Filed under: Corn, Farm, Minnesota, planting, rain, Soybeans, spring, tillage, weather, wind | Tags: Corn, farm, Minnesota, Planting, rain, Soybeans, spring, weather, wind
The rain gauge had another half inch in it this morning. That brings us to five and a half inches for the month, most of it in the last two weeks. We have not been able to do any field work since the 19th.
Water in field
Some fields have puddles in them again. Not as big as earlier, still when your field has been planted it is discouraging to see your field under water. There are many fields with farm equipment still in them waiting for the fields to dry.
The corn has been growing well. The warm days have helped it put on some new leaves.
Soybeans emerge
Our soybeans are now peeking out of the ground. It is encouraging to see another sign that you may get a return out of your work.
Visions of the dust bowl
The high winds of the last few days have not been real helpful. Especially when you see dust clouds rising out of fields. Some light ground has started to blow and the chance of sandblasting those young plants out of existence is not something you want to consider. The blowing soils are promoted by beating rains creating a fine layer of small soil particles on the soil surface.
Farmers that have soil prone to blowing need to manage their fields to keep more of last years crop residue on the surface. Tree rows can also help to slow the wind. If the lighter soils are worked too much or kept too flat soil can blow. A rough soil surface with plant materials on the surface will help stop water and wind erosion.
It’s been a challenging month here in south west Minnesota. Hope is still there for a good crop, we’ll have to see what the rest of the growing season brings.
Michael
Filed under: cold, Corn, Farm, garden, Minnesota, planting, rain, spring | Tags: carrots, cold, Corn, farm, Food, garden, leaf lettuce, Minnesota, peppers, Planting, potatoes, radishes, rain, spinach, spring, tomatoes
My veggie garden has been a bit slow getting started this year. With all of the rain and cold it’s been hard to get anything planted. Then there is field work and the preparations for the wedding and time for a veggie garden can be at a premium.
I always plant carrots, radishes, spinach and leaf lettuce early. I plant the carrots and radishes in the same row. The radishes are up early and fast so you can harvest them first, and thin the carrots at the same time. When the radishes are done the slower growing carrots are well set. So far the radishes are nearing harvest, the spinach and lettuce are small but looking good and the carrots are just peeking out.
Potatoes were planted late this year. Some are up and well started while others are just peeking their first leaves out.
I would have liked to have my sweet corn planted now but things have been a bit wet. If I can get a few more dry days I’m going to try to get it in the ground.
I picked up my tomato and pepper plants today and decided to plant them. The ground was very wet. Working the ground this wet can make for some badly compacted soil in clay based ground like mine. I’m hoping I got good enough soil contact to my plants without compressing the soil too hard for the roots. No need to water them.
I had a few spots in the lawn where I needed to plant some grass. Trying to get any soil to cover even these small seeds was tough. Some areas were so wet and hard all I could hope to accomplish was poke wholes in the ground. I’m hoping the forecast rains will get them started.
There is a lot of time left in the garden for this year. Maybe with some dryer weather I can get a few more things planted. Either way, gardening, like my field work, is turning out to be very interesting this year.
Michael
Filed under: family, Farm, food, garden, house, Minnesota, planting, rain, weather | Tags: children, farm, Food, garden, Minnesota, peppers, Planting, rain, repairs, tomatoes, weather, Weed control
So it’s not been rain free around here, but it’s not been the best weather either. A few little spits of rain just to keep things messy. That does not mean that progress has stopped.
Beth has been home getting some last minute details done before the wedding. Stuff like hair style, dinner plans and how much alcohol I be buying. Those details include yard work. Our dogwood hedge took a real beating the last two winters and had a lot of broken branches and dead wood in it. That and a few other tree branches that had to go meant we had trailer loads of branches to haul out of the yard. The trees and bushes look a lot better now.
I think we are mowing the grass every three days now, or whenever it’s not raining. The dandelions need to be mowed more often. Now that we can get closer to some trees and bushes, we have more grass to mow. Parts of the lawn have water sitting on them, but the grass has to be kept down. We’re working towards a perfect lawn here, which is something we’ll never obtain, but are working towards.
My repairs on the house meant I had to paint. I’ve never gotten comfortable with a paint brush. I know it’s not a perfect job, but it will do for now. Paint brushes and ladders are now put away. I hope I don’t discover any more rotting house parts any time soon.
