April showers bring May flowers

     With as much rain as we've gotten this spring, we should have a sea of flowers come May. Throughout Wednesday we received 6-7 inches of rain, and here is what we found in the morning. 

     Here is a view from across the road at our old sawmill.  The neighbor decided to store his ton truck next to the creek even though my husband said it floods there.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the truck has debris all around it.  The night before there was a wood pile next to it that the rain waters carried away.  You can tell where the water was over the road, but it had gone down by 9:00 a.m.

     Next we tried to take the back roads to town and discovered the bottoms were all underwater.  All the school kids around were excited to sleep in yesterday.  Pretty much all the roads besides the highway had spots that were underwater, some for a quarter mile or more.

      Then we went to check the farm ground.  Here is one field that normally floods, but this is higher than my husband has ever seen it.  The small stream that you can jump across & drive the car across on most days is way out of its banks.  The water should be way back in the trees.

      Here is a continued shot.  You can see the tree the waters are carrying away.

      This is as far as we could go.  You can see the gravel road leading to the crossing. 

      Here is my father-in-laws new garden.  It's all underwater along with the whole south side of town. 

      Another street in town.  Our friends house looks like an island among the standing water.

      This is where the earlier field drains across the highway.  You can see the magnitude of water and current.

 Half way across the bridge.

Out the other side.  THAT IS A LOT OF WATER!!!!

Happy Easter!

     I hope you had a very blessed Easter celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord.  We had a wonderful day!  It started out a little foggy and misting rain, but by the time we left mass, the sun was out and shining beautifully.  We spent the day with my husbands family.  Dinner was at a busy little cafe with a scrumptious buffet.

Grass seed, grass seed, and more grass seed

     This week's goal...get grass seed sown before some anticipated spring showers over the weekend.  Even though our front yard has numerous uneven spots due to a problem with moles under the trees, I'm waiting to sow seed there until we get the moles under control.  Otherwise our dogs will continue to dig holes to get to them and the chickens will scratch at the ground to get bugs.  With that said, you can see we have lots of other spots that need attention.    

     First up, sow down the front yard garden.  Last year my father-in-law thought he needed even more space for his garden, so he tilled up the front yard.  Along the fence he planted pole beans and then a row of green beans in front of it.  In the other bigger spot he planted broccoli, turnips, cucumbers, and probably a few others I don't remember.  We decided just to use the backyard garden, so grass seed it was.

    Around our house needed something until we reside the house, work on gutters, and put on a tin roof.  We tore out the over-grown bushes to make it easier to reach the windows that we replaced last fall.  This way with grass seed it hopefully won't be as muddy when we get to that project in the next couple years.  I already have plans for what landscaping I want to do.  Now I just have to wait patiently until that day comes.

     Last, but not least was to sow down all the old stump spots.  Here I believe was a birch tree.  It probably was really pretty in its day, but all I have ever seen was the stump it left behind.  There was also a crab apple tree along the driveway that his grandfather planted.   My husband cut it down so he could get in and out with equipment easier.  Also, in the backyard there were five spots that needed attention.  I think they were from old trees that blew down in storms, a clothes line, and a hanging basket stand.   All of them were gone before I knew my husband. 

     Now I have my fingers crossed that we get rain this weekend and warm temperatures next week so it sprouts.  Some spots might be a little thick, but it was a little windy this week everyday after school when I was working on it.   

Orchard, a New Beginning!

     Here you can see how large my father-in-law had the vegetable garden.  I believe my husband said he planted 30 plus tomato plants last year among many other things.  Since my husband and I won't need such a vast area, we are going to change the east corner into an orchard. 

     We plan on using the area east of the chicken house for our cherry, apple, and peach trees.  Then extending a little north for the black raspberries and strawberries.  In the future we might add some blueberries, rhubarb, and possibly another variety of apples or cherries. 

      I know it is hard to see the starter plants in the freshly tilled dirt, but the 25 wet spots each hold a strawberry plant. 

     Along the twine I stretched to mark a straight line, there are three black raspberry plants.  Maybe next year we can buy another pack to make the raspberry bed a little thicker.

     Here you see three larger dark spots which each house a fruit tree.  To the right is a sour cherry tree, in the middle is a peach tree, and on the left is a Jonathan apple tree.  One more tree would complete the square, but that's another project for next year. 
     Now we just have to nurture them for a few years before they start producing fruit.  I can't wait until we have fresh fruit all through the summer.  Strawberries will ripen in early June followed by black raspberries and sour cherries.  Then there will be a little break before the peach tree in August and apple tree in September. 
     Next big project?? Mulch the new plantings to help hold in moisture and keep away weeds before sowing some grass seed around them.