It was a warm, clear Monday with 10-15 mph winds. I have the Bronco back. Butch had borrowed it while his truck was in the shop. I can hardly take it anywhere, without getting compliments. Butch was asked why he was driving his "wife's" Bronco? I loved that! I enjoy my usual ride to Agriland & afternoon break with my husband.
The Bronco & Speedy~ Silver City Trailhead
Though warm, the humidity was in the 50's & that's a blessing in August!
Speedy, as a size comparison for the now tall corn!
Evias, who worked for our friend Dean at Granite Falls Thoroughbred Farm for years, now has his own farm in Mexico. He texts me from time to time & even sends video of his farm. The last one I received was of his corn field. I responded with a photo of an Iowa cornfield. :-)
On the trail to Malvern~
Even with the wind, we made decent time to Agriland. I found Butch watering the flowers we planted around the sign this spring. It's amazing how much they've grown!
Signage & flowers~
They looked so puny when we put them in, but now, are almost overgrown! The mums are taking over & will soon be blooming!
Speedy points out "to be sweet corn field!
Next year, the men are going to take advantage of the above property to grow sweet corn! Butch is excited to do his first planting! I think we'll have sweet corn coming out our ears - pardon the pun!
While I was there, a delivery semi arrived with a load of dry fertilizer. I wanted to watch the unloading process. (A super short video, above.) I didn't think to get a photo of the huge bins, where each dry fertilizer type is sorted & stored. From there, after the farmer picks the exact percentage of each type, the products go by conveyor into the mixer.
Dry Mixer~
The mixer, mixes it - before dropping it out the bottom & onto another conveyor. On the far side of the wall, (below) the Tender truck is loaded.
Tender Truck being loaded in the Dry Shed~
Below, is the area where some of the liquid chemicals are stored. I was impressed at how involved the process is - providing the products needed for the crops to flourish.
Wet Shed~
It was fun to get a tour of a few of the buildings & the processes.
32% Max Storage Tanks~
After sharing a cold coke, it was time to turn back. Most of the mid-west is experiencing a drought. The river is the lowest I've seen it.
Silver Creek from the trestle~
In our area, the infrequent rain storms have been spotty. We've been very lucky in Glenwood, to get enough rain to keep things green. The humidity contributes too. Many farms though, haven't received even an inch of moisture in months... Pastures are dry & cattle are being fed supplemental hay, months ahead of usual.
On the Trail~
Late in the afternoon, there's always such contrast from the hot light of the sun & the dark shadows of the trees. For the last week or so, I've ridden through areas where there's a very rich, almost cloyingly sweet smell? It's the flowering nettles! Loaded with blooms now - they dominate many areas along the trail.
Blooming Nettles~
The wind seemed to pick up on my way back. Some days - I feel like I could ride forever - others - I'm glad to be done. Today was one of the later. Butch met me at the trail-head. We again decided on the Monday night special, at Tobey Jacks.
Agriland~
The Google image above is a very old one. The new large shop isn't there, but where my track enters & exits - is the east door. (The big shop now covers all of the dark rectangle in the photo.) I rode on through, exiting the west door & turning right - where I found Butch at the front sign. The point farthest south is where the sweet corn will be planted! I can't wait!
Saturday was a total gift! A cool day without the high humidity & a nice breeze. We were determined to get the fence done at the farm!
Overgrown!
It was pretty disheartening to see how the weeds had taken over the pasture area. With all the strong storms, a large Willow had come down & fallen right on the fence.
Willow down~
When we first walked the area, we knew that the trees would be an issue. We went back for the chain saw. Butch said it will probably be the first of the many that we'll have to clear as time goes on...
I started in on the weeds... Higher than my head & interspersed with Stinging Nettles, it was a jungle, full of bugs. Water vascular - so very easy to cut down, even when the stems are a couple inches around.
Farah watches :-)
Butch had the weedwhacker & hacked his way up the walkway to the barn. The west side still needed to have the wire put up. The problem with all the fast growing vegetation is not only that it blocks the breezes, but also harbors every kind of biting bug. Now that farmers are not supposed to disk the fields, pests like the Japanese Beetle, who lay their eggs in the dirt, flourish. Last year they were bad, this year I think they are worse...
Farah on her ground tie
I brought Farah over to enjoy the seed heads on the Brome grass. Since the Wild Carrot shade so much of the soil, there was very little grass. Now that it's down, we hope to get it sprayed & allow the Brome to grow. The vegetation on the outside of the fence will have to be knocked down too. I think it could get heavy enough take the fence down over time.
