Overcast But No Rain

After yesterday, a sunny day pushing 90, we were thrilled to have an overcast day in the 70s today. This incredible stretch of warm, dry weather brought the first June bugs out on April 15th: yes, a full six weeks before the start of June.

Phil has been rotating the cows through paddocks twice a day. He's been impressed to see how little minerals they are eating, especially compared to the winter. But with the green grass, they have the runs: too much fresh forage! He rolled out some hay bales for them, to help them balance their stomachs. As I understand it, a cow stomach is like a composting chamber: it needs both green and brown material to function properly. With the fresh, new growth of spring, there is no brown. So Phil gave them some.

This weekend I finally ran out of my lovely tote of Vermont Compost Company potting soil. Time to make my own. I shoveled thirty buckets of peat into the empty tote (the pigs demolished a big bale last year, and didn't spread it around thoroughly, so I could salvage some). Then Phil had the challenging task of transporting that floppy tote uphill with the tractor. It gave me some tense moments, as the big tractor wheels came off the ground sometimes: we have some steep terrain, and the heavy tote swung the tractor out of kilter.

Heading back up the hill, the asparagus patch had several weeds going to seed, so I weeded. That was good.

What was not good were the vole holes I found. Our cat, Tiger, vanished about three weeks ago. Perhaps a coyote got him: I vaguely remember hearing a louder than normal meow late at night around the time he disappeared. I miss him. He was personable with the boys, even sleeping up on Isaiah's upper bunk through the winter. And he was an excellent mouser.

Without a mouser, our asparagus patch is at risk. It's always something.

In happier news, I planted my fig tree today. It was terribly root bound, so I soaked it in water for some time, then loosened the roots as best I could. I think it will be much happier outside, rather than dehydrating and growing in circles in the greenhouse.

I've grafted my way through a full roll of freezer tape, and most of a roll of electrical tape. Although I'm sure we have more electrical tape, I'm inclined to attempt bud grafting the 30 remaining rootstocks (so, yes, I've finished 267, as three were dead).