I Can’t Complain
October 4, 2012
bout the dry weather. A walk-about today revealed that despite all the media hype about our dry spell, if I really glance around the farm and “look” at what I’m seeing, this dry weather is actually a boon in many ways. The sky is definitely not falling and I’m glad. I am worried about wild fires, and hope we skate through without a major fire, but worrying won’t change anything. Here’s a photo tour of the farm from the week of photos.
Harvest Moon
Spring overflow looking good!
Stockpiled forage
Ripening flint corn
Sweet Meat winter squash
Styrian Naked Seed pumpkin
Joan rutabaga
Coriander
Pole bean seed
Italian prunes
Moon kitty
The rains will come soon enough – I am just going to enjoy this lovely fall while it lasts. 
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Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Those are amazing pictures of the moon…. gorgeous! I’m finding here in France the autumn rains are more than making up for the summer drought. It’s been a terrible year.
Ladyjustine, it’s the extreme swings that are so bad.
The photos are spectacular, especially the moon kitty!!
CGLOTF, thanks – that cat is a character too
Love all the beautiful pictures, expecially of the kitty. At first I thought it was a cougar/mountain lion! Then I realized it was just a farm kitty in disguise. Love it!
A different picture makes him look like the the top guy on a totem pole!
I just drove home from the town today and realized (again) how truly screwed we’re with the weather. It was just pouring Again. Since August arrived we’ve seen very little sunshine and have had lots of rain. June and July weren’t much better. Grass seemed to stopped growing in August, wau early. Weak spring growth, just as weak if not weaker late summer/early fall growth. From the birch leaves dropping and grass turning yellow early it looked like it’d be an early and cold winter, which still might arrive, but winter and fall stopped in their tracks sometime in September and it’s still unseasonably mild. Couldn’t have kept the animals out in all the rain had it been colder and more windy though. And now where-ever I’ve tried to pen them the soil’s shit. Should be fine if I only graze it once late next summer though.
Anyway, in town clerks still lurk behind their counters and people drive around like mad, windshield wipers, lights and roofs doing their part to preserve this unreality. Imports are still flowing in. I noticed the peas are fodder quality this year. Who knew! So what if crops have failed the world over! Over here fields and potatoes have been swamped and grains have been left unharvested or have been brought in very wet and late because the combines would just sink in. Now if only the Turkish government manages to declare war on Syria, or more to the point, if the Syrian government decides to see the war declaration as such, I’ll forget about climate for a change. Erdogan’s already all eager and willing, probably always has been. It’s the kind the offices attract, nothing new or surprising there. So how about some Patriarchy blowing up in everyone’s face (and a**) globally for a change! Oh, yeah, it already has, “low-intensity” like, through my whole life. I’m just a bit sheltered.
FFS couldn’t the sick bastards who are making all this happen just die for once and take their whole class of sociopathic evildoers with them?!? It’s a disease, they say, a cannibal disease. If I may quote:
“Brutality knows no boundaries. Greed knows no limits. Perversion knows no borders… These characteristics all push towards an extreme, always moving forward once the initial infection sets in… This is the disease of the consuming of other creatures’ lives and possessoins. I call it cannibalism.” -Jack Forbes.
I think that’s valid. That little gleam in the deciders’ eyes. Oh yeah. The decider king used to kick heads off brown babies’ shoulders before, never overcame that urge /obviously/.
None of this rant’s directed at you, just so I’d say if it wasn’t obvious already
I think it’s war on, it’s been for a long time. People just refuse to see what they wage or they’re made to wage that way.
AA, well I certainly hope not! I’ve been deciding to look at the weather differently these days and try to find something good or useable with what comes my way.
Lots of food for thought there!
Thanks for not jumping at my throat
You know, there used to be a lot of marshlands here and that’s what I think the land will go back to, especially with the amount of rain. Much of the forest was fairly recently drained to convert it to tree farms. On top of the rain the ditches of forty years ago are filling up and a lot of the forest will probably simply rot and shift in place. That seems like a good thing to me, because the system’s got to return to a balance and we’re so very far from it, both the system and us (as if there should be a difference!). It’s very difficult to find real forests anymore. Even in my youth it was different. This tree farming forestry has absolutely decimated forest environments as well as bird populations and other animals. I have a hunch the number of pests around today has to do with the forests being either near or already in a state of ecological collapse, climate effects excluded.
I think I like how you said you’re looking at weather differently these days. The way I see it, the forests and the rain and whatnot are telling me, I mean that’s what I heard just today, “Look, we’re moving and changing, and if you don’t see it now, it’s going to look to you an awful lot like we’re leaving and we left you, but that’s not true, we’re here, are you?” I just think I’m doing it wrong, I’m doing things wrong. Maybe admitting it is the first step.
AA, I agree, the other day when my daughter and I were chasing heifers, err persuading heifers, we saw a bald eagle flying over the house and the resident ravens were chasing it away. She has grown up seeing eagles, I never saw one (outside of school programs) until I was in my late 20′s. So all well and good we’ve saved the eagle, and many other birds. DDT was an easy ban, they weren’t making any money on it anymore, so here’s your bone, we’ll ban DDT and sell something else. A lot of something elses that are bigger and meaner. Meanwhile we have biggest fruit set I’ve seen in years and branches are breaking because of it – but you know what I haven’t seen? One yellow jacket! Never in my entire life have I been able to pick up windfall fruit without seeing yellow jackets drinking in the sweetness. I know many people reading this will think I’m crazy, but that bug serves a purpose, sure I don’t like to get stung by one, but for the most part they haven’t ever bothered me. Why declare war on all bugs? The zombie bee story was all the buzz the other day on the news, and when they broke away to the traffic report, the cute, young thing reporting on the traffic said, “Good, that’s what I like to see, a bug that self-destructs and kills itself.” Hmmm, apparently she doesn’t eat.
