Despite the routine nature of caring for animals and growing a garden, every day has its adventures.  Sometimes they are small, such as today when I lost the roosters.  I looked all around the back yard, and they were nowhere to be found.  I checked the front yard to see if they got out, and nothing there.  I tried the paddock and the riding arena and no roosters there.  I checked the shed too.  They were not in the cat house…  I was surprised I didn’t find them there!  I admit that I did not look in the West 30, but by the time I had walked all over looking around for them, who could be bothered?  A couple hours after giving up, they turned up running around the back yard again.  Where had they hid?  I may never know! 

I have the veggie garden on a watering schedule now of every other day after sunset.  That igve the water all night to feed the plants! 

I have been in this…  uh, shall we call it a discussion?  …with my grandparents about the watering schedule for the pine trees that separate the main yard from the West 30.  They have been insisting on water every three days.  Obviously we are trying to cut the water bill here, but the grandparents are the ones that paid $50 or so per tree, and they want them kept in good health.  So what is good heath?

The grandparents have always said the trees were Desert Pine.  There are a few other names for such trees, including Afghan Pine.  A search online turned up information to the end that these trees need watering every three days for their first year, but after that they only need a deep watering once every three to four weeks.  Pretty excited about this news am I!  I think I need to do some work around the bases of the trees to keep the water concentrated in their area rather than letting it run off and away from the trees.  Circular mounds a few inches high and circling the base of each tree ought to sort that out! 

Next I researched another type of tree on the property.  Mesquite trees also excited me quite a lot because their water requirements seem to be less than that of the Desert Pine.  Why?  they have a tap root, which I suppose is like the long root you get when pulling a weed out, and thought the tree only reaches 20 to 30 feet high, the tap root can reach as far as 130 feet below the surface of the ground.  In many places these trees grow, this is below the water table, down to where a well would be dug to, so while there may be no water on the surface, the tree could be living quite well on the water below the surface. 

Despite the good news, especially about the Desert Pine, I do need to remember to water my wife’s flowers in the front yard!  Forget that, and you can bet that the Prospering Peasant will be known as the late Prospering Peasant!