Hello folks! I hope this post finds you all doing well. The title sounds somewhat strange because I already did an update through June 3.  Not only that, it is June 11 already and I am making a post about what happened on May 31st! But, like I mentioned, I am somewhat behind and things have been off track the past week.

The back pasture is looking really good since the cows haven’t been back there to graze. I decided to let them back there on May 31 after I had the fence row taken care of. They hadn’t been back here (there) since the ordeal with the fencer. I was so glad I got that straightened out! It is such a strange and hard to explain feeling when the cows are not where they are supposed to be. Even stranger when you see a broken wire and the cows didn’t cross it and get in the backyard. Well, for the most part, our cows are very good and won’t try a fence just to see if it is hot. Kind of like me, I guess. I used to touch it to check it, now that only happens by accident which is MUCH worse.

 

This was the first day the calves had been to the back pasture. They were having a lot of fun exploring and it was fun to watch them.

 

Calf #1 born on May 1 decided to get in the pond with her mother. This is the first time I saw any of the calves in the pond.

I walked behind the pond to see what I could find…

 

There are a lot of wildflowers you don’t really notice when the cows have been grazing because they eat them. I was very fortunate to have found this White Avens (Geum canadense) flowering. I took quite a few more flowers but they were blurry. Then I went back the next day to take more and I couldn’t find any flowers. It is a really neat flower and I need to get some better photos so I can make a good page to the right.

 

How the flower stem grows out of the leaf is pretty cool! (Umm, I never said that before…) At this point, until I find out something bad about it, the whole plant is pretty, ummm, cool. 🙂

 

We have quite a few Red Mulberry trees (Morris rubra) and some of them are LOADED while others not so much. I always have to pick a few because they are quite tasty.

 

There are also quite a few White Mulberry Trees (Morris alba) on the farm. They are sweeter and kind of syrupy. Ang sarap!

 

One of the most interesting things I saw of the day were the fuzzy balls on the Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera). I have never seen them at this stage before. Isn’t nature just amazing?

 

Yeah, this is a Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos). Not everyone favorite tree, but I kind of think they are AWESOME! They make a great tree because their leaves provide filtered light instead of deep shade. Well, maybe that isn’t so good in certain circumstances depending on what is growing under it.

 

There are thornless cultivars available and they would definitely be much better for a shade tree in the yard. They have very small ferny leaves that don’t need to be raked in the fall. The Honey Locust can be a problem for many farmers because those thorns can go right through a tractor tire. Not to mention a boot sole. Forget about going barefooted. OUCH! Of course, there has to be a Japanese Honeysuckle in this photo.

 

I think this small clump is probably a Soft Rush (Juncus effusus). There are quite a few Juncus species to choose from. The cultivar ‘Big Twister’ comes to mind and I would have been amazed to see some curly stems along the pond. Well, as they say, this is a “variable” species.

 

Then, on the other side of the pond, there is this entire colony! I intended to go back and get more photos to make sure my ID was correct, but I haven’t made it yet.

 

I think this is a species of Carex but I need to go back and take more photos for a positive ID.

We also have Cattails but they aren’t that interesting right now…

 

Most of the Black Walnut trees (Juglans nigra) don’t have many walnuts this year but a couple has A LOT!

 

We have A LOT of Black Medick (Medicago lupulina) in the hayfield and back pasture. Not so much in the front pasture though. Maybe the cows like it. I thought it was some kind of small yellow clover until I took the photo and did some research. I will do a more thorough write up with I publish the page for it to the right.

 

Another plant that can get quite carried away is the Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). It is way up on the top of a short list of plants I could easily live without.

 

The Virginia Creeper is also flowering now which are not near as showy as Poison Ivy. Some people also have a similar reaction to the sap of the Virginia Creeper as Poison Ivy. I haven’t noticed having a problem with although many times I am in both at the same time because they seem to like to grow together. The previous photo shows them both growing up in the same tree.

 

This fence row in front of the south hayfield also needs to be cleaned out. Dad and I worked it over in 2013 but it is overgrown again. I keep the vegetation off the wire but it doesn’t take long before it needs to be trimmed again. The wire here is still good so it won’t need to be replaced but I would really like to put barbed wire here. In my opinion, an electric fence should only be an inexpensive, temporary solution, not a permanent one.

There is always plenty of work to do on the farm in the spring and summer months.

 

There is part of the corral that is blocked off that is just the place for unwanted trees to grow. I have cleaned it out twice already now I need to do it again. The problem has always been that the stumps always send up new growth which happens much faster than you might think, too. I found a product I can use to kill the stumps, so the next time I clear this mess out I am going to get a bottle. It is a late afternoon/early evening project so the area will be in the shade.

Sorry, I don’t have links to the species listed on this post because I don’t have pages for them ready yet. It’s a work in progress deal. 🙂

That’s it for this post. May you stay positive, happy, healthy and embrace life. Don’t forget to GET DIRTY!