Brrrrr for Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday highs were in the 50's which really wasn't too bad for a weekend of chores. The transplanted pumpkins look ok.

The seeds planted earlier in the week weren't up yet but I planted several more rows.  The patch looks good before the onslaught of weeds.

I did the camera tour on foot - notice that I'm wearing a jacket and check out the camera temp.

Both last week and this week, I did some bush-hogging.

And Joan continued her fixation with mowing on the zero-turn.

We couldn't help but notice the large dead oak by the driveway stand.

I took the opportunity to fell it.

It pretty much went where I intended. 16" bar on this chainsaw so you can get an idea of the size. 

I got it limbed but not sawed into logs yet.

I already had all the cedar logs to work on and I got them pretty well cut into logs.

I noticed this unhatched egg in the middle of the pumpkin patch - no nest in sight.  Some nest robber must have dropped it here?

I know that honeysuckle vine is an undesirable invasive but it sure does smell good right now.

Wineberry patch - it should be producing in a few weeks.  There are a lot of them here.

So I have this 1,000 piece puzzle of a red stag.  It was so difficult that I had to recruit Amy and Jeni to help me finish it.  Joan decided that it should be framed and hung at the farm.

The turkeys were everywhere this week - especially in any of the fields that I planted in sunflowers.

Do you think that they know that the season ended last week? These shots are from the breakfast table.

One mature gobbler and the three jakes.

They also came into the bird feeders. Some videos  In the Sunflowers  On the way over  At the Feeders

I saw them out in the fields while working and they were all over the cameras too.

Still strutting.

This is the fertilizer spreader - he must have been moving fast.  This is the only shot on camera.

It's fawning time and they are starting to show on camera.

Hard to see but the bobcat is in this photo.

And the bucks are putting on antler now.

Monday weather was a little better. High in the 70's.  I hope that you enjoyed your holiday.  Cherries are ripening but not quite ready.  I hope that the birds leave me a few by the time we get back to pick some.

Some Planting

The fertilizer got spread so I ran out ahead of the rain to do a little planting.  First I gave them all a light disking to mix in the the fertilizer.  The disk is faster for this purpose than the rototiller.  I may leave this big plot fallow until August.

Then I planted some food plots.  This is a summer annual blend that I got via the NWTF.

After broadcast spreading the seed, I smoothed it with a chain drag.

I decided to put in  field of sunflowers again this year in addition to a small section in the pumpkin patch.  The deer like the leaves of these black oil sunflower plants.

It was getting late by the time I finished that plot.

I started the biggest pumpkins (longest growing season) indoors a couple weeks ago.  I planted them  and used my water wagon to give them a drink.  I also planted a row or two of seeds.  That's about 10% of the pumpkin patch.  I'll work on it again this weekend.

While the water wagon was out, I gave the new trees a drink.  This new cherry tree that Joan got as a replacement isn't looking too good.  Meanwhile, the one she decapitated is leafing out.

But I noticed that this five year old peach tree has set some good fruit.

Here's a look at my starter pumpkins before they went out to the field. They've been living on the porch for a week or so.