Fully Fallen

Whew! Wow! Holy s#*+! Yeah, at different times of the seasonal cycles that's about all I can say. Please forgive my internet absence. Its been quite a year and hunting and pecking my way through regular communication entails more energy then I want to spare.

Autumn is completely here. This year it came in the way of one long cold raindrop. October 31st, after dumping another 3" from the rain gauge, the monthly total here on the farm exceeded 11 inches. At one point the weather man commented that "for 24 days so far this month there has been measurable precipitation on 17 of them."

To quote myself from a few months ago "I wonder what the recharge will look like?" We were due, now here it is. The ponds, swamps and rivers are full. The local paper (17 miles away) had the precipitation for last month at 3.37" when we had over 8". North of us, they got 11 inches in one June rainstorm. Roads are still being repaired. The agricultural erosion and sedimentation created from that "rain event" will take years to repair.

Fortunately, here, we are just muddy. The sunny break in September allowed for some very good fieldwork and the new barley, rye and hay remain in good shape. The critters are still on pasture. Rain equals grass so the cattle have never looked better. For that matter the pigs look great too, following the steers, foraging acorns and rooting the soft ground wherever they please.

Obviously some work is delayed. There is compost that could have been spread and the home barnyard is pretty sloppy. Corn is yet to be picked and that will prove interesting. We may have to wait until it freezes. If necessary we could cross fence it and turn the cattle into a chunk at a time. If that happens we would probably winter some pigs to follow.

All that being said, there's still plenty to do before snow arrives. We have some building projects to finish and more firewood to bring in. Yesterday the sun came out and it was a beautiful day to work in the woods. And trees love the deep rains we've had. Bill

Haiku

Colored beauty past

The leaves now fully fallen

Contours are revealed.