kansas.  Before we left on our trip, he did some research and found what he thought might be a current address for his boss, Randy Ediger.  He didn't have a phone # though, so we were going out on a bit of a limb.  We punched it into the GPS and went for a drive.  As we came to the driveway, we saw harvesters lined up beside a barn, along with some grain trucks, and so we pulled in to find out if our search had been successful.  There was a young man working in an implement shed, and Jim hopped out of the car to talk to him while I waited.  A few minutes later, a man came out of the house saying "Jim!  You made it back!"  Randy recognized Jim right away, and we had a wonderful visit with him!  He was very gracious to receive unexpected guests, and made us feel very welcome!

Jim has a lot of great memories of his time back in the summer of 1987 on the wheat harvest!

After we left the Ediger farm, we headed just a few miles south to the little town of Buehler...

I had gone out on a limb of my own the day before, and contacted a fellow blogger, Kim, from Kim's County Line.  She's a fellow farm wife, and I've enjoyed reading about her life in Kansas for the past few years.  I knew she wasn't too far from where we would be (and in Kansas, an hour of travel feels so different than it does around here!!) and so I asked her if there was any way we could meet up.  She was also very gracious, and we met at a coffee shop in Buehler and had  nice visit!  We both regretted later that we hadn't take a picture, but we had a very nice time meeting in person and getting to know each other a little bit.  Thanks, Kim for taking time to meet with a near stranger on a whim!!

We took Jenna for supper in the evening, and turned in feeling like we had had a successful day!

On Thursday, our second full day in Hesston, all that Jenna had on her schedule was a violin lesson in the morning.  We've really missed hearing her play, so it was a treat to have her play several pieces for us that she's been working on...

We then headed out with Jenna for an adventure to a Salt Mine in Hutchinson.  It is an active salt mine, which Kim recommended would be a fun place to tour.  We were not disappointed!

We went from 630' high at the St Louis Arch, to 650' below ground for the tour of the mine. I thought it might feel a little claustrophobic, being underground, but it didn't feel that way at all.  The part of the mine that we were in was well lit, with high ceilings, so we didn't even feel like we were underground!  The underground temperature was a constant 55 degrees, so it was also quite comfortable temperature wise...

That chunk of salt beside Jim and Jenna weighs over a ton...

 The salt from this mine is used for road salt...

The large equipment inside the mine was taken down in pieces and reassembled once it was down in the mine.  It will stay there permanently, even after it's no longer in use.  This was an undercutter, which was used to cut a way a few inches at the bottom of each wall, which then allowed somewhere for the salt to fall once blasting took place...

...and this conveyor belt transported the salt out of the mine...

If you're ever near Hutchinson Kansas, I'd recommend it as place to visit!

We headed back to Hesston, and enjoyed our last evening on campus.  We strolled around the Arboretum...

...and enjoyed some welcome signs of spring...

As we prepared to leave Kansas, there was one other thing that I wanted to document, and that is the almost constant Kansas wind...

We had a wonderful time, and headed out early Friday morning for our next stop...Fort Collins Colorado to visit my Aunt.  More in a bit...

And Then It Rained...Again...

I'm sure there are many of you who are desperately in need of rain, and would be thrilled for a thunderstorm to roll through...but we are totally saturated here, and need some warm sunshine to dry out the fields!

Several weeks ago we had ten or eleven days straight of rain, and this weekend we just had another 4".

Some things are quite happy about it...

The grapes are flourishing...

The basil is quite happy, while the rosemary is tolerant but not thrilled...

The gerbera daisies have mixed feelings.  I have five pots sitting on this bench, and this one isn't very happy.  Too much water in the crown has caused the leaves to rot and fall off.  This one bloom, however, is persevering and trying desperately to open despite it's less than ideal circumstances...

The corn is struggling.  A lot of the corn came up nice, although it was pretty hesitant to poke through during that first week of rain.  Several areas were replanted, and that corn popped up quickly last week, just in time to lay underwater again.  This is mild.  Driving around in the area, some fields look like ponds.  There will be some permanent damage from too much moisture, and it will be interesting to see what kind of yields Lancaster County has this year.  Unlikely a repeat of last year's bumper crop!

The beans that were planted on Monday are starting to pop up...

Down to the garden...

The tomatoes seem really happy after a slow start.  So does the barley that sprouted from the straw I mulched with.  As soon as I can walk in there without sinking in, I'll have to do some weeding.

And...the verdict is in on the four-year-old seeds.

These are the green beans...

...and the limas are trying.  Really trying.  It could be the age of the seeds or all the rain, I'm not sure, but they're trying.

I sure wish I could send some of our moisture to those of you who need it!

Hoping for some sun!

**In regards to the question I asked on this post last week...that's a soybean planter in the pictures.  It's all folded up for transporting on the road, so it's a guess, really, for most people to know what was being planted!

Planting..

Something else got planted today...

What do you think it was?

Hint...the planter is folded up for transporting on the road, so you need to use your imagination!

