Is the weather ever going to be in our favor?

Here it is Memorial Day Weekend and we’re staring at bare gardens.  In the past month, we’ve had hard freezes, frost a few nights, and wind… a lot of wind. What’s worse, is that we’ve had wind from every direction. Most days it’s blown at about 20mph with several days above 30 mph. This past week, we’ve dealt with 40 mph and gusts to over 60.

Trust me, even feeding the animals becomes a challenge. We gear up with goggles and handkerchiefs looking more like outlaws than farmers. To give you an idea of what it’s like, I have stood nearly 10 feet south of the sheep feeder and tossed a 10 lb flake of hay into  the air hoping it landed in the feeder. I’m the main milker and each day I’ve had to put the stanchion area back together. The wind tears down my wind break, and moves the mats around.

We were able to get all the goats weaned, so that means I’m now milking two goats. Annie has very short teats and takes me at least twice as long as when I milk Posey. Fortunately, Star is still welcome to nurse for another month, taking some of the pressure of me milking Annie.

In the greenhouse, we’re way overdue. the squash were all transplanted to larger pots, but everything else is just kind of struggling along in their paper pots. We’ve fed seaweed, and today I sprayed with chelated iron 6%.

We’ve also been delayed getting  the rabbits moved to the barn by the wind.  Where they’re being moved, the barn is open to the south. We still have to secure most of the barn to keep the sheep out, and then we’ll frame in the rabbit are. In the mean  time, the rabbits are spending their nights in the greenhouse and their days in the shade by the chicken coop. They past two days and nights, they’ve lived in the garage because of the extreme wind.

So, the gardens are tilled, irrigated,  and ready for plants and seeds. At this point we’re nearly 3 weeks late getting some crops into the ground. That’s the way things go here in Beryl. This next week’s weather looks much better with high’s in the 80′s and lows in the high 40′s. Hopefully, the wind will  stay below 20 mph. That way, we can get everything  planted and back on schedule.

We’re really looking forward to the Cedar City Farmer’s Market meeting on May 31. It marks the real beginning of our season.

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