is every year different ?

Crazy out here in Wyoming this year too Karl. Last year we had one of the biggest snowpacks on record, water ran high until August, and we had a hell of a time getting ground dry enough to hay. Fast forward to this year and we had a tiny snowpack, and have had no moisture to speak of for over 60 days (we’re talking less than 10% of normal) and have severe drought.
We also had a very warm March and April, but it was followed by a cool May so not much growth now.
I’m hoping for a little better than half a hay crop and am starting to cull cattle out…long time ’til fall.

same here mitch …48 degrees and rain looks like the wood stove has another week at best

she opened up last night. five and a quarter inches so far in the guage sinse saturday around ten am. a half inch more than the month of may. the weather man thinks it will rain until tuesday, and i am worried he might be correct this time. pigs aren’t happy, but i can move them. all else seems ok except the thousand feet of potatoes i covered up friday. yuck.

I didn’t check the rain gage on the way to the barn this morning Mitch. Don’t think the rain was quite so heavy here a bit back from the shore but it sure was steady all night. We started a fire yesterday afternoon and kept it going most of the night. I went out yesterday morning and captured a swarm of bees in a neighbors garden. Easy job as it was just above 50 and they were tightly clustered only 8′ up in an apple tree. Don’t think they would have made out so well if I hadn’t hived ’em with comb already drawn in one of my top bar hives. 50 degrees right now with a pretty good sou’east breeze. Being on the south side of the ridge the water all ends up and the bottom of my small holding and it not a pretty place when the horses finish with it. Guess I will spend the day in the barn, going to build some shaves for the Scandinavian harness. Been communicating with Simon in the Uk about the various rigging they use so am pretty excited to get moving on this.

Stove’s been burning for a few days…… have to heat the water anyway because there’s no sun, but of course it feels good. Out yesterday and it felt more uncomfortable than during winter…. chilled to the bone.

It certainly has gotten to where we can’t rely on those old patterns we grew up with. I have been beating my head against old patterns for several years now, and just decided to try to be more flexible.

This year I took advantage of the early dry warmth and got the garden ready in April…. usually couldn’t get on it until mid May. This year I have taters up a foot and have already hilled them twice. I keep wincing because I still have ingrained in my essence that June 10th final frost date…… but we’re forging ahead.

I also had a heavy early hay crop present itself….. I just could not bring myself to cut hay in MAY (?). I knew I was going to cut hay this year, but my equipment wasn’t ready, and I have a hard enough time drying hay in June….. so I just brush-hogged it back into the soil. It’s coming back strong, and I will probably get a good crop nearer the end of June…..

Lousy weather for pigs though. Our sows farrowed last week….. 85 degrees in May???? Way too hot for a farrowing sow…… one got exhausted and could finish, I had to work for fifteen minutes with my fingertips, arm ALL THE WAY inside her, tickling the hind feet of a dead piglet until it finally moved close enough to get ahold of it, then it took another 20 minutes to get it out of her……. and then I finally had to just put her out of her misery. Then 2 days later it’s 50 degrees and raining and piglets are shivering….. we have four orphans and runts in the house, but six good sound piggies running with the remaining mom. 25 piglets inside, 18 came out alive, 10 remain……….

Thinking about raising ducks…….:p

Carl

Mitch, I kept watching the weather radar yesterday and that stuff just sat over you and bit over here. We have 3.5 inches this morning. Don’t want to turn the guys out at it is deep muck and running water everywhere. No work either and I sure am not getting much time in the woods this month. Starting to pinch. When I was on the boats and living on the shore I lived in a small fishing shack that was just at the high tide line. When we would get SE gales I would put a dory in the back yard with a line to the house leading around a tree a bit up ground. Never had to use it but often we had a couple of feet of water in the door yard. Figured I would never have to think about that up here on the ridge.