We got a whopping two-tenths of an inch of rain last week. It was glorious while it lasted. Unfortunately, it mostly drove the humidity up and the ground continues to bake. Temperatures have been holding steady in the mid-90s for more than 25 days now, often pushing into the triple digits. The tulip poplars are shedding their leaves so fast it looks like fall.
It’s depressing, really.
We’ve started feeding hay to the weaned calves. We’ll be lucky to make it through July before the rest of the herd will need hay. We were able to cut and buy in our usual amount of round bales, but we usually don’t start feeding it until December. At this rate, we don’t have enough to get us through winter and it’s unlikely we’ll be able to find anymore as everyone is in the same boat.
Yesterday I heard on NPR that 61 percent of the country is experiencing drought. I hope this weather isn’t our new normal.
The drought and the heat is taking its toll everywhere on the farm. Julia’s milk production is typical for what I would see during winter. I’ve taken to letting Babette take all the evening milk. The hummingbirds are going through one feeder full of nectar a day. The wild birds that come to our feeders have been grateful for the seed and water that we put out for them. We lost a chicken during the last heat spike and if the promised forecast holds true this week, we could lose more.
The garden looks like hell. The corn is burnt crisp. The squash produced so poorly, I finally quit watering them. The tomatoes are covered in green fruits – all with blossom end rot. Same for the peppers.
Me? I managed to come down with a nasty cold that kept me from training for four days. Not a good start to my training plan. I did pull off a 750-yard swim on Wednesday and a three-mile run last night. I waited until 8 p.m. so things could “cool” down.
Wow. Not much good news to report here. I checked the 10-day forecast this morning and it promises more of the same.
Some days, the idea of living in a condo in town seems like a wonderful idea – a life where extreme heat and dry days would feel like an irritating inconvenience, not something to fear.
Waiting for Thoreau 