Aforestation of the stickery kind

[mesquite buckeye]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. ;D


 
Got the new line with risers squared up and shaded for the backhoe to backfill. ;D 8) 8) 8)

Things are looking good in the greenhouses.

  

 
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.

  

  

  

  

 
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)
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...

  

 
... thereby creating the manmade lake Robert. ;D 8) 8) 8)

A rather short lived lake. We didn't see any fish.



 
Here we are all fixed up and ready to connect to the new feed lines. ;D


 
sunset



 
sunrise



  

 
View to south across fields 3 and 2.



 
View to the west across the new greenhouse pads. The greenhouse parts should be arriving at the ranch today.


 
Some nice afternoon light.

  

  

 
Hasta la bye bye until next time. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[mesquite buckeye]

Moving forward in spite of the killer heat. ;D :-\ :-\


 
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



  

 
Lines run through and ready to hook up.

Farin also got the field lines backfilled. ;D

 

Got a little warm...

 
So we found this place. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

  

 
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

 
... and all the field lines flushed out. ;D

  

 

So much for  the cool day. Here is it's end.

 

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.

 

Sun felt hot as soon as it came up. 

 
My eyes and lungs were burning. You could see smoke coming down the valley from the north. Here is the smoke over the Catalinas.

 
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

 
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.


 
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.

[azmtnman]

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.

[mesquite buckeye]

It is pretty nice. ;D

Happy Birthday. ;D ;D ;D

[SwampDonkey]

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

[mesquite buckeye]

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. :(

[SwampDonkey]

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

[Ed_K]

 Habanero's in the fixins  ;D

[mesquite buckeye]

These are just a bit warmer. They are chiltepin hybrids. ;D 8) 8)

[mesquite buckeye]

If that wet spot was another 1/2 mile away we would have very few of them. It is only a couple hundred yards. :( >:( :(

[mesquite buckeye]

 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)

Hope to be up and running again on Thursday. :-\

Meanwhile, back up on Saguaro Hill...



 
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.



  

  

  

  

 
Also does a great job crushing clods and smoothing out the field.  ;D The sharp rocks are really chewing hard on the bottom though.

Mihan demonstrating his telekinetic powers. :

 

It really takes a lot out of him though. :

 



  

 
2 sets built.



 

 

  

  

 
That is 2100 new saguaros for field 4. ;D

And no, I didn't forget pretty pictures.

 
The monsoon has arrived. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)



 
Oh Yeah!!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)



 

Cacti growing and happy.



 
Saturday sunset.



  

 
Until next time.  ;D 8) 8) 8)

[OneWithWood]

Looking good 

[mesquite buckeye]

Moving again, at least. ;D

[Ed_K]

 I do not miss that boat at all  ;D .

[mesquite buckeye]

Rock pickers are easier but way less fun. ;D

[isawlogs]

 Amazing all the work you guys get done in the heat....... :-\    

[mesquite buckeye]

But you know it just ain't easy. smile_banjoman smiley_hillbilly_tub_base smiley_fiddler smiley_alcoholic_01

[mesquite buckeye]

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.

 
This is the first serious rain in months and the weeds are getting very happy. >:( Nice to see the desert greening though.



  

 

Lots of moisture moving in Friday.

  

 
Manny and Rose hard at it planting.



 
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. :( :( :( 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. :(

  

  

  

  

 

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. :(

 
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.

 
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)


Sunrise Saturday.

  

 

By the way stone boating can be fun even if you have to pick up rocks. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

Had to come home and get my picking supplies and Mr Longarm with my special modified paint roller on the top...

Picking saguaro fruit.

  

  

  

  

 

A pile of work.

  

 
Cleaning.



 
After mooshing.

 
Straining the seeds.


 
Making use of the juice.

  

 
Saguaro syrup. Was supposed to be jelly but somebody was not patient. >:(



 
Delivery of more work yesterday. Shadecloth for 3 new greenhouses.

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

[azmtnman]

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

[mesquite buckeye]

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. :(

[mesquite buckeye]

Making more forward progress. ;D



 
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



  

 
Our dusty, smokey air make the sunsets even more intense than usual.


  

 
And our sunrises.


Some of us are less impressed with this than others.

 

Putting out drip tape.

  

  

 

A new water/erosion control basin next to the new greenhouses.

 

On a darker note, this robber fly sucked Robert's brain out through his hat. :( :( :(

 

Close to another 2000 plants out to field 4. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

  

  

  
The long hours and 108° heat has done Robert in.




 
Until next time.
;D 8) 8) 8)

[mesquite buckeye]

Just another update in the continuing daytime drama of saguaro hill. Andy got the well all rebuilt and the replacement motor decided to burn up after a few hours of start up, cool down etc. Argh. Had to truck up water again to water the greenhouses. We might have gotten a bit in the fields, but I doubt enough. :( At last report still trying to make something work at the wellhead.



 
Layout for the next 2 sets in field 4.



 
Worked right up to dark to get it done.


But not without a nice refresher at the ole swimmin' hole.

 
Which now has a couple ducks to cut down on the bee stings.

 



 
And another sunset.... ;D

To be followed by a better sunrise... ;D

  

 

Lots of the plants we set out are now in the ground.

 

Field 4 will soon be done. About 5600 out in that field now. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

That brings us to over 20,000 plants in fields. ;D

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

[Ed_K]

 I'd call that swimming hole a garden of eden  ;D .

[mesquite buckeye]

Ees putey nice. ;D

[mesquite buckeye]

A little behind here on this post as a pokeymon go addiction has hit. :-\ :-\ :-\



  ]
Did I mention it is pretty here?