The Forestry Forum

Thought you might like to see a different kind of tree farm.




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It's tough to work in an ugly place.




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Neighbors.




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Small trees.




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Staging for planting.




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The results speak for themselves. ;D

Beautiful!!!

Thanks Jay. We are working on it. The redtail pair keeps bombing us while we work though. We will work it out. :)

Yes it is a mighty fine looking place. Must grow "trees" for a living? Sell all sizes?

Beautiful pictures. I imagine it's a little on the warm side but very rewarding.
Allan

85 and sunny.  :D  :D  :D

Well put. We started in 2007. Hoping to have 3 footers in 3 more years. After that we will produce 3-6 footers. Long wait for a paycheck, but we hope it will be worth it eventually. Thanks for the kind thoughts. ;D

Fine pictures. :)

Twenty feet high in the side of a cactus
I see a hole where the butcher bird stays
If mortals could choose and if heaven should ask us
Here's where I'd want to spend all of my days

now if someone can id that lyric (w/o googling it  :) ) i'll send them some walnut.   ;D  your post made me think of this song, one of my favorites.

great pics btw

Thanks guys. I'll update as they grow up. :)

I did have to google those lyrics.  I love Marty Robbins but I've never heard that song before.  Thank you for sharing it.

I was in your town last Sunday mesquite.   Beautiful weather this time of year.  Been in AZ almost three weeks and not quite ready to head back to winter yet.

 smiley_biggrin01

QuoteI love Marty Robbins but I've never heard that song before.  Thank you for sharing it.

yep, marty robbins is the man.  if you like him you should get the album return of the gunfighter, which is where that lyric is from.   i picked it up on vinyl for like $3.  there are some absolutely sublime songs on there.   :)

Nice forest.
I was in Tucson in the Spring 1971 visiting family friends,it's funny after all those years in my mind/memories I can still smell the desert smells just like it was a few minutes ago.

The best is right after a thunderstorm in the summer, or after a slow, warm, winter storm.

Nice operation. I don't know what the market is down there for cactus, but looks like an interesting venture.

There is an old doctor from up here who always kept Christmas tree farms here and had wood cut off various woodlots he bought over the years and also planted spruce and had thinning done (brush saw work) on some of the cuts. But he always wintered down in AZ every year. He's probably down there to stay these days as he would be real old now. He used to practice medicine in northern Maine, but his name is a common one in the area he owned land on. I don't know if he came from here, but I think so. He has family in southern NB, so I assume they were from here.

I watched a program years ago,Dirty Jobs,?? and they was digging up catus plants and putting them on lawns. They would dig up whatever size that someone would pay for. Seem like the ones I saw was 8-10 feet tall. I forgot how they dug them out.

For the big ones like that they build a tipper/cradle on the back of a truck, back up to the cactus, secure to the cradle, and dig it up. They don't need a lot of roots to recover. They just do the reverse when they plant them. Smaller stuff like we are growing a couple of guys can just pick up with some garden hose or old carpeting.

Quote from: thecfarm on April 21, 2013, 08:56:44 AM
I forgot how they dug them out.

Quote from: mesquite buckeye on April 21, 2013, 10:42:10 AM
For the big ones like that they build a tipper/cradle on the back of a truck, back up to the cactus, secure to the cradle, and dig it up. They don't need a lot of roots to recover. They just do the reverse when they plant them. Smaller stuff like we are growing a couple of guys can just pick up with some garden hose or old carpeting.

Huh...I thought the answer was "very carefully!"   ;) :D  Very cool (hot?) operation MB. :)

JM

That is correct.

There is no way you can work around them all day without getting stuck a bunch of times even if you are careful. I always come home sore. :)

Back out at the Ranch this weekend.



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It's springtime in the desert.




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Got up yesterday to a tarantula hawk draging a tarantula toward its lair. By the time I got the camera all I got was the lair.




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Been having trouble with packrats. So we called the exterminator.




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He started checking things out Saturday.



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Saturday sunset.




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The neighbors' kids are growing up.




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But the parents aren't getting any friendlier.


Sunday night the desert smelled like rain.





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Got a nice two incher.




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Beautiful sunrise this morning




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Oh Yeah!




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Exterminator seems to have succeeded, but forgot that now he is thicker.




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Very thankful to be freed from the chicken wire. ;D

Next, he headed straight for under the rattlesnake exterminator neighbors. And so it goes.

My Brother in Law and I both really like snakes.  He had tons of them around a few ranches we worked, not rodents of any kind around.  Nice to see you didn't kill him.  Having them around can keep you on your toes, but you don't have to worry about your plants getting chewed on.  Loved the pictures, I miss it.

Regards,

jay

   Great pics , thank-you.  Glad you found my tape measure.  ;D

Nice pictures of the desert.

Liked the picts.reminded me of having to stick the equipment in the mornings in in northcenteral Tx.

Back from the ranch. Got a few photos.





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Fine timber, about 30" dbh.





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Giant saguaros.





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Hot lady roommate. She seems nice. Hope it works out.





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Dooryard flowers.





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Another view of greenhouses. A degree or two warmer up there.





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Still having isssues with the neighbors.





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The kids are almost grown. There are three.





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Redtail hawk fluff.

Really great pics on this thread.
How does the saguaro saw?
I bet the slabs are not nice to handle.
TIC
pete

I love the "nightshade and black widow" photos by each other, nice touch.  Both are beautiful, both can give you a really challenge if disturbed.

Regards,

jay

So how did the hawk taste? I see all that's left is the down. :D

Thanks guys. Sometimes I feel like she would like to have me for lunch. She's really not too happy especially when I'm 20 feet from the nest taking pictures. I got one while she was screaming at me.



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Just before I snapped this, she dropped her talons just to let me know she means business.

Pete, we wait for them to die, when the succulent part rots away, there remains a ring of ribs. When they get this big, the ribs fuse. You could actually mill lumber from one like that. Nothing big, but looks like quarter sawn oak, weighs like balsa wood. ;D 8) 8) 8)

I bet you don't use the "hug the tree" method to estimate diameter.  I wouldn't, anyway.

I don't anyway.  I haven't calibrated my arms.

You are correct. Saguaros are better looked at than touched. That said you would be surprised at the number of animals that will climb them or build a house in or on one. ;D

Back again from Rancho Saguaro. New pictures. ;D





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Little soldiers all in a row, little soldiers just waiting to grow.





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Getting new field ready for planting. About an acre here. Room for thousands.
edit: actually 0.4 acre. I checked it with an app I have.




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Good saguaro dirt, but tough on equipment.




Update. Seems like that nice black widow has moved on to be replaced by conenose kissing bugs. After they suck your blood while you sleep, it itches like crazy for days. I'm all bit up and scratching. Had a herd of javelina come by the cabin night before last. They are stinky.

Out here in all this natural beauty, we sometimes forget what wild and dangerous country this can be. My rancher friend has been missing cattle since winter, losing little by little. They are missing like 80 head. That translates to an 80K loss, really tough when we are in the worst drought since the dust bowl and the prices of cattle are falling...  They thought it was rustlers, but come to start checking, seems like all the deer have disappeared too. Rustlers don't steal deer. Cowboys found 3 calves buried. Lions. Seems like their numbers are way up, they ate the deer and now they have turned to the cattle. Time for a little wildlife management. Got to watch your back at night, and especially worry about kids out here. They got a couple of big ranch dogs a year or so ago. They may be packing up.

A good friend of the rancher was out for Memorial Day weekend for a family outing riding quads on the back roads. Seems he took a curve too fast, slid out and hit a washout at the edge of the road and wiped out at pretty high speed. My friend had a bad feeling, looked back to see him flying headlong through the air. Got back to him, found him scalped front to back, but conscious. Pulled the scalp back over and wrapped him a damp shirt. No cell service there, had to find high ground to call 911. Had to helicopter him out. Turns out in addition to the scalping he has a broken collar bone, neck and back. He is lucky to be alive. Looks like he will have use of both his arms and legs, but a long recovery and who knows how good he will ever be again. He is in his 50's. Before this happened, he said, "I have to stop acting like I'm 18. I'm too old for that." Good thoughts.

Please send good thoughts for him and his family, and be careful out there. It is a dangerous business we do. A second's lapse in attention or judgement can maim or kill.

MB

Great pictures!  How long-lived are those giant saguaro?

A good friend of mine in his retirement years had a similar accident.  He was legally blind and had a habit of driving 70 mph on one lane roads at night.  Met head-on with a Sycamore and landed in the woods.  Even after his accident still didn't learn... wasn't even healed up fully got out on his crutches in the mud and fell, re-broke his hip and leg and never walked again.   :-\

You could of left the scalping part out,  :(   YUK and OUCH to say the least. That is too bad.
When my father and me was cutting wood we had a small MaMa hawk that was trying to chase us away from her nest.She was not a happy camper.

Quote from: ancjr on May 29, 2013, 02:44:52 PM
Great pictures!  How long-lived are those giant saguaro?

A good friend of mine in his retirement years had a similar accident.  He was legally blind and had a habit of driving 70 mph on one lane roads at night.  Met head-on with a Sycamore and landed in the woods.  Even after his accident still didn't learn... wasn't even healed up fully got out on his crutches in the mud and fell, re-broke his hip and leg and never walked again.   :-\

Nobody really knows for sure, since they live to be at least as old as most of us. There is research to suggest up to 250 years, but I don't buy it. They can grow really fast in good years and almost not at all in poor ones. If you study them during slow growth periods, you get big age numbers. I think it is a really old saguaro if it gets much over 100. There are some at the ranch HQ that are old and dying now that were 4 feet tall during the depression. That would make them in the 90-120 year old range.

Why are some the saguaro's proped up with 2x4s does the wind tip them over? I saw a piece in the paper about
the black market for those things in PHX. The park service or blm was putting microchips in them to track them.  (Only 75 in flg today dusty-super windy)

The 2 X 4 deals, or other stabilizing methods, help keep the saguaros from falling over until their roots regenerate, which can take up to a couple of years. Lots of saguaros get stolen off of govt. land. That's where they are chipping them, so they can document where they came from in the event of an arrest. Saguaros can only be dug on private land, unless something like a road or pipeline is being put in, and then only with the landowner's permission and a hefty tag fee to the state. Our propagated saguaros will be exempt from these legalities, as propagated material was exempted from the state plant protection law. ;D

Hope I live long enough to see some of the money.

Whats prickly that would grow at 7500' need to plant something to keep people out of the yard.

New Mexican locust. Very nasty until they get big and they spread underground to form thickets. Also pretty flowers in late spring/early summer.

Were can that be had?  I'll look into it..  I was thinking Yucca too.

They used to be grown by some state agency that I can't recall the name of at the moment. It is part of the Tree Farm Program. They are also available from nurseries, but you may have to search around on the internet to find them.

What is your elevation? Yuccas can only go up to about 7000, one to about 8000'. Yucca angustissima would be your best bet. The Arboretum at Flagstaff has a plant sale in the spring, don't know about the fall, and I think could be a good source of cool plants for you.

I think the 7300' at the house.  I think the plant sale already happened. I see banana? yucca alot a few hundred feet lower. Those suckers are pointy!

That would be pretty much all of them. The narrow leafed yucca is supposed to grow in Coconino County and up to around 7000. You would probably want to find a nice, south facing wall to plant next to.

First hint of the coming monsoon. A thunderhead 100 miles to the SE last Thursday.


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Getting pretty hot here. About 135 in the greenhouse, nice and cool 108 outside.

Mountain lion update. They got two of them last week. One was 130 lbs. and full of meat, as tall stretched out as my friend. Little scary to know these big ones are out there. They sneak up from behind and jump on the back and either break the neck or skull. Hard to get off once they jump you.


I'll post a photo if I can get one later.

Good stuff here mesquite buckeye.  I just returned from cave Creek again.  Nice weather as it was only 102 there.   

How big do you plan to grow the saguaro beforesselling them.  How much growth per year under optimal conditions.

Maybe I missed this info earlier in the thread.

I had family south of Tucson in a place called 3 point.  At least I think it was south of town.  Are you near there?

We are aiming for the 4-6' range for landscape planting. We hope to have some three footers to generate some income in another 3-4 years under irrigation. I live in Tucson. The ranch is in the San Pedro Valley.

Big change from Tucson to da UP.

3 points is about 20 miles WSW of Tucson.

Returned from the ranch again.




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The monsoon has arrived early!





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Soon it we be so wet we won't know what to do with all the water. ;D

Is that one of those flash flood rains that brings all the dry creek beds and canyons to life?  ;D

Nice thread.  Great pictures.  What about the little wild hogs, do they give you any grief with the ones outside?  Do they eat them?  Banjo

Quote from: SwampDonkey on June 16, 2013, 03:51:42 AM
Is that one of those flash flood rains that brings all the dry creek beds and canyons to life?  ;D

When it happens I'll post pictures. ;D

Quote from: Banjo picker on June 16, 2013, 04:20:27 AM
Nice thread.  Great pictures.  What about the little wild hogs, do they give you any grief with the ones outside?  Do they eat them?  Banjo

They have a scent gland above where their tails would be(stinky), but they don't have tails. They can be agressive at times. A boar chased my wife and dog a quarter mile a couple of months ago. They are good to eat. ;D

Back again from the ranch. The monsoon was only a tease. Relative humidities running 3-20%, great for drying lumber, not so good if you want rain. It is supposed to be 112 this weekend.




Saguaro Fruits are Ripe!!!!!

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Time to get to work picking.

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And cleaning.

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And more cleaning.

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Saguaro seeds.

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Then we can make more. From the tiny seed, grows the giant saguaro.

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Quote from: Banjo picker on June 16, 2013, 04:20:27 AM
Nice thread.  Great pictures.  What about the little wild hogs, do they give you any grief with the ones outside?  Do they eat them?  Banjo

Didn't notice one of your questions. So far they have not damaged the plants. We lose little ones to birds, and packrats will chew any of them, including the giants. :(

Thanks.  When is the best time to take a roadtrip through that part of the country.?  Banjo

Well, you are from Mississippi, so you understand heat. Maybe the best thing is to relate what it is like and you can pick for yourself.

Right now, we are entering the Monsoon, which means extreme temperatures, followed by rising humidity and afternoon thunderstorms usually from July through mid September. Now is probably the most unpleasant time to be here. Once the monsoon starts, it is awful until the rains come, then really nice for a few hours. This time is also the most beautiful, with towering thunderstorms, green vegetation, rainbows and amazing sunsets. You pay with the heat.

Starting from about mid September to early October, the temperatures moderate and the temperatures are to die for (not get killed by like now) through November. December through February are cool, with occasional hard freezes at night. It can reach the 70's that time of the year, but not for long. More typical highs are 50's and 60's.

March to about mid May is the next period of wonderful temperatures, usually highs of 60's to 90's. Nineties aren't too bad if you have plenty to drink and the humidity is below 20%.

Dry hot summer is about mid May to early July. Hottest temps of the year, typical highs from high 90's up to the mid one hundred teens in Tucson. Hotter as you head to Phoenix by about 6 degrees, Yuma +6 to +10.

Today it is supposed to be 113 in Tucson, but that is with the weather station placed in an irrigated grassed area to hide how hot it really is. Probably really around 115 for those of us without extensive lawns, which is most of Tucson.

Hope this helps. ;D

I have 2 son's, their wives, and 3 grandsons in Tucson. My favorite time to visit them is usually late January through February. I live at just under 9000' elevation and I'm tired of being cold by then usually. I guess that makes me a "snow bird", but if it weren't for the grandkids I wouldn't be going anywhere.  ;)

Andy

We need all the snow birds we can get. That's about the only thing still functioning here along with the Air Force base and the big defense plant.

  The wife and I should be traveling through there about mid Sept. where is a good place to see the big cacti? She (we) really like your photos.

Saguaros grow from just east of Tucson, north to just north and east of Phoenix, westward to the Colorado River, then south into Sonora. If you are in any of those areas, you will see them. The best stands are near Tucson and along the Apache Trail east northeast of Apache Junction. Say hi if you get out here. ;D

  What temps are typical about Sept 10th? We will be leaving San Pedro, Cal. on the 8th, if the heat sounds too brutal we will look for a more northerly route home which is in PA.

Quote from: gspren on July 03, 2013, 07:37:48 PM
  What temps are typical about Sept 10th? We will be leaving San Pedro, Cal. on the 8th, if the heat sounds too brutal we will look for a more northerly route home which is in PA.

Highs anywhere from the 80's to low 100's. Just check the forcast when you are in the area.

Got a nasty downdraft from a thunderstorm that crushed one end of greenhouse 3.


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But we got the first field finish graded. Even got rid of a lot of the rocks. Pretty nice.

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Throughout the deserts of the world food sometimes falls from the sky.

The Lord said to Moses,"I shall rain down bread from heaven for you." Exodus 16:4

This is one form that manna takes in our desert. Tastes like candy, chewy and crunchy. If you try to store it, it spoils.



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Wow!!!  I learn something new every day.  This is just beautiful!!

 ;D

It is a saguaro fruit that opened and dried before falling. Lots of times they will catch in the bushes and be nice and clean. Have to be careful not to eat too much, as it is a bit laxative.

cool pictures!

Back from the ranch again.

A big storm approaches from the south.


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Wind trying to rip off greenhouse roof.


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Incoming.


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Crazy rain.


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Wet field.


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Flash flood.


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Departing storm.


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Beautiful  morning after.

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You're always making me miss the desert Mesquite.   Looks like the earliest I'll make it back south is mid September or maybe Christmas.   

Hopefully there will still be some water left in those clouds by the time they get here.

Andy

Finally got the first one in the ground. More to come.

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Looks good.
Nothing in the pic to compare for size, but guessing this is about an 8" high cactii  ??

What is the goal, to transplant again at a certain size?

That one is about a foot. It was hiding under a bush when we cleared, so I sort of put him back. Most of the ones going into the field are between 4" and 8" tall. It has been tough, hoping to get them in in this past May, just now getting them into the ground. Everything is more work than you think it is going to be. We will try to do the field  prep for the next field this winter and early spring, so we can start sticking them in early May, hopefully finishing before the really hard heat hits. I have gotten heat sick more times this summer than I care to mention. The help just gets more unmotivated as it heats up.

We get better every time we have something not work if we pay attention.

We will dig them up for sale when they start to get about 3 feet up to about 8 feet tall. 4-6 foot is the most desirable planting size for landscaping jobs. We are hoping to get there in another 3-4 summers. ;D 8) 8) 8)

Sounds like a plan.   ;)  Really like your photos.  Banjo

 ;D

Back from the ranch again, more progress.

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Oh yeah!

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Things are growing like crazy.

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I'm figgering on biggering.

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Time to ride into the sunset for now.

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How many can you plant/transplant in a day?  You sure do have some pretty scenery to work in, thanks for all the photos.

We are hoping one person can do at least 100/day. Maybe more when it isn't so awfully hot outside. It is really hard to put in a full day without getting sick from the heat. They only planted for maybe three hours and there are like 60. Also this was their first day at it. I'm sure they will get more efficient.

I'll keep posting pictures. Thanks. ;D

A rainy morning in the land of the giant cactus.

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Only had one day to get er done. Ended up being a long one. Finished watering under headlights at 1am. Turned off the lights to see magnificent desert stars at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. Very nice, lots of bright ones with terminal explosions. No pictures of that unfortunately, but here are a few others from the day. Probably the most beautiful since we started building the greenhouses in 2010.

Field planting continues.

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Saguaros still growing great, loving the high 90s and low 100s.

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Finding a few rocks in the planting holes.

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Thunderstorms building. The monsoon is slowing, but not done yet.

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Must be August, the barrel cacti are starting to bloom.

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More storms and light.

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Time to ride off into the sunset.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8356.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8358.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8363.jpg)

Beautiful!

 ;D

   This thread is having an effect on me.   :D 


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/cactus.jpg)

Wow!!!!   I had no idea they got so far north. ;D 8) 8) 8) :o :o :o :o  Looks a little grizzled and aged, though. ;D

Back down at the ranch again. Feels like we are actually getting somewhere.



Progress

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8372.jpg)



Noticed there are a lot of dead crickets strewn about the floor. Seems like I have a new, fist sized roommate. She's nice. She let me take a closeup.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8380.jpg)




Even more progress. Man, those flats are heavy....  It was unbearably hot, 108 and humid.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8387.jpg)




Then the storms came and cooled it off a bit.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8388.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8389.jpg)


Until next time...

More progress on the saguaro hill and a nice sunrise on the Rincon Mts.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8430.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8421.jpg)


Biggest desert tortoise I have ever seen. About 1 ft long.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8395.jpg)


Fluorescent grasshopper eating Janusia.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8405.jpg)



An ancient one seed juniper from a nearby canyon.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8419.jpg)

mesquite,

Can you do the planting at night under lights, or does it make it more difficult?  Is it much cooler at night?  Or, maybe you don't have any lights.  :D

I never realized saguaro got fruit like that.  Is there any market for it other than more saguaro seeds?

Andy B.

The lady who does the planting works when she wants to. Early am and late afternoons.

The only power we have up there is a generator.

I have watered under pickup light when necessary. 8)

Summer lows run from the mid sixties to the high 80's depending upon humidity. Gets cold fast when it is dry. 40 degrees difference from day to night.

I'm sorry if you have already answered this, but why do you need greenhouses?

That's where we grow them up to planting size from seed. That takes 2-3 years. The little guys die really easy. I think that is why the desert isn't solid saguaros. They only make it if they land in the perfect spot in a good rain year. ;D 8) 8) 8)

Andy- sorry, I didn't answer one of your questions. The dried fruit candy is nearly impossible to store. It is ok hanging in a tree in the desert until the monsoon starts and the humidity rises. Then is spoils really fast.

I tried putting some in a jar one year. They pulled in moisture from the air and molded.

I think anybody who wants to try saguaro candy needs to show up in the desert in late June to early July. It will be as hot as it gets here at that time.

Very yummy stuff, but you have to watch how much you eat, it is a bit laxative. :-[

Back at the ranch again. A bit more exciting than usual. I spent Friday building driplines for the new planting. The wife calls at sunset, swamp cooler is busted, hot in the house. Leave after dark, 2 hr drive. It had rained earlier high on the mountains. Came popping over a rise and was in the water before I could stop.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8435.jpg)
Fortunately, the water was only 8" deep or so, no big deal. Could have been 6 feet, no warning, dry road, the rain fell 5-10 miles away hours earlier. People get killed this way every year.

Got home at 10, fixed cooler, no big deal, pulley worked loose and fell off the motor to the blower. 15 minutes. Back up at 3:30, 2 hours back to ranch.


Making good progress on getting the field planted and irrigation done.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8442.jpg)



Taking a break in the shade, a vulture kept circling at about 20 - 50 ft up. Watched for a while, told him I'm not dead yet. Went to get the camera and he was gone.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8451.jpg)                         

Noticed the saguaro that is usually placed in a lot of my sunset photos looked funny (just to left of tractor).



Went to take a look. This one had been healthy and growing just last week.??????

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8444.jpg)

Climbed over the hillside to take a closer look. The top was apparently exploded, the ribs spread out and blackened. Looks like maybe a hot lightning bolt.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8445.jpg)
The bark was missing on one side of the base and water was literally running out of the side like a slow running hose!!! Y tambien muy stinky. The top of the main trunk was hanging in between two other large side branches, so more evidence of some violence. Also more pieces less cooked laying on the low side of the cactus, typical of a lightning bolt.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8446.jpg)
As I took the above photo, I heard a KRUCK above me and pointed the camera up to see a 12-15 foot long side trunk in the air above and to my left. Unfortunately, I didn't snap the picture, as I was contemplating run or die, which really isn't possible on this steep hillside. Maybe jump and fall and hope it misses you. Anyway it landed with a splut about 10 feet away. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8447.jpg)
That is it lying in the brush, kind of camoflaged. The base is light tan/white. It is broken in pieces, but if you look carefully, you can see the tip in the lower left corner of the photo. The dust was still in the air from the landing when I snapped the photo, but you can't really see it well. An even larger branch was pointed directly towards me. Time to exit stage right. Important safety tip: Not too safe around dying saguaros. That piece probably weighed well over 1000 lbs.

