Early Morning flower tour

As I was drinking my coffee this morning, I looked out the window and decided it would be a good time to take an early morning stroll and take a few images of the blooming plants in the yard.

Cool and cloudy weather the last few days, but no rain, but since it's cool, the moisture is holding in the crop land.

The herb garden and a peony.

This red Oriental poppy is spectacular when it blooms.  Here it is just about ready to burst.

This rose was not blooming yesterday!  I love the color.

The yellow rose of Texas.  

The bee garden is blooming with more to come.

I love this rose.  She is so delicate.

St. Francis and some pretty bloom.

Painted daisy, an old disc plow and lots of foliage waiting to bloom!

The tri-color beech is so pretty in the spring.  

I'm very pleased with this clematis.

Love this very dark, almost black iris.

The climbing hydrangea is very happy.  St. Fiacre , the patron saint of gardeners is watching over the garden.  

This is one of my favorite iris, with a clematis background.

Love this little plant in a rusty old lunch pail.  

 The new chicks are looking out, wondering if it is safe to come out.  Baxter is giving them quite a bad time when they do get the courage to come out and play, which means they don't come out very often!

Even the chicken house rose is beginning to bloom.

Quiet time

A few days ago I was able to spend the whole day working in my yard.  It was a great mental health day.  Some pretty stuff is happening in the yard right now.  Here are a few images of blooming plants.....there will be more to follow as the roses, and more show us their glory.

I bought this clematis last year.  It spent the summer getting established and now this year it is very happy!

A close up of the bloom.  It's so pretty.

This is the last section of the bee garden to weed.  I'm not sure where all this cheat grass came from.  I did not let any go to seed last year.  I finished weeding but then forgot to take a photo as proof of completion!

The yellow rose of Texas is starting to bloom.  I wonder which girl gets the easy gig of pollinating these flowers!

I love this rose, but she is out of control.  After if is finished blooming I am going to take on the monumental task of cutting it back to the ground.  Then I need to decide what to do from there.  It is on a mission to take over the farm!

And look at this clematis!

It is breath taking.  I can hardly tear my eyes away.  

Wild Rye

Yesterday I spend about an hour pulling wild rye from one of the fields that we farm.  This is not the rye that is made in to flour or whiskey, rather a terribly invasive cousin that, if let go, will take over a field in no time.  The seeds blow off trucks that are transporting grain.  Since it grows so much taller than wheat, it is easy to spot and easy to pull.  This is definitely "a stitch in time saves nine" type of project.

Thunder showers were predicted for the evening and these clouds look like the prediction may come true.......and it did!

Thunder heads building in the north.

Meanwhile, the wheat is just about to burst in to full head.  The heads are peaking out, making sure it is safe to come out and play.  There is still a lot of time until harvest, but right now, it looks like we have a very good crop coming on.

My grandpa used to say that if you could not see a rabbit run down the row, you would have at least a 60 bushel per acre yield.  Definitely can't see a rabbit or even Baxter chasing a rabbit down these rows!

A little tractor work

I haven't been on the tractor much this spring and I kind of miss it!  Alicia has been burning most of the diesel the last few weeks, which has been welcome relief but I'm ready to get back to work!  I have spent the last few days on our Indy tractor, pulling the harrow across the field.  This is one of my favorite farm job and I'm happy that was able to a little this spring.

Here are a few images of what I did today!

My favorite Indy tractor with the harrow behind.  Such a pretty sky today too!

You may remember that we mow our stubble in the fall.  This is what it looks like now, having been through the winter.  Notice the thick layer of straw that is between the rows of stubble.  This is a good section of the field.

Not all our of our soil is like the previous photo.  We have several area where the soil is shallow and doesn't grow very good wheat, even if it rains.

The harrow spread the straw out to create a more even mulch.  Here you can see that the straw gathers in the harrow.

When I drive over the areas in our field where the soil is less than optimal, I "dump" the harrow, leaving piles of straw on these thin places.  This ultimately builds organic matter in the less productive areas.  You can see the piles of straw in this photo.

We like to go two different directions with the harrow to spread the straw more evenly.  The first pass I go with the furrows.  The second time I set the guidance at a 45 degree angle.

This is a pretty fast job.  I can go 8.1 mph and the harrow is 84 feet wide, so you can cover a lot of ground in a day.  

The left side of this photo is ground that has not been harrowed, the right side is once over.

Here's a close up of the first time over with the harrow.  

And this is what it looks like the second time over.  This nice blanket of straw will help retain moisture throughout the hot summer months.  

Back in the saddle

I've been away from Rolinco Road Ramblings for quite a while!  The last six weeks have been busy and emotional with my dad's passing.  I am reminded as I spend time outside in the yard and in the field, that there are seasons for a reason.  It's a good lesson, to accept and adjust to the changes that happen every day, big and small.

Last Sunday, on Mother's Day, I took a few moments to wander around the yard and snap some photos of the beautiful blooming plants in the yard.  It was a spectacular Mother's Day bouquet!

The snowball bush and lilac are competing to see who is the most fragrant!

The bees love the snowball bush and were frantically working to gather as much pollen as they could.

These pansies are almost ready to give up, but this day they were still very pretty.  A few hot days last week made them very unhappy!

And speaking of fragrant!  The wisteria was a real treat on a warm evening, filling the air with the sweetest scent.

Also a favorite of the honey bees!

I love bleeding heart.  

And another shot of the lilac.  This is the prettiest that I can remember it blooming.

Another busy bee!

This clematis was new last summer.  It is cover with blossoms.  I can't wait to see it in bloom.

And this guy is loaded, just waiting to give a spectacular display.