~Oasis Among the Cornfields~
Whenever I see these type of displays in the sky, I think of a light shining down from Heaven. The mix of sun and clouds can create invigorating visuals to our eyes.
A gloomy day can turn into something so beautiful, even for a short glimpse before it disappears, giving us hope of the future to come.
Yucca plants are unusual where I live. This one, that is flowering, was planted 15 years ago.
It is the species named Yucca glauca, which stays evergreen. It didn’t flower until 10 years after it was planted in this location. But has flowered most years after that. The tall flower spikes really set it apart from a lot of other flowers.
Ever since I was born, cattle have roamed our pastures and I have watched them. So big, yet not afraid what they are capable of. Our cattle are gentle and have names, as if these big cows are my pets.
But it is not always so utopian. Some cows and bulls have a crazy streak in them. In the past I have been chased by a cow that had lost her calf. Reality is cows are big, they can kill if they wanted to. Watch your back.
The layout of Kleckner Oasis is a bunch of hills with a lot of valleys in between them. The valleys are host to some big cottonwoods(Populus deltoides).
This Eastern Cottonwood tree is over 16 feet in circumference, and as with most of these giants, has been hit by lightning in years past. Definitely stay away from these trees during thunderstorms, maybe also when it is windy. Some dead branches up high that are bigger than a human, are waiting to crash down.
Deer, rabbits, and many other critters use my trees that I plant as their food. Lately I am testing some tree shelters around my trees and see how this works.
Obviously since these tree shelters are only 4 feet tall, the real question will be if deer just walk by the miracle tubes and browse the tops or leave them alone. Hopefully this helps, but only time will tell.
During my childhood, I would come across many large trunks of trees that were long dead.
I always thought they were cottonwood trees because that is the common big tree on our place nowadays.
I was wrong. Dutch Elm Disease swept through this area in the 1970’s, and with it, most of the large American Elms and Red Elms were killed. Dead skeletons were everywhere, and actually to this day, these elms are still dying since they keep reproducing a new generation to die.
Planting windbreaks can be a guessing game. What species, how far apart, and planning for what disease or insect problems comes its way in the future can make it like a strategy game. A few of the trees that were used in our windbreak go by the name of Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca).
These evergreen conifers do grow with good speed, but they are not immune to strong winds.
When thinking about how long a tree lives, remember that the evergreens you are planting in your windbreak probably will not live as long as they would in natural conditions. They are serving a purpose that is quite brutal to their existence.
What happens if all I grew was annual vegetables in my garden? I would not experience the pleasure of harvesting and eating the earliest veggie in my garden: Asparagus.
Early to rise and a long harvest window gives me servings of it every day for weeks from April to June, and sometimes the asparagus spears are super sized for my hungry appetite.
There is not many negatives with a perennial vegetable like this. The main thing that can happen from eating a lot of asparagus is making one’s urine have a different, strong odor.
It seems like every time I look at our ponds, I see chocolate milk. A craving comes upon me for that sugary touch added to the goat milk I drink. But something amidst is going on here…
The cattle have been causing erosion to this pond for decades. Currently the pond is only a couple feet deep, and at most is 4 feet deep. How many more years until this pond is completely filled in?
I had remembered in my youth that muskrats, turtles, and fish (such as black bullheads) were in it. A lot of the time it dries up now, unable to withstand the dry months without a deep depth. How can I ice skate on dirt? It was a perfect circular ice skating rink in the 1980’s.