It looked like the entire central trunk was literally cooked by the lightning bolt, and was completely goo. The side arms that weren't hit didn't know they are dead yet, and are still growing.

Later in the afternoon a storm was building over the Rincons while I was working on irrigation.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8455.jpg)



Time to head home.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8463.jpg)

We were warned a tropical weather system was on the way. But back to the ranch anyway. Gotta get them saguaros planted before the heat quits. Here is the nice lady who puts them in for us at work.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8472.jpg)


The storms couldn't hold off forever. Saw this rainbow, but no unicorns.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8477.jpg)



They say there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Actually, I have investigated this matter thoroughly and it is actually a burn barrel. Just thought it would be good to spread the word in the interest of time saving. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8483.jpg)



Have you ever seen the rain coming down on a sunny day?

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8485.jpg)




After the rain let up a little I got this flash flood coming down past the hill. http://youtu.be/9fSRWw5oWOE
100% 100% Add to Cancel 




Future saguaro foresters.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8507.jpg)
The irrigation is done and all the cacti are placed for planting. Next week we start grading field #2. Yay ;D 8) 8)


Just to show how the growth is coming along, this is the photo from early August, and the same shot taken yesterday below it. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8308.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8512.jpg)



It's pretty here.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8516.jpg)



Until next time.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8517.jpg)

Back at the ranch again. Like I said before, this place can get a little rough. This is a picture of Edgar Canyon, on the way to the fabulous Belford Estates. I went around the San Pedro crossing to go this way, 3 miles out of the way, but there is a bridge. The rocks and sand deposited about 2 feet deep X 100 feet wide from last week's flash flood. The larger rocks are about a foot.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8525.jpg)



This is why I went around. These guys didn't make it, had to pull them out in rising water.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8527.jpg)



Got a new roommate at the cabin.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8523.jpg)
I couldn't bring myself to showering with it, so it had to go. These can get up to a foot long and are venomous. This one was only about 4". I used to get really creeped out by them, as they frequently are hanging out at tree bases when you are cutting them. I decided I like them a lot better when I saw an 8" one carrying a burn worm (venomous caterpiller) like a lion carrying a gazelle.



THE END

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8528.jpg)

What is that creature you said can get a foot long????  :o

Andy B.

Really enjoying the photo's Buck. Thanks for sharing.

Mesquite how far is Mesa from your farm?  The reason I'm asking is we may be heading there this winter to visit my parents inlaw if they go back this winter and I'd love to get a tour if that's at all possible and you'd happen to be around.  You have some beautiful scenery for sure, love the pictures.

Quote from: Andy B. on September 16, 2013, 08:39:59 PM
What is that creature you said can get a foot long????  :o

Andy B.

Our version of a centipede. ;D

Quote from: WmFritz on September 16, 2013, 10:42:15 PM
Really enjoying the photo's Buck. Thanks for sharing.

;D 8) 8) 8)

Quote from: sandhills on September 16, 2013, 10:43:51 PM
Mesquite how far is Mesa from your farm?  The reason I'm asking is we may be heading there this winter to visit my parents inlaw if they go back this winter and I'd love to get a tour if that's at all possible and you'd happen to be around.  You have some beautiful scenery for sure, love the pictures.

It is a couple of hours away, similar distance to Tucson, but with some dirt road. You are invited. Let me know when it gets closer, we will try to set up a time. ;D

Thanks, not certain yet we will make it but I'd love to see it if we do.

The monsoon rains are dead.  :(  Now starts the long wait for more water.

The first field is planted.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8577.jpg)



The greenhouses are packed to the gills with upcoming plants.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8572.jpg)



If it doesn't grow, it rots.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8568.jpg)
Until next time.

Haven't posted this for a while. Stupid saguaros grew an inch while I was off to Missouri. Guess they don't know it will freeze hard soon and too bad for them if they aren't asleep. These were taken a couple of weeks ago during our big late November storm.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8657.jpg)

Nothing more beautiful than a storm in the desert.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_9.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_7.JPG)

Soon the greenhouses will be finished...

Did you go chasin' the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow?  :)

Great pictures! :)

All I ever found there was a burn barrel. :(

Poston got there before you did........

Har :D 8) 8) 8)

Will they die if they aren't "asleep"?  Banjo

That is the big concern. Lesser damage means you lose the growing point, maybe 6 mo or more of lost growth and degraded appearance, or plants in pots can have their roots frozen. Then many of those will rot bottom up before they can reroot. Again, 3-6 months of lost growth or dead.

Or if it gets cold enough, just dead.

The good news is the frost cloth came Thursday morning and is now on hand if the big one comes for the field planting.

The greenhouse plastic is due on next Tuesday, so we should be in good shape in a week or two.

We got the greenhouse end walls finished on all the greenhouses except #3, that got smashed on one end in a microburst  in July. We were improvising repairs when our only drill bit snapped off. We have to repair the hoops before we put in the end wall. I have some pictures, but haven't downloaded them yet. More rainbows, of course. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Here are the pictures from last week. Had a weak storm come through. Just enough to make it pretty.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8703.jpg)
Finally got most of the end walls built and covered with plastic.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8690.jpg)
Snow on the mountains. Cactus finally are slowing down and going to sleep. Whew!



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8699.jpg)
Standing lenticular cloud on Mica Mountain.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8689.jpg)
The day wasn't too ugly. ;D 8) 8) 8)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8694.jpg)
Until next time. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Finally got that last end wall built. Yay!!! ;D  The smashed down end of GH3 is mostly fixed but one hoop is too low. Have to take that one apart and redo it. Feels good to be coming to the end of building so we can do more growing. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Back from the ranch. We have been very blessed with above normal temperatures for most of the fall into the winter so far, with just a couple of scary nights in the mid-lower mid 20's. Here is the end of greenhouses 3 and 4. Greenhouse three looks almost normal again. Both of these are now ready for cover plastic and end doors.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8779.jpg)

Note the hard working crew. We had to pull a bunch of dead and dying cacti filled with rot and probably some worms. This is also a hard drinkin' crew.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8781.jpg)


We have delivered these disease organisms and insects to the infernal reaches. Note burn barrel on the left.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8782.jpg)

My best guy is still there hard at it dumping pots in the dark. He is 6, and goes at it better than most 20 year olds all day long.  ;D ;D :o 8) 8) 8) 8)

Still can't reach the pedals on the tractor though. :-[

Until next time. ;D :new_year:

Cattle and cactus growing don't mix.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8799.jpg)
They knocked over and smashed quite a few. Only good thing is they also ate the weeds. :-\

Finally getting plastic on greenhouse 3.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8801.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8802.jpg)

All nice and tight. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8804.jpg)

Next week gh4 covered and maybe get gh2 fixed and just maybe get field #2 graded. Just maybe. :-\


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8805.jpg)

Until next time.

Finally getting started grading field #2.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/grading_field_2.JPG)

;D

Back at it. Being undercapitalized sucks. >:(

Lots of labor problems and not enough help at the ranch. Thank heaven for the mild winter. GH 4 is still not covered, GH 2 is still not fixed, and the grader we need to level field #2 is broken down. :(

Meanwhile the grusanos azules (blue caterpillers) are active and killing saguaros again. This time the big ones that we have already invested years in growing. Need to find a better way to control them, as they are hard to get to once inside the cactus.

On the bright side, the cacti in the greenhouses that are finished are kicking their growth into high gear. Here are some of last summer's seedlings. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8841.jpg)

Here are some more happy growing cacti.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8851.jpg) Oh Yeah!!!! ;D

Getting pretty hot in greenhouse 3. This is a max/min thermometer. You read the high temperature at the bottom of the blue bar on the right.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8831.jpg)
That's 132° for those of you from Frostbite Falls. It was 103° in there yesterday with the door off. Pretty unpleasant when it is in the low 60's outside.

Got a new 3000 gallon water tank last week. That will help when the feed well is shut down. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8826.jpg)

Did I mentiion that it is purty here?

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8828.jpg)

Well, it is.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8833.jpg)
Until next time. ;D

Just back home from the ranch. Here is the big city of Redington, AZ. The building to the right is the old school, to the left, the old Redington Store, and in the middle the Ranch Headquarters.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8864.jpg)

Greenhouse 4 is now covered. Yaay!!!! Maybe not so thrilling to anyone other than me, but after several years of trying to get it done, it sure feels good.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8866.jpg)

Only 124° in GH3 this week. Better get ready for the glaciers. ;D

Until next time. 8) 8) 8)

Back at it. Sunrise over greenhouse 4. Sort of my version of Moonrise over Hernandez, NM. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8892.jpg)

Latest photo of the growing saguaros for comparison. Stupid things are starting up way early. Hope it doesn't freeze hard again.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8893.jpg)
We just got done giving those lovely weeds in the photo a drink of Roundup. I hope they like it a lot. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

I was in Tucson in march of 1971 and remember the pleasant smells and those pictures bring those memories back to me.Wish I could step on into your plantation right now.

You are always welcome. ;D

Once again with feeling. ;D

Trying to get Greenhouse 2 fixed before the reputed rain arrives. We only had to recover about 1/4 of the roof that blew off last spring. Started out calm as we set up to work. A big multivortex dust devil 100 yards across spun in the same place in the field below us for easily 15 minutes. Pretty neat to watch.

Just as we started pulling the plastic over, the wind started to pick up. We thought we could handle it. Just as we got it completely stretched over the top, a big wind gust came along, picked it up and tossed it in a heap on top of us. We got a bit of a calm spell around sunset and got it locked down before we quit for the night. All the greenhouses are now functional. ;D 8) 8) 8)

Now all we have to do is get the weeds cleaned up and get rid of those killer moths. Oh yeah, and grade and plant another acre of saguaros to the field. :-[

Super beautiful skys as the moisture laden clouds started coming in only to get evaporated by the desert air. I'm starting a new post called clouds if you want to see them. Worth a look.

I left a few Mexican goldpoppies when we weeded the field.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8907.jpg)

Gorgeous day.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8914.jpg)


Some of the saguaros are kicking into rapid growth. This is probably at least a month early, but we have had record warm weather this winter. Most things are at least 3 weeks ahead of normal.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8905.jpg)
Yee hah!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Being the cautious riverboat gambler that I am, we poured the water to them. That ought to kick them all into high gear. ;D ;D ;D



Here is the picture window in greenhouse 1. Only the best. ;D 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8904.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8916.jpg)
Until next time. 8) 8) 8)

The cactus on saguaro hill are waking up for spring, growing, and getting shiny and green ;D Let's all give a big cheer for the green. ;D$$$$$$$

We had over an inch of rain out there last Saturday, should keep us in wildflowers for at least another 3 weeks. ;D ;D ;D 8) :o

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8932.jpg)
Setting out replants to replace the dead ones. 45 so far. There are about 4100 in that field.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8930.jpg)
Another gorgeous day. Grading field #2. Hoping to have it ready for plumbing next week. ;D 8) 8)




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8940.jpg)
Until next time.

Thanks for the pleasant western views. And, also thanks for reminding me to plant my packet of "perennnial mixed varieties of cactus"!

Pkt. includes Saguaro,Hedgehog, Fishhook barrel, Dollar prickly pear, Christmas cholla, Cane cholla, Cardo'n.How you think they'll do in Ozark glades?

Or, should I just stick them in some old Mississippi river sand and let 'em grow ?

Keep them moist but not soggy. It would be better if it was like 90°. Most of them will come up in a week to 10 days. ;D

Oh yeah. We use half sand and half mulch for potting. 8)

Anyway, back at it. Field #2 is nearly ready. Close to an acre of valuable light frost flat hilltop when we finish.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8961.jpg)

With my trusty buddy Dondi nuking the weeds very carefully, ;D We are now caught up on weeding. ;D ;D ;D 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8959.jpg)


Look out grusanos azules. There is a new sheriff in town and he is gunning for you where you live. >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8964.jpg)
edit: Pardon my bad spanish. The correct word is gusanos azules (blue caterpillers).

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it. Field #2 is almost done with the finish grading. Had to haul off a bunch of boulders to fill a couple of little canyons and straighten out what will be our access road. Max fill depth 10 ft. The high cut is about 7 ft high. Hit caliche and blew out the hydraulics. Fixed and back at it. Probably one more half day  if nothing else major breaks.

Sunrise over field 2.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8977.jpg)


Trusty backhoe.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8979.jpg)


Cutting and filling.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8980.jpg)


Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8981.jpg)

Your going to be rich,if you can sell them up here in ma. I saw an add on craigs list,a 18" was $100. and a 8-10" was $40.  :o .

A very nice looking sky scene.

Quote from: Ed_K on March 21, 2014, 07:26:22 PM
Your going to be rich,if you can sell them up here in ma. I saw an add on craigs list,a 18" was $100. and a 8-10" was $40.  :o .

That's the plan.  ;D Those prices sound a bit high though.....

Quote from: thecfarm on March 21, 2014, 07:56:26 PM
A very nice looking sky scene.

Thanks. ;D

Field 2 is graded.  ;D Just had to do some touchup grading and dump some boulders over the side.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8986.jpg)
Trenching to put in plumbing for drip irrigation.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8985.jpg)
Supply line

 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/Saguaro_hill_field_2_trenching7E0.jpg) 
Over 500 feet of trench. Got 8 of 14 risers in and blew the mud and rocks out of the pipe. still short 180 feet of pipe for the north side of the field.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8983.jpg)
Trying to rain. Got 5 1/2 drops. :'(




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8984.jpg)
Got the new 3000 gallon tank tied in to the water system. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8987.jpg)
Did I mention it's purty here?

Stuck now where it is. Off to Missouri for 2 weeks to plant trees.

Great pictures if you can show us some pictures of your tree farm in Missouri.

Check out MO Trees. I will also post on the CRP aforestation thread while I'm out there. ;D

Just back from Missouri tree planting. (1950 hand plant bare roots). Back to cactus juggling. Lots of pictures from Missouri and the trip to post, but those will have to wait. Buried with other duties as assigned right now.

Big news flash: We are getting a fence on the east edge to keep out the cows. : )

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9111.jpg)


Even bigger news flash: We are field planting in field number 2. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) :o :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9112.jpg)

Some new neighbors.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo%7E3.JPG)
But I am not falling for their tricks.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/killdeer_1.JPG)
That's one of the parents, just to the right of the golden barrel.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/saguaro_hill.JPG)
I'm figgering on biggering. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/Cactus_April_302C_2014.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/killdeer.JPG)


Until next time. 8) 8) 8)

More progress. Plants going into field #2.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_111.JPG)


Driptape setup for the next block. This hilltop land is at a premium, so we try to use it all after we grade it out. Makes for some interesting blocks, though. The cactus don't seem to mind. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_112.JPG)

The first plantings in field #1 so you can see how much they have grown.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_113.JPG)

It's really beautiful there....Your photos are great!
I love the smell of the desert right before the rain comes in.
 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8983.jpg)
Trying to rain. Got 5 1/2 drops. :'(

Also after it hits. ;D

Well, back at it. Probably the last week of nice weather before the hard heat hits. Already 120° in the greenhouses with the doors open. We'll need to get the sides rolled up for ventilation. If you stand within 20 feet of the door on the downwind end it feels like you just opened an oven door. Saguaros are loving it though.


Field 2 is getting planted. Probably a few more weeks to get all the irrigation done and a couple of months to get it all planted, at least. Good help is hard to find in the wilderness.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo15.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo11.JPG)

Only another 13000 to plant in the field this season. :-\

And 40000 seedlings to bump into pots.

Better get busy. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: That's not a snowball, it is a white rock. All our snow melted before it hit the ground this year. ;D ;D ;D

Back at it. No sky photos lately as I don't think dust obscured mountains are all that interesting in general. Last couple of days are back to beautiful, but with occasional screaming wind gusts that just about knock you off your feet. This is the windiest winter/spring in the 44 years I have been out here.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_37.JPG)
Planting field 2 is moving along nicely.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_38.JPG)


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_33.JPG)
North half of field 2 now has the plumbing feed line in and backfilled.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_36.JPG)
Crazy desert sky.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_39.JPG)
More plants moving out to the field.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_35.JPG)
The neighbors are getting bolder, since the eggs are ready to pop any minute now. These were shot from about 5 feet. Usually they won't let you get within 50.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_31.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_30.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_23.JPG)
The eye in the sky.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_21.JPG)
If you look closely, you can see a bird just above the lower cloud. We think it is a black shouldered kite, usually limited to coastal California, Oregon. Maybe he is lost, but had no problem making a 500 foot power dive to send one of the local rabbits to the happy hunting grounds. He hung out with us most of the afternoon. A day of close visits from the birds. Had a big raven hanging just above my head for a while, like 6 feet above. Big bird.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_26.JPG)
As the sun slowly sets in the western sky, so long for now.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_27.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_29.JPG)


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_17.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_18.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_19.JPG)

Thanks for all the great pictures  8)
So different from here !!!

 ;D

Quote from: sprucebunny on May 22, 2014, 05:03:06 PM
Thanks for all the great pictures  8)
So different from here !!!

What do you mean, SB?? ???  I just saw a killdeer yesterday. ;) ;D

Getting a little behind here with the posting. Here comes 2 weeks worth. The real hard heat with in the shade temps over 110. Will make you sick real fast especially if you get inside the greenhouse. Was 134 in GH3, and hotter in GH 4.

We pulled down that saguaro that died last summer to bust it up for ribs for expanding the ramada roof, the only shade up on the hill.

http://youtu.be/nxfRi10UbcU

The big ones like this split hard, sort of like Abe Lincoln splitting fence rails. Except the wood is cross grained.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_34%7E0.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_40.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_41.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9189.jpg)

The ramada is more bigger now, but still needs more work.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_38%7E0.JPG)
It is still pretty here.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9188.jpg)
Flaming sunrise yesterday morning. High of 110, low 47. That is a big 63 degree day night swing. Back up to 109 by afternoon.

Here is what the sun looks like out here now.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9196.jpg)


Rest of sky was pretty though.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9185.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9181.jpg)

Cactus growing like crazy.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9192.jpg)




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_42.JPG)
Until we meet again. ;D

WOW JUST WOW

 ;D

A much diffeant life than here.

Like living on another planet. Like Tatooine, except there are only two suns when you are getting sunstroke. They filmed the dune scenes for Return of the Jedi on the dunes west of Yuma. ;D

It is actually really nice out here in the evenings except on the hottest days until somewhere between 9 and 10 in the morning. I actually had to put on my quilted flannel shirt Thursday morning before the sun was up to keep the chill off. It is really hard for the body to adjust to the crazy temperature swings.

Back at it. Even though we opened the sides of the greenhouses to vent the heat, It is still so hot in GH 4, the only one without shadecloth that saguaros have reached and exceeded their maximum temperature for living. We had to empty the whole greenhouse and get them outside where it is a cool 108°. I think the temperatures inside there have exceeded 140°. This is also not good for humans. We had to work in shifts, no more than a half hour inside at a time, then out in the cool shade (well, not all that cool) to water up. By the end of it all the frozen bottles of water in the cooler were gone or melted and we are both worse for the wear. Mild sunstroke is a bit like having a fever. You keep drinking and feel sick, but the water just runs in one end and out the other. Today is recovery day in the cool.

Anyway, enough whining.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9200.jpg)
The saguaros are in bloom, but the crop this year will be very small. The animals are going to continue to be hungry until the rains come. Last year the crop was so heavy that it mostly went to waste, not enough animals to eat it all. And so it goes.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9197.jpg)
More progress planting field 2. There are about 2500 out there with perhaps another 9000 to go.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9198.jpg)
Just a hint of the coming monsoon. Cumulus clouds off in the distance coming our way. We finally got a little cloud that blocked out the sun for about 4 minutes. That was nice. ;D :-\

The rains really are on the way. Usually by the first week of July. I hope they are early this year.
 



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9201.jpg)
Well, there's that sunset. Until next time.

 Don't know how I missed this , bu I got all caught up on it now.  Thanks for all the time you put to post the pics, you have a beauty of a place. Only thing wrong there is the temperature moods.  ;D I would need more  :snowball:  time.  :)

  So , how long does it take for a cacti to grow eight feet  ???  That one that was draged and split, how old would that one be  ???

   Thanks, Marcel, getting educationed  ;D  :P

Welcome Marcel. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

I think you could grow an 8 footer from seed, everything perfect, not natural in maybe 10-15 years.

Out in the wild one like that is probably somewhere from 40-60. That big dead one was totally healthy until the lightning hit it last year. It was probably 80+ years old.

It had become home to at least one black widow spider :-\, a conenose kissing bug >:( and a mouse :-\ since then.

edit: Not to worry about the snowball shortage. We have plenty of rocks. Some are even white. :snowball: ;D

I forgot to mention two posts back that we also discovered the maximum temperature for black widow spiders. We found two of them when moving the cactus. Both were crispy from the heat. I'm thinking we could easily kill our wood bugs in one of these greenhouses. ;D

Only had Dondi for one day this week, so we decided to go up Sunday night and get going at first light to take advantage of a good, long one. Camped out on the saguaro hill. Temperatures were still in the high 80's at 10 pm, but dry air and only a couple of mosquitos who met with an unfortunate demise. Absolutely beautiful night. Too bad my camera won't do the job and not enough time to take up the old film camera...

June is the worst month for conenose kissing bugs. They sort of look like a bigger, nastier. zombie apocalypser version of a box elder bug. They bite you while you sleep, apply an anesthetic so you don't notice, then leave you itching and scratching for 3 days after. Also tend to make you feel a bit sick. Some people have severe allergic reactions to them and have to have an epipen handy. They did a job on my hands. Even got me on my tough old palm. Go figure.

Sunrise

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9206.jpg)


The monsoon is trying to get started early. On the way home last night we smelled water several times and saw wet pavement. Not really enough to do any good but gets our hopes up. Our last rain of any account was sometime around March. It is quite dusty here now.

Temperatures have moderated since the last couple of weeks with a high only around 100°. Not even too bad in the greenhouses with some occasional cloud cover and a breeze only around 108° ;D



Progress

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9207.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9209.jpg)

We added one complete irrigation section and put the plants out for it. We now have around 3500 plants  in field 2. Soon we'll be rich! :-\


So long from the desert until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9210.jpg)

 I can feel the heat from that last pic from here. How does one deal with it being so hot, I would have trouble breathing in such heat. I start to sweat as soon as the temps hit above freezing  :-\  It is a true question, as I can't stand any heat, I get soked from sweat in no time flat. ( I am a A\C believer and first thing I check in a used car... if that runs cold it get major points.  ;D  )

  Thanks again for the pics, I really like looking at them and seeing the scenery from here.

isawlogs
Humidity kills me too! Dry heat is another story when the RH is in the single digit range and the temps in the high 90s to low 100s as long as you keep well hydrated you definitely do not suffer the lethargy and sweating associated with high humidity.
You have the heat and exposure to the sun but deal appropriately with them, as for me I much prefer dry desert heat over heat and high humidity.
Al 

Al, with all du respect, I prefer snow.  :D

Well, Marcel, first thing you have to do is lose the flannel shirt until at least October, when you might want one at night. Next, get shorts, good for probably 10 degrees. Let your body adjust to the heat- 3 days to a week.

