Early this morning we skimmed across the top of frost, less than half a degree above freezing in the garden. Yes, it is the first day of summer today, the 21st of June. I am a bit surprised by this cold! It seems really late into the season to be thinking of it, and I have been that the latest frost on record is the 11th of June. This seems to be one of those years!
Looks like a dip in the jet stream has caused our latest weather malignment. Well, it’ll do for now as the farm is not a fun place to work when it is hot as Hades outside! The forecast for the coming ten days shows a steady warming up to 89, which will see us buying a big fan, I think!
So, about that first day of summer…
Yesterday I scythed down the road at the East Pasture. Iam only taking down the grass next to the road, which is about 175 feet by 30 feet or so. The grass is tall, and my technique is aweful, so it is enough work to hurt a bit, especially at 48. A tractor and a sickle bar mower would sure come in handy right now! I need to put some money by, and start shopping. I want to do this for years to come, but my body is telling me otherwise. Ineed to muster up the will to go finish that section, then get down to the next section and cut down a little smaller patch of grass Ihave been taking the feed from so far this year. Yesterday Kirynie and I put the llamas out in the service yard to take that down again, and to sort out their feed for a bit.
It is getting time to seperate Hedwig from his mother. He is trying it on with Mystique, and while he is still too young to get her, it is probably not a good habit for him to be getting into. This is going to cause a bit of a panic among them, and soon we will find them standing as close to eachother as they can from across the street. My plan is to put Mystique into the field across the street with the other females. There is plenty of feed there! I’ll keep Hedwig over this side, and he should do fine on the service yard and only a little feed. The only conflict is that I am building the hay bunks in the service yard, which he would be able to eat from when I load them. Perhaps that is okay, and perhaps it would be best to put him in his field, ration his feed, and cut the service yard to length from here on out.
We have options with grass clippings here. We can compost them, or we can feed them to goats, rabbits, llamas, or pigs. Any of those animals will make quick work through a pile of fresh grass from the mower bag. It’s one of the things I love about summer, and one of the things that makes me feel very fortunate, and even a bit rich.
The priority for today should be watering in the gardens. Last night I finally got around to putting water on those pumpkin seed I put in the other day. There are some gourds needing the same attention today, as well as a general garden watering wanting.
The kids are having their summer schedule re-worked. They are getting into the habbit of watching their screens all day, and that is a bad habbit to be in. Their chores have been suffering for it as they are short-cutting. So I have told them that I own them till lunchtime. From wake-up till after they clean up their lunch mess is the work day, and after that it is time for all the fun they can possibly have till supper. No more messy house, no more snippets of care for the animals and the farm. It is to be a well looked after place, with them learning how to do the things they need to in order to keep a place of their own one day.
Happy Summer!
KJB