Garden 2018...the Beginning...

My garden is planted about as late as it's ever been, this year!  A long week of rain and other "more important things" are my excuses!

Last evening I rototilled, and tonight I planted.

I planted a row of zinnias, a bed of sunflowers, and found two packs of seeds in my garden shed from 2014.  This is the year of experimentation...will they germinate or not?

This is my lima bean row, guarded fiercely by my two helpers.

One of these helpers is about to cause trouble.  Can you guess which one?

First, she tried to eat the lima beans as fast as I dropped them into the rows...

Then she found a piece of wood and decided to play keep away with her mother...

You can imagine the state of the garden when they were finished!

I found several volunteer dill plants growing along the edge of the garden, so I left them to grow...

My tomatoes have actually been planted for a couple of weeks.  I have blight in my soil, so each year I mulch heavily with straw, to keep the soil from splashing up onto the leaves when it rains.  I also spray them with liquid copper.  I hope they do ok this year, because I planted them, mulched them and then it began to rain, before I got them sprayed!

My cucumbers, Burpless #26, don't look too happy.  They didn't appreciate all the rain either, and turned a little yellow and sickly looking.  But now that we've had several days of sunshine, I see a blossom!  Fingers crossed!  My pickle shelf is getting empty...

And last but not least...

Totally unrelated, but located  next to my garden, are our two new additions...

Kari and Whitney are leghorn pullets, given to me by Kari's daughter Avalea.  She and her fellow classmates at our local CTC hatched them and raised them to eight weeks of age before finding them new homes.   Last evening I went inside to check on them and I found them huddled together in the nesting boxes.  Aren't they sweet?

They're still extremely shy, and they're not allowed out of the shed yet.  I want to protect them from hawks and other dangers as much as possible until they're bigger.  I've also reinforced the fence to keep out foxes and other predators.

Hopefully they'll be joined before too long by some other hens, to keep them company.  (and to keep us in eggs!!)

After The Rain...

I really want this post to be about after the rain...but the problem is, you see...it keeps on raining!!

Friday a week ago, most of corn went in the ground.  Saturday the rain began.  And Sunday. And Monday. I remember that Tuesday was just cloudy, and I regretted not getting the yard mowed. It rained again on Wednesday. And Thursday. Friday was finally nice enough to mow, (I could have baled the grass, it had grown so much!) and then it rained in the evening.  Saturday brought heavy rain all day, and finally, Sunday was nice, with only a brief shower. 

You get the picture.  We lost track of the measurements, but we must have had +-3" of rain in the past week. 

The corn was a concern.  However, as soon as the sun came out again, we saw this...

If you enlarge the picture, you'll see faint green rows running the length of the field.  Most of the corn germinated and came up, except for some low lying areas where the water either washed or couldn't get away in the saturated ground.  We're very thankful!

Now for the colorful part of the post...

Years ago, our neighbor Ruth grew and sold bearded iris.  She shared with us, and whenever I see them bloom, I think of her!

Their blooming season is short...we'll only enjoy them for a week or so...but I just love them!  When I walk past them to the calf hutches, their sweet scent is so pleasant!

Yesterday was perfect.  Just perfect...lots of blue sky, a gentle breeze and low humidity.

And today it rained again. 

Sigh.

Happy Cows...

After what seemed like a winter that wouldn't go away, we aren't the only ones who are ready for spring!

The milking cows here at home have been out on pasture several days a week for about two weeks now.  The first morning we put them out, they kicked up their heels with glee! Seriously!

The past few nights have been warm enough that they're out over night as well. The downside is...tying them in their stalls in the early morning is a zoo!  Until they learn the routine, the young heifers are...let's just say they're  very "heifer like", and leave it at that!

Enough words..

Let's get to the pictures of the other farm, where we put the dry cows and heifers into the meadow last week.

First,  we had to get ready...

Jim wanted to give them a small section of the meadow for starters.  The Allis Chalmers D-17 has fence wire on a reel, so he brought it into the meadow...

He dropped fence posts, and I pounded them in.  Gloves are a necessity when handling fiberglass fence posts!

He wrapped the wire around the posts..

And then we tied bale rope on the wire to make it more visible...

Of course, in the middle of it all, I had to just sit down in the lush, green grass and marvel at how spring is actually here!  No matter how dreary or cold the winter, spring ALWAYS comes!

 And of course,  the cows were happy too!

Signs of Spring...

It's my favorite time of year again!  The sights and smells of spring are a reminder of new life, and I never get tired of them.

I took my phone for a walk a couple of days ago to capture a few of my favorite things...

Old fashioned primroses 

I have always called them bluebells, and they grow wild around here

Old fashioned fern leaf peony, one of the first to bloom

Dark purple lilac buds

Jim took the backs off the hutches this week, and the calves are thrilled!

The rhubarb is growing in leaps and bounds

They never get old!

Windblown "regular" peonies

Buds on the maple tree

What signs of spring are you seeing?