You don't get sweaty at all here when it is dry and over 100. It dries as fast as it comes out of your skin. Clothes get crusty with salt though by the end of the day. You have to drink a LOT of water though. Many years ago we were salvaging down ironwood logs near Florence, AZ. Long day, very little shade, 120° high. Two of us drank 14 gallons of water that day, so 7 each. Got home late, drank over another gallon and finally peed the first time since morning at midnight.

You can see with the kind of water loss you can get how quickly someone can get into trouble. You also lose a lot of water just breathing.

Most of the international hikers start north with one or two milk jugs of water. The coyotes (smugglers) tell them it is just a couple of miles until they get where they are going. Usually it is at least 50. A lot of them don't make it. It is so common now that it doesn't even make the news anymore. Every summer up to hundreds die from the heat.

We try to keep our heads covered. A good, wide brimmed cotton hat works well, especially if you wet it. The dry air makes it feel actually cold until it dries out, at least. When we work in really bad heat, we keep the water close at hand so we are not tempted to go too long without a drink. Also, you can take old gatoraid bottles and refill them about 4/5 full and freeze them and stockpile a bunch of them in a cooler. We keep adding water to the open space until all the ice is gone. Sipping cold water really helps to keep the core temperature down. Especially important when you work in a 140° greenhouse with the sun blasting you. Also ice up a big cooler with 10 lbs of ice so we have fairly cold water to refill the bottles. Also wear white to  reflect the sun.

It really isn't too bad at 100 and dry if you are hydrated and take breaks. When it is dry it may be 60 at sunrise and not hit 90 until maybe 9am. After 4 in the afternoon the sun is lower and it feels better.

All that said, when it is 110 or 120, it is AWFUL to be out in it. The early explorers described it as feeling like standing between two fires. The ground temperature will go to about 160° in June, so you get the intense desert sun, which will give you a sunburn in about 15 minutes and feels like it is going in one side of you and out the other, combined with the ground heat coming up. YUCK. :(

Soon, the monsoons will arrive with God's air conditioning, the thunder beings. Then it gets nice. ;D

But humid, at least for us.

 I'm sweatting here only from reading about your hundred degree temps....   :-\ :snowball: :snowball:    :)

Back out solo. Lots of watering to do. Too much hot. :(


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9234.jpg)
Here is the original planting so you can see how they have grown.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9227.jpg)
Late afternoon view of field 1.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9230.jpg)
View of the greenhouses from the unfinished part of field 2.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9232.jpg)
DanG, its pretty here.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_61.JPG)
Sometimes, the light here is just magical. smiley_big-grin2




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9235.jpg)
Flaming sunset Sunday night.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9238.jpg)
And a flaming sunrise yesterday morning.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9246.jpg)
Speaking of flaming, smoke from the Oak Fire two mountain ranges to the east.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9243.jpg)
Got more shade up on the ramada.  ;D




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_62.JPG)
View of field 2 from field one. It is going to look really cool in a couple of years. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_63.JPG) 
Field 2 progress. ;D




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_64.JPG)
Next wave of saguaros from last summer's seedlings. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
(The small ones on the cart and left benches.)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9248.jpg)
There is the coming monsoon, about 80 miles to the SE. They say we could get some rain as early as next week. Or perhaps the following week. :-\ Or maybe the week after that. :snowball:

 Thanks for the tour, it is really a nice place you have there.  :)  Keep the pics coming, I love travelling from my computer  8)

Thanks for your interest. ;D

Lots of fires burning out here. Hoping for the rain from the monsoon. Only 2/3 of an inch of rain at the Tucson Airport this year.





 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9266.jpg)
And all the time the Lord went before them, by day a pillar of smoke to guide them on their journey, by night a pillar of fire to give them light; so they could travel both by day and by night. The pillar of smoke never left its place in front of the people by day, nor did the pillar of fire by night.    -Exodus 13:21-22

You see interesting things in the desert.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9257.jpg)
Sunset smoke Sunday night.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9269.jpg) 
Field 2 progress. We have around 4700 out there now. That's more than all of field 1.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9268.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9276.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9277.jpg)
And once again, we ride off into the smoke filled sunset. ;D

Would that be Mt lemon in the background of field 2 pic ? Back in my younger wanderlust days, there was an air defense radar base on the peak...

That is Mica Mountain, the highest part of the Rincon Mtns. Mt. Lemmon is the left part of the sunset picture.

Mica Mountain is to the SSW of us. Mt. Lemmon is to the west. The last picture in reply #154 with the ramada is Mt Lemmon. ;D

Well, the monsoon is on in the desert. Here's hoping for a wet summer for a change.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9291.jpg)
Still planting.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_76.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9286.jpg)
Still growing.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9308.jpg)
Field 2 progress. About 6000 out in this field now.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9290.jpg)
Monsoon sunrise.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_75.JPG)
One of our buddies, the unidentified raptor.


And here come the storms.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_74.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9299.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9298.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9301.jpg)

Hard to work when it gets this pretty.

The roads were pretty badly washed out, up to 2 ft deep. Thank heaven for 4WD.

I've got one little video of the storm so you can get the feel. I'll post it when it gets ready.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Here is the video.

http://youtu.be/1UoIuxL2aOA

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. ;D

The roads are fixed so you wouldn't even know what they were like last week. The rains have been around but while they have been heavy in spots, the good spots are not widespread. So much for the prediction of an extra wet monsoon. Oh well.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_87.JPG)
Progress continues on field 2. Now around 7000 cactus in this field. ;D




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_85.JPG)
Cactus in field 2 rooting in nicely and growing like crazy. ;D :snowball:




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_83.JPG)
Got a nice little rain that cooled things off. 0.25"




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_86.JPG)
This years seed crop is planted. ;D ;D ;D

Time to ride off into the sunset.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_90.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_89.JPG)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_88.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_82.JPG)

Until we meet again. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 Somebody needs to ride out in that sunset!!!   8)  What a nice ride that is.  WoW!!!!

Thanks Marcel. ;D Spent yesterday sick from the heat at home. Touch of sunstroke. I think I pushed just a bit too hard on Tuesday. :(

They are talking 108 for when we head back out there. I will have to take it easier.

  108° is way ... way too hot for this youngster to be doing anything.... way to hot.

Probably 120+ inside the greenhouses. I'll need to do that work early in the AM or late in the afternoon. Oh well, only 2 more months of really hot weather. Then it is only a little hot. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 Its 68°F here sitting in the shade... thats hot enough for me .  ;D  Cold drink in hand. On da rocks .

I am looking forward to those mint juleps in the shade when we start to bale up the $$$$ ;D ;D ;D

Until then I go out in the heat. :( :snowball:

Back at it. Record heat is right, after all. Too bad they called for rain and all we got is a fire. :(

Dondi was helping someone else, now he is out there and I am sitting in the cool posting pictures. ;D

Turned on the sprinklers and got it to cool down to a pleasant 120 in the greenhouse. ::)

Greenhouse one is packed to the gills. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_100%7E0.JPG)
To the right are the new seed flats, under the covers.



There are baby saguaros!!!!! ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_92.JPG)
I am so proud. ;D ;D ;D

Things continue to grow well in field 1. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_97.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_94.JPG)

And the plants in field 2 are rooting in and getting very happy :) :) :)      ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_99.JPG)

Field 2 progress.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9319.jpg)
That's a lot of stickers. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:


Did I mention it is pretty here?

Desert sunrise.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_95.JPG)


More stuff.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_93.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_98.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_96.JPG)

Until we meet again. ;D

 How big do they need to grow before you bring them to market, how many do you plan on bringing to market per year ???

  Yep someone needs to be there to look at those sunrises, better you then me  :) :D  At least you can take a picture for me, I can enjoy the view far from that blistering sun.  :)

We think we could sell a couple thousand a year once they get to 2 feet. Once we get to 3 feet we should be able to sell more. The prime market size is 4-6 feet. We will probably market up to 10 feet eventually.

Our goal is 20,000 units a year at 4-6 feet. I think that will be hard to reach with our current facilities. I just think we will need a couple more greenhouses to get to that. I'm thinking with what we have and enough help, we could produce something like 10-15K of them a year.

I think we should be heavily into marketing in 3-5 more years. ;D

I'm hoping we will have something to sell by the end of next summer (2015) or in 2016, for sure. Then it is just a matter of getting them big enough to get to the $$$ that will exceed our expenses.  :)

But we didn't build that. >:(

The baby ones are cute  8)
I'd love to see them progress from looking like a 2 lobed seedling into a cactus shaped thing.

Thanks for all the pictures  :)

 :) ;D :)

Almost back at it. My rancher partner says we need to cut mesquite, running out... more on Big Mesquite.
Got some cactus juggling done first.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_107.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_108.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_101%7E0.JPG)

Beep Beep

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_106.JPG)


Progress field 2

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_109.JPG)
Cha ching someday. ::)

 Keep posting them pics, I am in aw of all the work you are doing in that heat....   :o   :)

Quote from: isawlogs on August 08, 2014, 07:55:24 AM
Keep posting them pics, I am in aw of all the work you are doing in that heat....   :o   :)

Did you notice that even the roadrunner was panting?

Only 1 1/2-2 months of hard heat left.

I think we will make it through another summer. :-\ :snowball: ;D

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. ;D


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Alfalfa is green. ;D

Blessed with a really nice day yesterday with the arrival of tropical moisture from the south. Only got up to about 93, only 105 in the GH.



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Moisture coming in.



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Original planting to show growth.


A fairly nice sunrise yesterday morning.


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Ahhhhhhh! ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Forgot some stuff. ;D

More purties.

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Storms.

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Roof is pretty, but it leaks a bit.


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Cactus field of dreams.


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Them's a lot of stickers. ;D

Field of dreams.  :D    Thanks for the pictures.

Cool pics Russ. Think I'll "stick"with my mini-ag  venture !  ;D

Seems like it is growing. Now we are looking into golden barrels and fishhook barrels... ;D

Looks like we will end up with maybe 50 acres of stickers eventually.

Then we'll have to think of something else to grow. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Just back from the ranch. Perhaps you have seen the news reports of flash floods in Arizona. We have those. In the last week we got about 1/3 of our annual precipitation. That's 3 inches at the saguaro hill. One of the storms was a real turd floater (highly technical ranch term regarding dried cow pies floating off the range in the runoff). We had 4 washouts at the saguaro hill, one of them just missing the planting. 4 feet deep and 8 feet wide all the way down the hill. Kind of rushed to get it patched, as another wall of water was headed our way. Following some white knuckle backhoe work, I was able to get the washout patched and the pooling water redirected to a less steep slope just as the water was piling up and coming across the field. I built this small flood control dam with a small outlet after the storm passed.

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With all the rain, the desert is looking like an emerald tropical paradise. Some of the saguaros are even starting to bloom, even though it is the wrong time of the year.

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the operation this week, as we were a bit rushed. We are only 2 small sets from completing field 2. I think the plants should all be in the ground in the next 3 weeks or so if our help continues to show up. The greenhouses are rapidly filling up with more little saguaros from the seedling trays. The first golden barrels have started to germinate. They seem to be a bit slower than saguaros.

Field weeds are going crazy. Roundup is my friend. ;D Only got sprayed in the area around the greenhouses before the water hit. Have to try again next week. >:(

The good news is the sky and light was amazing, so enjoy. ;D


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Dondi taking it easy at the end of a hard day on Monday.



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Cloud buildups hinting of the coming storms.



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Sunset.




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Storm drifting in after sunset.




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Sunrise yesterday.




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Clouds in the sunrise glow. I call it forest of clouds.





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Storms heading east.  Leaving a parting gift.


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Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We had a prediction of BIG WATER from some hurricane moisture from off Baja would be interacting with another tropical low pressure system would bring heavy, heavy rain. Based upon past overly optimistic predictions from the weather service over the years, Tucson should be on the average getting over 20 inches of rain a year and not be a desert. :-\

Anyway, out here I believe in rain only after it is on the ground, and no longer a fond hope. ;D 8) 8) :snowball:

The day started out cloudy and hopeful.

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Hope doesn't generally make it wet, though. Cactus are getting taller. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

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Greenhouse 2 is getting filled up rapidly with little guys. I'm thinking we will have to set up additional benches in GH4. ;D

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We finally actually got some rain Tuesday. Real hard for about half an hour. 0.37"


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We saw some ponding of water in field 2. The places where we had deep ponding had lots of cactus rotting. Saguaros hate wet feet. We had the opportunity to dig miniditches so most of the ponding areas now drain pretty well . Probably saved 500 from rotting this way. So far the ones in the shallowly ponded areas hadn't rotted yet. If we get wet in the winter, we could lose a bunch. I'm sure we will have to make further refinements as we move forward. Only 2 small irrigation sets to finish field 2. Hopefully next week will have less emergencies so we can get them done and on to the next field grading.



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Happy trails to you. Till we meet again.

Once more, with feeling. ;D

Back at the ranch for maybe the last really awful hot day  of the summer. Sunny and almost completely still. 100+ outside and 120 inside. Dondi got sick from the heat but I am too cool for that. 8) 8) 8)

Still trying to wrap up field 2. Lots of weeds to control slowing us down combined with some drainage issues. Hopefully both of those things are now FIXT (a Gusism, you spell it out. Means fixed (not very well)).
Only one more irrigation set to build on that one and then wait for the helpers to get them all planted. They are getting in about 500 a week, so probably another 3-4 weeks until they get it done.

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Cactus still growing great, but slower than I would like as I would like to see a paycheck before I become vulture food. :(




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Field 2 moving into the sunset as we get ready to finish the little triangle above the cut.

It's pretty here and plastic is stinky. ;D

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Speaking of stinky, here is Mr. Stinky himself. One of the relatives of the Pinacate Beetle (big, about 1 1/4"). These guys can't fly away, so they move really fast, hence the crappy photo. I'll try to get a better one. They are currently all over saguaro hill. If you mess with them they stick their butts up in the air and spray you with tear gas.  smiley_eek_dropjaw Very cute. dadgum you, Charlie!

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We are also under invasion from a relative of the tomato hornworm. They start out eating members of the four o'clock family, especially Coulter's spiderling, Boerhaavia coulteri shown with the larva.


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The ones we have are yellow and purple striped, so a bit different than this one, but I had this old photo so you can get an idea. These things eat up all the spiderlings, then migrate everywhere. They are on our cactus,  our equipment and even showing up in our trenches on on our lunch table. Yuck. :-\ The good news is they only eat weeds and not cactus so I can smile. smiley_smug01 A lot. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: I am so nice that I don't even smash them on purpose. ;D Mostly. :o


They say the water from Hurricane Norbert is headed our way, so I may be cutting Big Mesquite in a flood. :-\


Until next time.

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great pics! Remember to drink lots of water in this kind of heat. We need the rain ........Rob

You even more than us. Better get your lumber covered up before it gets there. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Here is what baby golden barrels look like if you have never seen one.

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Here is one in the field, about 6".

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They can get quite large, close to a Volkswagen. :o 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

WOW, talk about coarse medium ! Cool pics... :snowball: :snowball:

Shhhhh.  Top secret. :snowball: ;D

Do you need to sterilize before setting out the seeds ?

Nope. Just good ventilation and the right growth conditions and we are more or less golden. smiley_smug01


I am very funny. ;D :snowball:

Back at it again. Getting to the wrap up of field 2. We should have all the irrigation done this coming week. Here are a couple of photos from Tuesday. The tail end of the moisture from Norbert the Narc still hanging around and making it pretty. Only 0.43" at the Saguaro Hill. 3.0"  at my house. Big difference from the mountain rain shadow.


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Again great pics.!We got zip-zero for rain , just the 100 degrees temp and severe humidity. The trees on my ranch are dying !I'm irrigating 24/7 on the landscaping.  Rob

Maybe this winter the rains will come back. :-\ ;D :snowball:


Even the mesquites are dying out here. :(

Right back out to get some saguaro work done. Lots of big talk about the power and water from Odile. As I sit back at home it is sprinkling. Only about a tenth of an inch so far, but the center isn't supposed to get here until this evening. I will believe it when the water is on the ground. I've heard many big storm coming warnings with dire water numbers in the 44 years I have lived in the desert. Only a couple out of maybe 20 or more storms over that period actually really blasted us. The most powerful was October 1983. We got 11 inches of rain over 2 days. Tucson was completely cut off for about a week. The Rillito (normally dry river)  was migrating up to 100 feet laterally per hour. Lots of houses washed away and something like 10-12 people disappeared, most never found.

Anyway, I take notice when they make these warnings, but just keep an eye out as the day goes along.

Outer cloud bands from Odile around sunset Monday. I was trying to get the DanG weeds sprayed, so not looking up much, but instead of getting darker, it got lighter and pinker, so I looked up. Here is about 15 minutes of that spectacular sunset.

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Earlier in the day Dondi finished the last irrigation set. ;D

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Tuesday morning was wetter, but still mostly  clouds and sprinkles.

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And just a little fog in the desert.

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Until next time.. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 Rita & I think the picts are great  8) .

Thanks Ed. ;D It can be amazingly beautiful out there at times. At its worst, still pretty neat.

That storm is looking to be going east and south of us right now. They may have gotten some of it at the ranch, but next to nothing up to now in Tucson.

Well, back at it again. Probably the last 100ish days of the year. Cactus growing great and good progress with planting field 2. Got 0.9" from the remnants of TS Polo. Looks like a nice soaker with no washouts. All the drainage improvements seem to be working. Here is field 2 looking south.

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All built and plants ready to plant. About 1500-2000 left to plant. They are getting about 500 planted/wk working 2 early mornings per. Really hard to get anybody to work out here, so have to count our blessings that things are moving at all.



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View to the northeast from  the south end of field 1 towards the greenhouses and field 2.



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Same old view from the north end to the south of the original planting to show growth. The big one on the right is about 2 feet+ tall now.



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Rainstorm to the east.



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Sunset Monday night.


Tuesday morning had heavy dew over everything. Maybe not a big deal for those of you from humid climates, but a heavy dew during the warm season is a rarity for us. Here are the little guys in field 2 glowing in the sunrise.

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And a dewey saguaro.

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Until next time. ;D

 I am happy that you chose to put all those pics up for us to see, I have little to no knowledge of the desert and of how things are done there. You are, with this thread, educating me and I just love it.  :) 
  Please continue with this education  :P :P  :) 

Thanks Marcel. ;D I will try to post more edumacational stuff. You never know what you will run into out here. A couple of weeks ago 3 roadrunners came up to me and talked to me in Roadrunnerese. They came to within 5 feet of me for maybe 5 minutes chattering. Normally they won't let you within 50-100 feet.

Apparently they are very opportunistic. There is a pair that share lunch with Darlene at work. :-\

Field 2 is wrapping up. Only about 600 left to plant.


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Sunrise Saturday morning.

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Distant thunderstorms at sunrise.

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Cloud bands crossing the Rincons showing how rain shadows form. Cloud movement here is SW to NE, right to left in the photo.

Thanks again for all the great pictures !

I really like the "dewey saguaro" pic...some intense colors that one would never see from a distance. arteest-smiley

 ;D

A good week out at the ranch. Trying to wrap up the outdoor planting season before cold weather sets in and so we can empty a bunch of GH3 to make room for more bumping.

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Field 2 is within a couple of hundred plants of being finished (foreground).

Got field 3 rough graded. 

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Not as nice and smooth as with a grader, but pretty not bad. There will be room for something like 2-3K plants up here. We had incoming storms from ex hurricane Simon.


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Flying dragons coming across the Rincons. 

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Incoming. Ended up being less impressive as far as rainfall totals go. We ended up with 0.68" for the day in the Rincon rainshadow area. We got 1.2" on the windward side at my house. Still, a good steady soaker for the newly planted cactus.



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Another fogbank. This will probably be a germination event for desert wildflowers. Ground is wet and germ temps are favorable.




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The rain revealed additional areas of ponding in field 2 requiring more microditching. Field three also had some minor areas of ponding that I can fix next week before we start putting in the plumbing and more plants. ;D



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I found this really fast growing individual at the edge of field 2. I need to check that one out. ;D

Here are the greenhouses so you can see how things are going.

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GH1- The plants ready for more light get pulled each week to make room for more bumping. That's why so many empty benches. They get filled each week.



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GH2- Pretty much packed tight. Only thing leaving is bumps to gallons, then those to GH4.



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GH3- Not packed, but lots of gallons field ready at least. We'd like to get at least 1000 of these to field 3 before the cold weather sets in. That will give us a lot more bumping space either for gallons or little guys.



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GH4- Filling up with bumped gallons and overflow of bumped seedlings from GH1 that would go into GH2 if there was space there. These gallons should be field ready by spring. ;D



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The sky opened up enough to give us a nice sunset before the rain returned. And then this. 

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Oh Yeah! ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

The ride into the sunset was challenging. 16 miles of greased mud with the low water wash crossings either washed out or with foot tall mudsand speed bumps. After I got the pavement, I hit fog. Argh. At least my truck got washed in the rain on way home. :-\

Until next time. :) :snowball:

Amazing story and pictures, really enjoy the updates-THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

I have another story of a somewhat different nature that I may put in here, but the pictures are only from words.

Thanks for your appreciation. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Have to ramp it up the last two times before heading east to MO Trees. The glorious San Pedro River is flowing. Maybe, just maybe our 17 year so far drought is ending. :-\

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Here is the low water crossing to the A7 Ranch where I have been sleeping at Dondi's place there.   This river has had a lot of quicksand pockets this year.  Fun never ends out here.  :-\ Usually not more than a foot or two deep, but looks solid before you fall through it. :-\ :-\ :-\ :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: Almost got stuck in 4WD last night bogging down and sinking in the not so slow sand. Dropped it into creeper 4WD this am and only sunk a foot or so. :-\  No me gusta those sand crossings with water.....


Anyway, back at it on the hill. Touched up the grading for field 3 and ran the trench for water.

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Had to sweep around with the trench to get my risers to line up in the right places in the field and allow for tractor access.



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Nice new pipe with risers going in with Dondi shading the pipe for backfill at the same time. ;D

He has been working hard getting it all pretty up  here and elsewhere on the ranch as they get ready to celebrate 130 years since the founding of the ranch, all in the same family. Good job. I'll post pictures after it happens. Sorry, it is invite only, mostly family and locals and the governor. No big deal. ;D



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All backfilled, blown out, and ready for irrigation manifolds. ;D
Next week we start the planting. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:


And off into the sunset I ride.

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Until next time. ;D

Back at it, trying to wrap things up enough to head out to MO Trees on Sunday. Everybody is busy at the ranch cleaning the place up and getting ready for the big party on Saturday.

I'm up here juggling cactus. :(

Got all the irrigation manifolds built for field 3. ;D

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Field 2 is all planted except for like 53 plants that the planters didn't have. Here Dondi is putting them out.

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I have a dream that the field will be done when I get there on Saturday. Did a count estimate for Field 2. Looks like close to 9500 out there. Quite a bit less than I had originally guessed, but lots of loss of space to roads for access. :(

Back to field 3, coming along nicely, the first set of drip lines are in and we got plants placed for the planters.

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They are not going to be happy. The dirt in field 3 is somewhere between 60/40 and 75/25 percent rocks to dirt. Hard to even get a spike driven into it. Saguaros love it though. I have seen worse places to grow stuff in Mexico planted to corn. They just stuck the seeds into the narrow slabs of soil in cracks in the solid bedrock. I think we have it pretty easy in comparison. ;D I'll have to remember to tell that to the help to cheer them up while they are doing it piecework. :-\ :snowball:

Did I mention it is pretty here? Had a hard time getting out with so many sunset views, I had to keep stopping. :(


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And a little after sunset storm Monday night.

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A cloud hugging the crest of the Galiuro Mountains yesterday morning.

