Let the Monsoon Begin

 The rainy month of May continued into June. It was a LOT of rain. More than once it came fast enough, and hard enough to cause a river to run through the pasture. The storms came night and day, but luckily we missed all the hail, and the most severe winds, but the lightning was close and beautiful.

I was beginning to wonder if it would ever stop raining on an almost every other day basis.  The heat was creeping up and it wasn't leaving, not even at night. I started to wonder if we were in for a wet summer. I was eyeballing haying season and trying to figure out how to cut and dry hay with rain perpetually falling from the sky. Of course all the rain made for a banner hay crop. In all the years we've been here I'd never seen it so high and thick. I wasn't sure it would make it to a mid to late July cutting. If I cut it early enough, I could get a second cut out of it if I wanted to.  As I pondered over the passing days, the temperatures continued to rise. We went from comfortable to just plain miserable. Our temperatures were in the 90s and the heat index with the humidity was well over 100 every day.

Tomatoes loves the warmth at night, but what they don't like is the endless hard heat all day, and they do prefer their roots to not be soggy all the time. I started watching for blight, fungus, mineral deprivation, fruit setting issues, and end rot.  I had pre-treated not only the seedlings but the garden for end rot, but with all the rain, the treatments became moot. Vigilance was the name of the game. The garden as a whole went from seedlings to jungle in a flash. 

Early May

Mid May

Late May

Catawba Grapes

In fact, everything around us seemed to be really enjoying all the extra moisture. The new cottonwood tree and the river birch grew almost 6 feet this spring, which is incredible.  The willow trees went crazy, although they are kept in check by the alpacas. 

Arapahoe Blackberries

Oodles and oodles of Mulberries. I didn't make any into jam this year. I left them all for the wildlife and the hens. 

The first of the gorgeous sunflowers. Dwarf Scarlet

The bulging hay field.

Wisteria

 About the third week of June I started watching the weather patterns very carefully. I needed a full 3, preferably 4, days of wind, sun, heat, no morning dew or rain to make hay. I had already watched the local farmers take in the first round of alfalfa, but it was still too early at that point for me.  At the very end of the month I could see it coming, a TINY window. Doc and I moved all of last year's hay to the barn and I cleaned the hay shed in preparation for making hay. I could do everything alone, but the loading and stacking so I had to time it so the men could help me there. 

Rain at night, an high dew points, meant foggy and 
dewy mornings. Terrible for drying hay.

With the hay shed clean, all I could do was wait. Then I saw it a small window of nice weather. It would put the final day of drying and baling on a weekday, and as always, up against impending rain, but it would have to do.  I cut, tedded, turned, waited, turned it again, raked it, and baled it and we all loaded it in the shed.  Last year was a good year, and this year's yield beat it by 30%!  We filled the shed to the brim on the same day we STARTED using our first bale from last year.  I decided not to do a second cutting of hay and just allow the whole field to rest while the rains were coming and supporting seed development and reseeding the field.

With the garden plugging along and the animals all taken care of and the hay in for the year, I took the opportunity to hide inside. Since the Grad was home and needed the space I had my sewing equipment in, I decided to give the whole room to him for his home office. I collected everything and scrounged craigslist for a large table to use as a cutting table and set up shop in the partially finished basement.I hung a couple of inexpensive curtains from the ceiling to block the view of things in storage. Of course after I set everything up for maximum ease and efficiency, I closed my etsy shop. It was driving me insane. The customers were amazing and I do miss it, but the policies that were constantly changing had me loosing money on each transaction, and I had no identity of my own. Think about it, when you get something on etsy, and someone asks you where you got it, what do you say?  Do you remember the shop name or the creator without looking? Nope, you say, "I got it one etsy."  I decided to stick to a small local shop that supports local sellers and craftsmen.  

June being her adorable country self.

The boys waiting for me to hold the hose and cool 
them down.