New Life

Yesterday we started to notice that the wheat that we seeded first was poking through the ground.  It's the most exciting thing!!!!  Now you can only see it if you are looking right down the rows.  In another week, you will be able to see a slight tinge of green across the field.  By the time winter sets in, it will look golf course green.  I love the transition from soil to green.

Looking down the rows.

These little guys are still yellow, they are so newly out of the ground!  By tomorrow they will be green as they begin to photosynthesize chlorophyll.  

This is not wheat that is greening up the fields.  This is an annual grass that we fight in our fields called cheat grass, or downy brome.  We have a chance to eliminate the flush that has germinated after the rain.  Tomorrow this happy and healthy crop of cheat grass has a date with Mr. Monsanto in the form of Round Up!

A very healthy crop of cheat grass growing in one of our fields.

If you enlarge this photo, and look closely, you will see that the cheat grass is almost solid!

So, today we moved the sprayer to this field so that we could spray round-up.  There was still a lot of plants that had not yet emerged so we decided to wait until tomorrow afternoon to begin. Round up is a contact herbicide, so if it doesn't touch a plant, it won't kill it!

And here's Arthur, patiently waiting to finish seeding!  

And speaking of new life.  The chicks have all ready outgrown their little round enclosure.  This morning I let them out in to the bigger area.  They were kind of nervous at first, but before long, they were exploring their greatly expanded world!  This afternoon they were happy as can be with their new digs!

The chicks in their enlarged home!

It didn't take long for them to find the food!

I put a second feeder out, since it wasn't so crowded.  Seems like they are always eating!

And this is what they will be when they grow up!

It's too early to tell if there is a rooster in the crowd.  This batch had 6 roosters, out of 24 chicks.  They were supposed to be sexed to 80% accuracy.  I'm not very good at math, but I know that 6 out of 24 is NOT 80% accurate!

This isn't new life.  I planted these guys this spring, but there was something about the color that was so striking this morning.  Several plants in the yard are enjoying the cooler weather, including these geraniums.