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That's it for this time. A sad note: The big saguaro that is seen in many of the sunset and lots of other pictures from the hill is expiring. Black goo is running out the side. Don't know how long it will hold on.

I will post pictures of the big shindig this weekend, but it will have to wait until I get to Missouri.

Adios, Amigos. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Dondi reports that field 2 is all planted. smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_blue_bounce smiley_clapping smiley_blue_bounce smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_bounce smiley_bounce

Plants are going into the ground in field 3. ;D

Thanks for the pictures and the reports.

 :)

Kind of messed up with the truck dying and not going to MO. Got a few pictures from the last few weeks on the hill.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0957.JPG)
Met this guy while broken down at San Simon. He lives in California, buying up old Toyotas slated for the junkyard, pulls off the good parts, loads up and drives to Guatemala with this whole mess. He has to deal with the drug cartel people, corrupt Mexican govt. officials and drive a few miles south. Turns out that new Toyotas cost like $75K down there after taxes, and nobody sells parts. This enterprising guy fills a need and makes a side living of $50K making 10 trips a year like this. When he gets down there he leaves the whole deal and flies back. This guy is cool. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0963.JPG)
I was driving back to the hill yesterday and noticed we are a bit out in the middle of nowhere.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0965.JPG)
This view from 3 miles away makes it even more obvious.


 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0962.JPG)
Standing lenticular clouds over the Galiuro Mtns.


Started clearing for field #4 until I had to stop from a hydraulic hose cracking and spraying oil. :(




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0924.JPG)
Darlene and the Claire Bear at the ramada the night of the big 130th anniversary party.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0966.JPG)
Until next time. ;D

Back at it again. More clearing brush off the site of field 4. Should be ready for grading in a couple of weeks if everything works. Everything may not work, as the wife is buried with emergencies at work. Maybe additional duties as assigned. :(

I was greeted both days with a huge flock of shashani (Tohono O'odham for blackbird, in this case ravens).

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1010.JPG)
Probably 2-3 hundred.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1015.JPG)
24 at the hill yesterday morning.  :(  Right around freezing inside the greenhouses at dawn. We will need to get the heaters going soon, especially inside the greenhouses with little ones. fire_smiley
Just getting up  to around 100 in the closed up greenhouses with the sun shining. :) Feels really nice in there in the mornings. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Still have about 50 plants to go into the ground sitting out in field 3 to get the first set done. We need to get them planted as the roots are more frost sensitive than the tops. :(


I'll post pictures of the new field when it is less ugly. :-\

Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1016.JPG)

I didn't know you got that cold......

The saguaros are located within 10 miles of their cold climatic limit. Two years ago we weren't ready and the GH ends were open when it was around 9°. We lost probably 90% of our seedlings and about a third of our bigger stuff.  :( :( :(

We were really lucky that time, since the seedling trays still had seeds in them and more came up. We probably lost 50% net of the seedlings, but they were half a season smaller than they would have been if we had been on top of it. Learning is expensive sometimes... :-\

Now we have heaters for the greenhouses. We will have to see how bad it is in the field if we get that cold. Last winter we got below 20° a couple of nights with no field damage. I hope we don't have to find out just how much they can take. We have frost cloth, but only enough for about 1/3 of our field crop. Then, of course, we would have to get it on them as well with very limited help.....

Maybe I missed it earlier in the discussion, but how do you start the baby saguaro?  Harvest seeds somehow?

Yes, we start with seeds. The fruits get ripe in June to early July. We start them in the greenhouses.

There are pictures of seeds and seedlings in previous posts. ;D

Page 3, reply #54.

I see.   I did see the pics of the seedlings.  My BIL mentioned something about bats needing to digest the seeds before they would grow.  Any truth to that?

None..If we clean the seeds, give them what they need (water, light, etc.) they will germinate.

Bats are major pollinators of the flowers, as are doves in the daytime.

Most every animal will feed on the ripe fruits, but the fruits open in the morning, so the birds clean them up pretty well in the daytime unless there is a really big crop.

Interesting.  Thanks for the info.

Here is the trunk of that really big saguaro from a previous post and lots of the sunset pictures. It is definitely rotten, only a little strip of live left. It is inside of field 4. We were going to just go around that spot to save it, but that seems pointless now if it is going to die anyway. May try to cut some lumber from it.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1009.JPG)
:(

Looks like winter is here, at least our version of it. 20 up at the saguaros Tuesday morning, 18 this am.

Had to fire up the greenhouse heaters.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1041.JPG)
Sunset Monday night and clear, cold skies.

Got all the heaters put together. We only had to use 2 in the baby greenhouses last year. I have the feeling we will be running all 8 this year. Most of them still in the boxes. I love barehanding metal in freezing weather. Here is the pile of boxes.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1043.JPG)
They made a nice warmup fire in the morning waiting for the greenhouses to warm up enough to turn off the heaters. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1044.JPG)
Inside of greenhouse by trucklight.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1045.JPG)
Heaters are warm. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Still getting up to over 100 inside on clear days even if it doesn't make it up  to 70 outside. Working inside the greenhouses is really nice this time of the year.



Time to ride off into the sunset.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1048.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1049.JPG)
Until next time. ;D

I remember burning kerosine in the greenhouses to protect the seedlings. We are freezing here every night also ,raising minor issues from the mills to the storage sheds. As usual ...great pics, happy Thanksgiving. Rob

Thanks Rob. And Happy Thanksgiving to you and to all the Forestry Forum. ;D

Just found your thread

Amazing

thank you so much for sharing all the beautiful desert sunsets

I grew up in Safford Az and one of my older brothers is a pastor in Wilcox

We visit every couple of years.

I will pm you next time we are out that way.  Would love to see your farm in person.

Sounds good.

I had my busted truck fixed in Willcox. I used to run experiments at the UA Safford Farm. ;D

One leftover from last week that got lost somewhere on the internet and showed up later.
Cactus still growing....
Hoping they don't freeze.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1047.JPG)

Lots of cactus juggling, but not much photoworthy other than the sky.

Home on the range, where the skies are cloudy all day. :-\

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1068.JPG)

Nice sunset Monday night.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1070.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1069.JPG)


And then we woke up to an amazing, flaming sky. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :o :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1073.JPG)
Until next time.

Still biggering. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1083.JPG)

Back at it a couple of days ago. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1116.JPG)
Must be almost winter, the cottonwoods are getting their fall color along the river. Clouds from incoming storm that started Tuesday and just quit this morning.

And now, without further adieu, some educational stuff. A nice load of mesquite and redwood sawdust for making potting soil.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1125.JPG)

Some cactus growth since last summer. The first two are the golden barrel cacti from seedlings around September and what they look like now.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_165.JPG)


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1119.JPG)

Then these are the baby saguaros from August and what they look like now.
 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_92.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1118.JPG)

It's not all fun and games up here. I think this is a great business to lose your shirt if you don't know what you are doing. Here are a bunch of dead plants from field 1.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1127.JPG)
These died from at least three different things.

Here are about 1/4 of the dead guys from the greenhouses this week.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1126.JPG)

We lost about 1/3 of all our stock in the big freeze two years ago. We have survived by constantly being on guard for problems and simply producing plants faster than they are dying. :-\ Winters are harder than summers, even though the working conditions are nicer for us.

I think we will get there someday, but not without tremendous applications of effort,  skill and money. :(

On a lighter note, here is what the inside of the greenhouses look like now. Note that greenhouse 4 will soon be packed, soon after that 3 and then 1. Hopefully by then it will be April and plants will be leaving for the field. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1120.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1122.JPG)   

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1123.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1124.JPG) 

One more thing; for those of you who haven't been out here, look closely in the picture below. The spines glow in the setting sun. The effect is much more dramatic in person and only poorly shows in the photo, but at least it is a glimpse.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1130.JPG)
Until we meet again. ;D

Back at it after goofing off last week. You probably don't want to see any more pictures of rotting cacti, and they aren't growing much, as this winter is much cooler than last year. :(

So here is what it looks out there right now.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1148.JPG)
Yep, that white stuff on Mica Mountain is snow. They have a foot or so up there.

Below is the desert winter sun with a few clouds from the incoming winter storm. We are stocking up on propane.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1149.JPG)


Until next time. ;D

Happy New Year from Tucson. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Tell me they are not growing only in rocks, there must be a bed of something under those rocks....  ???    :P

  Bonne année a toi !! :)

You are good. Just a layer on top.

Feliz Año Nuevo!

 Did you get snow last night, news said there was snow in places that never see it?

About an inch at the house. Probably more at the ranch, but I haven't checked yet.

Well, back at it after doing not so much over Christmas and New Year's. Had some pretty hard freezes out there, probably in the high teens and the field cactus aren't liking it. No obvious damage so far, but gets me itching for more frost cloth.

That big old cactus to the north is getting skinny relative to its neighbors, since its conductive tissues have been compromised by the rot. Monday pm.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1160.JPG)
If you compare the branches to the one behind it, probably a couple hundred feet further from the camera, you can see how the front cactus branches are relatively thinner. That is lack of water. Came back Tuesday am to see this.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1163.JPG)
The branches to the right were leaning out further by afternoon. I'll be giving this one a wide berth for a while.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1165.JPG)
Thousand pounds + of branches splattered on the ground, bucket for scale.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1166.JPG)
Hole in trunk from the dearly departed branch. The branches to the right are also failing. Don't know if you can see that in the photo.

Also collecting fishhook barrel seeds so we can grow those. Almost waited too long. The animals have been cleaning them up. They taste a little like a lemon.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1167.JPG)


Cactus silhouettes in the evening light Monday evening.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1161.JPG)

Moonset Tuesday morning over the Santa Catalina Mountains.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1162.JPG)


As the winter desert sun rapidly sets in the southwest.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1168.JPG)

Until next time. ;D

can you burn  cactus  :-\

The short answer is yes. The spines light pretty easily and then the fire runs up the side and scorches it.

I burn up the infested/diseased plants in the burn barrel. I have to add waste slabs from the sawmill to keep it hot enough to burn up the wet ones completely.

Fishhook barrel cactus seeds. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1171.JPG)

Well, back at it.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1177.JPG)
Cactus in field 1 looking pretty good. Some are still growing slowly. We have had so much rain this winter we are having some rotting problems. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1181.JPG)
Probably a couple hundred in the two fields. Also some freeze damage, but not too much.

Field 2. That's Valentine, my cheaper transport truck looking for cactus spines so I could listen to Rush while digging up dead cactus to be burned. I did find 1. That is my next job this morning. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1182.JPG)

Nothing like an incoming storm to make it pretty.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1178.JPG)

Sunset Monday evening. Stayed out to look at Comet Killjoy. It did disappoint. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1179.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1180.JPG)

Why prophets wander in the desert:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1193.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1185.JPG)


I got a small insight while working yesterday. If disaster awaits you, it is only for a moment. Then it is "safe" again.

We measured the bench next to the dying saguaro (right) to see if a greenhouse will fit there to grow barrel cactus yesterday afternoon. I knew those east arms could go at any time, but they were still there. I told Chris that if he heard anything above, MOVE.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1195.JPG)


Incoming storm. 4:47

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1196.JPG)
I was packing up to leave and found a piece of a plastic pot. While tossing it in the burn barrel, I heard what sounded like a box being crushed off to the north. Looked up and saw this:

4:59

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1197.JPG)

Note the giant people swatter to the right on the ground. :-\ :-X :snowball:

Hopefully, until next time. ;D

Back at it. We have a lot of field planted saguaros rotting. I have traced a lot of it to those nasty blue worms. Doing lots of field surgery with a melon baller. Works pretty well. The badly rotted ones will have to grow a new shoot if they live. Those nasty worms run like crazy when I hunt them down. Costs them if I catch them. >:(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1213.JPG)

More great news. That big beautiful saguaro that has been breaking up is all broke up. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1209.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1210.JPG)
You can see how big they get. Dondi is about 6 ft tall. One falls on you and no chance.

The good news is it is pretty here. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1212.JPG)
Flaming sunset Friday night.

Sunset Saturday night. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1214.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1216.JPG)


Sunrise Sunday am.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1225.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1227.JPG)


Sunset Sunday evening.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1230.JPG)


Sunrise Monday morning. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1232.JPG)


And so it goes.
See you next time. :) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Sorry to see the big saguaro in pieces but I sure appreciate your pictures when it's snowing and blowing here  ;D

Hope you get dug out soon. We just got 0.15 from your next storm.

Well, back at it, sort of. Waited an extra day to let the water go down so I could actually make it out there. Also had an order for mesquite branches for a wedding canopy and some artsy water channels. ???
Still pretty greasy on Monday, but passable.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1249.JPG)
Lots of stories from the locals getting stuck in the washes. Sorry I missed it. :-\


Moonrise on saguaro hill

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1252.JPG)


Sunset Monday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1253.JPG)


The San Pedro crossing to the A7 Ranch. The sand there was not so slow.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1255.JPG)


And sunrise on Tuesday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1257.JPG)

Got a little sweaty cutting mesquite in a T shirt yesterday, but I will survive.

Until next time. ;D

Will the mesquite have some miseltoe in it? I remember it from TX. when we did clearing for wheat fields.

There was a little in the couple of trees we cut. When they get really infested it is time for them to turn into lumber, since they will be dying soon. :(

If I get a chance, I'll try to take a picture of mistletoe infested mesquite. The desert mistletoe will also grow on creosote bushes and other members of both the legume and buckthorn families. :P

Back at it a few days late as Darlene had to have dental surgery on Monday. :-\

The saguaros are starting to grow again. The extra warm 70's and 80's are pushing them.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1270.JPG)

Still getting some pretty heavy rotting/bug damage losses in the fields. :'( We are finally getting a bit more caught up with weeding and have even started to clean up the brush I dug up a couple of months ago to prep for grading field #4. ;D

I'll be heading back out Monday for a couple more days. Hopefully we will be in good shape with catchup and can start moving forward again. Mena has finished bumping the babies that were big enough to transplant and now we must wait for the little ones to grow big enough for her to get back to it. As soon as it gets hot we will get another 75 flats of seedlings going. Those should be ready for transplanting sometime between late summer and next spring. Can't get fast big enough for me.

I thought of saving this for April 1 but I'm sure I would forget it by then. All this time I thought that the big old cacti just rotted from old age, but I have discovered the truth. Those bulls have been hoisting their legs and using them for fire hydrants with considerable ill effect. I wouldn't have believed it but seeing is believeing. Caught one in the act, and the others had just finished. Some may think this is all bull, but I believe. ;D ;D ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1268.JPG)


Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1264.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1266.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1265.JPG)

Did I mention that it is pretty here? ??? ??? ??? :snowball:

I thought the april 1st joke was when you said you were caught up on weeding.  haha

keep the pics coming.

kev

"I thought of saving this for April 1 but I'm sure I would forget it by then. All this time I thought that the big old cacti just rotted from old age, but I have discovered the truth. Those bulls have been hoisting their legs and using them for fire hydrants with considerable ill effect. I wouldn't have believed it but seeing is believeing. Caught one in the act, and the others had just finished. Some may think this is all bull, but I believe."
HMMMMMMM been around thousands of bulls and never saw a one hoist it's leg in that respect.  Maybe you have a new breed.
Enjoy keeping up with your "forest" tho.

He just put it down before I snapped the picture. ::) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Quote from: kculler on February 15, 2015, 10:19:30 AM
I thought the april 1st joke was when you said you were caught up on weeding.  haha

keep the pics coming.

kev

Ok, thanks. ;D

How many cattle roam around your gardens....  and do they get any extra feed 'cause I really can't see what they have to eat out there!!

They are on the other side of the fence fortunately. Before the drought the ranch had about 1000 head of cattle. Now maybe half that many. They run cattle on something like 140 or 150 sections on the home ranch. They now also manage another ranch with another 50 sections or so. Couple hundred more over there. Those cattle have been out here for a long time and mostly know what they can eat. They find grass, weeds, bushes, pods on mesquite and palo verde and if they are really hungry prickly pear and cholla cactus. That's a lot of acres/cow, that's how it works, especially if the rains come. This year is looking good so far. Maybe the drought is finally ending. This one lasted longer than the dust bowl in the 30's.

Those in the photo are mostly eating out of an irrigated field of grain below, but they would rather eat the native grasses and weeds so there they were scrounging. (and killing saguaros ;D)

 I remember sections  :( ,clearing 10 sections for wheat takes awhile  :o . 1 section / 640 ac.

Back at it on the hill. Still fighting worms, rots and weeds.  >:(

They WILL lose. bat_smailey

The saguaros in the field are waking up and starting to grow. This is very early...

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1279.JPG)
The first sign is the appearance of fresh fuzz at the growing point followed by the appearance of new spine growth. If you look at the center you can see both.

Hope this warm spring weather continues. I'd hate to see them get frost damaged at this point. we aren't really safe here until the end of March.

The cactus inside the greenhouses are also starting to grow again, since I started watering again a couple of weeks ago. The greenhouse temperatures are going over 120 during the day already. It is a little like popcorn in there, with some going like crazy already and some still asleep. A couple more weeks and they should be mostly growing. We are entering the ideal conditions inside the greenhouses now. We should get a bunch of growth by June. Some of the bigger gallons are so big it is hard to get water in them. ;D

Have to watch it. Watering away and ended up dehydrated yesterday. :( When you go out where it is cool occasionally you tend to forget how hot it is inside. :-\

Here is the field where those cattle from last week are eating the irrigated grass.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1277.JPG)




And the giant people swatter continues to rot. :-\

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1278.JPG)




Nice lighting on the ranch HQ.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1272.JPG)




Sunset Monday night.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1274.JPG)


Dawn Tuesday on the saguaro hill.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1275.JPG)


Hasta la bye bye. ;D

140 or 50 sections around here would be considered townships, or maybe counties :D, sure would be fun to go on a round up with them though.  I wonder how many of the calves are 3 years old before they find them  :D

They keep a pretty good eye on them. Since there is very little water just sitting around they can control where the cattle go by which water troughs are kept full of water. With all the mountain lions, coyotes and bears hanging around the cattle stick together pretty well for defense. Pretty smart these guys. ;D

Been looking around to see if Clint Eastwood is around filming another western. ;D Been reading his bio and he always wanted to shoot scenes from inside a cattle heard instead of on the outside flanks that were shot in "Rawhide" and such. I don't think he got his inside shoot though.  At least not so far as I've read. ;D

They have a few registered Texas Longhorns just for fun. I will take a picture if I get a chance.

Neat pictures! Great scenery of some different landscapes and vegetation  as compared to here. ;)

Thanks Ron. ;D

Back at it, but some surprise rain. :-\ :snowball:

Growth in the field is speeding up.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1289.JPG)


Getting cloudy in the evening Monday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1290.JPG)


Sunset

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1294.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1295.JPG)


Rainy Tuesday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1297.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1296.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1301.JPG)

Trying to keep up with my help ditching out for the last 3 weeks. >:(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1317.JPG)
Doing a little weeding in the wind. The mexican goldpoppies have started blooming, but too dark to open with the storm coming in.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1318.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1320.JPG)
They look really pretty after they get wet though.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1322.JPG)

Registered Texas Longhorn bull. Pretty cool if he's not mad.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1321.JPG) 

Until next time.

 I love looking at your rock garden...   ;D   Nice rack on the bull!   :)

It's impressive enough to just handle all them prickly buggers.  ;D

Nice critters.  ;)

The field in the foreground is about 60-75% rock and 25-40% dirt. big fun to plant in. :-\

I'm still waiting for one of the spines to work its way out of one of my knuckles from before Christmas.

Nice pictures of what you do. You seem to have more dirt than rocks. I have more rocks than dirt on my land.  :D

Not too much time to work with saguaros this week. Just watering and tossing rotters. The mexican goldpoppies are really getting started.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1347.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1350.JPG)
That yellow is a carpet of poppies from 1/2 mile away.


Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1351.JPG)

Well, somewhat delayed since my computer died. Latest stuff.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1369~0.JPG)
Those are saguaros. ;D Cep'n for the gaps where there will have to be new ones. :(



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1367~0.JPG)
Goldfields, mexican goldpoppies, desert chicory et al.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1376~0.JPG)
Another view of the saguaro hill from below.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1370~0.JPG)
Sunset 2 weeks ago Monday.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1374.JPG)




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1410.JPG)
A field of mexican gold goldpoppies and desert chicory on the newly cleared field area.


The mesquites are leafing out. That is our cue that the frosts are done. We put out 4 wagonloads of saguaros to replant the holes in fields 1 and 2. Dondi hopes to get the new ones out to set 2, field 3 later this week.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1411~0.JPG)


Planting season and growing season is on, even though the saguaros in the fields started growing in February. Can't really trust the weather until the mesquites come.

Now all we have to do is get field 4 graded, plumbed and manifolds set up in the next 2-3 weeks. :-\

Too bad Faron's bulldozer is still broken. :( :( :(

Until next time.

Did you show any photos of the cacti in flower? I can't remember, this is a long thread.  ;D

The piping there is water lines?

Here are a couple.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1413.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1353.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1311.JPG)

We have 1" pvc pipe connected to manifolds that feed drip tape to irrigate. It all runs off of those tanks that you see in some of the pictures. We have a gas powered clear water pump to pressurize the system. No electricity except for a generator. The tanks fill from field lines that are below the hill when the well pump is running. Funky but it works ok.

Now it is spring time 'ish.  8)

Behind on posting getting used to Darlene's computer.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1575.JPG)
Putting out cactus in field 3 a couple of weeks ago.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1562.JPG)
A nice patch of desert dandelions on the flats below the hill.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1563.JPG)
Our water system setup. The hose to the tank comes from the field mains below the hill and only runs when the pump down there is running and there is enough pressure to raise the water another 80 feet. There is a chinese knock off clear water pump to the left that pressurizes our pipes from the tanks, which are connected together. Water goes through a filter then on to the greenhouses and the fields. Every set in the fields has a separate valve. We open as many as we can to provide good pressure to the drip lines and not get pressure high enough to pop off the lines or blow up valves. Don't ask how I know this.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1564.JPG)
And now I must ride off into the sunset. ;D :snowball:

Just for fun. A photo from August 2013.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8308.jpg) 


June 24, 2014


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_9234.jpg)


April 9, 2015


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1593.JPG)


Greenhouse update:

GH1. Cleared benches ready for bumping the seedlings from last summer and from earlier that are now big enough. The left bench is cleared for the next seed planting, which will be happening in May. We will be adding native barrels and a barrel from Baja California with very long, straight spines to the saguaro planting. Barrels will get ready to sell faster than saguaros, but the price is lower. Good news is they can take colder temperatures so we can grow them on the flats below saguaro hill. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1594.JPG)


GH2. Packed to the gills with small cacti. The bigger ones in the left foreground will be bumped to gallons this week by Enriqueta and moved to GH3. Then I will cycle the biggest trays to the bumping bench and make room for more small ones from GH1 and the ones being removed from GH3.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1595.JPG)


GH3. Emptying to field 3 and refilling just as fast with new, young gallons. Superdave helping out in my current labor shortage with watering. Note that only a few trays remain at the far left end as most have moved to GH2 as space became available with bumping there. You can see the newly bumped gallons just in front of Dave. Lots more at the far left in the distance, but easy to see. Enriqueta can bump close to 500 gallons a week working 2 mornings.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1596.JPG)


GH4. Packed to the gills with growing gallons of various sizes and 3 1/4" pots on the right. We will probably go straight to field plantings from pots of this size when we do barrels. Saguaros can also go from these to the field, but growth is slowed quite a bit if you wait that long.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1597.JPG)




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1598.JPG)
Well, there's that sunset. Until next time. ;D ;D ;D 8) :snowball:

Cool pics !...Rob :)

 ;D

Back at it, behind and short handed, as usual. :(

An interesting couple of days anyway. Things are finally moving again. The first plants of the season are finally making it into ground in field 3.

