Saturday, March 17, 2012

Daily Doings

4:30AM 61°,  We are still having very warm weather, about 20° higher than normal.  Finally a weatherman warned us not to plant tender things too early unless we want to replant.......contrary to local nurserymen who are telling us to plant before things get too hot.......

I haven't done anything unusual the last couple of days....just normal daily things.  I did milk again yesterday morning and used oxytocin again to get letdown.  I didn't bottle the milk immediately so I will skim the cream off this morning and see what I have.

Chickens are still giving us over a dozen a day now.  We are gifting eggs to everyone we can think of.

I still haven't planted carrots but I do have  the row laid off and ready to seed this morning. I think I will also water the spinach row.  All rains are skipping us.......nothing new.

We may finally have the neighbor's cows under control.  Yesterday after driving the herd back (took three people, a truck and an ATV) they put up the corral panel/gate and by evening no one had returned.  We will still check daily.  The man caring for them doesn't know diddly about cattle and thinks if he feeds a bale of hay they won't visit us.....the hay is fit only for mulch.  The cows aren't stupid!

I am seeing a few honey bees now but not as many as last year.  The neighbor who keeps 4 hives called about hay yesterday evening and after we finished that discussion, I asked him about his bees.  It seems he lost three hives last summer....he thinks due to the heat but I don't know about that assumption. He has a vigorous hive left and says he is restocking.  I hope so because we are enjoying their work here.
I wish I had the nerve to keep bees....

The blooms have dropped from the apricot tree.  I sure hope some were pollinated.  Only time will tell.
The two peaches in the garden are fully opened and so is the Kieffer pear.  The little plum tree still has blooms but some are dropping.  I trhink I will have blooms for the first time on one of the Seckel pears.
I am still keeping my fingers crossed on this fruit thing.

This is the split peach tree; I am glad I didn't cut it to the ground when it split.  I have noticed the various peaches blooms are a different shade of pink.



At last the white tulips opened with the hyacinths in the whiskey barrel.  The back row of the  hyacinths was so delayed by the hay flake that they are going to be stunted.  The smell they are giving off is stunning and I go past them every time I go outside and come back in.



9 comments:

  1. Though you'd think it was JUNE here (and will be for at least a couple of weeks, I keep telling myself that the last frost date is MID-MAY. No tender stuff going out here!

    My hyacinths are only days behind yours and even a couple have started to bloom. I look back at last year's pics and we're at least a month ahead of 2011. I'm hoping this isn't a sign that this summer will be scorching... X - fingers crossed.

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  2. I wouldn't be able to tolerate your summer heat, but have to admit I feel a mite bit jealous at the beautiful spring you have! Have a great weekend. (Even though it is very early this year. Ours is also!)

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  3. Good morning Glenda ~ I love your header picture. Are those your cows or your neighbors? It is starting to feel a bit like summer here, especially if you are working outside in the sun.

    Love your peach blooms and your tulips and hyacinths. What a treat to smell the sweet scent as you go in and out.

    Happy Spring ~ FlowerLady

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    1. They are all ours~ The neighbors are a motley group of many different colors.

      I love seeing the black cows on the green pastures.

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  4. Love that header pic, too! Didn't know if it was new or not, though, since I usually read your updated from my email RSS reader. I clicked over today, though, so got to see it.

    We started keeping bees last year. It's really not as scary as it appears. Get yourself a bee suit and you'll be protected. Work the bees with respect and they'll not bother you. They do get cranky occasionally but it's usually weather based and you'll learn when to stay away. They really don't take much upkeep. Maybe check in on them once a month or so.

    Our neighbors are all thrilled that we have bees. They say there were no (or very rare) honey bees to be seen around here until we started. They love seeing them out there working their plants.

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    1. You have made me want to check out beekeeping. I don't know if we have any associations or schools in our area or not. I may check that out. I buy local (not too local) honey regularly. Today I saw more honey bees and a couple of bumble bees too.

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    2. It is a new picture; I took it the day I took the orchard pics. That
      fence row is one side of the lane that runs down the middle of the farm.
      The field with the cows is on the west side of the lane.

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  5. Maybe part of your peach tree has reverted to the rootstock. I've had that happen with a whole tree before but not half of one, but I'd think it might be possible. Rootstock peaches are still good, the flesh is not as dark and they don't keep as long, but very sweet and better than no peaches at all.

    The only fruit tree I have in bloom, so far, is one dwarf fruit tree that we brought over from The Ponca House. The flowers are white, so I think that's the pear tree, though I lost track of what went where about then. My Seckel pear has the most beautiful bronze-edged green leaves, but no flowers yet. I think we're ALL worried about a late freeze.

    I bet you've had some rain by now. We've had about 4".

    I won't plant seeds in the ground yet, either. Better to be safe than sorry. That's terrible that ANYONE is recommending you go ahead and plant. There are lots of chances for a hard freeze between now and April 15.

    I almost missed this post.

    I'd love to keep bees, too. Right now though I feel like I have my hands full. XOXOXOXOXO

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