Wild Horse Ranch & Farm Deeth NV

Letters to a Poet Oct 13th

What a year. So much completed with a lot left to do next year. Next year the big item is finish the upstairs in the tall building and start / finish the small greenhouse before planting season. I hope to use the Toyota for all the Jeep road travel next year to save the Ram 3500 which was not built for the rough roads. I feel blessed to have what i have and to be in my situation. Do well.

Letters to a Farmer: Oct 7th

Large lightning storm almost burnt the ranch t the ground. Started over 20 plus fires with the largest near Deeth. That was a long tough night and i am so grateful to the short rain storm that calmed things down. It is so dry out here this year. The big move before winter is getting the Toyota in good working shape for cold weather and running in the snow and mud. Have not decided if we are heading south or dealing with the cold at the ranch.

Letters to a Farmer: Sept 25th

The weather got a bit colder and wind so far up to 40 knots. Yep. that means dust and dirt and i am dusty and dirty. Been out working on the farm planting large amounts of buckwheat. About 400 pounds already planted. The cows are gone and the dog is happy, So am I. The number of bugs is on the rise and i hope it keeps growing. Very little to no chemicals on the ranch and i think that helps. As for rabbits. Everywhere this year..

Letters to a Farmer: Sept 24th

Time is flying by but the weather is still summer. Got hot enough today that had to stop working on the farm (planting about 200 pounds of buckwheat cover). The cows are back minus the calves. Not sure how many crossed the river but i figure around 100 or so. The Phillips allotment is about 130,000 acres so that is not much visual. But.. they seem to love to hang around the outpost. Hope to finish the buckwheat planting tomorrow. See how it goes. Tomorrow is also the day to explore on the bike the new possible way to the freeway. The current route is a joke and bad for the van. See what happens.

Letters to a Farmer Sept 23rd:

Monday the dog and i drove into town concerned about the ABS on the van. AI had me blow out the inside wheels with my air compressor. That seemed to fix it. Mechanic could not find anything except boat load of stored codes. Stayed over night in the Truck stop so i could visit a doctor. Don't trust the medical system. It is hard to appreciate the profit model. Starting soil work tomorrow.

Letters to a Farmer Sept 18th

The dust storms, wind as high at 60 plus mph and cold weather out of nowhere returned. Finished up the generator building with what i had left. Truss work left to do but need lumber. Changed oils and started working on the buckwheat planting and till work in the farm.

Letters to a Farmer Sept 16th

My first thought is why do the good days go so fast and seem so seldom. The super hot days are gone and so are the super cold. This year has brought on both. Everything is so dry. Dust is everywhere. When the wind blows it is impossible. The van is broken again. The road coming into the place is terrible.

Letters to a Farmer Sept 10th:

The clouds started to show up this morning. By late afternoon the wind showed up and it was dust everywhere. I was foolish and took a shower.. but.. heck it was nice and warm outside. The wind hit 58 mph high.. gust are short lived. The generator building is almost done. Go to town to pickup my roofing panels and screws then do my best fitting the roof. Fingers crossed.

Letter to a Farmer Sept 1st:

Starting to clean up the farm, dig stuff under and get the soil ready for cover crop. The generator building is coming along well and yes i blew it when it comes to the construction of the Truss.. but I think the building will help block the wind from the tall building, protect the generators. Dog is having fun. She misses the cattle and other creatures. She did kill another rabbit. Still dry as a bone even though some light rain fell. I still get super dirty from dust.

Letters to a Farmer August 29th:

A bit of rain and cooler weather joined us last couple days. It was over 100 with a high of 112 in the last 8 weeks so the cooler temps much appreciated. I started some test planting with different soil management ideas. See how that goes. Also been working on the power building hoping to add the rest of the roof in the next week or so. Life and conditions are amazing right now.

Letters to a Farmer: August 14th

The drought and tough road conditions have taken their toll. Last Sunday the radiator had a small hole in it so today took it in for its new radiator. In the process something went wrong. During my trip home with the van the radiator fan assembly fell out .. on the ground .. see the picture.. rough long tough day.

Letters to a Farmer: August 10th

Wild weekend with a very important visitor, Bryon and the Van radiator failing due to rocks, dust and a crazy driver. Tons of run riding with Bryon out to the Indian Allotment area and talking about AI and Ultra running. Some amazing technology that will serve the running community well. Last, the generator building will be completed on time even with the challenges due to radiator failure. The sidings on the walls are up and the roof is next.

