I love this time of year! The temperatures are so wonderful, there are no mosquitoes yet, and everything is greening up. I am happy to have discovered that all of the grapes that lived through last summer, survived the winter. Alas, the blackberries planted last spring did not survive the summer, and this spring's blackberries didn't last but a few weeks. Even with the fencing around the blackberries, there was yet a smaller rodent that got in and devoured all the leaves on both plants. The grapes were pruned in February, so they should train well to cover the fence around the chicken yard through the summer. We may even get some grapes this year.
Last year's pine and mulberries that survived the summer also made it through the winter. These are planted along the eastern side of the property. I am still debating as to whether I will replace them so that they maintain the every other pattern, or take the cottonwoods that have sprung up in the orchard area and transplant them. We did have one casualty this winter; the lemon tree. It just couldn't take the freezing temperatures, even with a cover. The pomegranate survived with one branch greening up in the last few weeks. I am thankful.
The Bermuda grass is coming in like gang-busters. The first cutting will probably be the first weekend of May if things continue as they are. We have had more calls from people desperate for hay this winter and spring than ever before. I am even running low this spring. I will be relieved to get a few stacks in the barn.
We have had two horses arrive at the ranch. They were obviously used by drug runners to pack drugs in from Mexico. As soon as they are done with their trip, they cut the horses loose to fend for themselves. Fortunately, for these two it is early enough that they were not dying of thirst like the ones in the heat of the summer. Those horses try to get water from the irrigation canals and fall in unable to get back out and are swept away to their death. We have helped pull both live and dead ones out of the canal. These current two horses are healing their backs and rehydrating. They both had bloodied backs from ill-fitted, overloaded packs. One has had severe damage to his right eye, leaving him blinded and with a disfunctional eye lid. The actual eye ball is very damaged and withering in the eye socket. They are both very broke and gentle. We are having a difficult time finding someone to take them. The blind one depends on the other, using him as a guide, keeping his good eye on him as he travels.
The arena posts are all in the ground. We will put the top rail on and order truck loads of bedding sand next. Of course, that is after we deal with the latest crisis with the well. The pressure tanks have split so badly they are unable to maintain pressure. The motor was switching on and off constantly, until the switch finally quit on us. In the meantime, I have had to run back and forth from the horse's water trough and the well to manually re-pressurize the tanks to get through watering the animals.
We are also in an on-going state of having to repair plumbing leaks all over the property. Every leak is at a plastic fitting. Plastic is such a ineffective product when it comes to the extreme temperatures of our desert. The difficulty is actually finding the fittings in brass or some type of metal. Plastic is a source of replacement part income for companies, so why stock something that will last that they can't make money on. We are in the process of redesigning some of the plumbing to eliminate as much plastic as possible.
This weekend is Easter. We have 8 new Call ducklings in the brooder and clutches of Americaunas, Freedom Rangers and Bourbon Red turkeys due to hatch Sunday just in time for Easter. We had a power outage in the course of the incubation, so we are not sure that we will have a good hatch rate this time around. A new clutch of Freedom Rangers and Bourbon Reds went into the incubator yesterday.
We had a terrible loss this spring. The temperatures hit over 100 degrees one day and of the second breeding set of Freedom Rangers, all but two died. They had been temporarily moved to an aviary, because the plumbing burst in their stall and the ground was drying out. I was so devastated. The remaining two were moved in with the other breeding set. It is a little crowded and they haven't been accepted very well, but they are able to jump up on the roost and get away. They other hens and the very aggressive rooster are unable to get up to the roost, so the two have a getaway. I am concerned that these heavy-bodied birds may have difficulty surviving our summer heat.
I had a perfect irrigation of the 3A field yesterday. That means that the water traveled all the way to the end of the field without pooling. I didn't have the same luck with the 1A horse pasture. We leveled that pasture flat, since it is a short field. The water traveled 3/4 of the way down the pasture, and I switched the water to the next field. In the past we have had a slight slope on this pasture and it would have continued down to cover the entire field. This time it stopped right where I switched it off and the water soaked in. So I shortchanged the pasture. I will have to go back and rewater it, so I don't lose the grass at the northern end. I will irrigate 3B tomorrow.
I will have to go to town today to purchase the pressure tanks. We had to clear all the tools and supplies out of the pick up that we have been using for the fencing in order to make space to haul the tanks. By having all the tools and materials in the pickup bed, it allows us to transport all of the tools to and from the work site, parking under cover in the evening in case of rain. Putting everything back in will take away time from actually working on a project. With our limited time, those little time consumers become a real nuisance.
Spring here is terrific. The evenings are gorgeous. I really should take up star gazing, because we have a magnificent sky at night. It is dark enough out here, you can really see a lot more stars than when you're in the city. I will enjoy the climate knowing the heat of the summer and all that comes with it, is just around the corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment