Hopefully everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend and had the opportunity to enjoy the warm up either by spending time with family or by getting field work done. With the warm up there has been significant progress in planting and previously planted crops, especially corn had grown rapidly as we acquire some heat units. As always be careful out there on the roads, lets end the planting season on a safe note as we get nearer to the end.
Over the long weekend I returned to southern Ohio to help with the farming operation. We vaccinated our ewes and turned out the rams for the breeding season. The estrus cycle for an ewe is 17 days, so we will let the rams work until about July 10th. That will allow for lambing late November and early December. We can the market lambs at that age around the different spring time holiday markets.
As I made my drive back to Napoleon on Monday evening planting progress varies tremendously. In southern Ohio they are about even with Henry County as steady rain has been a set back. But from I-70 to US 30 most of the crops are in the ground. Livestock farmers are shifting gears to focus on forages both haylage and dry hay. Most of the alfalfa has decent height across the state and NDF levels should be pretty good as well. As for grass or mixed hay it is a different story. Most of the grass has booted and produced seed, the longer producers wait to make grass hay the poorer the quality will be.
On the horticulture side of things, I have noticed that peonies are in bloom in our area. I remember the peony bushes being a favorite of my grandmothers at her home in Fairfield county. The common garden peony grows to around 3′ tall and about as wide. The foliage is a nice dark green and barring any disease problems in the early spring, looks good all summer long in the perennial border. The blooms normally appear in mid to late May and last for around 2 weeks depending upon the temperature. The flowers are up to 6″ across and come in a wide variety of colors; there are also single and double flowering cultivars. Some peonies need support to stay upright since their blooms can be too heavy. Many cultivars have blooms with incredible fragrance as well. Once the blooms have faded, deadhead the blooms by cutting the bloom stems below the level of the foliage. If plants gets lanky or floppy during the growing season, shear the plants about 1/3 of the way back.
Lastly, the Henry County Master Gardeners will have their annual perennial sale during the 424 Yard Sales. They will be stationed in the parking lot of the Civic Center in Napoleon. Stop by and pick up your perennial plants and bring along any horticulture questions that you may have.
I’ll end this week with a quote from Archibald Alexander: “Nature never makes any blunders, when she makes a fool she means it.” Have a great week.
June 18 – Henry Co. Beef Quality Assurance