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Post by steev on Mar 4, 2017 1:09:24 GMT -5
There's so much to be said for settling down where one will deal with one's final challenges; makes one's choices more focused and real; one gets past the "I'll improve this and move on" hustle.
I'm not sanguine about coming climate-change, but I believe I'll be able to adapt and instruct my eventual familial heirs to cope with whatever comes; once I'm gone, it's their problem; I'll have done what I can.
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Post by steev on Mar 5, 2017 18:21:19 GMT -5
The Coast peaks are pretty snowy; a hard West wind coming over them was down-right biting.
Driving home, Mount Diablo looked equally snowy (not that usual), but it may have been hail, since while driving past, there was rain, slush-balls, and hail.
Just checked the accuweather, which seems to say it's been snowing on the farm.
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Post by richardw on Mar 5, 2017 23:39:04 GMT -5
Absolutely lovely warm early autumn day, after a day of laying stone me and members of my teenage tribe spent an hour in the river to finish the day off, pigged out on wide blackberries on the way back to the car. Great time of year.
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Post by steev on Mar 8, 2017 0:38:25 GMT -5
Glad to hear your teens are still in touch; may they learn the value of busting their asses daily.
Gloriously beautiful in the SF Bay Area; the weeds are SO happy; it remains to be seen whether I can deal with them before I start losing clients; I don't expect to lose established clients, some of whom have been with me more than 35 years; as for the new ones that might bail: no big deal; they have no real grasp of what's going on, and I can't be bothered.
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Post by walt on Mar 8, 2017 12:49:37 GMT -5
Kansas is having a weather problem.
"Winter" has been warm and dry. Pastures are dry and ready to burn. Strong winds have been blowing the last three days. One wildfire has burned 500 square miles and 70 houses. It killed 5 people. I expect a few herds of cattle were killed.
There have been many other smaller fires, a few square miles each..
Highway I-70, a highway that runs from the east coast to the west coast, 12 miles north of me, was closed due to blinding smoke. Most winters, it is closed 2 or 3 times due to deep snow. Not this year. Not even once.
Two afternoons ago, the sky was dark gray and Ellsworth ( the town I stay in) stank of smoke. That was due to a relatively small fire about 20 miles away, but the wind was blowing smoke toward Ellsworth. Not a happy time, though those I know are safe for now.
A small fire a week ago damaged my greenhouse. Bummer, but not bad compared to what others have gone through.
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Post by reed on Mar 8, 2017 13:10:21 GMT -5
I was reading about that earlier. People having to go out after the fires and shoot cows to put them out of their misery, I can hardly imagine how awful that is.
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Post by richardw on Mar 8, 2017 23:21:50 GMT -5
Five people dead along with 70 houses is awful alright.
Clear blue skies here today with very pleasant daytime temperatures, that was after a very light frost first thing. Rain due this weekend which maybe the drought breaker we need after only 2mm in Feb.
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Post by steev on Mar 12, 2017 20:24:18 GMT -5
Totted up the farm's rain-to-date: 150% of entire season-normal, with three months remaining to the season, not that it looks to be a wet Spring coming.
Barring any expectation of a return to colder weather, I will definitely be planting Summer crops in April, normal having been June. I begin to see the advantages to be gained from such heavy rain coupled with a two-month earlier season for cold-sensitive plants. Wouldn't it be lovely if this were the new normal? As they say, "Wish in one hand and ..."
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Post by steev on Mar 20, 2017 23:46:56 GMT -5
The rain is back; looking like four days this week; somewhat concerning, although there's been a week of dry, so the soil can absorb a bit of water, but the storms seem to be coming from the South, so warm; that's a bit of worry, there being so much snow in the Sierras; could cause melting/run-off that the reservoirs/rivers can't handle.
Oh, well; things will be different when I'm in charge.
It's a pity that this year's excessive rainfall can't re-inflate the porous layers that have collapsed due to drought-years' over-pumping, but there it is: you over-mine the commons (eat the seed-corn), and you've fucked things up irremediably. I'm sure we've learned our lessons this time, although we've not for millennia.
I almost wish I could believe in Armageddon being nigh, so the short-term, strip-mine approach to the environment would make sense, but I don't. I think the world is going to be here a long time after we've either fucked it up or learned to take proper care of our Great Mother.
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Post by mskrieger on Mar 22, 2017 12:13:37 GMT -5
The past three weeks has been all snow and ice and cold wind. Winter has made it's debut rather late...why couldn't it do this two months ago? Then again, March is often like this around here. But I was all set to plant and then...hopes frozen over.
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Post by steev on Mar 22, 2017 20:09:38 GMT -5
Rain woke me at 12:45AM; buckets straight down; I got up to look at the street; there were 2' wide, curb-high rapids on both sides; didn't last long, but I've not seen rain like that since I was in El Salvador.
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Post by richardw on Mar 23, 2017 13:33:53 GMT -5
Autumn has really made its mark over the last day or two with the return of thick mornings fog. At least this time of year we get to enjoy what has turned out a great apple season, Codling moth grub numbers have been low and the water content has been high, with more and more trees coming into production, i'll have to look to making cider this time next year.
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Post by garand555 on Mar 24, 2017 11:29:29 GMT -5
My weather? Warmer than normal, otherwise, windy. Typical NM early spring winds have started. But, I'm thinking that frost danger passed a week or two ago, which is excessively early. My pears started blossoming around the 10th of March, and my strawberries, which I dug up and moved this winter, have blossoms too.
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Post by steev on Mar 25, 2017 5:07:25 GMT -5
Rained from last night through most of today; if it can happen less frequently, fine, but if it keeps coming this often, it's killing me!
Really hoping conditions are good to plant field peas (it's late already).
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Post by steev on Mar 26, 2017 22:41:35 GMT -5
Another 1.6" of rain on the farm this week.
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