Here comes the rain and the events

Well, it’s officially June, but last week it was more like the beginning of winter again. Actually, it seems winter never really ended.

My garden loves it. The fields are green and the fire danger is low for awhile. But it’s bound to change as it’s early in the season. If it’s not mowed, when that tall green grass turns brown, there could be a serious fire danger ahead.

Speaking of greenery along the roadside, I was on the road a short time ago coming back from Sacramento and somewhere north of there, maybe below Maxwell, anyway the median was wide and level. What really surprised me were dozens and dozens of huge round bales of grass hay harvested along with rectangular-shaped, one ton bales sitting there just waiting to be loaded for farm use, I would suspect. This scene went on for miles and miles it seemed.

What a great concept. Green stuff grows…there anyway, so why not put it to good use if it has to be mowed? It must have been a variety that the natural rainfalls bring up.

Hopefully the government isn’t selling it to the farmers. Hopefully it’s a fair deal for the farms and ranches in that part of the state. I went online to try to find out who was doing it, but only found another person’s observation like mine posted on a Highway Median theme. This person, like me, wondered if it magically grew for no particular reason other than perhaps erosion control, or if it was hay seed planted by the government or a farmer who perhaps rented the land from the government. Hopefully somebody who actually knows will make a comment about it so those of us who are curious, will have that curiosity satisfied.

The one thing that is perfect about it is so much of the grasses that grows in the medians everywhere has typically gone to waste in the past, mowed and left to blow away. Hopefully it will be put to good use wherever and whenever possible.

This year’s rainfall should certainly provide an abundance of vegetation to be composted into worthwhile use. With all of the recycling that is happening, composting is a good idea if you have the land to store what you mowed, raked, or picked up from your livestock.

Now for those spring events…hope the weather is mild as there’s much ahead to participate in and around the North State. Both area rodeos survived the storms, and leaders of other activities are hoping to fare as well.

It won’t be long before the Shasta District Fair is back again and of course this year I have a special interest in the junior livestock section as my grandson and his lamb will be put to the test. You never know for sure what you will end up with when you raise market animals. It’s up to the livestock judge to decide what he or she likes to see in each particular category. All I know is that the weather was kind to this lamb, cool enough when the wool was longer and warmed up when the animal was sheared for the first time.

With a roof over its head and a breezeway to circulate air, shavings on the floor, it’s been a good life for the critter that has dominated the horse barn for the past few weeks.