Whether weather

My goodness - we got RAIN!  Tons of rain.  Rain upon rain.

After an amazingly dry summer, we got about 6 inches of rain this week.

The AgroExpo (put on by AgroLiquid in St Johns) even had to cancel the last day because while the first two days went really well ... it was hard to fight against that much rain.  Everyone joked that they should've held it in July when we were desperate.  We were happy we got to go the first two days, aynThe picture below is from the AgroExpo Facebook page:

                                        

CEO of U.S. Farmers & Rancher Alliance Randy Krotz and USFRA staff Katie Foster were coming to it, and also came to tour the farm!  It was great to be able to talk with them and show them around.

                                      

                                      

We welcomed heifer #171.  The weaned ones (above picture) are outside on pasture.

        

       



And, we talk a lot about technology and how things have changed.  Here's a change that delights us. We have a weather station on our property and you can CHECK IT BY PHONE!  For instance, today we were gone, and I asked Kris if it was raining at home.  He checked his little phone app and it told us everything at home - how much it had rained in the last 12 hours, the last 24 hours, the rainfall rate in the last month and year ... Oh, the joy this phone app brings!  The science, the technology, the knowledge of it all!



There were also puddles when we got home.  So that was a pretty good clue, too.

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Rain, rain, don't go away

Ah ... it's the familiar feeling of wishing it would rain.  As a girl - waiting on the front porch with my mom, begging for it to storm.  Now - going on a stroller ride with my sons, hoping we get caught in a downpour.

Today it (sort of) worked!  It wasn't so wet that we would've gotten soaked on our walk, but I was also really cold.  It's been sprinkling on and off since 4:00 p.m. 

We really need it.  Of course the crops need it, but it's so obvious it's dry.  Even the leaves of my mature trees are wilted.

We went strawberry picking today at a new place.  I told the boys the owners were fruit farmers, like we are dairy farmers. 

My son said, "We're also vegetable farmers."

His brother added, "We're also beef farmers." 

I didn't argue with them.  We sell milk for money, but we also sell cattle.  We don't sell vegetables, but we do raise crops for our herd.  Farming is farming, eh?

All of us need the rain.  Come on - POUR!

Wild

We had a wild storm!

The clouds started rolling in ... they were pretty, until it started raining and I realized - I was a half mile from home, I had a lot of stuff outside, and I left the window open that's right next to all our shoes.

Then, we were surprised by hail. I heard it on the window and ran out to see it. It only hailed here for a little while. Big pieces, though! I put my toes in to show you the size.

Kris drove by, on his way into the field to check for calves. The cows didn't have any in this mess. (Way to go!)

Everything is soaked. There are flood warnings. It's still thundering and lightning right now. But! Check out what we got at the end of the day:

Yes, a pot of gold! Okay, wet shoes. But with a nice view.

Dry

This morning it turned dark - like it really wanted to storm. I did with my kids what I always did with my mom ... sat on the front porch and hoped for rain.

While we were doing this, my mom called from a nearby town to ask, "Is it raining? It's POURING here!" No, I told her. No rain here. It looked like it was going to pass us by - but wait! A few drops!

It did rain. A tenth of an inch.

No doubt sitting on the front porch does no good. But when those few drops start, and you can see the rain moving toward you, and you can smell it wetting the dirt - it's a wonderful feeling of both relief and joy.

I'm reading the boys Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy. We just read the chapter where it froze on July 3 and they had to go out in the middle of the night and pour water on all the corn plants before the sun rose, since the sun on the frozen corn plants would kill them. They poured water on three acres of corn, and lost a quarter of an acre.

I liked this book when I was little, but I find it far more interesting now. We buy crop insurance every year, so if we have a bad corn crop, we're not going to be completely devastated.

The days before crop insurance must have been especially terrifying. I'm sure you'd do anything to keep them alive - maybe we'd be out there manually giving each plant a drink. Definitely, I'd be far too anxious to sit still on a porch swing.

Bulls

"Where's dad?"

"He took a bull to the auction to sell it."

"Is it going to be steak now?"

"No, he actually sold it to a farmer who's going to use it to breed his cows."

"Then is it going to be steak?"

"Well, maybe. Or it might go to a different farm after that."

"THEN is it going to be steak?"

"Possibly. It'll end up as steak or hamburger eventually."

"I don't want our cows to be steak!"

"Why? You like steak."

"Yeah, I like steak. When is dad coming home? And when are we having steak?"

&&&

The employees replaced both doors to the milking parlor today. One of them was the original door - circa 1970s. I'm sure the cows will appreciate the new decor.

The builders continue through the rain and wind. There were seven trusses up by the end of the day!

The 10-day forecast shows rain almost every day, and it's thundering right now. Planting soon? Not looking likely. Maybe Kris will just have more time to grill up some steaks for the kids.