Letters to a Farmer: August 3rd

Hot as hot can be with yesterday over 108 but given the amount of fire smoke we are only 93 today. The final harvest has started. No more plants because we are out of water. I have enough water to make it to mid next week. See farm page for details.

Letters to a Farmer: August 1st

Average daily temp above 105 with a high this week of 112. It might get to 115 today. Most of the farm is harvested. Tough to get anything done.. not safe..

Letters to a Farmer: July 19th

Went into town this morning at 5am. Got what we needed and returned around 10:30 to find the place packed with cows .. and little ones... They know when we leave.. so they hide in the shade and near odd things to scratch. Hot as hell again.

Letters to a Farmer: July 17th

Hot. Hot. Way too hot to get much done. Hoping for some cooler weather. Good news is there is less sunshine every day.

Letters to a Farmer: July 14th

Bee Flies doing pollinating. That is super cool. Pack Rat getting me sick and being a pain and super hot weather. We are running out of water. Tough times for sure but much has gone well.

Letters to a Farmer: July 10th

So the repair phase has begun. The covers left off most of the older plants and no issues with rabbits or other creatures.. or at least yet. Found 100 plus gallons of water.. wow.. that was wonderful and fire clearing is coming along well.

Letters to a Farmer: July 6th

Most important is the lack of a gopher or family of gophers. It is so nice getting up and not spending hours trying to hold the creatures back. Running out of water and what time i have doing fire clearing. The tools to clear fire brush needs to be improved.

Letters to a Farmer : July 3rd

So it is really July 4th and the report is simple. The gopher has no activity for two days. It seems the pellets are working and the little guys are gone for now. I spent the morning putting dirt back into 30 feet of tunnels.. fingers crossed. The damage is gigantic.

Letters to a Farmer: July 2nd

The audio gives some hope regarding the gophers. They work hard to rebuild what i tear apart. We are trying bate tonight. Fingers crossed.

Letters to a Farmer: June 25th. Hot, dry and fire ready

Yep, could use some moisture. The farm is making progress and Gopher is still kicking ass.

Letter to a Farmer: June 22nd Noon

Well not much changed. No water. A few minor drops of rain and some dry lightning. In any case every single living animal is trying to eat everything i have growing.

Letters to a Farmer: June 18th evening

Well the gopher has not shown up for two days. The farm is a small set of what it started out as. The weather is super hot and tomorrow is critical fire day.

Letters to a Farmer: June 16th

Hot as hell. Running low on water and gopher has returned.. stronger and smarter than last time.

Letters to a Farmer: June 15th

No gopher damage or tunnels this morning. Yesterday i dug up another 6 feet and i think the memo was sent out .. go somewhere else.. yes!! first time in weeks no damage. Lost over 100 plants to these guys..

Letters to a Farmer: June 14th Afternoon

Gopher work is yielding big learning. 1. Heavy cultivating keeps them away cause tunnels fall apart. 2. dig up their tunnels and they go away. A lot of work. Much learning.

Letters to a Farmer: June 13th evening

Busy day. Dug up about 50 feet of tunnel and did more damage. Tons of possible tunnels. I have no idea what the gopher will do tonight.

Letters to a Farmer: June 13th AM

Gophers ate more squash and i started the insane project of following and digging up all of their tunnels.

Letters to a Farmer: June 12th, Trauma Bonding with the Boys!

Trip to Wells to get something to get rid of my gopher which is kicking my butt hard core and laughing at the same time. I even got up at 3am. Darn.

Letters to a Farmer: June 11th

Well the gopher is sorta winning. The hawk managed to get a few other large mole / creatures.. but .. not my gopher. Lost some squash last night due to 22 degree freeze. Weather this year has been insane.

Letters to a Farmer: June 8th

Mostly good news. Not as much wind and much is growing. Much is planted and soon more to plant.

Letters to a Farmer: June 7th Tornado

Well, last night was exciting, shocking and damaging. But like all things out in the middle of nowhere you fix what you can and move forward. Gopher seems to have moved.

Letters to a Farmer: June 6th AM

Yesterday was supply day and mostly water day. It was super hot and dry around 6% hum . Tough on the farm but some of the beans started to come up. The gopher is doing less damage but ate most of the bush beans in one row. Plus we had an antelope.

Letters to a Farmer: June 4th

The wind died down from yesterday. I managed to secure all the boxes due to a large i mean large rabbit in the area eating all the things i want eaten. Most important i think we have something working regarding Mole / Gopher.