Water Woes

Nothing on the farm creates more anxiety for me than not seeing my sprinklers going. A few years ago, I had one of my best and worst water days. The morning started gloriously. The farm looked great. Everything seemed to be under control. As the day wore on, the temperature climbed into the low 90's. I walked outside and saw there wasn't any water running. I had that sinking feeling. It turned out that my pump was down and it would take 10 days to get it fixed, this at the hottest time of the year. At that time, I was leasing the 80 acres I now own and Bailey's Nursery was leasing an adjacent parcel from the same land owner (today I lease this land as well). I thought up a plan to use some of their water to get through the crisis. It was tough and I never forgot the experience.

This week we began irrigating. Two days into it, the water went down. For a couple of days we struggled to figure out the problem. Finally we decided that the pipe in the river must be clogged. Within hours, the water began to flow again. I could see the rain bird sprinklers running over the entire farm. My day was better.

Strawberries continue to ripen. With the warm weather, the berries should size up and ripen. This weekend there should be berries for the hunters among us. Next weekend the season will really be going strong. One week ahead of last year. One week later than two years ago.