Friday before leaving work we had quite a storm blow in! We ended up getting 22 mm of rain in about 20 minutes! It was crazy. I quickly looked at my camera to see if it was doing anything at home and all I noticed was the wind. My concern was the sheep getting wet since we were shearing on Saturday. We ended up with just a couple off mm at home. It certainly has been hit and miss with the rainfall lately and it sounds like my farm friends east of me could really use a shower. Shearing went well and we were done in no time at all. We do have less sheep and the sheep shearer is very talented. The sheep, goats, and alpaca are now out on grass and seem to be happy with their new haircuts and the fresh grass. I was getting ready to head into the house on Sunday night and noticed a decent-sized coyote jogging along south of the sheep and headed towards the cows. One cow did decide to put the run on him, but I sure hope he stays away.
I was able to attend a grave side service for a kind man, Lyle Wheatley last week. I enjoyed working with Lyle over the years as he often was doing some neat “research and experiments” on his own farm, and we often visited some of his sites on the annual Soil & Crop Tour. Lyle is one of the reasons we grow sunflowers at the research station as well, so when you see my sunflowers, please take some time and think of Lyle.
A big thank you to Donna McQuaker, Barb Heyens, and Joanne McQuaker for catering our “Cows are gone to Pasture Party” at the Sales Barn. Though it was a cooler day Saturday, the evening was very nice, and it was a great temperature to be sitting out visiting the Sales Barn. Thank you to all those who came out. It was a nice time, and we hope we can continue some type of an event like this for the community to enjoy.
It looks like a very busy week ahead. We are planning to start our forage harvest at the research station…so that could bring rain for those of you looking for it. I am more concerned about the fact that the heavy rain and strong winds on Friday night will make it more challenging for our small machine to pick up the material. We have some great looking alfalfa, so it is almost exciting thinking about cutting it. It also sounds like we could be hosting a small tour later in the week so as always, we will try to keep things looking good for our guests. If you have been past, you will notice that the hops are really enjoying the year so far and are growing like crazy! We have been watering them and had just finished that job before the downpour Friday night. I had a chance to do some spraying last week but will have more to do this week. As usual, the weeds are having a great year as well.
