Finally some rain...

It finally rained on Fri, 5/25. Our farm rain gauge showed 2.7 inches.

The vetch is blooming a beautiful purple. We really like this cover. It kills easily by low mowing / cutting with the tractor or with hand trimmer. It kills into a thick mat helping to further suppress weeds and we envision it will be quite an addition to the tilth of our soils when we turn it in this fall.

The blue at the lower bottom is an irrigation header line

And it's scape time! We noticed them last week and now several varieties have produced scapes:

Tzan

Bavarian Purple

Russian Red

Spanish Roja

Siberian

Polish Hardneck

Music

Kazakhstan

We harvested some and grilled them for dinner last night. They are so delicious and have much more garlic flavor than the green garlic.

We were walking the farm to document if we had any rain/watershed areas of concern and while standing behind the shop looking at our low growing fields (not yet in production), I happened to glance to the side and only about 4' away from me was a sleeping fawn. I'm sure the mom was somewhere near watching us closely.

Plowed fields

This is the field that has seasonal creekbed spill and fines from last year when the culvert was replaced. It is topped with compost. We will put our over 100 pepper plants here. First, since my seedlings are late this year - a quick smother crop of buckwheat that will get incorporated in mid June when we plan to plant. (Late... I know...)

When Bill pulled a tarp off of a compost pile he found 5 more Milk Snakes.




This is Field 1 and Field 2. Bill plowed today. He also got #3 done. I can't wait to see them - I go up on Thurs night but won't get out there until Saturday.

Milk Snake!

While doing some clean up last weekend at the farm, we happened upon a snake sunning itself in the driveway.

It was about 3 feet long, no rattler on the tail

Round eyes


Didn't strike at the stick

After some internet research, we've decided that it is a Milk Snake. Milk Snakes are often mistaken for a Bull Snake (which is an endangered snake) as they have somewhat similar markings. Milk Snakes' markings are very saddle shaped with a dark outline. They have round eyes - I learned that round eyed snakes are not poisonous. They don't have a rattler, but they often shake their tail when disturbed and it can sound like a rattle if there is leaf litter nearby. Preferred living conditions are valleys and farmsteads where there is water (our farms perfect!). They eat mice, voles and insects and kill their prey via squeezing it until it can no longer breathe a/k/a constricting. Once their prey is dead they swallow it whole. They lay cluches of eggs numbering from 6 to 20.

Farmers gave these snakes their name as they believed that the snakes snuck into barns at night to steal milk; when actually the snake was more likely to be after the rodents associated with milking barns. Unfortunately this belief resulted in many of these snakes being killed.

Milk Snakes are also very popular with the snake-as-pet population. We were happy to see it - especially once we discovered it ate rodents! - but we certainly won't be inviting in the house.

It spent about 10 mins sunning itself on the driveway and then slithered off.