Remnants of Andrea

Knowing we were in for a lot of rain today, most of the time yesterday was spent cutting and spreading grass mulch.   I managed to get the grass catcher on the John Deere by myself, but was glad George checked it.

The potatoes were already under hay mulch, as was vegetable bed #4.    I had started planting, but not enough to hold on to soil.

At the end of the day, all the flat surfaces had some kind of physical barrier to hard rain drops, even if pretty thin.    I stopped as the first drops fell, so didn't get a picture.

The picture at left is from June 4th, just after the second tilling (for weeds), and before any mulch was spread.   The view is to the south/south-east.

Beds # 1, 2, and 3 are shown, with #1 being closest to our house in the distance.   I took the picture next to bed #4, which is in the old pasture.

The green area between beds #1 and #2  is a wide and shallow swale (depression that drains down hill).   We leave this area in permanent grass, because of the heavy clay soils.  The green area in the foreground also stays in grass, because it has some large rocks just under the grass and a couple of young oak trees.

The second picture is of bed #1, just after tilling.   This shows more clearly that the bed is slightly raised, from added organic matter.

West of the beds, a small drainage area runs along the pasture fence, so we aren't likely to expand the beds in that direction.  Bed #3 could be lengthened going east, but that area will probably have a separate small bed for more blueberries.  I prefer to make any more room for vegetables out in the old pasture. 

I like having vegetable beds surrounded by plenty of green buffer area.   The buffer areas reduce stormwater runoff, lower the risk of creating erosion ditches in the clay soils, and help water quality.   Ideally, I like short mowed areas right around the beds, for better access, and longer grass beyond that, to slow down stormwater.

The buffer areas will certainly get a lot of water from Andrea.

Heat, then storm, then cool

I was bush hogging an area in the back of the hayfield yesterday using the farm tractor, and ignored some storm clouds, which were riding in on the heat.   Got caught out in a huge rain, which was a bit scary, since the swales already contained standing water, and there was the real possibility of getting stuck out there.   Got drenched to the skin.

When I made it back to the pasture fence and turned south to follow it, the wind suddenly picked up massively, hitting me side ways.   I could see the rain moving horizontally, hitting the back of the sheep barn hard.

The cold rain was steaming off the tractor but....at least so far there doesn't seem to be any damage.   Sucking water into an engine is not a good thing.

The temperature went from the 80s to the 60s, and today was much more pleasant.   The vegetable beds were too wet to walk around in much, but at least I got the tomato plants tied up and a bit of hand weeding done.  The picture above is part of Bed #1, weeds and all.  We have three planted vegetable beds this year, plus a new, small, blueberry bed.   Bed #1 includes:  tomatoes, rutabaga, lettuce, kale, carrots, onions, broccoli, nasturtiums, bush beans, and potatoes.  Bed #2 has all the squashes (pumpkins, achorn, yellow summer squash, and zucchini) and the cukes.  Bed #3, which is new this year, has more tomatoes and more beans.

So far, we aren't using any row covers or raised beds.  Everything is in flat, basic, beds.   Last year I mulched everything with grass clippings, but there was not enough time or dry weather to allow for that this year.   So, this year there is more hoeing, and I've also mulched some areas with hay from the back field.   They hay was cut early, so there is little weed seed in it.  

Irene

A quick post to say we got really lucky with Irene. Tthere was no damage to the farm equipment .  The tarp on the baler held.   We're still planning to cut a bit of second-cut hay.

There is a bit of damage in the garden, but things could have been so much worse.   The bean plants didn't lose all their flowers; green tomatoes are still ripening.



Farm websie seems to be down.... so is the website for the company hosting the site.