Dean & the Tractor
Covered from top to bottom with bug spray - I was hacking away at the Wild Carrot & about half-way across the pasture, when I heard the tractor! Dean to the rescue! He'd driven by earlier, saying something about; "Too much work." That mowing blade made quick work of the rest of the field! With the sweat dripping into my eyes, even with my headband - I was more than ready to watch as it all went down! I wish I'd know enough about the weeds here, to realize what a huge problem they would create.
I wanted to leave some of the Brome, but the guys said it would all grow back in no time! Not the weeds! Please! One more day's work & the mare will have her pasture!
After our ride last Monday, the rain came & trails were closed :-( This rain was a nice normal rain - it reminded me of a rainy WA day. No lightening, thunder, or sideways rain. Just the moisture the farmers were praying for.
When I walked into Farah's stall, she guided me outside & introduced me to the horse on the far side of her paddock. He's a very nice handsome, young, dark bay QH. A friendly fellow & much calmer than the crazy Arab she still manages to ignore.
Farah's new fashion statement~
After the hoards of buzzing bugs that attacked us at Lake of Three Fires & seeing what some of the riders in that area use - I ordered a crocheted fly veil for Farah. I'm going to see if I can find a pattern & try making one just for fun. It's been years since I've done any crocheting at all - my hands & fingers are a bit stiffer these days.
Down the trail at Waubonsie
I'd heard rumors that the campground at Waubonsie fills up during the week of the Sidney Rodeo - & it's this week! But when I pulled in, there was only one group of people, without horses, drinking beer. I know it was beer, because they left the empties in the box, in a bag, on the table. They did this - when the dumpster was only maybe ten-steps away.
Big Trees here too come down~
This tree took some work to cut through - there are a few places that need work & BCH is hoping to get some of it done. Here - DNR is totally against civilians using power tools in the woods.
Heading down~
It was so very muggy & so very humid that Farah would stop after galloping up some of the climbs. She was covered with a thin sheen of sweat within minutes. Funny though - the bugs weren't nearly as bad as they have been.
Another tree covering the trail~
This one, riders have been getting around for some time. We took a trail we normally don't & that's where it was. Instead of going back into camp after our first loops, we just stayed out in the shade finding what trails we could for a couple more miles. On many, the Stinging Nettles are so tall that they are taking over. This would be easy to fix if we could go in with weed whackers...
I think the flowers above are Butterweed. They have a yellow center & fit the description. They were beautiful & bright on a sunny bright day!
Back~
Once back at the trailer, I dismounted to find these weird green things stuck all over Farah's chest, neck & upper legs. They were almost boomerang shaped, green & maybe 1/2 inch long. Almost like Velcro - both sides of the tiny things covered with little hooks - but they didn't hurt. After I washed her down, she rolled, grazed a while, then came over to stand by me where I was sitting in the door of the tack room. She cocked a hind leg & we both enjoyed or quiet time together. I'm already looking forward to Fall!
It's finally warming up! The weekend was beautiful, if very warm, at least for us! We worked outside most of both days. Butch dug an old rose bush out of Clara's yard & in return Lloyd gave us three tomato starts! They went right into the ground when we got home. He also planted three zucchini plants - I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of produce to make Zucchini relish!
We were sitting out on the back deck later than usual last evening - it was cooling down - dusk was upon us & suddenly I saw what I thought was a flash light - on the far side of the creek? Just a second later it had moved faster than anyone on foot could have! Was I seeing things? I asked Butch if he saw something & yes he did! Lightning Bugs! I was so excited - it was like a gift that you never expect to get - but appears as if by magic!
Iowa Firefly~
Even Nika saw them & of course - started barking! She was running from one side of the yard to the other - trying to figure out what was going on :-) After doing a lot more reading on the subject - I'm sending a letter to our power company - to ask what they can do about the street light that is oh so much brighter than we need. To actually still have this colony living here at the edge of town is so wonderful. It would help if that light could be dimmed - giving the Firefly's a better chance of communicating. The light show lasted most of an hour - one coming within a few feet of our deck!
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
This morning & went out for my usual walk along the creek & noticed these large leaves, actually similar to a Trillium. Closer inspection revealed it to be one of the wildflowers that I tried for years to establish in the Homestead Woods, Jack-in-the-Pulpit! There were two areas where they seem to be flourishing in the dappled shade.
A true beauty~
Butch weed-whacked the whole area along our side of the creek & I've been knocking things down, such as the Stinging Nettles that you can see coming up around the wildflower. I think that getting all the grasses down, gave the flowers a chance to really flourish! Now, I'm going to get little flags to mark their location - so we won't disturb the bulbs.
The part of Twinkle Creek that we border has been missed by the usual burning, trashing, dumping etc., that I've seen has happened so many other places. Not that I don't pick up at least a couple pieces of trash on every walk. Gradually though - I hope to enhance as much a much of the area, as I can~
