We are jumping right in to summer - from a frost just last night to a possible high of 87 degrees this afternoon. I hope we can take the heat! We have been working steadily on the landscaping around the house this spring and are spreading mulch and moving perennials and shrubs as fast as we can to get done by Memorial Day weekend. We are working toward reducing maintenance around the house as the fruits and garden need time and the farm chores and packing and farmers markets consume us in the summer months. The plants that seem to weed themselves are the most welcome to stay or be grouped together in a larger patch. The blueberrries are blooming, the raspberries are all leafed out and the grapevines are just starting to leaf and have small flower buds.

Tonight is a special occasion: Aaron Gabriel of Cornell Cooperative Extension is giving a Pasture Walk to talk about forages, growing grasses and feed crops. He is the grazing specialist of the extension agents and has a few beef cattle himself at home. We were proud he asked us to be the hosts of the event. So we'll be walking around identifying plants and seeing which ones the cows are eating and which ones they leave behind. The Soil and Water group brought the no-till seeder equipment that they rent to farmers around the area to show at the event. The seeds are tucked in the soil in many crevices made by a set of spinning discs that do not tear up the sod but just make a series of cuts through it to sow. The seeds for grasses that are spread in a field generally must touch the soil to germinate and grow so this seeder is a low impact way to incorporate other grasses into your pastures. Our tractors are so old that they are not powerful enough to pull the new newer equipment! Oh well, maybe we'll rent someone to seed for us someday. We never did do the frost seeding of the clover this spring!

Happy Memorial Day, Nan