Got a little action while unplugging emitters in field 2.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1631.JPG)
Killdeer nesting season again. She got real excited and did her deal. I was really more worried about stepping on the nest than anything. The birds will show you where the nest is by how crazy they get. When she started to do the dance 3 feet away, I knew I was close.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1633.JPG)
And there they are, right in the middle of the field road.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1632.JPG)

A little later a roadrunner came right past her sitting on the nest and she just froze. Roadrunner never saw her. Good thing as both she and the eggs would be dead now it he had.



Dancing dust devils. These came by and hung out for about 5 minutes. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1629.JPG)


Attempted rain that dried up before it ever got close. Maybe a chance on Thursday. No appreciable rain now for close to 2 months. Now is the dry time out here. Average May rainfall is 0.1".

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1634.JPG)


Setting out plants in field 3 yesterday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1638.JPG)


Evening light Monday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1636.JPG)

Time to ride out into that sunset. Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1635.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1637.JPG)

Great pictures and very neat plantations of some unique vegetation.

Thanks Ron. ;D ;D ;D

Lots of roadrunners here also,,,the little killdeers don't stand a chance. The quail kids get hit hard too... Rob

Spear spear Chomp Chomp. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

We like the killdeer up here also. If we saw their nests during planting season we steered equipment around them. There are a lot fewer of these around however, when we used to see several families every summer. They also liked cow pasture a lot as well as bare soil.

That's a lot of water with no rain for the fields. How many gal a day for the whole farm grass and all?

Quote from: Peter Drouin on April 23, 2015, 06:46:39 AM
That's a lot of water with no rain for the fields. How many gal a day for the whole farm grass and all?

That is a hard question to answer. Sometimes the economics for growing a crop are so bad that fields don't get planted at all. Also the prolonged drought has resulted in the water table dropping below the wells so some wells can only be run a short time or not at all. This winter's rains have helped, but water is always an issue in the desert.

When we water the cactus they get about 1 gallon each, so maybe 14000 gallons every time we water.

I don't know the numbers for the ranch, but I have heard that the electric bill can get close to $10K per month in the summer, most of that for pumping.

I'm glad I am not paying the bills for the ranch. You need a big pile of chips to play that game.

Water, or shortage of, was an issue in the 50's in AZ, but it didn't slow the booming developments that have taken place since that time. The H₂O battles will continue.

 ;)

Until there's nothing left to fight over. ;D Wonder what would happen if  the Columbia got diverted further north, much like it's diverted from Mexico. Then it will get a lot dryer. ;)

Lots of litigation over ground water ownership where I live. Another monthly payment that goes to a lawyer group >:(

At one time they shipped water world wide, only in block form. At one time they were thinking of building an aircraft carrier from ice during WWII. ;D

Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 23, 2015, 12:09:52 PM
Under there's nothing left to fight over. ;D Wonder what would happen if  the Columbia got diverted further north, much like it's diverted from Mexico. Then it will get a lot dryer. ;)

Or even the Colorado River... ;)

Yes, too many rivers with C's :D But there is still a Columbia river up here that goes south, but not that far. ;)

Must be tired today. :D

Back out at the ranch again. Took along my future son in law to see if he can hack it. He is good. ;D

Late start with returning the sanders from the floor work and needing to get groceries before we could leave. We are almost caught up with weeding and have all the plants out in field three except for the last set. Lots of problems with sick and dying cactus in the fields. Looking like an 8% loss just from the winter and spring. Argh. arg-smiley arg-smiley arg-smiley arg-smiley


Desert skies.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1656.JPG)

Sunset Monday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1661.JPG)

We have a new resident at the greenhouses. His name is Jorge Gila Monster. (The J and the G are pronounced like an H.)  :-\ :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: About 18" long and not all that friendly, but he tolerates us.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1659.JPG)
Here he is taking an afternoon stroll in greenhouse 3.

Robert found him again yesterday while moving pots. See how cute he is resting among them?

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1657.JPG)

A little later he was being shy over by greenhouse 4. We couldn't see him any more because his head was hidden. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1660.JPG)

Later in the afternoon I was giving a lady friend of Dondi a greenhouse tour and he was making sure nobody walked out of the south end of greenhouse 1. He is so cute.

Did I mention that gila monsters are venomous? The bad part is the really nasty bacteria simmering in the saliva along with the venom which can make a sometimes deadly combination. :(

He is really cute though. Made Robert a little nervous watering in the dark. I don't know what his problem is. He was wearing shoes.


Evaporating clouds yesterday morning from a storm to our northeast.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1662.JPG)


Until next time.

I've wanted one for a pet for a long time. Stunning looking little beast ! As usual your pictures are great ! 8)

 :)

Field 3 is just wrapping up. Got the last set of drip lines stapled down and part of the plants out. View to the SW from field 3.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1692.JPG)

Still next to no help. :'(

View to cleared fields 4 and 5. Maybe an acre or so here in two levels when we get it done.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1691.JPG)
The bulldozer is broken and waiting for money to form. :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:


Jorge jas taken up residence, this week in GH2. He says ji. (the j is pronounced like an h) ;D ;D ;D :snowball:


Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1695.JPG)

Back at it on Friday and Saturday. :) Had a storm coming through Friday evening. :)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1699.JPG)

Camped out at the greenhouses that night. Rained for hours. Big rain, 0.02" of funny looking reddish goo in the rain gauge. :-\

Really pretty in the morning Saturday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1710.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1703.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1712.JPG)

We'll take it.


Cactus are growing in the fields, but slower than I would like to see due to the cool temperatures this month. They are kicking up to full speed in the greenhouses, though. ;D ;D ;D


Field 3 has all its plants now. When they get the last 125 planted I will smile. :)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1714.JPG)


Waiting for parts for the bulldozer. :'( :'( :'( Maybe we will have the next field ready by the end of June. :-\

Good news is we are almost caught up with the work we need to do now. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Until next time.

gila monsters do not have fangs to inject venom. They bite and sort of lock on and chew. The teeth cause little puncture wounds and the venom is in the saliva as was posted. However what wasn't mentioned was that you literally have to tear them apart to get their jaws off you. A very good friend still sports a scar on the bicep of the jaw marks from one.

Beautiful pics. We need some more rain ,,,,so please turn those clouds around and send them back here !  LOL n :D

Quote from: tule peak timber on May 18, 2015, 05:41:46 PM
please turn those clouds around and send them back here !  LOL n :D

No way!!! We'll keep them. Rain here this time of the year is unusual.  8) We are generally restricted from the forest by this time. Although, I doubt Mesquite Buckeye ever has that problem.  :D

Only if we go uphill. ;D

Quote from: gimpy on May 18, 2015, 04:42:37 PM
gila monsters do not have fangs to inject venom. They bite and sort of lock on and chew. The teeth cause little puncture wounds and the venom is in the saliva as was posted. However what wasn't mentioned was that you literally have to tear them apart to get their jaws off you. A very good friend still sports a scar on the bicep of the jaw marks from one.

That must have been one of them jumping Gila monsters. ;D I am wondering, was there alcohol involved ??? ??? ???

Quote from: tule peak timber on May 18, 2015, 05:41:46 PM
Beautiful pics. We need some more rain ,,,,so please turn those clouds around and send them back here !  LOL n :D

I hear the big el nino has kicked in. It should be flooding in CA any second now. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

one  inch so far this year here......

No scarcity of rain here, but it's not a rain forest by any stretch. I've never seen a stretch longer than 3 weeks (rare) that we didn't get some. Rain for today and showers tomorrow.  I live in the sun belt of Canada, apparently the sunniest province. :D

Years ago, I had an uncle that worked in northern Quebec. The camp was walled tents with plank floor. Said it rained or snowed most of the time, depending on temperature. ;D

I don't think we have gone over 6 months without rain here. Problem is the quantity when it finally does come. :(

California deserts are drier in the summer since they get way less monsoon rain. That is 2/3 of our water.

Crazy dry here...

All droughts end eventually. :-\

Plants and animals like water. Hope some comes soon. I guess Lake Tahoe is really low to.

We are in better shape than California, but if we don't get our summer rains it will get bad again. We have had lots of native vegetation go down over the 17+ years that this drought has been going. I am not optimistic. Usually when the winter pattern hangs on like it is now the summer rains are weak. I am hoping we get a good El Nino going so the Southwest will get a heavy snowpack this coming winter. That would really help. The summer rains are good for the plants and animals, but generally do little to fill reservoirs.

Back at it, with help for a change. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1719.JPG)
Here is Robert hard at it in the never ending battle with the tumbleweeds. boxingsmiley boxingsmiley boxingsmiley

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1717.JPG)
Sunset Thursday night.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1716.JPG) 
Growing.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1720.JPG)
Here Robert is preparing flats for planting cactus seeds, hopefully next week. I'm sitting in the shade drinking mint juleps.
8) 8) 8) :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1721.JPG)
Clouds disappear in the desert sky. Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

The hard heat has come suddenly. 126 in the hottest greenhouse on Friday. A lovely 102 outside. We are tying up the sides to ventilate, drops it maybe 5-10 degrees. If we are in there we can run the sprinklers for a few minutes to knock off a quick 5°.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1725.JPG)
Cactus are loving it and growing like crazy.





 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1724.JPG)
Giant clouds building over the Santa Catalinas.


More to the south. A hint for the monsoon maybe.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1723.JPG)


The sun is screaming hot. Feels like it goes in one side and out the other. Here is the sunset Friday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1726.JPG)
Argh

Until next time. :snowball:

I forgot to mention that this year's seed crop went in on Friday. Hopefully there will be little cacti when we return.
;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

One more time....

The first of the saguaros came up Thursday afternoon.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1730.JPG)


We also planted three kinds of barrel cactus and a Boyce Thompson hedgehog flat. This is what those look like when they bloom. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1534.jpg)


One of the barrels is from Baja California. The spines on that one get up to 10 inches long. Really cool and kind of scary.


We are trying to get everything wrapped up before the field gets ready. This week lots of just cactus juggling, replanting, watering and weeding. Watering alone for the fields takes a day and a half. Watering the gallons in the greenhouses is half a day.


Sunset Thursday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1728.JPG)

We camped out at the greenhouses that night. Robert said there is a scorpion right next to your foot. I picked up and stomped down, got lucky and he was goo. Seems like in over 300 million years of evolution they would build a tougher scorpion, but they are very low in impact resistance. Sad. :'(  It rained through much of the night so we set up inside. All that time and only 0.05".  :(  Unfortunately the only place big enough to sleep in without sitting on a cactus was next to a dead packrat nest. I am covered with kissing bug bites. Way worse than chiggers. This guy lives in the greenhouses and obviously isn't getting the job done. >:(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1731.JPG)
About a foot long desert spiny lizard. They get half again that big if they live long enough, but this is a big one.  ;D




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1729.JPG) 
Field 1 Friday morning.





 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1732.JPG)
Field 2 in the evening light. Cactus are a happy shiny green.

It's still pretty here. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Until next time.

  Did I tell you I love reading this thread, I have never came close to a desert, this is very educational for me. Makes me want to go out and find me a cactus in the wild every time I look at the pics... then the heat thing makes me realize better you then me .  :D :D

Come down in the winter when it is between 50 and 70 in Tucson and -30 where you are. You won't be too hot and the cactus are still here. ;D 8) 8) :snowball:

Just got home from the ranch late last night.

There I was, helpless in the desert with 60,000 starving children to feed. Here are some of them.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1753.JPG)
Saguaros.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1754.JPG)
Fishhook barrel cacti.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1755.JPG)
Boyce-Thompson hedgehog cacti.


Being shorthanded I finished irrigating at 10pm

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1751.JPG)


Gorgeous night sleeping under the desert sky. Sorry, my phone can't get it.

But worth it for the breakfast fabulosity of spam with eggs and fried taters.  ;D Unfortunately no chiltepines. :( 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1752.JPG)


A lovely 118 in the greenhouse where I spent a good part of the day. The cactus germination is a bit slow and thin. We may have to plant a second wave after the start of the monsoon. They come up like popcorn. Slow, then faster, then like crazy. But sometimes they are like a bad batch of popcorn that hardly pops at all. We also seem to have mice digging them up for breakfast. I have added special K to their diets.
:rifle: ;D ;D ;D  dadgum you, Charlie! blindsmiley boxingsmiley boxingsmiley boxingsmiley bat_smailey bat_smailey bat_smailey smiley_whip smiley_whip smiley_whip  smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull smiley_skull

They are pretty cute, but not that cute.

Today I'm resting in the cool waiting for the headache to go away.

Next time it will be 108 when we go out there. That will make the greenhouses 125+

Still waiting for a field. :(

Until next time.

Don't get too hot out there, Mus-keet. 

Quote from: mesquite buckeye on June 14, 2015, 05:00:05 PM

But worth it for the breakfast fabulosity of spam with eggs and fried taters.  ;D

That's a favorite around here! My Apache friends eat it on ash bread (fry bread cooked on coals rather than deep fried in lard)  bon_fire  I'm not a big fan of Spam but I like the Spam and egg breakfast burrito.

The Tohono O'odham call this the dizzy time. Good name.

I was only half joking about the spam thing. I actually like it if I don't eat it all the time. ;D

Well, here it is. Probably the hottest week of the year. :(  The cactus seem to like it though. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

We were heading out of town at 9 am and it was already 102°. Topped out on the hill Thursday at 114. 128 in the greenhouse. Very hard to stay ok in this with just a little ramada and some cool drinks to hold it together. Today was even worse by several degrees, but we ran away at 2pm. About 113 at that time. Of course the AC in the truck is dead. Tough trip home. Still a bit heat sick.

The mice discovered the seedlings and got a bunch of them. We offered up gifts of special K to the mouse god. ;D
Looks like we will have to replant part of the saguaros and all the fishhook barrels. :(

The greenhouses will all be packed to the gills by next week and we will have an extra 1500 gallons staged outside still waiting for a new field to plant. :(


There is a big fire burning along the Gila River north of the hill. You can see the smoke in this after sunset picture from Thursday night.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1764.JPG)


Here is our very fancy setup for supper etc. for sleeping under the stars.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1765.JPG)


The kissing bugs and a few skeeters decided to visit. :( By the time we got up it was 65° and a bit chilly. That's a 59° overnight drop in temperature.  :o Not to worry, by 9 am it was back up to over 100. ::)

Sunrise Friday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1772.JPG)

Here is the current state of the greenhouses.

#1

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1773.JPG)


#2

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1774.JPG)


#3

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1775.JPG)


#4

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1776.JPG)

Got about a gozillion. All we need is a place to put them. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:


Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Stay cool and drink plenty! It's even been hot up this way--mid 90's! I'm ready for the monsoon.  8)

If it waits till the end of the week, maybe I can get a new roof on the house. :) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Somebody along the way suggested working at night to avoid the heat. I couldn't find the post but thanks. Robert also has been suggesting an all nighter and quitting before it gets really hot. Well, we did it last night and other than having trouble staying out of the ditch from lack of sleep going home it worked great. Got a bunch of cheapo LED lights from Harbor Freight and hung them from the irrigation sprinklers so I could water. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1787.JPG)

Robert wore a headlamp where he watered.

Pleasant temperatures, but the chiggers nailed me as soon as we arrived. Got like 50. Argh smiley_furious  arg-smiley arg-smiley arg-smiley

Sunrise beautiful again. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1788.JPG)
0.17" rain the day before we arrived.

Still waiting for a field. :(

Until next time.

Back at it for another cool overnighter with the Robert. ;D


Busy watering, weeding and checking irrigation. Looked up to see this sunset last evening.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1789.JPG)

Looked at the other side of the sky to see the full moon right on the edge of the earth's shadow. 8) 8) 8)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1793.JPG)
Seems that Robert thought it was pretty cool too. ;D ;D ;D

Turned back around to see this. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1794.JPG)

Doing some real moonlighting. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1795.JPG)
Enough light to water without lights. :)

The worms that eat saguaros seem to really be on the run. My hired killers are working them pretty hard. With the  Say's phoebes, roadrunners, killdeer, black widows, funnel web spiders, tarantulas, praying manti, lizards, etc. we are in pretty good shape.

Didn't realize just how many spiders are at work out there. Walked around the end of the greenhouse and looked down to see a 5" tarantula at my feet. We both jumped. ;D  While walking out in the field and looking out for cactus at my feet I noticed something move and it wasn't an ant. About 3" across spider that looked kind of like a wolf spider thing. To bad that Andy's grandpa isn't around anymore. He would have known what it was right away (world renowned arachnologist, described America's most poisonous scorpion, the bark scorpion, common around the ranch).

In the greenhouses there is a spider camped out about every three feet. Going to save a bunch on bug spray. ;D

Heading off to look at MO Trees for a few days this weekend. ;D I'll post some photos there.

Hasta la bye bye. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

If we do another all nighter, I'll try to get spider etc. photos. :)

By the way, 0.16" rain.

Mice have just about wiped out the new cactus seedlings. Now I am wiping them out. air_plane :rifle: :rifle: :rifle: :rifle: :snowfight1: dadgum you, Charlie! dadgum you, Charlie! scuba-smiley boxingsmiley boxingsmiley boxingsmiley smiley_furious3 smiley_whip smiley_whip smiley_whip bat_smailey bat_smailey smiley_smash smiley_smash

I saw five snakes today, each on there own and near my feet. The woods are full of snakes where you have large surface rocks and sandy ground. These ones are the harmless kind.  ;D On occasion I've seen them catch frogs as there are often little wet places in the woods here, and they always have a family of frogs.

Fortunately all quiet on the rattlesnake and gila monster front up at the cactus farm. It is important out here to look before you step. ;D

They are on the move here. Several at the shop-house last week !

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/DSCN0607.JPG)

Do you have more than one kind? I don't remember if you said what kind that was... ??? :snowball:

Yours seem very dark colored compared to ours. We have mostly western diamond backs around the hill. In Tucson it is a mix of western diamondbacks and mohave greens. The mohaves are much more dangerous.

If your into collecting snake skins, you can have them woven from yarn.  :D

http://weavolution.com/project/sherry-crum/snakeskin-scarfs

Quote from: tule peak timber on July 03, 2015, 09:06:51 AM
They are on the move here. Several at the shop-house last week !

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/DSCN0607.JPG)

That would make a nice hatband!  8)

The snake is a Southern Pacific. Very bad bite symptoms; blood , breathing, and nervous system effects. We have Speckled and Red Western rattlers also. Rob

Back from vacation and back at the ranch. The cactus have grown noticeably. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1857.JPG)
If you look at the big one, you can see two dents along the sides. Those are winter 2013 and 2014 where the plant stopped growing. That one is now 31" tall. ;D

The seedling plants are coming along nicely with the average height around 1 foot. The little ones are about 8
" and the biggest ones are 17". They are starting to get tall.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1864.JPG)

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in the morning sun. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1865.JPG)

Now you can see the ribs showing in the saguaro that died last year.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1866.JPG)

Still no field and no $. Now we are having to move the field ready plants outside to make room for the smaller growing stock. Working on the Night Moves.....

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1862.JPG)


View to the south towards field 2 from 3.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1867.JPG)

Did I mention it is pretty here?  ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1863.JPG)


Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1859.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1860.JPG)

;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Once again back to the solar kilns. Had to do it solo this week as Robert is helping Athena get set up at her new teaching job. :( :)

Maybe a good thing, as I passed Oracle I felt something sting my lip. Sting as in whacked, not stung. Looked over to the right seat and saw this guy (girl, actually) stinging the H E double hockey sticks out of the seat before it expired. Would have been right in Robert's lap.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1882.JPG)

Found this worked on chip of moss agate in field 1.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1885.JPG)
Purty.

Went over to look at the recently dead big saguaro to the north and found this:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1877.JPG)
All busted up and looks to be chewed on. Also lots of cattle poop around. A few minutes later the herd of cattle roared up the hill and some of them stuck around and confirmed my chewing theory, as they ate it while I watched.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1880.JPG)
Didn't even need a million dollar government grant to figure it out. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: i asked Andy (rancher) if he had ever seen them do this. He said nope.
Here is a dirty little secret about saguaros. They have the same mescaline in them that peyote has. I'm thinking these are the stinky hippie stoners of the herd.
smiley_biggrin01

Note to admin: I wish we had a goofy looking smiley with little blobs of color spinning around his head and popping occasionally. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: Doesn't hurt to ask. ;D

The replanted baby saguaros are germinating. Maybe I left enough special K for the mice to be mysteriously absent this time. There was a faint but detectable aroma. ;D ;D ;D

The monsoon has been getting better, especially on this side of the mountain. I found 1.4" in the rain gauge. Friday there were lots of normal pop up thunderstorms.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1876.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1886.JPG)
These two showed up on either side of me.

All this rain is helping the growth in the fields.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1883.JPG)
It's really helping some of them. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1884.JPG)

Late in the afternoon it got quite dark and this was heading straight for me. Very nice rotating mesoscale convective unit. Note the little tail hanging from the left dryline.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1893.JPG)
It got pretty hairy.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1896.JPG)
But then just blew up before it reached us.

It has been so nice up on the hill at night lately that we've just been staying up there. But at 8:30 drizzling and raining for hours, and knowing that the only good inside the greenhouse spot to set up is where the water runs through and is already muddy, when Dondi offered me a dry bed at his place I was forced to accept. :) Too bad that that cracked battery clamp decided that this would be a perfect time to become unfixable. I had been making it tight with a homemade nail or sometimes vicegrips or channel locks. Seemed like a good idea at the time. :-\ Fixing it in the dark and the rain is unfun. :(

The San Pedro crossing is a couple of miles to the south of the hill and they had more rain. Had to kick in 4WD to get through the grease. Pulled up to the river wishing I had a spotlight to look to the south for water. The bottom was muddy but no water, yet. I knew that heavy storm only died about 3-5 miles south of me and had a pretty good idea the water was coming. The truck groaned in the very wet, muddy sandy bottom but pulled through. The upside road above had a 3 foot deep rut and blowouts from the big rain Wednesday, but I could go around that. Lots of washed in debris and dirt piled up to a foot deep where washes were crossing the road. Had to get out here and there to toss prickly pear chunks off the road and keep the tires whole.

What fun.

Got to watch a movie and eat popcorn with Dondi.

We headed out at 6:30 this morning and this is what the crossing
I came through last night looked like.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1898.JPG)

About 4 feet deep and will kill you.

Dondi went to this crossing another day this summer and just as he was pulling up to the dry river a flash flood like this one went right in front of him like a train passing. If he had been 3 seconds earlier it would have been very bad. It isn't just water when it comes like that. It is full of rocks and branches and rolling trees that have fallen into the river as the banks collapse. Those chunks can grind you up or pin you underwater.

We went to the Carlink HQ crossing and got this.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1899.JPG)
Only 2 feet deep but very muddy and we knew a lot more water was on the way. No thanks. Ended up going 8 miles out of the way to get to the hill across the San Pedro bridge. Fortunately Buehman and Edgar Canyons were not running. When they are all going you get to drive an extra 100 miles to cross the river. :o

Livin' in the Wild Wild West. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Happy trails to you, till we meet again. :)

We had one of them cooling off clouds move over here yesterday that dropped the temp from 80 to 65 F in the afternoon.  ;D

You must be doing well, you haven't been et up (old slang) or burnt up yet. ;D

Back at it again solo. Dondi called me as I was heading out to tell me the San Pedro River Road was blocked with impassable flash flooding at the wash crossings. I told him maybe the water will have dropped by the time I got there in a couple hours. He was thinking about going to Tucson and Coming up from the Benson side, only 150 miles out of the way. I suggested that he wait, as I had some snickerdoodles with me.

