The Wet Spring Continues

It continues to rain and last night’s low was 37.  Amazing.  As someone said, it’s not May 24, it’s February 112.  Unless Keeling is becoming Seattle.

I can’t remember a Spring like this one.  It’s been so continuously wet that we still don’t have all of our summer gardens planted.  We were fortunate to get most of them planted last week during a rare break in the weather, but I still haven’t planted most of our squash and cucumbers or any of our sunflowers. 

On the other hand our cool weather veggies, which we planted much later than normal, are loving this weather and thriving.  We have lots of spinach, lettuce, collards, kale and asian greens and the broccoli, cabbage and english peas are coming on fast. 

We have the best-looking potato garden we’ve ever had.

The weeds are also loving it though and I haven’t been able to cultivate.  So I’ll add that to my list of worries.

The pastures are lush.  Just a couple of months ago I was buying hay, but now the grass is waist-high. 

I need five clear days to cut, rake and bale the hay.  Who knows when that will happen.

I released the pigs into the pasture yesterday and they loved it.  They were soon racing around, eating grass and rolling in the mud. 

But I noticed they were pushing their noses against the electric wires on the fence, and not getting shocked.  Not good.  They need to be trained to the fence now or they won’t be afraid of it when they’re bigger.  I assumed that all the wet vegetation touching the wires is draining it of any juice, and that is no doubt an issue.  But as I was trimming along the fence line I discovered a tree had fallen over the fence  in the far back of the pasture.  Today I’ll saw it up and (hopefully) repair the fence.  In the meantime I had to put the pigs back in the shed, much to their disappointment. 

I can’t move the chicks onto pasture until I cut the hay.  As I used to say in the law business, these delays are impacting my critical path.

So the weather, as it usually is, is a blessing and a problem.  This time last year we were experiencing record-breaking heat and a prolonged drought.  We just have to play the hand we’re dealt.

Ramona’s kids have taken to crawling through the cattle panel and roaming around the barn.  Whenever I come near they scurry back into the pasture, as if they know they’re being mischievous.

Yesterday, from a distance, I saw Ramona with one of her kids.  I wondered where the other one was.  As I got closer I realized it wasn’t Ramona.  It was Michelle, who had just delivered this pretty kid.

And today our daughter leaves for two months in Guatemala.  Life, like my heart, is full these days.