Good News and Bad

Today it was 102 degrees Fahrenheit at Chaplin Bend Farm, the second of several days in a row with 100+ degree temperatures and no rain.  It's now been more than 2 weeks since the last rainfall and according to the NWS, the area around the farm is now classified as being in moderate drought.

The corn is beginning to show the effects of the hot, dry weather.  The leaves are beginning to curl up to reduce their surface area and conserve water.  The timing couldn't be worse, since the corn is just producing tassels and ears.  I'm  beginning to worry that we'll lose the entire crop if we don't get some rain in the next few days.  

On the other hand the sunflowers seem to be thriving.  We're just beginning to see the first flowers, and the plants seem healthy and strong.  They need rain, too, but seem to be handling the drought better.

NWS says a 30% chance of rain on Sunday.  Let's hope the odds are in our favor!

Thriving!

The summer is racing along and the crops at Chaplin Bend are thriving, despite our below-average rainfall.  The corn in the bottom is now close to 7 feet tall:

That's my son David, who stands about 6'3".

We should start to see ears and tassels soon!

Up on the hill, the sunflowers are also coming along great:

They're even beginning to develop their flowers:

Here's hoping we can keep the flowers safe from the deer as they develop!

Foundation

The foundation was poured yesterday and the forms came off today.  Here's the finished product:

Now we're ready to start framing!

Sunflowers

The Clearfield sunflowers are doing great!  A little browse damage from deer, but really not too much, and the plants are getting big enough now that they're shading out the few remaining weeds.  Here's a sample:

And here's the entire field from the top:

Rain

Although May was a wet month in Louisville, Chaplin Bend was very dry, without meaningful rain since May 13.  Since that time we've planted lots of seed, including the re-seeding of parts of the dove field and 50-some acres of native grasses.  As you might expect, without rain there had been little germination of any of that seed.

Thankfully, on Thursday of last week the farm received between 1 and 2 inches of rain:

Here's hoping that we see some green shoots in the coming days!

The Cabin

The construction of the cabin has begun!  Last week we excavated the foundation and on Thursday the concrete guys poured the footers:

This week should see gravel spread around the footer and then the slab and basement walls poured.  More photos to come!