On the way, I heard another flash flood warning over the radio saying they had 5 inches in an hour at Catalina, which is on the way. That's a lot of water and will take out bridges and culverts. By the time I passed Catalina it was obvious there was no 5 inches to be had. Whatever.

Heading down to the river road the lighting was spectacular.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1907.JPG)

Drove a bit further and came upon this wash cutting the road about 2 feet deep, but there was still 1/3 of the road left and maybe only a foot of water. Generally no problem for the big truck.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1908.JPG)

Couldn't get to the next wash for the traffic jam. Had to walk a quarter mile to get to the community meeting.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1909.JPG)

At its maximum, this wash was running 7 feet deep. Boy genius with the red car pulled up to the people, who suggested it would be a bad idea to cross. Dude says he will fly through. This is the result. Buried to the axle in a sand bar. Could have been much worse. I pulled him out after six tries and a lot of digging. I suggested he not try that again. I think he was late for his drug delivery or pickup, not sure, but he was still pretty twitchy when I saw him. Report is that 10 minutes later he blasted through the other way full speed. I think he will need to steal another car real soon. You can't fix stupid. ::)

Only one more running wash to cross, then dry the rest of the way. Only 0.02" in the rain gauge. Walking around the hill checking I found another rotting saguaro.

Have to come back and finish the story later. The photos that are rotated are all wonky. :(

sawmpdonkey,you forgot washed away.  :D

This is what that crossing looked like when I went back home. (the first one)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1930.JPG)
The road grader had fixed it a bit by then on the left (less damaged) side.

Looks like another saguaro got hit by lightning in the last big storm a couple weeks ago. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1912.JPG)
Already rotting and turning to goo. I will post its demise. :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Must have had some pretty good wind last week after I left as greenhouse 4's roof is 1/3 ripped off. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1911.JPG)

Bedded down for the night with thunderstorms banging around, but a quick radar check showed they would miss me. Sad for them. :(

Around 11:30 it started to sprinkle and looked like things had changed since the last radar check, so I picked up my cot and moved inside GH4 to the only spot on the floor not covered with cactus right next to the end of the rip opening. Not too bad until the sky opened up and a flash flood of epic proportion roared through the greenhouse. (Water about an inch deep running under my cot for 3 hours) At least the rain was coming straight down so I didn't get drenched. That wasn't such a big problem except for having to watch out to keep the sleeping bag from hitting the flowing water. The flashing and banging did make it a bit hard to sleep. When I got up i sunk about an inch into the gooey gloppy mud that used to be a dry floor. ::) Slosh slosh.

At least the morning was pretty.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1918.JPG)

The rain wetted the saguaros just right to show how much they grew so far this year. For some reason the newer spines stay wet longer than the older ones. Check it out.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1915.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1916.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1917.JPG)

Thought I saw a piece of leaf crud on the top of the biggest field saguaro and found this guy.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1919.JPG)
A little closer look.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1920.JPG)
Is that weird or what?  :P A caterpillar that mimics a saguaro spine. :o Not a bad desert camouflage outfit either. 8) 8) 8)
Pretty cool. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: Doesn't seem to be chewing on anything. I wonder how these guys make a living.  ???

Stopped by the San Pedro to check it out. Dondi was supposed to help me cut a fireplace mantle from mesquite, but he was trapped on the other side of the river and blocked by running canyons the alternate way. The water finally dropped enough by lunch that he made it across the river with the quad. The guy behind him hit the quicksand and got stuck. :( :o :snowball: Here is the river at the Carlink Crossing.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1921.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1922.JPG)

If you like follow along at Big Mesquite for the rest of the day.

Until next time.  ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Headed back to the ranch for some of the hottest, most awfullest weather of the year. ::) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: Good news is I got Robert to come help. The recent rains have brought a nice, new crop of weeds to the saguaro hill. :-\ Started working after the drive around noon and the heat was quite unbearable. We started by fixing the ripped off roof on greenhouse 4, at least temporarily. The cactus have started to sunburn a bit, but I think they are going to fully recover. The first part of the work was not terrible, but as soon as the plastic got pulled back over it got really bad. We spent half the afternoon sitting in the shade drinking mint juleps. (Well close, frozen gatoraids.) Still got sick from the heat. Just enough moisture to make it really uncomfortable. Here is the hot sunset.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1941.JPG)

By 10 pm it was still awful out. The only way to get anything done was to put up lights and work late. Had to lose the shirts and go like da Goat to get any relief at all. A little thunderstorm rolled through earlier in the evening leaving behind just enough rain to make it steamy. Worked till around 1 moving cacti out of greenhouse 4 so there would be enough room to make some new 1 gallon plants. Got to try out my newfangled electric harbor freight special flyswatter on some of our moths, mosquitos and a couple of black widow spiders that were in the way. Gzzzzzt. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back up at 4 am to cook breakfast and try to beat the heat to finish up more work. The new replanted saguaros are looking good and the mice seem to be coming under control. Found one mashed in the walkway after I sort of accidentally dropped the wagon tongue on his head. ;D Moved up more plants to be bumped to gallons, but had to watch out for the numerous scorpions and other nasties that like to live between and inside the cactus trays.

Here is the sunrise for the fiery furnace day.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1943.JPG)

It was 100 by 9 and 108 by noon. 136 in the cool part of the greenhouse where I was working. Enough is enough. >:(

Took a look up at that saguaro that looked lightning struck last week to see this.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1945.JPG)

Take a look at the arm way over to the side. Also this is way too fast to have rotted this much. I'm thinking it got exploded by a second lightning bolt. :o We will check it next week to see if that arm flew over there from an explosion or if it slid after it fell.

Or perhaps space aliens moved it. ;D

Until next time.

Glad to see you guys are getting some rain. We've had a great monsoon up here--gentle, frequent thundershowers that haven't washed out the roads--just good watering rains. EVERYTHING IS GREEN! Cows are gettin' fat too!

The rains have been better at the ranch than in Tucson. We are getting killed with water bills trying to keep our plants alive at home. Wish I had my own well. :(

Back up on the hill fighting the wonderful healthy weeds. >:( The ones that were 6" tall last week are pushing 3 feet now. Argh. Nothing like heat to make things grow.

The barrel cacti are peak bloom. We stopped to flag some really nice ones to collect seeds this fall. ;D Lots of variability in size, color and shape of the flowers. Also tremendous variability in spine shape, size and heaviness. Sorry, so busy marking I forgot the photo. I'll try to remember for next time.

Too windy to spray weeds the first day, so we started to tear down the old fence in the middle of field 4 so that it can get graded. There are hints in the wind that this may happen soon. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

We still have little saguaros. The combination of mice and barrel cacti is a bad one. At least the mice are sad. Found another dead one in GH1.


Nice sunset Friday night.

 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1983.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1984.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1981.JPG)

We woke up at 3 am to see this screaming isolated thunderstorm about 50 miles to our north. The picture does not do it justice, as they are one of the most spectacular of apparitions in the desert. The storm roared, apparently staying in one spot for maybe 5 hours. I'm thinking floods and landslides at that spot. Totally disintegrated by 8:30 in the morning.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2023.JPG)

We came home with big ones building all around us. Awesome. Too busy driving and looking to get photos. Sorry.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 I don't need to visite any with your pics and discriptions, just like being there!!!!   Thanks !!!


  Merçi mon ami!
           Marcel.

Just a pale representation. :(

I'll be expecting your visit around late January or February when you are sick of snow and cold. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

We never get sick of it, maybe a little tired though. :D

 I don't think that  that can happen, (Tom) , I do really like the cold and the snow, it gets old after the end of march by then I willingly would like spring to get in gear...... Only because I push snow with the truck and by the end of march, there are times when it becomes very creative to find a place for it.  :snowball: :snowball:  I have to wear a sweat band when the temps are higher then 68°F.....


  Marcel. 

That would be December through February out here. ;D

Back at it in cactus land again for the last time in August. Here are the barrel cactus I talked about last week.

 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2064.JPG)
and a closeup:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2065.JPG)

I wish I had taken the pictures last week. They are still pretty, but lots of them are finishing up.

This trip was the week of weeds. Started around and inside the greenhouses and field 1 last week. Field 3 was hard to find the cactus the weeds are so big. Picked up a second backpack sprayer so Robert could help with the job. I started spraying a little after noon and thought it felt awful hot where the straps were on my shoulders. Ignored it and kept spraying for another half hour. Result: second degree burns on my shoulder through the shirt I was wearing.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2067.JPG) 
Guess that noonday sun is a little hotter than I figured. I had burned my toes on the top earlier in the summer, thought I had gotten a chemical burn from fertilizer. That was the sun too. Need a new strategy. :( All this time I thought I was just getting sore from the weight. The burns were just not as bad or obvious. Live and learn.

I doubled up a towel before loading on the sprayer. That seemed to stop it.

We have weeds.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2079.JPG)

Good thing it is pretty here.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2080.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2082.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2081.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2073.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2074.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2076.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2075.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2077.JPG)

The weeds all got sprayed and soon they will be kilt. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Then the old man will smile ;D

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

I can't wear a Stihl clearing saw harness at all. They'll rub the hide off of you. They never did fit good years ago and still have not figured it out. I always buy a Husqvarna harness. I guess we are just working too hard.  ;D :D

Sure feels like it at the end of the day. Who would think the sun could make it hot enough to do that?

Back at it again solo. :(

The weeds are dying nicely.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2102.JPG)
field 2



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2104.JPG)
field 3


That burn last week turned out to be a bit worse than I thought.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2127.JPG)
It's going to be annoying for at least another week or two.

Talked to my partner and he says the bulldozer is now being repaired. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Apparently there is also a govt. cost share program to build new greenhouses. That could really help out as we are getting packed to the gills and not producing as many plants as we would like. :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: We are so bound up that last years seedlings are crowding each other to death.

Take a look and see what I mean.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2123.JPG)
GH1



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2122.JPG)
GH2



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2121.JPG)
GH3



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2119.JPG)
GH4



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2124.JPG)
Outside staging for field planting. About 2500 out there, more or less.

We have  had really bad luck with our barrel cactus planting this year, with a huge mouse, packrat, and kangaroo rat population that really like the taste of barrel cacti better than saguaros, combined with pretty crummy germ.

As I was juggling cacti from GH1 to GH2 I saw several spots like this in the saguaro pots.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2116.JPG)
Yep, barrel cacti all right. Somebody else is planting them. I'm thinking rodent turds. I may have to alter my planting strategy and hire some rodents. 8) 8) 8)

We are transitioning from summer monsoon to what looks like an el nino winter. They are talking this could be our best winter season since the drought started after 1997-8. We'll take it. This is what it looks like. Lots of moisture depth at most altitudes coming from the Pacific SW of us which normally brings dry weather. This year that water is quite warm and is letting lots of moisture get into the atmosphere. :) :) :) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Anyway, this is what it looks like.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2112.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2114.JPG)

We are getting really nice growth right now. Here is a spot in field 2 that was probably planted last year in like June or July. The tongs are 12" for scale.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2105.JPG)

Check out accommodations for a bit more fun.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2126.JPG)

Quote from: mesquite buckeye on September 07, 2015, 12:55:46 AM
B

oopsie. Somebody delete this please. ;D

mb
Are you posting new pics or are these the same ones posted over and over?  just curious... seems some repetitious. Maybe just because cactus grow slow?  ;)

Maybe I'm just missing the point. 

No, they are always new ones. Maybe I should do a time lapse video of cactus juggling. They move from seedling trays to pots to gallons to the field. Some are always in similar spots as they move along.

I could shoot from the other end of the greenhouses if you like. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

It is all part of the story. Hopefully I will have pictures of some going onto a truck about this time in a year or two. ;D

Meanwhile, it's still pretty here. ;D ;D ;D 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Finally got Robert back out to the saguaros. Stopped by a hill near Andy's house to check out an unusually colored devil's claw plant.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2130.JPG)
Usually the flowers are yellow with orange throat spots. This plant has a very rare flower color. The flowers are about 1 1/2" across and only bloom during the warm season. The plants are perennial from a tuberous root. I'm trying to figure out how to grow them and get rich. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

A really pretty desert tortoise was walking by the plant looking for some lunch.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2129.JPG)
This one has especially nice color. Hope he hasn't been chomping on my plant. >:( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2131.JPG)
Robert is very happy that the weeds are dying. ;D ;D ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2133.JPG)
The orange caltrop  by the burn barrel is very happy. The flowers are about 2" for scale.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2132.JPG)
Birds are ripping up my new barrel cactus seedlings. Grrr. Either threshers or quail. I will convince them to stop. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Sunrise Friday morning was very nice.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2136.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2134.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2137.JPG)


Moved another thousand gallons out of greenhouse 4. Due to unpopular demand there is no photo from the greenhouse. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

But here is one of the pile outside the greenhouses.   ;D ;D ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2138.JPG)
About 4000 out there now.

I guess we looked pretty tired by the end as about 100 vultures started circling above. Here are some of them.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2140.JPG)
Not dead yet. Sorry to disappoint. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowfight1:

Happy trails to you. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

We have a devil's claw hanging from the clock, came home with us from Tx.  Never saw a flower ( very pretty) on them when we lived there. Rita wants to know if the caltrop leaves fold up if you touch them?

This one is the largest flowered devil's claw species as far as I know. I'll try to take a picture of the normal yellow flowered one this week if I get the chance. I've never noticed the leaves folding up from getting touched, but I'm pretty sure they fold up at night. The mesquites and acacias do that too. ;D

Pictures from Friday and Saturday. It's sprinkling outside right now as a tropical depression moves through from the south. The big rain predicted looks to be going a little east of here. :(


Clearing out the old fence line. Robert is tossing one here into a small pile for easy pickup on the way out. Had to work around a lot  of jumping chollas to get it done.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2161.JPG)
Only smashed one post into a pretzel with the bucket. 8) :o ::)

Having a fence around our fields only works when the hired help shuts the gates. >:( At least the damage was slight this time. >:(


Ready for the bulldozer. Here is a view of the new field area from about west rotating to the north.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2176.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2177.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2175.JPG)

The dozer is being fixed.  ;D The new fields will be on at least 2 levels. To the right and off in the right background will be probably 5-8 feet lower than the other areas. Two new greenhouse pads will be graded down and to the left where the big saguaro died last year. That is also quite a bit lower. Should look nice when we get it done.

That new cleared land will give us probably close to 4 more acres of growing space. That should be enough for 2-3 more years of planting. :)

Bring out your dead. Bring out your dead.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2165.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2166.JPG)
Nobody said it would be all fun and games. Blackhead, blackbutt, and gusanos. We will try a systemic insecticide to see if we can reduce the bug problems.

These guys are destined for the burn barrel, where whatever is killing them will go bye bye.

Somebody keeps dropping the spray paint cans on their heads that we use to mark the south side of the gallon pots so the plants don't get sunburned. This breaks the little plastic tube that feeds the spray nozzle. As you know, all defective paint cans must be tossed into the burn barrel to see what will happen. It's like a rule. One of the roadrunners came by on the far side of the burn barrel and of course I called him over. The noise is a little like a loud, short cat purr. Easy once you hear it. He was working his way over and BOOM. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:
Loud explosion with an 8 foot fireball above the barrel. Roadrunner takes a dive over the hillside. 8) 8) 8)

He's fine. ;D ;D ;D

Went over to the burn barrel to check it out. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2163.JPG)
Here is the result. That hole is about a foot across. Seems the bottom of the spray can exited at a fairly high velocity. 8) 8) 8)
Don't try this at home, kiddies. We are professional idiots here.

In our defense, we were a good hundred feet away when it went off and partially shielded by the truck. :)

Some of the flaming debris lit off the pile of dry cow poop about 30 feet away that we use in our soil mix. Robert saw it while it was still small and we put it out. 8)

That roadrunner came back the next morning.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2174.JPG)
That climbing on the tractor deal made me nervous that he was about to leave a little roadrunner's revenge on the seat, but he was nice and just sat there and warmed himself.

The sunset was magnificent Friday evening.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2167.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2171.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2173.JPG)

Happy trails to you. Until we meet again. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Missed a photo of Robert weeding in field 2 last week. He is recovering from an autoimmune blood disease and this year marks his first return to working. We almost lost him a couple of times in the past 3 years and he hasn't been able to work at all until early this year. He is a huge help to me on the project and it gives him a chance to do something of value and make a little money at the same time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2164.JPG)

Snake week. I'll post something soon.

>>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8> >>>>8>

Sorry about the delay. I was going to make a nice youtube dealie with stills included and some narration, but I don't know how to do it and Darlene is buried with work. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Back at it as the Lone Ranger (no help). Out pulling weeds in field 2 minding my own business and I hear a violent rustling near my feet in the cactus. Looked and saw a 2 foot rattlesnake fighting it out with a close to 6 foot red racer. The rattlesnake successfully struck the racer at least several times, but it only seemed to pith him off. Below is what happened next:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2185.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2187.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2188.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2189.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2191.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2192.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2193.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2194.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2195.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2196.JPG)

Chomp, chomp, chomp. Exit stage right.


Had not moved my feet and enter stage right.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2197.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2198.JPG)

Oopsie. About a 4 footer. :o :o :o

Had to back up one time as it was getting a little too close.

Spent the night thankful it was a nearly full moon and watching my step. ;D

Sunrise Saturday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2203.JPG)


There was a Say's phoebe (kind of flycatcher) going nuts hovering and bobbing out in field 2. Never doubt it when a little bird tells you something. Went back to weeding and found this guy right where the little bird told me.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2206~0.JPG)
Not sure if it was the same one, but same general area and same size, about 4 feet. Good thing I had on my snake proof boots and leggings. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: Good protection from cactus too. :-\ :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2207.JPG)

Until next time.

Hi Yo Silver, away!

;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 One picture would of been enough for me... I hate snakes... like really you have those dam things around and you wear those shoes .... Your nuts !!!   ;D ;D :D

A rattler that size is good for 2 things.......a meal and a belt or hatband!  :D :D :D

The rattlesnakes and I have a truce. They don't bite and they can do what they do. Seems like right now they are filling up on our excess mouse population before denning up. Of course that one won't be doing any of that any more. :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Quote from: isawlogs on October 03, 2015, 07:45:48 AM
One picture would of been enough for me... I hate snakes... like really you have those dam things around and you wear those shoes .... Your nuts !!!   ;D ;D :D

Comfy for old men in hot climate. You have to look where you step out here. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

The Lone Ranger rides again. :( :-\ :-X

No sign of last week's snakes, but that is ok. ;D

Lots more weeding to do to get caught up from the monsoon weed crop. The good news is we already have germinated our winter weed crop. Job security. :-\

It was calm enough for much of the day that I was able to get out the backpack sprayer and knock them down the easy way. Lots of them are already in seed, so not sure how much good it will do, but I hope some of the roundup gets into the green seeds so they won't come up next year.

Seems like this week is bird week. There was a little hawk sitting on a power pole below the hill singing up a storm for half an hour. I didn't know they did that. Might have been a falcon, not sure. Of course the local roadrunners came by to say hello. Friday evening the Say's phoebes were singing by the greenhouses. I joined in with my version of the runny nose sneezy concerto. :( I'll be glad when the weeds are done throwing pollen. >:(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2210.JPG)
Same old shot from the first planting in field 1. Note that the bigger cactus is now taller than the post (36").

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2211.JPG)
Another view across field 1.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2214.JPG)
Still growing pretty good. This is one of the better ones in field 1.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2217.JPG)
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are now 18" tall.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2212.JPG)
Iridescent clouds. Not as nice as last year's, but pretty.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2215.JPG)
One of my little helpers hiding under a flat of cacti. Have to watch where you put your fingers too. Sorry it is sideways, but the rotator is making them fat and not turning the photos at the moment. :(

The coyotes have been getting more numerous and coming in closer at night every week. Andy has lost cattle to them when they pack up like this. I've been growling at them and that has worked so far, but I think plan B is now in order. :o >:( :-X :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2218.JPG)

The growth in field 3 is excellent. You would think with 60% rocks and 40% red desert clayey dirt that they wouldn't like it, but this seems like our best spot so far.

Faron showed up just before dark and we walked all the new field area. He has some major repairs to do on his dozer still, but says he should be ready to start in a couple to 3 weeks. Andy told him to do the whole thing, so we won't have to haul the dozer back up the hill. That will give us close to 5 acres of new fields, enough for at least the next 3 years plantings.
;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: Guess we will be field planting into the winter. Hope we don't get any really bad freezes this year.

Riding into the sunset with a smile.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2216.JPG)

Things are going to get busy around here.

Adios. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

When are these going to be ready for market......  Ya I know its in here somewheres that you answered that a time or two, I just don't feel like reading the whole thing again.  ;D

  I don't bother growling at coyotes, I use the thunder stick!    :) ;D

Might accidentally hit a cactus.  :-\ :( :-X

From where we are now, I think we will have 2 footers by the end of next summer and three footers the following year. Once they get over 2 feet I think we can get close to a foot a year.

So more or less 2016   2'
                       2017   3'
                       2018   4'
                       2019   5'
                       2020   6'
                       2021   7'
                       2022   8'
                       2023   9'
                       2024  10'

How's that for counting your chickens before they hatch? ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

We plan to start selling them when they get to 2 feet tall now so we can get some money coming in.

The Lone Ranger rides again. Sure miss having Tonto helping. I guess I'll have to go into town myself. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

The good news is I'm making lots of new friends out here. I've got a canyon wren that is starting to follow me around when I'm working in the greenhouses. Seems that when I move around in there I kick up the bugs, which means lunch. ;D Don't have a photo since it wouldn't sit still long enough to get one. Maybe next time.

Today's math lesson:
     1 big walking stick + 1 little walking stick = a whole bunch of little walking sticks. :o :o :o :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2260.JPG)

Also met this guy and a bunch of his friends in the rocky part of field 2. Not really afraid of me at all. The tractor came within a foot of him and he just sat there, then I got off and snapped this photo.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2262.JPG)
I can see why they are not too afraid. They are so fast that all you see is a blur when they move. Then they stop and freeze again. Good both for not getting eaten and for getting lunch. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
edit: looked it up- Holbrookia elegans elegant earless lizard.


Getting excited about the new field preparations and new perspectives. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2255.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2256.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2257.JPG)

And especially this one:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2254.JPG)
Darlene calls it the Statue of Economic Hope.

I'm hoping for all of us. :)

Did I mention it is pretty here? ??? ??? ???

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2258.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2259.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2263.JPG)

Vaya con Dios, mis amigos. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Sadly, the Lone Ranger is still riding without Tonto. Ex wife in hospital and Robert is the transport system, since my daughter doesn't drive. :(

Lots of small plants getting bumped to gallons. Here is the happy planting crew.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2267.JPG)

I have cut off the water to the fields, but rains keep coming and plants are still growing. We need to get them stopped before the hard freezes come in December.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2268.JPG)
Late sunset Thursday night with moisture coming in. Woke up at 3 with rain in my face, but lots of stars and a very small raincloud, so I waited it out. I was dry by morning. ;D I got me a nice whomping stick from a broken shovel handle. Now those coyotes will show some respect. :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2276.JPG)

My little helpers like to sleep in the greenhouses now. There was a praying mantis was eating one of the evil moths about a yard away from this little guy, who works the day shift.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2271.JPG)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2273.JPG)
Dawn clouds with virga.


And a gorgeous sunrise.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2274.JPG)


Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Last stop before heading out to MO trees in the morning. Had to go to the ranch and pick up chainsaws and so on and show Robert what needs doing while I'm gone. Guess I'll be trailerless since one of the axles is shot.  :(

Had to move pots over to the potting area for the ladies to keep going. Tractor is dead, well at least the battery. Pushing nursery carts around is fun. :(

Got over to the pot corral. Robert says lots of scary stuff over there and went for his gloves. Whatever.

