The Drought is now in full swing...

There has been a lot happening or rather, not happening outside the tiny trailer walls these last few weeks.  I am happy to report the snake activity has gone passive - yea!

I am unhappy to report I am losing the garden battle - yes, it feels like a war and I am losing.

I keep wondering HOW anyone grew enough food to eat?

This is all that is left and even some of what is in the tires or buckets is GONE.  I had beautiful squash plants growing and within a few hours, they were burned, eaten, or all together dead.

This is one of the few that did not completely die.  I sawed the bottoms off of these 5 gallon buckets to keep the rabbits out - and that worked.  But the grasshoppers can still get in.

The combo that seems to work the best is the tire + grate over the top.  My lettuce is the only thing that has really thrived - though it is in a different location than everything else.

I will say it has been more than a bit disheartening to have so much hard work go away in the blink of an eye over things I have no control over.

What is strange is others are having success in similar set ups without all the tire/bucket/water bottle additions.

But what is important is how much I am learning about what does and does not work that when I am able to do this "next" time I will know much more clearly how to begin it all in the first place.

There have been several false starts.  Though I am sure all the bugs and rodents feel they have had a very successful summer so far!

This is one of the cows that had been escaping from the neighbor - as you can see from her hips she is starving... hence the escaping.  That is a baby underneath her.  Somehow she has kept going on very little food and nursing at the same time.

It's been a few weeks since I took this picture.  The adults are all gone, just the babies are left.  This neighbor is not a good steward of land or animal.  It's hard to watch and there is very little to do about it.

Here on our property things are getting fairly dire - the cows now are being supplemented with hay.

There is a big tank of water close to the trailer, so I see them for several hours each day when they come in to refill.  They can take on as many as 30+ gallons in one drink!

And finally, here is my friend, #123.  He is always front and center when we come out.  He will get close, though rarely will sniff or lick my hand.  He seems curious about me and Freedom more than anything, but he is definitely our #1 cow pick at this point!

That is about it for our generic update.  I am still trying to work out the kinks and figure some things out. 

The heat is about to descend big time, again.  The land is SO dry - I am in full pray for rain mode.  In a few weeks that natural monsoon season is set to begin, but there is a desperation you can feel from the ground up.

We will see you soon from here out on the prairie and if you have a moment, pray for a bit of rain too!

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