It’s hopeless I fear, the weather is the least of my worries…
How’s that for a rambling rant? Now I have to go move my cows – they will listen intently to everything I say
Well, yeah, well said
In July I was scything down strawberries and such under a fence before bringing cows in to that pasture when I came across a yellow jacket hive and hole. They like the strawberry underbrush and the ditch sides and I’ve cut too close to one before and been stung. This time around I noticed them early enough and went around their spot and then some, but was left wondering, silly me, if the cows would push their noses and tongues too close, get stung and break out of their paddock once there. They got along fine.
I’m so glad I’ve seen toads and frogs more this year than in many years before. I think it’s the grazing and tall grass that have brough them. A hawk frequents the fields now. Never “lost” a hen or a chick to her, yet anyway. There’s other food on her plate. But next to no berries in the woods this year. I don’t know how the bears will eat. Bumble bees had clover and vetch on pasture to compensate a little for lost berry blossoms, at least right here. And the yellow jackets seemed to love the Lovage that grows by the door. It grew way taller than me and the smell would hit your nostrils every time you got out
To your zombie bees I quite incidentally found this to say in this morning’s news (“Body Beautiful” about body building on Al Jazeera). I think it’s fitting and transfers quite nicely to a lot of things. An aspect of the same pathology if you will. Here’s a quote:
“The people who spoke to us, Johnny Starr, Luke Schembri and Nathan Roe were to some extent obsessed about getting bigger. Were they suffering from muscle dysmorphia? It is hard to say as they had valid individual reasons – be it aesthetic, competition or self-improvement. I came away with a high regard for their dedication to eating ‘clean foods’ (boiled chicken, eggs and broccoli were favourite dishes) and training hard every day.
“But was I in some way admiring a psychiatric condition? Again, it was difficult to draw the line between athletic discipline and unhealthy obsession. I watched as Johnny met friends at a bar and only drank water. I noticed Luke was edgy and tense all day until after his workout. I observed Nathan devouring half a pavlova off-camera. And yet, all three insisted they were not missing out on life.”
Dry days would be good but my squashes are still hanging on in there due to the mildness of the weather, just suffering due to the moisture. Same with the beans. Still if it was dry, it would probably be cold and that would stop everything even attempting to grow. I guess I shall settle for the dampness for now, like you find the good in what we have
wonderful fall photos of goodness growing…in spite of the weather…in fact alot of things are probably doing better with the extended sunshine and warmer days, instead of the incessant rain, we usually get here in the northwest, this time of the year!!
that last kitty moon shot would make a great halloween card, photo…it almost looks like he is batting at the moon!!
You have the best pictures, love the moon kitty, how did you ever catch that shot? Everything looks wonderful, wish we’d had a wetter summer but we’ve started off Fall okay, but always hoping and praying for more moisture, we are incredibly dry
( Love check for your new posts have a blessed weekend, we’re cannning a bushel or so worth of concord grapes( juice and jellly too*wink*)
Kelle, goodness I have to thank my daughter for the best pictures – that’s her cat and he follows her everywhere. She was trying to get the moon shot and he just had to perch himself on the fencepost and do his grooming
Of course the dogs were at the bottom of the post too to make sure he stayed put. 
Your grapes sound lovely! Nothing tastes better than home-canned grape juice on a cold winter day!
What is flint corn and why does it look red? Just curious:) You have such a beautiful bounty – thanks for sharing. Have a Great Day!
CA, it’s for cornmeal etc., a dry corn that can be stored and ground as needed. This particular variety comes in red, orange and yellow. It’s worth growing just to look at!
http://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-seeds-roys-calais-flint-corn.html
Fabulous photos and philosophizing.
Matron, are you accepting applications for residents!?!?
I’m a city gal that envies every aspect of what you do and how you do it. Keep rockin’ it Momma -you truly are a treasure to those of us who know a good thing when we sit it. BTW, the moon/kitty photo is both captivating and enchanting in and of itself. Tell your daughter I’m thinking of printing off the photo to frame and hang in my house -it’s that friggen good!! Peace out, love you!
Sincerely,
Charlotte (your avid admirer in NJ)
see not sit!! LOL
My favorite pic is of the kitty “bouncing” the moon. Fantastic photography!
I don’t complain, I have it damn good!
Fabulous photo of the cat playing with the moon!
Your photos are OUTSTANDING> The cat one is calendar worthy!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Linda, thank you! He’s one cool cat
I’m growing Joan this year. Where did you score the seeds? I had to order from England. Have you tried Collet Vert? It is my new benchmark in rutabagas. Much richer than the American standards I’ve been growing for years.
Stevene, these are from my own saved seed, the originals came from here:
http://www.wildgardenseed.com/product_info.php?cPath=68&products_id=182
I haven’t tried Collet Vert…did the seed come from Baker Creek? Sound good!
Yes, I got them from Baker Creek. I haven’t saved rutabaga seed yet, but it’s about time I did! Definitely try the Collet Vert. It’s also very attractive with the green collar. I’m looking forward to trying Joan. How do you like it? I’ve grown American Purple top and Laurentian for a long time, mostly Laurentian, and the Collet Vert is much tastier. It seems to perform very well too.
Stevene, I’ll try that, but you won’t be disappointed with Joan, she’s a tasty one. Next year I’m trying Gilfeather too, so I’ll add Collet Vert to the list