I did take a little time to do some plumbing repair. Why do these things always break when you are busy.
The garden had not yet become a mess but was threatening to become one. I got the tiller going only to have a bearing go out on a belt tightener. Another trip into town for repair parts. Now if things dry out a bit I hope to get the sweet corn planted. I need to get some tomatoes and pepper plants also.
Had three loads of road gravel delivered this week. It’s crushed quartzite, red rock, from the quarry nearby. It makes a real good, hard road bed. Had to do a little leveling and spreading to get it all to where I wanted it. Now we’ll drive on it this summer and by winter it should be well set in place.
The block for the landscaping was delivered this week. I found out Masters Stone did not have removal of some old landscape materials in the bid. That meant removing, and finding a place to put, all of the old blocks that were already there. Some of the blocks were glued together and had to be broken apart, others were mostly buried in the ground and needed to be dug out. It was a bit more work for me, but what else was I going to do anyway?
There have been door squeeks to oil and stuff to put away, meals to eat and a bit of sleep. When the wedding is over then I can sleep.
Michael
Filed under: Farm, Minnesota, rain, weather | Tags: farm, lawn, Minnesota, mowing, rain, weather, weather forecast
Anyone who keeps a real eye on the weather forecast know that weather prediction is still a chancy art. What was forecast last week to happen today is totally different from what does happen way too often. I have been watching the forecast for rain come and go lately and have found that if the chance of rain goes down as the day approaches your chances of rain are not good. On the other hand if the chance of rain increases as the day approaches you are going to get dumped on.
Two days ago the weather forecast was for a sunny week. Today we have rain scheduled for several days. I expect that we will get more rain to add to our soggy fields.
I decided that I had to mow the lawn yesterday. The grass and weeds have been shooting up with the nice temperatures and all of this moisture. Unfortunately parts of my lawn had water standing on them. It made for some interesting mowing, and some muddy wheel tracks across the lawn.
So, today should be nice, but the weather for later this week calls for more wet. Life can be so interesting sometimes.
Michael
Filed under: Farm, garden, house, Minnesota, planting, pond, rain, spring, Trees, weather, wind | Tags: farm, Minnesota, Planting, pond, rain, repairs, spring, trees, weather
The last three days have brought us one point nine inches of rain. That gives us a total of three and a half inches for the last two weeks. The big shot was last night when a real doozy of a thunder storm rolled through the area. It was a real impressive light show along with wind and a bit of hail. We did not get much hail, but there are reports of some real big hailstones in other areas. The rain was good for those who have their crop in the ground but not so good for those only getting started planting. Areas that have been too wet to plant or still under water are going to have to wait.
The wind was hard on our trees new leaves. There are many leaves on the ground. The trees have been struggling just to get started with the cold we have had until recently, now they will have to put on more new leaves.
Went shopping for more stuff for the pond area. The rains had not reached right up to the house until last night so I was able to put in plants and stepping stones between the pond and the porch. The stones are natural rock so they have a lot of natural differences to make them interesting.
Stepping stones
The plants that are close to the foundation are drought tolerant plants that will not mind when the gentle rains do not get to them. Thunders storms will still water them, so they will get some rain.
The sun made an appearance yesterday and gave us a brief bit of nice weather. I took the opportunity to get on the roof and replace the ridge cap that had blown off in an earlier storm. The old cap was nailed on, but when the wind got under them they went sailing away. This time I used screws and fender washers. That should keep them in place.
We still have some rain forecast for today but a nice week is in store. The next chance of rain is Friday. I sure hope those with crops to plant get a chance to get back in the field.
Michael
Filed under: Corn, Farm, Minnesota, planting, rain, Soybeans, spring, weather | Tags: Corn, farm, Minnesota, Planting, rain, Soybeans, spring, weather
The last five days have really changed a lot of fields here in my area of Minnesota. Those who had not finished corn planting have been making up for lost time. Some have already gotten going on soybeans. There are a few who have finished planting soybeans. I’ve got one soybean field left to plant, and rain is forecast for the next few days.
That last field will have to wait, not because of rain, but because the seed is not here. We raise seed beans for Monsanto on some of our ground. Each year we wait for the seed to come. The seed could be in Hawaii or South America, we’re not sure. The contract we have is so good that it makes no difference. We’ll wait for the seed.