Found this beauty.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2295.JPG)
A bunch of her sisters and daughters and cousins were there too. ;D

And one little brown spider. (our version of a brown recluse)

Moved some pots to make room for more bumping, loaded up and headed home.

Made a bathroom stop where the pavement used to end and found a male desert broom bush swarming with butterflies, bees, beetles and a bunch of other bugs. Forgot to take a picture. Sorry.

Turns out every one of those bushes along the highway was the same, a cloud of life hovering around them.

I see that sunset.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

I was saddened to hear that my friend Dondi (Arthur) Marble died suddenly Saturday morning. He has appeared frequently on my posts and will be greatly missed.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0661.JPG)
Rest in peace, my brother.

Sorry to hear that,prayer's for all.

R.I.P. Dondi. 

Always tough to lose a friend. Prayers are with you.

That's tough. Remember the good times.

 So sorry for your loss, it sure aint easy to lose a friend.

Thanks to all for the kind thoughts. We still don't believe it at some level.

Dondi came from a black/Tuscarora and who knows what else background. The people who showed up were of every type there is. Dondi had many interests and was the kind of person who people just gathered around. When he was in school he used to get beat up by gang members every day in New York. He learned to fight and started his own gang and learned he had become his own worst enemy. So he quit it. He went on to become a very good cook and continued with his fighting training and became quite good at Muay Thai fighting and eventually had a crew of fighters that competed in mixed martial arts fighting. Later he became interested in Capoeira and learned that fighting style as well and eventually became a master at that and founded a school in Tucson. He worked for our landscaping company for many years as the Capoeira craze faded and more schools got started in competition with him. At that time he started reaching into his Indian roots and started learning and teaching primitive weapons classes and became blood brothers with his Navaho friend, Animal, who he met at his Capoeira school.  When the landscaping business went south after 2008 he started helping me with rental houses and eventually started helping out at the ranch on the saguaros a couple of days a week. He had been working out there for about a year when Andy stole him to work out at the ranch full time. :(  Dondi loved the ranch work and living in the wilderness. I think maybe he was the happiest he had ever been out there. Like coming home for him.

Dondi died from an aortal rupture, so it seems he had been carrying a ticking time bomb for some years now.
I think we must have had at least 4 funerals for him. The Capoeira school had a gathering family and friends that Friday. I got to meet his mother and many other relatives. The following day there was a Baptist funeral, a Navaho funeral and a Capoeira funeral with a big potluck out at the ranch.

I still half expect him to come rolling up the saguaro hill for a break, snickerdoodles, chips and coconut water.

The ravens have been visiting.

Well, the Lone Ranger rides again. Robert's car was leaking oil and didn't have any coolant after they "fixed" it. He was supposed to pick it up on Saturday. Hope it isn't wrecked.

More cactus juggling to try to keep things moving in the greenhouses. We will be officially packed to the gills this week. Ran out of gallon pots again so another day lost to pick up more. :(

Closing up the greenhouses for winter now. The coldest it has been up there so far is around 30-34°F, but the cold is coming. Johnny, Andy's son is 8 now and came up to help on Saturday. I was showing him where the new fields are going. We are looking at stuff out there and he says, "Let's get those greenhouses closed up." He is going to be scary when he grows up. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Got a couple of rolls of greenhouse plastic coming Tuesday and hopefully some help up there Friday and Saturday to get the houses recovered for winter.

Faron says probably he will start the week after next with the dozing for the new fields and preparation of pads for several new greenhouses. Still has to get his last cutting of alfalfa in and final repairs to the dozer. We expect to have graded fields by late December and will be running waterlines right after that. Meanwhile the weeds are coming into the fields fast and will need to be dealt with and if we are going to build greenhouses, more time for that. All we need is money and help to get it done. :-\ :-X :-[

We have 5000 plants sitting outside the greenhouses waiting to go into the ground. We will be planting right through the winter this year.

Getting back from Missouri and losing Dondi apparently has me more messed up than usual as I forgot to put fuel in the truck and bring sleeping bags and cots. Makes for a cold, hard night sleeping in the truck and 34° outside. :(
Got to see a Leonid meteor just before dawn on Saturday. There must have been a fireball in the middle of the night as there was a debris streak that hung in Orion for maybe an hour.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2410.JPG)
I was hoping this one would get sold since it is kind of in the way to drive around the greenhouses. Now that it is like 14 feet tall and growing a second arm I'm thinking it must be our mascot.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2411.JPG)

Here are some goofy looking ones that got their tops frozen in the big freeze of 2013. When they get big you will hardly notice it.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2416.JPG)

The cactus in field 1 are getting more bigger.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2415.JPG) 

Well, there is that sunset. Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2417.JPG)

;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Just catching up, very sorry to hear of your friend, and as always, beautiful pictures.

 I like reading your adventures, again sorry for the loss of a friend.  :(

  On that fourteen footer, how much would that sell for and how do you go about digging it up ???  :P  What is the root system like on a cactus that size.  ??? :P

If you dont want to disclose the market value of them cactus here, I won't lose any sleep over it  ;) :D :D   :snowball:

They are valuable...

The TCSS rescues them and sells them... but not that tall..
http://www.tucsoncactus.org/html/rescue_plants.shtml

Quote  "Saguaros - Sliding scale $7 for 5", $45 for 2', $75 for 3', $100 for 4' tall (seldom have saguaros)"

Another link, looks like about $1500 or $100 per foot.
http://www.roadrunnercactus.com/

http://dfranch.com/saguaro-cacti.html

I think our wholesale nursery that we deal with sells them for something like $55 or 60 a foot. More for the big ones like that because of the equipment and help required goes up fast with size. That one would probably sell for something like $850-900 plus shipping. Then you have to pay somebody else to get it planted. You need something like a backhoe to move them.

If I happen to be around when they are digging a big one I'll take a picture. They wrap them with carpeting and build a cradle made from 3 wooden I joists, the cradle is attached, then they dig around the base and sling it and gently tip it over. then sling the cradle and load the truck. Same deal in reverse when they get planted.

One like that probably has several tap roots down to probably 3 feet deep or so. then there is a widespread feeder root system that on one like that is likely to be at least 20 feet across, probably bigger. The feeder roots have numerous sinker roots that help to stabilize the cactus when the soil is wet and or in winds. Saguaros wiggle around quite a bit when the wind blows. When they get dug most of those roots get cut. The roots will regrow in a year or two if the replanting is successful. ;D 8) 8) 8)
:snowball:

One day I hope we make money. I started this in 2007 and we expect our first sales next year at a size smaller than we would like, but we need the cash flow to make this work. We should have a couple thousand 2 footers by the end of next summer.

Quote from: mesquite buckeye on November 23, 2015, 10:52:21 AM
The coldest it has been up there so far is around 30-34°F, but the cold is coming.

What elevation are you? I didn't think it got that cold at night down there. It's in the low to mid-20's but that is just seasonal here at 6500'.

We are deep in the rather steep sided San Pedro Valley at around 2900-3000'. The cold air drainage can really drop the night temperature. That 34° morning ended up being like 80° in the afternoon. If you look through the older posts on this thread I think we had a day/night temperature change from like 110 in the daytime to 49 in the morning. Close to 60° swing.

The coldest I have seen here is probably around 10°. At Faron's house downriver that morning it was 6. The saguaros aren't supposed to be able to take temperatures like this but still they are here. ;D

We have some tough ones. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it with the first of the hard freezes. GH1 and GH4 both have really damaged roofs and won't hold heat. We were hoping for some help but not until 3 pm on the last day we were out there. Had to improvise. GH1 is where the babies are located so this is the most sensitive spot. We found an old partial roll of plastic and put it across the ripped section as a temporary patch until we can replace the whole cover.

Stop! Heater Time! ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2432.JPG)


I am both old and funny. :) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Ended up getting down to about 24 up top of the hill. Good thing we got it closed up and heat in the first two greenhouses. Only had to work in the dark till 10 pm to get it done and heat on. :(

The second day (Tuesday) we got the ripped out section of GH4 fixed. Still need to get it more battened down but hopefully we won't get any high winds before we can get back to it.

Here is my fancy fix stuff on the roof ladder.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2434.JPG)
And here is some crazy guy working up there.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_0673.JPG)

Ran into this unusually decorated tumbleweed.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2433.JPG)
I light of the season I let it live for another week.

Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2431~0.JPG)

Well, not quite so fast. They were loading saguaros from other parts of the ranch when we stopped by HQ on the way out. Thought you might like to see it.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2436.JPG)

These are two wrapped 8's with one boxed 12. We loaded another boxed 12 to that and piled a few 5's and 6's on top of the 8's.

Soon we will be rich. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it by myself. :(

The greenhouses are covered and secure for now.

Had to heat 3 nights last week, low 20's.

Got 0.72" of rain yesterday, turned all the mud roads to nearly impossible goo. :(

Couple pictures..

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2474.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2475.JPG)

Got a call from a guy who said he needed a couple of big mesquites milled. Funny looking mesquites. Check out Big Ironwood if you are interested.

What kind of mud you got down there. Would need 3" of rain for roads to be muck here (not everywhere in NB, some is clay and turn to slime if you p on it :) ). And on glacial sand it could rain for days. And a good excavator road is better than dozer. One you have ditches to the side, the other the ditch is in the road. That's what you see on most woodlots (dozer), but not on company land. :D ;D

Selling some cacti yet? :)

We have montmorillinite and other easy goo clays here. A good slow half inch will do it. Also some of these spots are low water crossings so the mud gets irrigated too. :-\

Just got a call from somebody interested in 500 16"-two footers. We don't have those. What we do have is a couple thousand 12-16 inchers. We'll see if they want them. That would give us enough money to build several new greenhouses, which would be a huge help to speed production. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Got up this morning to work up on the hill. Brrr. Coldest night out there last week was 21°F. While I was resetting the thermometers I found this poor soul shivering next to the turned off heaters. I think his name is Tiny Tim.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2498.JPG)

Who does that make me?




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2499.JPG)

Merry Christmas from the Saguaro Hill anyway. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

teeter_totter :christmas:

Finally got a little help from one of Andy's guys. 21 out there this morning. Had to start up the heaters at 6:30 am. No damage. Now to start catching up with the weeds before the seeds get ripe. They are bad out there. Took me close to 2 hours to do just one set with a backpack sprayer. I had Leonardo doing the roads. I need to see how careful he is before I let him touch the cactus with roundup.

Here is Leo's dog. He calls him something in Spanish that means "knows nothing".

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2512.JPG)
I said he looks pretty hungry. Don't you feed him?

Leo says he don't feel too pretty good. He got bit by a cascabel last month and got pretty sick from it. His neck swelled up to double size. Here is the scar.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2513.JPG)
I think he should change his name to "Messes with Rattlesnakes".



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2511.JPG)
Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Never met a dog I didn't like !

Happy Birthday. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

One more week of the Lone Ranger rides again. :( Robert is sick and no help from the ranch crew.  :( :( :( :snowball:

It appears it has snowed in the desert.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2546.JPG)
We didn't get it in Tucson, but just a few hundred feet higher and they got 2-4".

The road to the bottom of the saguaro hill at about 9am Friday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2548.JPG)
Drove up to the top and found 1.77" (rain) in the gauge. The storms were still hanging around. Got some sleet midday. The saguaros were feeling a bit cold, so they all put on their hats.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2550.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2553.JPG)

I was hoping to get some weed spraying done, but got held up since they had snow on them for most of the day. The snow got so heavy on GH2 that some rips appeared along the wiggle wire anchors. Probably will rip the roof open with the first big wind. Good thing I bought 2 greenhouses worth of plastic.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2552.JPG)
This snow took 3 days to melt, but absolutely perfect snowball material.

Since it wasn't good spraying weather I decided to do an inventory. Ran into one of my little helper buddies in GH1...

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2560.JPG)
Canyon wren.

Turns out we have close to 80,000 saguaros. 15,000 in the fields and 65,000 in various stages of growth in and around the greenhouses. The earlier hard freezes have taken their toll on our cactus outside in gallons. I haven't counted yet but maybe close to 100 dead and several hundred damaged in the nearly 5000 outside. Also some field losses, many of those that got hurt were the same ones damaged last year.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2571.JPG)
Frozen and dead.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2573.JPG)
Severely damaged. Slightly damaged to rear.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2572.JPG)
Light to moderate damage. Note the undamaged plants behind the damaged plant. As long as the numbers don't get too high, we are OK with scattered freeze deaths as this removes the frost sensitive individuals from our growing population. We plan to market our plants as the most frost hardy saguaros available, and to provide minimum field temperatures the plants have survived in our fields to our customers.

Got greenhouse 4 and half of 3 fertilized and weeded and finished spraying weeds in field 1. The weeds are so bad it takes over an hour to just do one set. :(

The rumor is that Faron is waiting for the last part to get made for his dozer. Seems the shops were all closed for the Holidays. :( We may actually have something to report with new fields within the next few weeks. Good thing since there will be about 12,000 ready to go into the fields by summer and another 30,000 ready to bump into gallons. With the 5 acres he is prepping we could have them all full within 2 years with what is getting ready right now. Then we need to look for new fields. Now to get them big and sold.

The storms and light on those days were amazing. Here are some examples.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2566.JPG)
A passing snowstorm.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2580.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2589.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2595.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2598.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2608.JPG)

Happy New Year!

Until we meet again. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

I'm curious, do the frost damaged cactus survive if taken care of?  I'm just asking because I've raised beans that actually "toughened up" after a hail storm and out did others that weren't hit by the hail, I do realize I'm working in growing months, not years as you are, just another dumb question  ;).

If the damaged ones don't rot first, they harden off/wall off the zone between the damaged and healthy tissue with a barklike substance. The killed zone eventually dries out and falls off. Later a new growing point, or a few new ones, start growing from the areoles (a cactus version of a lateral bud) just below the damage, which eventually will turn into the new leader. Cactus more superficially damaged will have a bit of a constriction and/or an off color, usually with a brownish or blackish ring left behind when new growth resumes from the surviving growing point.

Still waiting for new fields. Story is that the dozer only needs to be put back together and we are in business. Meanwhile the mice are eating treats more slowly so there must be less of them. Put the first water of the year, actually since October on the greenhouse cacti. They rot so easily in the winter.

The day on Saturday was close to 80°, but by morning it was 33°. Just a bit chilly for sleeping in a summer sleeping bag, so I used two. Since there really isn't anything to show other than poor, defenseless weeds dying from roundup, I took a few pictures.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2653.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2654.JPG)
Friday sunset.

Moonrise.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2661.JPG)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2658.JPG)
Venus at dawn.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2662.JPG)
Smoke from burning weeds on Sunday morning.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 I really appreciate the post you make of the prickly thingys that you are growing. The weather and scenery you post of is so different then anything we have here.

  Thanks again for keeping this updated.

Marcell.   :P

  I love the education on the prickly things   ;D

Thanks Marcell. :) Summer must be on the way. Already hitting 120° in the greenhouses on sunny days. 110 even with the door open. :-\

 Only place here that reach those temps is inside the furnace when theres a fire in it !!!!    fire_smiley

If I had scenery like that on my farm, nothing would get done. 
Simply beautiful.

 :)

Got my son to help for a while on Saturday cleaning up the frost and bug killed plants in gallon pots in the staging area, about 125 of them.  :( They were made warm after just in case there are bugs hiding in them.  :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: Probably another 250 damaged and some of them will probably die too. If they all died that is close to a 10% loss.  :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:
I keep looking for plants like this one rotting in the field.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2671.JPG)   
If I can bust open the skin on them, they will drain, dry out, and frequently start growing again when it gets warm. Winters are tough on them.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2665.JPG)
Sawdust delivery for making more potting soil. Hope the walnut part isn't a problem. Hopefully our leaching from the loose soil mix will get rid of the juglone. :-\

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2664.JPG)
Another of my little buddies looking for bugs. Cactus wren. :)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2673.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2674.JPG)
X marks the spot. Since there are two I don't know where to dig. These are rodent runs in the new field area. They will be sad soon. The dozer is repaired but one of the track rollers is stuck. As soon as that is resolved we will start shoving dirt. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2667.JPG)
Sunset Friday evening.


Dawn patrol.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2670.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2668.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2669.JPG)
Check out The Desert Blooms for more fun. Also the outdoor area- El Tigre. And maybe even a new quickie quiz jackpot. ;D

Hasta la bye bye. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it without Robert again. :(

Finally got the last field sprayed. Some cattle got into field 3 and kicked a couple cactus out of the ground. Grrrr

Looks like the winter losses will be close to 1000 plants in the fields. :( :( :( Seems like the frost hits the SSW side the hardest. I think it has something to do with that side being warmer and more physiologically active, therefore more frost sensitive.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2715.JPG) Some early morning light on the hills and mountains.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2714.JPG)
Some saguaros on a hill silhouetted against Mica Mountain.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2716.JPG)
Location for our first barrel cactus field. They can take a lot more cold than saguaros, so they should be just fine in that bottom. The fence will have to move to the left to make room also.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2717.JPG)
Wildflowers are pretty.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Sunrise over the Santa Catalina Mountains from Oro Valley. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2728.JPG)
Yes, Virginia, there really is gold there. Biggest nugget ever found was just north of here near Catalina in the Canada del Oro Wash. something like 16 pounds, 40% gold.
;D 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Headed back out to the ranch for a long single day with my buddy Robert, hoping to make some more progress. Had to move the tractor, wagon and trailer filled with sawdust for potting soil and slabs to burn up dead cactus to cut down on bad guys in the fields. 2 miles of flesh shaking washboards. Ugh. Halfway up the hill to the main road I hear a pop/bang followed by a loss of speed and a dragging sound. >:( All the bouncing bent the tailgate and when the tailgate popped the dump latch popped open too. >:( >:( >:( Whole load dumped in the road a mile from anything and no shovel. Built a ramp out of slabs and drug what I could of the greenhouse plastic trailer liner and sawdust back into the trailer. Poured off just like dry sand as it went in. >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( Tried to bend the sides of the trailer back to parallel so the tailgate might stay on. Improvised a crappy shovel out of the tailgate and got 2/3 of the sawdust. Put a junk board across the bottom of the tailgate to keep it from bending out again. >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( Slabs back in and off I go at reduced speed. Get up the steep Saguaro Hill road hoping it will hold to the top. Made it. ;D

Here Robert is unloading the stuff and look in the background.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2729.JPG)

Halleluia

The new greenhouse pad is graded and field 4 is happening. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D

Had a hint driving up seeing tracked vehicle marks in the road and have never seen a tank out here. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2730.JPG)
Thank you Faron. :) :) :)

On to finish grade and then we start running water lines. ;D

Bring out your dead. Bring out your dead. :( :( :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2731.JPG)
Freeze, rot and bug killed from this winter. Field 3 is the worst, maybe 30-40% in the worst spots. I'm thinking the problem may have come from buying one year's seedlings from a commercial source that doesn't have our level of cold hardiness. We hadn't figured out how to successfully germinate our own seeds by that time but needed plants. :( :( :(
maybe we should have waited, but we didn't know if we would ever get it figured out and we would have lost at least one season of plants. Even at 60-70% success I think we can still make it work.

Things are quite a bit better in field 2, which had already been hit by freezes the previous year, so those plants are already gone. Field 1, which had been through 2 winters was even better, with only about 20 plants lost out of over 4000. Acceptable.

I try to think of the whole process as culling the herd of the weak individuals that might give our customers a problem in the future.

Hopefully we should be laying pipelines within a couple of weeks and putting out plants a week after that. Sounding like we should be in full swing by mid March.

;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

Until next time.

 smiley_thumbsup  smiley_thumbsup smiley_thumbsup

 :)

Field prep is in full swing. ;D ;D ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2744.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2743.JPG)

The local roadrunner is following the dozer around to pick off any mice or grubs that pop out. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2745.JPG)
This is what the bottom of their feet look like.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2749.JPG)
Cutting a new terrace.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2753.JPG)
New pad for greenhouses 5 and 6. 120' X 60'




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2754.JPG)
More work on finishing up the new terrace.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2756.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2757.JPG)
As seen from the road.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2751.JPG)
Replacement plants for the frozen and rotted.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2752.JPG)
Pretty flags marking the replacement cacti for planting.

We will be running water lines soon. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 Any difference between the purple flags and the oranges flags...  ???

Yes. An extremely important difference. The orange ones are orange and the purple ones are purple. smiley_biggrin01 smiley_big-grin2 smiley_big_grin3 :snowfight1: :snowball1: :snowball1: :snowball1: :snowball1: :snowball1:

Actually I bought the purple ones to mark the plants with blackhead in the field for removal, but I ran out of orange ones and the purple ones were there so......

The purple ones are prettier......................... :D

But the orange ones are easier to see. Seems the coyotes and javelina will chew either color. :-\

 Does the dozer use auto grade gps to level out a fields? To bad to yotys don't hold on to the flags so you have an aim point  ;D .

Har. ;D

I think Faron uses the eyeball technique. He is quite good. He checks it after then touches it up.

Another short week of one day. At least I had Robert there for the one, so at least as good as me alone for 2 days. Spring is definitely upon us. The above normal temps are pushing the plants into growth maybe 2 or 3 weeks early. The mesquites are already leafing out on the hilltops. The saguaros have started to grow again.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2782.JPG)

Here is what typical freeze damage looks like on saguaros.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2781.JPG)
First you get frozen ribs and tops, especially on the SSW side. I think that is because that side gets more heat and is likely more physiologically active and frost sensitive.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2784.JPG)
Here is the trunk of an old saguaro next to the new fields. The vertical lines of bark are from the plant splitting open when it suddenly gets a lot of water after a dry period, much like drought stressed tomatoes will split in the garden after a rain. The damage generally heals quickly and isn't a problem for the plant. Sort of like saguaro stretch marks. This one is about 2 ft dbh.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2783.JPG)
The sides of saguaro hill are covered in wildflowers. Here are some desert lupines.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2780.JPG)
Robert checking out the new road on the northwest leg of the saguaro hill. We will be running a 2" waterline up this road and possibly power as well. One can dream.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2779.JPG)
A view across the new fields. Mucho tierra nuevo. ;D ;D ;D

We have started watering the greenhouses in earnest and now starting on the fields. Lots of line repair from the cattle and javelina, as well as normal temperature movement problems. The growing season is on. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Until next time. ;D

Back at it again. Replacing the severely frost damaged, killed and rotted saguaros in the fields. It looks like our losses are going to be around 600 plants. That's a lot of cabbage if they were big. We probably have a couple thousand more plants that will recover with some scarring, which will reduce our sale price. :(

Here is where our dead and dying plants end up. We have a scorched earth policy just in case there is disease or insects that caused the problem. They seem to not like the heat. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2807.JPG)

Robert with the world's largest bong. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2804.JPG)

And the world's largest joint.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2808.JPG)
Oh well, guess we should have called Guinness first. Now it is all burned up.

Seriously, here is what we saw a lot of.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2797.JPG)
This plant had its tip frozen last year. Last summer it grew the new tip that you can see on the upper left. This winter it froze again. Even though this plant is alive and will probably live, it is likely to keep right on getting frozen every year. Sadly, this is a loser and into the fire it goes. :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2809.JPG)
BLM decided to fire bomb the Galiuros Friday during red flag conditions.
Guess the vegetation was too green, they waited for the winds to get screaming and hit it again on Saturday. :-\ :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:  Nobody notified Andy about what they were up to, even though his private land contacts the burn area. Good job.

He says if it doesn't get too out of control, the burning of the brush will up his water yield in the Redfield
Watershed.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2796.JPG)
Here is a specimen in the field already trying to form a crest. We have one plant that is red. I'll post a photo of that one if I remember.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2814.JPG)
Flaming sunset Friday night.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2817.JPG)
If you look closely you can see an army of saguaros on the hills in the distance. You can see why the desert people say they are people.

