Rants Ramblings and Other Nonsense

Controlling, isolating, and identification of the monsters that are downright evil. Kochia (IronWeed) kochia scoparia L This nasty beast grows rapidly in many soil types and takes only minimal moisture to germinate and establish a rapidly penetrating taproot. It starts in late winter and early spring, and seedlings are tolerant of moderate freezing.  Germination continues throughout the growing season from March to September. It causes problems in non tilled and established production areas. It originated in Russia and was introduced to the US in the late 1800's. It can grow to heights of six feet or more with adequate moisture. Kochia can concentrate chemicals such as nitrates which are toxic at higher levels to sheep, goats, and cattle. It can be an issue if other forage is not available and at later stages of plant maturity. Prolific seed production, and the ability for seeds to lie dormant for many years, make it an obnoxious plant in forage and past...

Dairy farms going out of business, processors losing customers, over production, higher producing cows are all things that have been repeated over and over again. It happened in the 1960's,70's, 80's. Small processors closed and markets were lost. Retailers vertically integrated to processing their own milk. Large dairy co-op's swallowed smaller ones. Executives of processors flew around the country in corporate jets, dined in the finest restaurants, and stayed in the best hotels. They enjoy huge salaries and benefits that do not reflect the prices the dairy producers receive or their performance reviews. (If indeed they do exist)? Federal Market Orders are antiquated and in conflict with the market stability they claim to create.  Labor issues loom, immigration laws and regulations are thrown around like a ball on a Rugby field with no concern for the needs of food producers. Large retailers require their suppliers to meet more and more fad and fear driven standa...

My friend (Montessa) stands in the riparian corridor along the banks of the West Walker River. She stands in a grove surrounded by family members and offspring of various ages. The birthdate or germination date, as it is described for plants, coincides with the years when the river flows overtopped the banks. She consists of three separate trunks that emerged from a single root system.  Surviving through droughts that were severely stressful and floods that washed away soils in which some of my roots had formed. Her foliage has provided shade on hot summer days and nest platforms for Blue Herons, Redtail Hawks, Magpies, and some species of songbirds. A beaver has found my bark quite tasty, but gave up thankfully. I really didn't appreciate him try to cut me down.  The trees that line the banks help stabilize floodplain soils. They share the riparian area with other plant species, that includes native grass, sage, buffalo berry, wild rose, and wild golden cur...

A plant out of place is a simple definition of a "Weed". First of all how did I get to that position which was out of place? Some possibility exists that I was hauled there in a truck or trailer, or maybe stuck to a car tire. Maybe I was just taken to that place in a car with the more desirable species, just tagging along. Maybe a bird carried me there, or maybe the wind. Well I grew undetected and flourished in all my glory. Then one day this noise, and all of a sudden I was separated from my roots by a very sharp knife. Well after being beaten around and being detached from my foliage, the journey to the seed processing plant began. What an experience it was. The tumbling, blowing, and falling through all those screens, still attempting to hide with all the good guys. I had no idea at the time that I was a weed seed in what was to become a field of bright yellow flowers. My size and shape was different in this cozy bag of seed, but I still fit in so to speak. I found myself...

Here we are on the last day of Standard Time in the United States, and we change our clocks tonight, moving them forward an hour. I will just loose an hour of sunlight in the morning and arbitrarily gain it in the afternoon. Is that stupid or what? The most frustrating part is that my internal body clock does not change, no it just adjusted to the Spring change about a month ago.  Why do we do this? Is it just to remind us that we must follow our governing masters? I have heard that people have more daylight to enjoy after working hours and I find that to be an absolute joke. Using the lights in the morning and not in the afternoon has not prevented electrical brownouts late in day in summer, so what could it be. Could it be just another example of how absolutely displaced from reality our governing bodies in Washington, DC are. I think it has a greater possibility of being true than some other options. Kids will now be getting on the school busses and walking to scho...