5/1/26  Every minute life begins again.

Clouds, 43 degrees.  2.4 inches of rain  Cloudy this morning, some sunshine this afternoon, mainly clear tonight.  A strong WSW breeze, high 57, low 33.  Overcast tomorrow, evening showers become overnight rain. A SE breeze, high 52, low 39.  Rain Sunday, a stiff north breeze, high 47, low 36. Cloudy Monday, a strong WSW breeze, high 61, low 43. Partly cloudy Tuesday, SW wind, high 71, low 51.  Rain Wednesday and Thursday. A light south wind Wednesday, high 61, low 47.  A north breeze Thursday, a high of 57, low 41.  Partly cloudy next Friday and Saturday, westerly breezes, highs in the upper fifties, lows about 40. A few morning showers Mother's Day, some afternoon sun, a south breeze, high 61, low 42.  Showers the next three days, into Thursday morning. Easterly breezes until Thursday, then NW.Highs about 57, lows 42 until Thursday.  Thursday's high 60, low 43.  Partly cloudy Friday the 15th, high 62, low 44.

   We're thankful for the rain and for the forecast of more rain.  People who have been having well problems are even happier than we are. Darel and Heather's well has come back with clear water, best they've had.  They are praying it stays that way.  Farmers and gardeners' appreciation of the rain is dampened by the ground being too wet to work. The weather is perfect for planting trees and shrubs.  And no blackflie yet.

   The cover crop of Rye planted in the gardens is lush and green. Mabel started  to graze on it for an hour Tuesday, yesterday she had two and a half hours.  She'l stay at two and a half for a few days.  She'd like more but Bekah doesn't want her to get an upset stomach. Just the little she has had has boosted her milk production.

   May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/30/26  Most gardeners grow plants.  The good ones learn to grow soil. Because when the soil is alive everything else takes care of itself.

Clouds and mist, 44 degrees.  The National Weather Service is forecasting a chilly May, the second coolest in 15 years.  A full moon on the first means another full moon at the end of the month.  We may see some late frosts.  Rain today, showers tonight.  A brisk ESE breeze with a high of 47.  Tonight's low 43 with fog.  Partly cloudy tomorrow, a stiff NW breeze, high 57, low 43.  Mostly cloudy Saturday, a SW breeze, high 53, low 37.  Showers Sunday, a brisk north breeze, high 52, low 36.  Partly cloudy Monday and Tuesday.  strong SW breeze Monday, high 62, low 45.  A SW wind Tuesday, high 69, low 51.  Partly cloudy Wednesday morning, afternoon and overnight showers, strong south breezes, high 64, low 49.  Showers next Thursday and Friday, highs about56, lows 42 and 39. A stiff ESE breeze Thursday, a brisk WNW breeze Friday. Partly cloudy Saturday the 9th, a stiff SW breeze, high 56, low 42.  Mostly cloudy Mother's Day, a brisk WSW breeze, high 61, low 44. Showers Monday the 11th, a NW breeze, high 62, low 45.  Partly cloudy on the 12th, a brisk NW breeze, high 63, low 43. Partly cloudy the 13th and 14th, brisk NW breezes, highs 61, lows 42.

   Doug got all the seeding and packing done yesterday.  He would have liked to spread more fertilizer but ran out of daylight.  He was happy to get the seeding done.The forecast has changed from 3 inches of rain to an inch and a half.  Less rain means we can get in the gardens sooner but we needed that much rain.  We complain about our weather but we are  fortunate compared to others.  New Jersey lost its peach crop to that last cold snap.  Wildfires have burned the Nebraska grass lands and there's no healing rain forecast.  The fires didn't stop at the grassland, homes and ranches were burned too.  Now the area hit by Hurricane Helene is burning out of control because of the tinder dry trees that the hurricane uprooted.

    I put a light cover of mulch over our septic tank and set containers of purple and pink waves on it.  Hummingbirds like the waves and should we have to pump our tank it will be easy to open the lids.  Yesterday Annabelle bought me buckets of mulch for the tank top and to start renovating the kitchen garden paths.  We only got the tank top and a short path done before she ran into frozen mulch.  Rock hard frozen.

    May your day be blessed, Sally

   

 4/29/26 This life is a journey, not a destination. 

 Cloudy, 44 degrees.  Showers move in late afternoon with a SE breeze and a high of 51.  Rain tonight, low 41.  Rain tomorrow and tomorrow night with a strong east breeze, high 47, low 42.  Cloudy Friday, a stiff NW breeze, high 56, low 34. Partly cloudy Saturday, a WSW breeze, high 54, low 37. Showers Sunday, a high 52, low 36.  Partly cloudy Monday, a stiff SW breeze, high 61, low 43.  Showers Tuesday, a strong south breeze, high 64, low 45.  Partly cloudy next Wednesday, a brisk SW breeze, high 66, low 48.  Showers next Thursday and Friday, highs about 60, lows 45 and 42,  a brisk south breeze Thursday, a brisk west breeze Friday. Partly cloudy Mother's Day weekend, brisk WSW breezes, highs about 60, lows 40. Showers the 11th and 12th, highs 59, lows 41.  Showers the 13th, a few degrees warmer.

    Kaden and Sally Jo asked for a scan to see if the chemo treatments were making a difference.  The doctors said it was too soon, the scan wouldn't show much difference yet.  But they did the scan.   THE DOCTORS SAID KADEN IS HEALED, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW.  We all say, "PRAISE THE LORD!"

    Yesterday was warm and sunny.  No blackflies yet.  Darel weeded, fertilized and mulched the blueberries.  It took him all day because he took some breaks.  He said before he fell he would have had it done by noon.  We are just so happy he could do it.  So is he!  He feels great, just tires easily.  That is from not being able to do anything, not the brain injury itself.  We are thankful he is following doctors orders to not push and rest often.

    Annabelle cleaned out the maple syrup pan pond in the kitchen garden.   Bekah and I had turned the water on so after she got the dirty water, mud and leaves out she was able to hose it down and refill it.  I had bought a new pump filter but when I went to set it up I found I needed another fitting.  She started digging bamboo why the pond was refilling and kept at it until she couldn't find any more little red shoots.  All the time she was working a couple of chicadees were scolding her.  And Wilson stood in an upstairs window barking at her.  As far as he is concerned she is still a kid and no kids are allowed in the kitchen garden.

    They got the tiller on the tractor but can't till.  The driveshaft needs to be shortened.  Jay has a friend who can do it for him.  Lots of customers yesterday.

    May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/28/26  *Nobody talks about what gardening actually does to you. You start wanting to go outside. You start knowing what month it is by what's blooming. You start caring about the rain. There are worse things to become addicted to.

    Sunshine, 37 degrees.  Sunshine today. a brisk SE breeze, high 66.  Clouding up tonight, low 40.  Cloudy tomorrow morning, afternoon showers, overnight rain. A SE breeze, high 51, low 41.  Rain Thursday and Thursday night. A stiff east breeze, high 47, low 42.  Some showers Friday morning, a strong NW breeze, high 55. low 36. Mostly cloudy Saturday and Sunday, WNW breezes, highs 54, lows 35.  Partly cloudy Monday and next Tuesday, Brisk SW breezes, highs about 60, lows 40 and 46.  PM showers next Wednesday, a SW breeze, high 62, low 46.  Showers next Thursday and Friday, brisk NW breezes, highs 60 and 55, lows about 42. Partly cloudy Mother's Day weekend, WNW breezes, highs about 60, lows 40. Perhaps a morning shower on Mother's Day.  Cloudy  the 11th and 12th, WNW breezes, highs 61, lows 43.

    A busy day yesterday for everyone.  Today will be the same. Farmers, Country Junction crew and I are trying to get as much done as possible before the rain.  Hopefully we will get as much rain as forecast.  If we do, fields and gardens will be too wet to work for a few days.  The rains will provide moisture to germinate any seeds planted.  Fertilizer will soak into the rootzone of flower gardens and hayfields.

   Bekah started our cucumbers yesterday.  The cool forecast says it is too soon to start any for customers.  Our plants are planted in black plastic.  A remay tunnel is built over them so the plants are protected and warm..  They decided the battery charger they were charging the tractor battery with wasn't working.  They put a different charger on, Bekah thinks it charged the battery.  Jay is going after the seed potatoes this morning.  He's hoping to hook up the new tiller and till when he gets back.

   May your day be blessed, Sally.

 4/27/26  Resilience isn’t just built in soil and systems. It’s grown in how we listen, speak, and care for one another and the world around us.

Sunshine, 40 degrees.  A high of 70 today, mostly sunny, a light NE breeze.  Clear tonight, low 37.  Sunshine tomorrow, a high of 66, a brisk SE breeze,  low 40.  Cloudy Wednesday, a brisk SE breeze, high 53,  Rain Wednesday night, low 41.  Rain Thursday and Friday, highs about 50, lows about 40.  A strong east breeze Thursday, a strong north breeze Friday,  Morning showers Saturday, some afternoon sun.  A west breeze, high 52, low 38.  Showers Sunday, a NW breeze, high 50, low 37. Partly cloudy next Monday, a brisk west breeze, high 57, low 42. Although the  greenhouse is open now,  next Monday is the first day of Open Greenhouse Week. Partly cloudy early next Tuesday, PM showers. A west breeze, high 60, low 44.  Showers next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, brisk NW breeze, highs about 57, lows 44, 42, and 40.  Partly cloudy Mother's Day weekend, the 9th and 10th. NW breezes, highs 55, lows 41.  Partly cloudy Monday the 11th, a brisk NW breeze, high 56, low 42.

   All of the fruit trees and shrubs are potted up.  We are always so pleased with  the quality of the Bailey order.  The ginkgo biloba trees are packed in damp straw..  An order of several boxes is coming today via UPS.  I keep checking our email hoping there will be one saying the seed potatoes are ready to be picked up.

   Butter and cottage cheese today.  Even though our pleasant weather is limited, butter and cottage cheese need to be made when we have the milk and cream.

   We still have so many birds.  Last fall we noticed that many of the seeds of sunflowers and other flowers didn't have meat in them. The acorns were small and empty.  We believe it was because of the drought.  I'm thankful I can buy enough sunflower seeds to keep filling the feeders because I think nature's food supply also suffered from the drought.

   May your day be blessed, Sally.  

 4/25/26  Today is a good day to have a good day!

Sunshine, 36 degrees.   Sun and clouds today, a light north breeze, high 58.  Partly cloudy tonight, low 36.  Mostly cloudy tomorrow a light NEN breeze, high 65, low 39.  Partly cloudy Monday, aneast breeze, high 68, low 37.  Sunshine Tuesday, a SE breeze, high 68, low 40.  Showers Wednesday through Monday the 4h.  Partly cloudy Tuesday the 5th, showers the next three days.  Even though we have surface water we are still in a moderate drought.  We are all tired of the rain but our wells need it.  The forecast for the first half of May is 5 to 10 degrees below average.   I don't see any need for that, I guess it comes with the lack of sun.  NE breezes Wednesday and Thursday, highs 53, lows 44.  Brisk north breezes next weekend and Monday the 4th, highs about 50, lows 40.  Brisk north ly breezes continue through the week, highs 55-58, lows 42.
   We have heard nothing about the 150 ginkgo biloba trees.  Jay has started selling them.  There is no way they can add caring for 150 trees to their to do list.  Caring for the fruit trees and shrubs our customers want  is more important.  It is a very interesting tree, very hardy and known for its beautiful fall foliage.
    I have an 8 by 8 slightly raised bed of strawberries.  Last fall I prepared two more beds for strawberries.  It is too soon to set out strawberries, our plants don't even come until the first week in May.  I'm going to set out onions in the strawberry beds,  Onions and strawberries do nicely together. The strawberry runners act as a mulch for the onions.  The onions give off an odor that repels many of the insects that harm strawberries. Onions can interfere with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes, which may reduce growth for both plants so don't plant them near your beans or peas.  They are a good companion plant for most other vegetables.

    We have three days of nice weather, enjoy!  May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/24/26  From fog-covered valleys to lush, forested waterways, nature is a blessing and a sanctuary where we can escape the chaos of the world. 

 Clouds, 34 degrees. Cloudy today with a strong north breeze, high 45. Partly cloudy tonight, low 31. Partly cloudy tomorrow, a north breeze, high 57, low 36. Partly cloudy Sunday, a light NE breeze, high 64, low 40. Mostly cloudy Mosday, an ESE breeze, high 69, low 40. Partly cloudy Tuesday, a SE breeze, high 68, low 38. Partly cloudy Wednesday with PM showers, a brisk SE breeze, high 58, low 42. Rain Thursday, a SE breeze, high 52, low 42. Partly cloudy next Friday, a NE breeze, high 54, low 40. Showers Friday evening, overnight, and the weekend. Saturday's high 50, low 39, a NE breeze. Sunday's high 52, low 40, a brisk NW breeze. Mostly cloudy Monday the 4th, a stiff NW breeze, high 56, low 41. Showers Tuesday the 5th through Friday the 8th with brisk north breezes. Highs Tuesday and Wednesday 58, lows 42. Highs Thursday and Friday 54, lows 41,

   The Loop is late because instead of copying it I deleted it!  I'm re writing it.

    The Bailey order came yesterday.  Lots of fruit trees but no Wolf Rivers.  But we got 150 Ginkgo Biloba!  They grow in our zone but we didn't order them.  We've never even thought about ordering some! We'll be getting a call today, some nursery is looking for them.  All the trees and shrubs look great.  Some of the fruit trees have already been sold.  Customers bought them bareroot.  Everyone but me will be very busy the next few days potting them up.

   I got the new butter churn.   Tomorrow I'll make butter.  I went by the church pansies twice Wednesday and forgot to uncover them.   I uncovered them yesterday.  They look great.  Thanks to the protection of the remay they enjoyed a gentle rain.  No snowflakes touched them!  And it didn't drop to 22 degrees under the remay.

   May your day be blessed, Sally