spring freeze coming

I planted some jumbo tulips I found in town last week.  I got them in the ground just in time to have freezing temps come in the next few days. Guess I should have waited a bit longer :) I'll have to make sure to cover them as we have frost warnings.  We did put a space heater in the greenhouse as I did not want to lose all the plants in there, so hopefully it works.

We have had a wet spring, though not overly wet but wet enough to cause flooding in areas and the Wisconsin River is higher that I've seen in a few years.  We passed this truck on our way to the chiropractor; he apparently did not heed the road conditions as he was coming around the curve.  He was pretty stuck that was for sure.  Glad he wasn't hurt; this is not the first truck that either went into the field or overturned the truck carrying a load of corn heading to the granary which happened last year, though I did not get a photo of that, and no one was hurt in that accident either.

On our way to Jim's treatment in La Crosse, we drive though a really pretty valley and usually when it's very cold out this valley seems to be the coldest in the surrounding area.  The fog in the valley was so pretty we had to stop so I could take a picture.  The creek doesn't usually have this much water in it and it was flowing pretty good.

I know spring is here, but it just doesn't quite feel like it yet.

making hay before the rains come

Oh, my goodness, we definitely have been busy here, and I keep saying that, but we are. We managed to cut hay and get it baled up for a total of 180 square bales for our first cutting of the year.  We have far surpassed last year's total in the first cutting of hay.

Summer has started out so differently than last year.  Someone said that we have almost caught up to where we should be as far as moisture in the ground, this person digs holes for a living so he definitely would know how deep the moisture should be in the ground.

The gardens are doing well and so are the weeds :)  

Tomorrow is summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  Where oh where did the year go, yikes!

checking out the plants

I repotted all the plants I got from the local nursery, and they are looking really good.  I didn't go overboard with plants as I do have quite a few canned tomatoes and peppers from last year.  I wish you could buy plants individually instead of in a 4-cell pack, oh well sometimes one or two will die for whatever reason.  I put the seedlings in a cold frame since I don't have a greenhouse...yet.

When we moved here back in 2010 these rhubarb plants were here but have never been great producers.  I could occasionally make a pie but that would be about it.  Since adding animals to our homestead here we have an abundance of manure to finally put in our gardens. 

These rhubarb plants I started from seed a couple of springs ago and they are finally taking off, but upon inspecting them we noticed something has been eating the leaves.

The garlic is growing wonderfully, and I can't wait to be able to harvest it this summer.  I have soft neck and hard neck garlic and I prefer the hard neck, so I think I'll not plant any soft neck this fall.

My cousin moved to Arizona from Illinois and before she moved, she came out and gave me some plants from her home.  This forsythia bush was one of the many plants she brought out and for the first time in 6 years the forsythia bushes are blooming, a bit sparse but they are blooming.  We put them on the edge of our woods which she thought was a good spot.  My cousin has a green thumb and I mean green.  Our grandmother had one and I believe she got it from her.  I on the other hand have half a green thumb, and that's okay.

It's a bit cooler as I write this post, but we are supposed to be getting temps into the 60° range and I can't wait.

no trespassing

On a walk in early March, I took a photo of this poor fence post that has been so neglected.  There is a house at the end of this road, the family lost their mother quite a few years ago and the children have all grown up and along with their father have moved away.  I always feel so sad when I see this fence post for what it used to be.  A strong tall post that kept whatever livestock they raised from wandering off.  No one lives in the house that still stands at the end of this fence line.  They were private people and even now that no one lives there anymore I still respect the No Trespassing sign.

hello there

 

This is Lazer our family milk cow, we have had her since August of 2022.  She is such a sweetheart and the heart of our farmstead. She loves when you scratch her neck, does not like her head petted.  She can skip better than me :) and loves the one who will give her a few alfalfa pellets.  We hope to have her here on our farmstead for a long, long, time.

I've been trying to get back into blogging on a regular basis, but life here on our farmstead has been busy, busy, busy.  I thought when we became empty nesters that life would slow down but it only seems to be getting busier and that is okay.  I'm not sure what I would be doing if I wasn't so busy, I think it actually is keeping me feeling younger than I should be feeling for my age...(lol).

on our walk

I love walking down the lane as we call it, it's been a while since we walked this path, we were very surprised to see a lone round bale still in the field.

Along our walk we spied this berry plant growing, we both don't recall ever seeing this plant growing.  Our neighbor who usually mows the sides of the path hasn't mowed the path in a few years.  It has never been his job to do so, but he grows the hayfield above and has slowed down quite a bit and it was something that he liked to do.  Now I think since he's no longer mowing a lot of plants that would have been mowed down are now free to grow.

August is almost done, that is so hard to believe.  Where did the month, let alone the year go?