Finally getting more rain

It has been dry and we need the rain. We got some early this morning.
We have mowed between the rows of the trees but now need to work on cleaning up the actual row of thistle and grass. That way any moisture we get will go to the trees.

The yard continues to grow fast. I feel like we are always mowing. Trying to tidy up around there and get ready for the big picnic is August.

The guys are doing a little bit of vehicle work to get items ready for the fair.

Otherwise live as usual at Deere Hollow.

So over the last few days we have gotten 2 inches of rain. Not as much as the Blindermans in Milwaukee. They have water in their basement.
The rain has been needed.
I spent time on Saturday and Sunday making Grandpa Sauer proud. I PULLED thistles. He would have just chopped them off with the shovel, which I did some but I really tried to pull as many as I could so that I got the root as well.
We didn't get them sprayed earlier so now we have a lot of them. I am spraying some that are between the rows of trees and then in the rows either pulling or chopping them off before they flower.
We had conflicting opinions on whether we should keep the trees mowed. Some said leave it for the wind protection so we did for a while.
The problem with that is then we lost the trees. The grass grew so much faster. It is knee high. So we are now finding the trees again and trimming around them a little. We want to be sure that any moisture we get is going to the tree and not the grasses.
Headed to Richland Center Thur-Sun for Star Spangled Celebration. 3 days - 16 artist....music - people watching. We camp with Jeanette and Kevin.

Boy as Lynn says it, "Where does the time go?" With going on a vacation and all of the prep around the yard etc, time has flown by.

Anyway, Matt, Dennie and I took a road trip out across North Dakota, Montana, over the Bear Tooth Mountains, into Yellowstone National Park, hiked back into the Tetons to a water fall, down thru Idaho to Utah, saw the world's largest pit mine, into Colorado to take a jeep excursion on a ranch, ride in an open train car thru a mountain pass, white water rafted and finally rode 4 wheelers. Lastly we traveled home thru Nebraska surrounded by THREE (3) storm chasing teams....tornado season.

We had a good time, the ride was long.

Back to the old grind of work and yard work.

Enjoyed the time away but back to reality.

The trees have not required any attention. Great place to plant them with the free fertilizer in the old pasture but boy the thistle love that fertilizer. We have a field of thistles with some trees in the tall grass I think.

Anyway, until next time......ENJOY LIFE! Every day you wake up is a good day!

water - rain

The guys have built a watering system so that we can be sure the trees get the water they need this year. We were thinking that we would have to water them but last night we got an inch of rain. Heavy winds and a lot of lightning. Jenna would have had the headset on for sure.
Glad we have the rain because it will allow us to continue to see new growth on the trees. But then we also have the growing grass to deal with.
Oh well, thank fully we have several lawn mowers so that we can all get on one and get the job done a little faster.

Time to Mow

Well, the grass and thistles are getting big and we have started to mow. It really didn't take long when you get 3 mowers out there. We can see new buds on some of the trees so that is exciting.
See the many rows marked with orange flags.

A closer view

Not very big but with them showing new growth I am assuming that they have started a good root system. Mike says that the first 3 years we may not see much above ground but that is because all of the root growth happens but then they will really take off.

Physical Day

The Blinderman and Sauer neighbors spent the morning removing trees from the fence lines. A lot of physical but good work done.
Missy and Andy will be renting their crop land out and we will be trying to have someone plant a little bit of the pasture for some rent. We own pasture land and have used about 2-3 acres of it for the tree farm.
This afternoon after Missy and Andy left we continued to work on removing trees. This time along the driveway as we are trying to remove thorny trees and just clear it out as it looks terrible. We installed the sign posts near the mailbox. I have a cross cut saw about 5-6 ft long that I am going to have someone plant with Deere Hollow and then attach to the posts as a welcome sign. Some day I may have pics for you.
Near the end of the day Dennie got hit in the eye with a tree branch so tonight he has a watering eye and we are both very physically tired.
It was a beautiful sunny Wisconsin spring day enjoyed except for the wild wind.

More Land - New Neighbors

Today we purchased 24.5 acres from the estate. We hope that Dick & Dorothy are looking upon us with happiness. While we did not full-fill their wishes of someone owning the whole farm, we at least have some.
We also got new neighbors today. Missy & Andy Blinderman own 25 acres to the south of us.