Incoming dust from an approaching cold front. No rain, but colder and lots of gale force wind.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2818.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2815.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2819.JPG)

This raven showed up and chatted it up for 15 minutes with very unnormal sounds while I was putting out new cactus in the field. I guess Dondi says hi.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2820.JPG)

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Great pics,,,,as usual ! :) :) :)

 :)

Back at it again on Friday and Saturday. Got the last of the dead and damaged replaced,   ;D at least the first pass. :-\ We found more that have died since the last time around.

Off in the background you can see the new terraces approaching completion.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2842.JPG)

Took this panorama of the whole hill.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2841_2.JPG)

Saguaro Hill sunrise.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2843.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2844.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2846.JPG)

Shadows of me and my buddy. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2848.JPG)


Until next time.  ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Getting behind on a lot of stuff. Here are photos from the last couple of weeks.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2919.JPG)
This is a baby saguaro that came up in the armpit of a very old one. It is doomed.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2881.JPG)
Moonrise



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2886.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2887~0.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2890~0.JPG)
A couple of sunrises and standing lenticular clouds over the Galuiros.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2892~0.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2897.JPG)
Iridescent clouds.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2898.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2899.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2900.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2904.JPG)
New field preps.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2905.JPG)
A tired old saguaro. I am funny. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2922.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2923.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2924.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2925.JPG)
More grading and post grading ripping.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2930.JPG)
More cool lighting.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2929.JPG)
The infamous red saguaro.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2934.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2933.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2931.JPG)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2935.JPG)
The lean of death. This one will probably fall before summer ends.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2938.JPG)
Moving the fence for the new road and barrel cactus field.

Greenhouses 1-4 packed to the gills.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2939.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2940.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2941.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2942.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2943.JPG)

See you next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it again. Greenhouses all have green stink bugs. >:( They make speckley scars and make the plants sad. :( >:( :( I nuked them very well.
;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: air_plane

I've NEVER met a stinkbug that appealed to me :D

Some pictures from Saturday. Coming down the hill from San Manuel the river valley was backlit with a haze of fog just in the bottom. Amazing light. Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice, but here are a couple.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2980.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2982.JPG)

The new road that goes down the new NW part of Saguaro Hill.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2985.JPG)
and the reverse view.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2986.JPG)

Robert took a couple of soaptree yuccas home with him from the field clearing but didn't get them planted quick enough. Probably didn't matter, they were pretty beat up from the dozer. Anyway, Athena issued orders for Robert to bring another one home. :-\ :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: There was one growing right in the way in one of the tractor roads in field 3 that I've been wanting to move for over a year, so that one is the one. Robert figured it would just take a few minutes to dig it up. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: Here are photos of the digging.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2987.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2988.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2992.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2991.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2989.JPG)
Only had to go through 3 feet of boulder clay to get it out. Good news is we found out once you dig through the first 3 feet or so, you hit pure sand. The last foot was easy, other than having to build a step to get down low enough to shovel the dirt out. :-\ i think the sand layer may be why the saguaros are growing so well in field 3. Anyway, here is the dug up yucca. Only took both of us 2 hours to get it out. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2990.JPG)
It is a lot bigger and older plant than it looked like at the surface. The top we saw was just a side shoot. the original trunk had been broken off, probably by the cattle that like to eat the tops off the yuccas. They frequently knock them down to get at the tops.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

This is off the subject, but just struck me as funny. I was killing time checking out logging equipment on craiglist and someone in Buckeye Az. has a timberjack skidder for sale. lol  Do they work pretty good dragging them beeg stickery cactus down there??

I would think so but you get a lot of loss of timber value dragging cactus around.

Thought it might be fun to look at the first field from 3 seasons ago.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8302.jpg) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_8308.jpg) 
And now.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3002.JPG)

Not growing as fast as I would like, but growing. The big one has put on 2 inches already this spring.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3004.JPG)
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from the reverse angle. Tweedle Dee (right) is just short of 20" tall now. Last time I measured it it was 18".

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3005.JPG)
Growth looks good.


Some nice morning light yesterday. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3003.JPG)   

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3007.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3006.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3008.JPG)


Tweedle Dee Dee and Tweedle Dum Dum, the Boyce-Thompson hedgehog twins looking good at about 3/4" tall.
;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3009.JPG)

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Curious about your Boyce-Thompson reference.  Used to be associated with the Boyce-Thompson Institute of Technology.

Those are Echinocereus boyce-thompsonii There is also a Boyce-Thompson Arboretum in Superior. Guess he made a lot of money up there in the mining industry. That's how he funded the arboretum and probably the school you mentioned.

This hedgehog cactus actually grows wild in the mountains around Superior.

I just use the tweedle dee and dum thing because the plants are like twins and they are fat like the Alice in Wonderland characters.
;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_2850.JPG)
This is what they look like when they grow up. It is a nice one. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it again with no Robert. Tried out a new guy on Sunday. ;D

The killdeer are back at it. This new nest is probably within 20 feet of last year's.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3021.JPG)

Upgrading the shower facilities.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3054.JPG)
The grow trays keep the mud off your feet. Down side is the cold shower is especially thrilling in a 40 mph wind. The good news is your top is dry before you get to your feet. Here is the fancy dishwasher setup. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3056.JPG)

The saguaros are speeding up. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3022.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3034.JPG)
View of field 2.

Waterline to the new fields is ordered. If I can get the greenhouse guy to call, those will be ordered too. We could be really busy in a couple of weeks.

Some pretty pictures.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3055.JPG)
sunset



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3033~0.JPG)
sunrise

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3024.JPG)
moonrise



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3031.JPG)
moon backlit saguaro with colored haze that shows poorly in a photo. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3023.JPG)
Until next time.

Vaya con Dios. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

I've never seen a killdeer out here. I didn't know we had them in AZ. They were common where I grew up in Indiana.
I always enjoy your pics. Maybe I'll come down and help sometime.

 ;D

Back at it again training Mihon and waiting for the return of the Elusive Robert. ;D Growth is kicking into high gear on the gallons and in many of the fields. We have some emitter blockage problems that have not yet been addressed. >:(

Still having problems with the worms ruining cacti. Now mostly in the fields

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3094.JPG) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3098.JPG)
The first one has frass hanging out of the hole, the plant has survived with only some minor scarring. The second one was hit with several worms at once and will likely rot and die.

We have had a big problem, especially in the greenhouses with green saguaro stink bug. They scar the plants, slow down growth by sucking out nutrients and may be the vector for the blackhead disease. Sprayed them last week with the evil neonic Imunocloprid or some such name. Here is a very sad mummy on a worm rotted cactus.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3095.JPG)
I've been meaning to ask, How's your mummy? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :snowball: :snowball:
I am funny. ;D


Our field fertility problems are improving with the addition of fertilizers to the irrigation water for the past 2 years. This Eriastrum is usually a little spring wildflower that rarely gets over a few inches tall. Here is one enjoying living in paradise and is a tree at about a foot in height. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3097.JPG)
Weeds and their health are great fertility indicators.  ;D I still want them all dead. air_plane


Got greenhouse 0 roughly laid out, also 6 and 7. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3093.JPG)
The orange flags mark the corners. 20 X 108. The other 2 will be the standard 20 X 96 that we already have. I'll try to get a photo of the layout.

The waterline is supposed to get here this week. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Greenhouse frames by the end of the month.  ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Bad news is we will be putting them up the hottest time of the year.

On the edumacational side of things, Here is an old veteran saguaro growing in Andy's yard. A bunch of them were planted when Andy's uncle was maybe 8. There is a picture of the kids next to saguaros about 4 feet tall. Wild grown ones that size could be anywhere from 10 or 15 years old up to maybe 40, depending upon how much it rains, soil fertility and so on. Andy's uncle died last year at age 80 something. This is the last of those saguaros still standing, as all of them on this side of the yard have died in the last 5-10 years. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3099.JPG)
This is the one with the little ones growing in its armpits. I doubt it will make it another 10 years.

That would make the lifespan of those yard saguaros somewhere between about 90 and 130 years. The one in the photo has some scarring about two feet up the trunk. That is where it got frozen when it was little and grew a replacement trunk from one of the high areoles.

Did I mention it is pretty here?

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3096.JPG)
Galiuro Mountains in the early morning light with dust in the air from the recent blow.

Until next time. ;D

Well, things are on the move, but it is like a glacier. At least it feels like it. Fertilizer has been applied and incorporated in the new fields.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3137.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463004910) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3135.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463004750)

Almost had a storm, but just got the wind instead. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3142.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1462910343)

Got some worm action going in the greenhouses, but not too many yet.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3160.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463006005) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3164.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1462910593)

Growth is really picking up in the fields. We are pushing 100 now so that should keep up.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3147.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463005019) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3150.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463006018) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3152.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463005291) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3151.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463005991)
This one is full speed ahead.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3165.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463006031)
An odd plant that thinks it wants to be an organ pipe cactus when it grows up. ;D

I'm tired now.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3166.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1462940389)


Until next time.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3141.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1462910291) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3134.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1462910255)

Checked the temp Friday at 11 am.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3167.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331935)
At least it wasn't hot enough to explode the thermometer. :-\

Guess is is time to open up the greenhouse sides. The plants in greenhouse 2 were already starting to cook. :(

And the plastic is falling apart. Tried to patch it up to last till fall. Here is my fancy pants repair.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3174.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331880)

Time for a selfie. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3168.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331909)

And a view from the top. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3170.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331817)

Greenhouses all ready for summer. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3178.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331812)

Good morning and good night.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3177.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331851) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3175.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463331730)

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Back at it again. The chiggers are active. >:( >:( >:( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: >:( >:( >:(

So is the blackhead disease in GH4. :( >:( :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3193.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463978195)

Kept the burn barrel going both days burning up sick cacti and weeds. I think we could be caught up by next week. Working with 3 of us is a big help.

My buddy Wade came out Saturday to check out mesquite lumber and slabs, etc. He came up the new road which has deep loose pea gravel. Couldn't make it up and went over the side with his back wheel. :o He was sitting there about 60/40. Faron came by with his backhoe a couple hours later. We hooked a chain to Wade's hitch and lifted the back half of the truck back onto the road. Sorry, no photos. I was too busy with chains and such.

My patches on greenhouse 2 held perfectly, in spite of some pretty good wind. Unfortunately the rest of the plastic didn't fare as well.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3195.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463974580)
Guess we will be replacing it now after all. Plastic is too rotten to make it till fall. Lasted 5 years though.

Plants are growing great in the greenhouses and fields. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3194.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463974572)

Got greenhouse 6 postholes and ends laid out.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3196.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463974656) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3199.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463974700)
Moonrise over Money. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3198.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1463974621)
Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Nice pictures.

 ;D

 I really appreciate you posting all the progress and fails...  well not fails but knowledge aquired  as you build up your crop.  Thanks, sure have nice scenery down there, but I truly love my four seasons here. You my friend, have way to much sun for me to try and deal with.  :D
  I would never have been better schooled about cactus.   :P

      Merçi !!!

 ;D ;D

Keep on keeping on.  8) ;D

 ;D ;D ;D

Finally getting waterlines to the new fields after delays for broken equipment, missing parts and hay harvesting. Here is Saturday's action running 1/2 mile of 1 1/2 water and about a third of a mile of electric cable. Looking forward to having power at the greenhouses.  ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3264.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248404) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3265.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247148) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3266.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248369) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3267.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248356) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3268.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247262) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3270.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247325) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3272.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247331) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3272.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247331) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3274.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247381) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3276.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248336) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3278.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247463) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3279.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248306)

During the week, Faron got the trench prepped for or first field line to fields 4 and 5.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3277.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248319)
And progress getting the lines in.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3336.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248134) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3337.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248122)

Faron also finished a regrade where there was a washout problem and built this water retention structure to hold the runoff. There is a gravel layer close below so we are hoping to just run the water in and let it percolate down without any erosion.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3327.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247967)

Also some nature stuff. We got up to 116 on Saturday and 115 on Sunday. Today I'm down heat sick. :( It got up to around 140 in the greenhouse. We need to get our plants out in the new fields where it is nice and cool. A roadrunner joined us in the shade for about an hour, taking up residence right next to Mihon.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3297.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247821)

Dawn Sunday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3298.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247847)

At least the eats were good. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3299.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465247873)

Saguaros are still growing, but the high heat seems to be slowing them. Here you can see a couple of bent spines that mark the end of growth in the fall and beginning in this spring. They get bent when they stop and start growing again.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3281.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248253)

Also discovered a large colony of purple martins that have taken up residence in holes in 3 saguaros on the north end of the hill. Pretty neat.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3301.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248178) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3302.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465248164)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. ;D


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3342.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926198)
Got the new line with risers squared up and shaded for the backhoe to backfill. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Things are looking good in the greenhouses.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3341.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926184) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3372.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926080)
The gallons, especially are growing as well as I have ever seen them, and with minimal bug losses. We have at least 8000 plants ready to go into fields 4 and 5.

We got a burst of moisture this weekend. Here is how it goes.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3343.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925331) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3344.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926168) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3345.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926156) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3353.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925520) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3350.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925514)
We got a big dose of water with an accumulated rainfall total of 0.015".

While hand digging around the tanks to expose our waterlines I'm telling Mihon that we need to be really careful so we don't poke a hole in the black poly feed line. I think that was about the time when I felt the pick poking through one side. Wittled a goof plug from a scrap pine piece lying around and locked it into place with a hose clamp. FIXT and not a drop of leakage.
;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
More digging in the mostly rock dirt and sat our digging bar, a repurposed jackleg bit against the tank. Seems it didn't like that spot, slid over and hit the sun baked pipe exiting the full water tank...

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3346.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926143) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3348.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925499)
... thereby creating the manmade lake Robert. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

A rather short lived lake. We didn't see any fish.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3354.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926114)
Here we are all fixed up and ready to connect to the new feed lines. ;D


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3357.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925534)
sunset



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3361.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925561)
sunrise



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3364.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925606) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3369.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925907)
View to south across fields 3 and 2.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3370.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925925)
View to the west across the new greenhouse pads. The greenhouse parts should be arriving at the ranch today.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3371.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926091)
Some nice afternoon light.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3373.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926068) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3367.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465925679) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3378.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1465926050)
Hasta la bye bye until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Moving forward in spite of the killer heat. ;D :-\ :-\ :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3400.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466484539)
Lots of hand digging the rock dirt to hook up to the tanks with the new water line. Fortunately Farin had loosened it up with the backhoe, but still lots of work. Got a couple of young guys to help, but they still need to learn how to work. :(
The old man had to show them by outworking them both. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3402.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486517) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3401.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486532)
Lines run through and ready to hook up.

Farin also got the field lines backfilled. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3399.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486548)

Got a little warm...

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3404.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486504)
So we found this place. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3405.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486492) 

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Artesian well swimmin' hole and an acre or so lake filled with the overflow. About a 6-8" diameter flow of 85 degree water year round. Ahhhhhh

Came back to the hill around 5 and got the pipes all hooked up. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3411.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486435)
... and all the field lines flushed out. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3409.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486476) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3410.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486448)

So much for  the cool day. Here is it's end.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3412.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466485082)

Saturday night the skeeters got mighty hungry, so sleeping was not so easy. The kissing bugs joined the party too. And the chiggers. >:(

Checked the thermometer around sunrise, 58.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3416.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466485113)

Sun felt hot as soon as it came up. 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3417.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466485125)
My eyes and lungs were burning. You could see smoke coming down the valley from the north. Here is the smoke over the Catalinas.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3414.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486415)
There is a big fire up in the White Mountains probably 150 miles away.

One of the young men went to one of those Texas hunting farms and got a Dall sheep last week, so he brought us some chorizo made from it. I guess you could call this a Dall sheep machaca. Chorizo, taters, sweet tater, onion with a bunch of eggs cooked into it. Almost forgot. Also a couple of those little smokin' hot peppers for that special Yee Haaaa. Sort of like grits for the desert southwest. ;D

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3419.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466486391)
Made a lot, but not too many leftovers. ;D

Sunday was the really hot day. 111 by 10 am, 113 at 10:30, 116 by 11am.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3420.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1466485213)
This is what hot looks like. That was enough for me. Already felt crappy by then. Got out of there around noon then drove 2 hours in my unconditioned truck. Pretty messed up by the time I got home. It was bouncing around from 113 to 116 driving. Even 104 in Oracle at 4500ft. Ugh....

I'll check the thermometer when we go back on Saturday, but I'm guessing like 118 or so.

That has to be the most awesome swimming hole I've ever seen!
The Cedar Creek fire that is choking you is about 10 miles from us. It's up to 40,000 acres today.

It is pretty nice. ;D

Happy Birthday. ;D ;D ;D

With that dry climate I wouldn't think a mosquito would have a chance.  ;D

Around here when the sun gets high and 75 or hotter the mosquitoes hide. Lots of deer flies by then though. But I got them covered this year. Got a decent netting that has an opening that by goggles fit over and a sweet band to keep my eyes from burning from sweet. Long sleeved polyester shirt.  It's someone going with his biohazard suit on.  ;D

Quote from: SwampDonkey on June 22, 2016, 04:32:43 PM
With that dry climate I wouldn't think a mosquito would have a chance.  ;D

There is quite a bit of leakage at the connection heads for the sideroll irrigation at the field below us = swamp. Also we get water accumulating in the greenhouse plastic when we roll up the sides of the greenhouses. Usually it's too hot there for them to make it, but we try to poke holes for drainage anyway. I think most of them are coming up from below. Also they thrive in cattle tanks.

I remember being in the Colorado Desert west of the Arizona line in California and we got eaten alive in a place with maybe a 3-4" annual rainfall. Probably a nearby water tank or waterhole. I never saw either but the skeeters had no problem finding us. :(

I had a conversion with someone out west of there in California in some dry area there. Said he only seen maybe 2 mosquitoes all the time he's been there. But who knows, sometimes people like to let on to. :D

Then again some people hardly go out doors unless it's to the car or lawn mower. :D

 Habanero's in the fixins  ;D

These are just a bit warmer. They are chiltepin hybrids. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: :snowball: 8) 8)

If that wet spot was another 1/2 mile away we would have very few of them. It is only a couple hundred yards. :( >:( :(

 The well pump died last Saturday (last week) night at 10 pm. That's when the tanks stopped filling up. No big deal. Just need to pull it all out, replace the bowls, the oil tubes the packing and top bearings and the motor. That would be everything but the well shaft and casing. :( :( :(

Andy got some used bowls, motors and knows somebody who can do the machine work for cheap. Andy is a world class scrounger and improviser. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Hope to be up and running again on Thursday. :-\

Meanwhile, back up on Saguaro Hill...



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3448.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467067774)
Just got delivery of 3 new greenhouse frames, hardware and plastic. Still need to get shadecloth, wood, concrete and plastic securing hardware.

Since we couldn't do any watering and had lots of help, we decided to hit the field prep hard. The arrival of great grandpa's stoneboat was a big help. Hard part was getting the help off the boat and picking up rocks. >:( ;D

To be fair that is the best part.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3445.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467068300) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3447.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467067789) 

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 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3461.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467067649)
Also does a great job crushing clods and smoothing out the field.  ;D The sharp rocks are really chewing hard on the bottom though. :o

Mihan demonstrating his telekinetic powers. :o :o :o ::) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3462.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060233)

It really takes a lot out of him though. ::)

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3463.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060294)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3451.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467067746) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3452.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467059985)
2 sets built.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3463.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060294)

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 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3473.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060618)
That is 2100 new saguaros for field 4. ;D

And no, I didn't forget pretty pictures.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3454.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060037)
The monsoon has arrived. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3456.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467067687)
Oh Yeah!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3455.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060121)

Cacti growing and happy.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3458.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060136)
Saturday sunset.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3471.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060574) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3472.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467060618)
Until next time.  ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Looking good  :)

Moving again, at least. ;D

 I do not miss that boat at all  ;D .

Rock pickers are easier but way less fun. ;D

 Amazing all the work you guys get done in the heat....... :-\   :o 

But you know it just ain't easy. fiddle-smiley smile_banjoman smiley_hillbilly_tub_base smiley_fiddler Violin_smiley smiley_alcoholic_01 smiley_sun smiley_sweat_drop

Back at it again with an actual crew. ;D The planters have planted over 1000 of the saguaros we set out last week. I think the 1.5" of rain and soft soil helped in that aspect.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3510.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811674)
This is the first serious rain in months and the weeds are getting very happy. >:( Nice to see the desert greening though.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3512.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467810961) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3511.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467810973)

Lots of moisture moving in Friday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3514.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811013) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3513.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811044)
Manny and Rose hard at it planting.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3515.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811135)
Death Lean part 2. All it needed was wet ground to let go. :(

It got a little scary on Friday afternoon. Darlene called to say we got 3" at the house in 45 minutes at the house and my office was flooding. :( :( :( :-X :snowball: The ranch was downstream of Tucson that day. Here is the sky. Lots of spinning and dipping but the intervening mountains took a lot of the water out of the storm. Tried to load a panorama of the storm but the system won't seem to take them even though they are under the size limit. :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3517.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811187) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3518.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811654) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3519.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811286) 

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 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3521.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811376)

Even though we only got 0.3", but quick, we ended up with a bunch of field puddles in field 4. Puddles make for dead saguaros, so problem. The worst one was 5" deep in the deepest part and had a few hundred saguaros inside it. :o :o :o :( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3522.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811499)
Here Mihan and Robert are finishing up the ditches to drain it out the nearest berm. Seems that the fill in the deeper fill areas is settling, more so with the water.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3523.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811515)
Here is our weak attempt to regrade the field with the stone boat and hauled in dirt. Faron came up and will do regrading with the road grader this week to improve things. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:


Sunrise Saturday.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3524.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811530) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3525.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811559)

By the way stone boating can be fun even if you have to pick up rocks. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3528.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467811632)

Had to come home and get my picking supplies and Mr Longarm with my special modified paint roller on the top...

Picking saguaro fruit.

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 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3533.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821836)

A pile of work.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3534.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821692) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3535.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821477)
Cleaning.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3536.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821803)
After mooshing.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3537_2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821871)
Straining the seeds.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3538_2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821845)
Making use of the juice.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3538_2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821845) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3539.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821860)
Saguaro syrup. Was supposed to be jelly but somebody was not patient. >:( :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3541.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1467821788)
Delivery of more work yesterday. Shadecloth for 3 new greenhouses.

Until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

You've gotten way more rain than we have! It's still dry up here--still under fire restrictions.  >:(
We did get enough rain last weekend to put out the Cedar Creek fire. Hopefully you won't be choking on our smoke anymore.  ;D

Now we are dried up again. No rain forecast for at least a week and a half. The monsoon is dried out even in Mexico. :(

Making more forward progress. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3544.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187353)
Getting a fence built on our east side. ;D

And all I had to do is mark out its route with orange flagging tape and give a colony of killer bees a nice, warm bath. ;D



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3546.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187376) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3545.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187351)
Our dusty, smokey air make the sunsets even more intense than usual.


 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3547.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187401) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3551.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468188157)
And our sunrises.


Some of us are less impressed with this than others.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3549.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187414)

Putting out drip tape.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3553.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187515) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3552.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187571) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3555.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468188149)

A new water/erosion control basin next to the new greenhouses.

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3554.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187649)

On a darker note, this robber fly sucked Robert's brain out through his hat. :( :( :(

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3556.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468188132)

Close to another 2000 plants out to field 4. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3557.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187744) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3558.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468188119) 

 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3559.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187796) 
The long hours and 108° heat has done Robert in.




 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3560.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1468187790)
Until next time.
;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball: