Freshman Year - Done!

Our great-niece Alex finished her freshman year at Miami U.  So Joan's sister Laura and her friend Janet came for the move out. We had a farm stop along the way. The dogs adore Alex.

We also had a birthday cake.

And lots of touring on the Ranger.

We occasionally stopped for interesting sights.

This was the attraction in the middle of the trail. These are Eastern American Jack-O'-Lantern mushrooms.

Last week I sprayed food plots.

This one I intentionally killed with roundup. I obviously missed a strip in the center - I got it this week with a backpack sprayer.

This one I thought that I was spraying with a selective broadleaf herbicide.  I used Butyrac (2-4-D-B) on clover for that purpose.  I had a jug of Crossbow which I sort of thought was the same but it turns out that it isn't. This is probably an unintentional replant.

This was an intentional kill for replant.

I sprayed the lower part of this field with Butyrac.  It was getting over-run with thistle but it is so steep that I hate to disturb the soil.

And this was another Butyrac on clover plot.

It's impossible to keep up with mowing at this time of year.

Here's that young bobcat on the prowl.

And at night.

Coyotes.

This is my "water wagon".  I used it to water the newly planted peach tree last week.  2" of rain in the gauge this week.

Turkeys.

Some minerals out for the deer.

Antlers are in progress.

Crunch Time For Farm Chores

Since I retired at year end, Joan and I have been on a whirlwind of trips. Being away from the farm in winter isn't too big of a deal. But in the Spring, things start to really happen quickly.

Our latest trip was a cruise on the Danube River.  We started in Budapest and ended in Prague.

It wasn't all cities - lots of beautiful countryside along the way.

We met two couples every night for dinner and had a really good time.  Judith and Stephen were from Melbourne Australia.  Beth and Greg were from a little town near Roanoke Virginia.

In Eastern Austria, it wasn't hard to spot the hunting stands along the river.

I've seen a lot of stands like this in Germany too.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, the grass has been growing.

The pumpkin patch needs work before planting.

The food plots are in various states - most of them needed sprayed.

I terminated several for replanting and tried to kill off broadleaf weeds in some of the clover plots (they are exceptionally weedy).

We discovered some items needing attention on the driveway.

I planted the new orchard more than a month ago.  I put it behind electric fence because my last three attempts have been failures due to deer, drought and neglect.

I'm trying hard to address those things this time.  Stark Brothers were 6 weeks late in shipping my last peach tree.  I got it in the ground this weekend after mowing inside the fence around the recently planted trees.

I also removed one of the dead trees from previous attempts (hanging from the tractor bucket).

And there is no shortage of regular chores with trees down all over the place.

Several of the trails are impassable due to downed trees and several culverts are plugged and flowing over the top.

One of the clover plots still looks pretty good.

It's time now to get some minerals out for the pregnant does and bucks starting to put on antler.

We had swarms of what Joan called "mosquitos". I believe that they are mayflies.  They chose to procreate on our kitchen window.

I had previously sprayed Roundup under the electric fence.  If grass and weeds grow up and touch it, the current leaks to ground.

It worked - I had a brown band around the orchard.

For Easter, we had a visit from our niece, Alex.

She's a freshman at Miami.

This is a very young looking bobcat that is out and about in daylight.

And a young looking coyote too.

It's turkey mating (and hunting) season.

There has been a lot of activity on camera.

No hunting for me this year.  I still have a breast in the freezer from last year.

Tom turkey heads are amazing.

They change color based on the degree of excitement.

They can be red, white or blue.

Part of the mating ritual is strutting.

The Tom's show their stuff for the hens.

Mature Tom's have a tail fan with a continuous arc.  One year old's (jakes), have a step in the tail fan.

Check the head color changes.

I always enjoy getting photos with multiple species in the frame.

Who's the boss?

Hard to see but there's a hawk hunting here.

The bucks are starting the process of growing new antlers.

90% (my guess) of the antler growth happens between now and July 4th.

Usually the main frame is formed by then.

In the next few weeks, we will also have new fawns.

Which the coyotes will be on the lookout for.  The circle of life.