Jul 1, 2013 3 min read

How about this rain? Last summer, we barely got enough to keep the grass and the garden alive, and this summer, we can hardly dry out long enough to mow or hoe in either place.

During an hours-long respite over the weekend, I managed to pull most of the weeds in our first garden patch and to tie the tomatoes a second time to their stakes. I was glad to see that I have only lost one plant to the excessive moisture – and it a zucchini, so I know I’ll still have plenty.

I also saw a baby praying mantis in the garden, which I hope means I’ll see fewer “bad” insects on the plants. It is a common practice for organic nurseries to bring them in with the intention of using them as an organic pest-control solution. Locally, Mother Earth Farm in Ruff Creek has been doing that for a couple of years.

After the garden was brought back to some semblance of order, I decided to start the long process of field mowing. I got on the Ford 5000 and slowly took it up to the pasture where the cows are right now. The cows prefer short, new grass and fewer weeds, but if you chop up the tall grass and weeds, they will nibble on them. I had made good headway after a couple of hours. It was a very wholesome view this morning, to see the 20-plus of them standing around in the part of the field that was trimmed.

The relief from the rain ended before I finished mowing, so I had to bring the tractor back off of the hill during the downpour. Fear of sliding at the bottom of the hill coupled with low visibility meant I drove in a low, slow gear. I was pretty well soaked by the time I reached the driveway.

As I climbed off the tractor, the rain let up. I decided to walk into the barn to check on the injured bull we are nursing. A pretty nasty scrape on his foot – between the claws of his hoof – has him hobbling around and feeling stoved up. We have been treating it topically and trying to prevent flies from spending too much time in the wound. He has minor discomfort, but seems mostly depressed about being taken from his harem in the field.

Another cloud had let loose by the time I finished tending to the bull, so I stood under the eaves of the barn roof and watched the rain. After a few minutes, I heard my younger two children come outside squealing. Thinking I would get to watch them play in the rain, I was surprised and pleased to see that they had come to try to put the tiller back inside.

Since they were carrying an umbrella, and also since the rain didn’t seem like it would give me a second reprieve, I called out to them to come and rescue me. We stopped to finish putting the tiller away on the way up the sidewalk and then went in to make dinner.

My husband and older daughter arrived shortly thereafter, having been mowing grass at a neighboring property and having to take refuge in a shed for the worst of the downpour. We all dried off, ate and turned in early. And though we made no hay while the sun shined, we did make progress despite difficult weather.

Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@hughes.net.