Corn is coming up in most fields. The warm weather has really made fields change. Each day there are more and more corn fields showing green rows of corn.
We are lucky here. You do not have to go very far to find farmers just getting started, or still waiting to start planting. How this late planting will affect farmers and grain prices is yet to be seen. We can only wait to see.
Michael
Filed under: garden, Minnesota, planting, pond, rain, Uncategorized, water garden | Tags: garden, Minnesota, Planting, pond, rain, rocks, water garden, weather
The last week has been a bit wet and more rain is now falling. If I had really wanted to I could have planted about a day in the entire week. Due to some tractor problems we decided to take two of our tractors into the shop to have some work done on them. Nothing major, yet, but something that needed to be fixed.
We had about an inch of rain for the week. Nothing real heavy, just several days where it dripped rain for hours. My option to field work was getting the landscape work done by the pond. I’ve spent a lot of time trudging around in muddy boots to get rocks and planters set.
That work meant being in the pond and the water is still very cold, thus the chest waders.
I have finally gotten a chance to start work on the bridge, another focal and viewing point for the pond. It’s full of some interesting angles and will make me scratch my head a bit to get the job done right.
The most important step happened today as I completed the electrical hookups that allowed me to start the pump for the stream. With the pump going I can finally set a time to get the fish. There will be lots of interest in this small space.
So despite the rains I have had plenty of progress. There are a few steps to go before the big day so I would like the rains to quit. Rain or no rain, I’ll do my best to make progress.
Michael
Filed under: Corn, Farm, Minnesota, planting, rain, repairs, Soybeans, spring, weather | Tags: Corn, farm, Minnesota, Planting, rain, Soybeans, spring, weather
Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, and it’s raining.
The corn is in the ground and temperatures have been rising giving hope for the nice weather we need for crop growth. We finished planting corn yesterday! There are many in our area who have finished corn planting and some have prepared ground for soybeans. We were blessed with a week of almost rain free weather. This allowed us to do what so many farmers across the country could not do. We are indeed blessed.
Not all, even only a few miles away, have been so lucky. You do not have to travel far to find water standing in fields. Those with livestock have been cleaning barns and pits so for them planting has had to wait.
We have some repairs to make on equipment that will slow down soybean planting, but not for long. There will be plenty to do in the next weeks. Hope you all can get your planting done also.
Michael
Filed under: Corn, Farm, Minnesota, planting, spring | Tags: Corn, farm, Minnesota, Planting, pond, rocks, weather, wind
The weather has stayed dry and planting has finally begun. This has got to be one of the latest starts to planting I ever seen. Not everyone has stated yet, but each day means more in our area begin planting. The last two days have seen almost a third of our corn planted.
The ground is cold and the trees have not yet begun to leaf out, but the Barn Swallows are back. I was really surprised when one buzzed my tractor yesterday and I’ve heard them in my yard. They are going to be a little short on insects to eat until we get some warmer temperatures.
The last two days have started out at 28 degrees. Today did get to be a really nice day with 55 for a high and little wind. I was stripped down to my tee shirt this afternoon and loving it. I was happy to spend my lunch time next to my new pond. It’s not finished yet, but it still is a nice place to sit.
Filed under: cold, Corn, Farm, Minnesota, planting, rain, spring, tillage, weather, wind | Tags: Corn, farm, Minnesota, Planting, rain, spring, weather, wind
The winds these past few days have been terrible. Yesterdays gusts were nearing 40 mph and we have not had much of a let up all night. They have been cold winds out of the north or west, not warm southern winds.
On the good side, what is left of the snow and field wet spots are rapidly drying up. They dried so much that I took the digger out to till a few ruts I left in the field harvesting last years soybean crop. The ground worked surprisingly well. I had expected more mud than I found.
Our last rain event only left us with a tenth of an inch. It was not enough to last with the windy conditions. This bodes well for the start of corn planting.
I’ve seen plenty of action on the road, as farmers with their diggers and planters have been driving by, but not much field work. The cold field temperatures and still present wet spots are holding many back.
With the calender screaming plant and the drying fields, I expect to get a bit of corn planted this week. I know not all of every field is ready yet. We have a broken drainage tile that is keeping part of one field very wet. Most of the fields will be ready soon, and it’s time for the planting race to begin.
Michael
