PowderBeard

Bit more banding in central Mass. UMass got 6-7" and we are about 8 miles east and grabbed 16" the second night and it was out area NE up to around Hubby.

69* comfortable dews, nice breeze. Summer of yore.

I couldn't complain about last winter after that storm. 26" total here and a 3-4" forecast turned into almost 16" on the night of the 2nd. I will never forget waking up at 4am and turning those porch lights on. Since I will likely be remote all winter and home with the baby I fully expect this winter to be cold and snowy so have double the amount of firewood ready compared to last year.

Wow, we have 1/3 of that just to your south.

This guy didn't seem to mind the thunder last night. Did a lap around the house, sniffed the compost pile, then back into the woods. Biggest I have ever seen. That wood pile is 12'x8'x6' VID_25311022_191650_839.mp4

Last day of using the central air for a bit. Liking this week.

Some crispy mornings in the 50s with windows open this week followed by some of the hottest weather of the summer. I like it.

Nice set up for some storms tomorrow in Mass and southern NH. The typical question remains, can we get junk out of the way in the morning and the sun to come out mid-day to get things firing later on.

Sleeper storms moving into the Valley.

Seriously. I don't understand why the Quabbin smallies are not deep yet. Holding in 10' grass flats. Should be on schools of bait over 30' by now. Everything is late. Reminds me of 2018, was catching 4+ smallies off docks on Great Pond in Maine in August, only the small fish were deep.

I'm just about done with trying clover. I truly don't know what it is up with it and I've done almost double the seeding. May 14 - Pretty sandy soil, 2 lbs of seeds, 0 clover. I truly mean not a single one. May 28 - Bring in 2 yards of loam, 2 pounds of seeds, this... Meanwhile...I can't get my lines straight.

Surprised to some small patches of fungus starting this week and even a mushroom. Time to cut to 3" and let it dry out some.

Really amazed with tall fescue's ability to withstand a lack of water (it also got hit with two rounds of Triclopyr to take out clover and chick-weed with no stress). Between rain and the sprinkler it has about 1.5" in the past 5 weeks. I have also been mowing 3.5-4" to help it keep what moisture is in the soil there.

Fish are all messed up at the Quabbin. Even with last year's cold spring the spawn was in full effect. Past 2 weeks all males on beds, almost all females are still off shore. Yet to see a pair on a bed even though the water is in the mid-60s. Went deep in 25-45' and got all bigger females. Given the bellies, they are either full of eggs or still early pre-spawn. Never seen anything like it.

Yea that is a lot to maintain. When did you throw it down? First time using milo on my own lawn so I'm curious how long the iron brings out the chlorophyll and keeps the dark green, most iron sprays only work for a week or so.

lol, only because June typically brings some heat. Hell you could spoon feed urea the next few weeks if you wanted to.

When do you all throw down grub controls? I know June is the time but I have not seen any beetles yet but it is June so they should be coming. Been monitoring the rose bushes for damage. Had a serious issue with them and just put down Bayer to kill them last fall and earlier this spring.

Right? That side of the drain side gets about 4 hours max, left gets about 3. I also do all organics on that side vs synthetics on the left. Neither get any additional water than what falls from the sky. Left side is just as dark but shorter and less dense. Both sides have only been mowed twice this year.

The baseline is 1" per week. I don't think there is much science behind it though because it depends on temps, soil type, time in the sun, etc. Most sprinkler systems and straight garden hoses (if the lawn is not massive) put that down in 1-2 hours (unless it was modified when the sod was put down), thus why I would check how much one watering cycle of yours puts down.

Quabbin is stupid right now. Maybe 5-10% of smallies are spawning, rest are eating jerkbaits on the edges of windy spawning flats like I've never seen before. Fished 1-4pm Wednesday and had over 40 smallmouth, only a couple under 2 pounds. Biggest went 4-13.

Threw this down last week instead of milo. It's a 5-5-0, has the slow release nitrogen and iron like milorganite plus phosphorus for the younger roots. The iron really evened out the color and it won't stop growing. Only watered three times in the last two weeks for about 30 minutes. The couple lighter spots are the chickweed/clover spots dying from the tricylopyr and all the damn things falling from the trees. Really need to mow and make a striping kit next, figure some pvc filled with sand or a heavy metal bar. Only 9 months from seed so still not quite where I want it. https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/1217185-estate-2500-sq-ft-36-lb-all-natural-5-5-0-fertilizer.html# My goal is to get it all as dark as this "test" patch of tall fescue I planted about 2 years ago. Hoping it is more to do with the age of the grass and not the difference in shade. Cut...damn rookie foot marks lol

Makes sense. Max height (I'm assuming 3.5 - 4") + a lot of water (30 minutes of night water that's likely just sitting on it) + warm wet temps = fungus. It's never drying out. Do you know what type of grass it is and how much sun it gets a day? I'd also put out some plastic containers before running then see how much water you're putting down. My guess is way too much, like exponentially too much. Once you figure out how much water you're putting down you can adjust. I was watering ~4 times a week for 15-25 minutes around noon time since I overseeded and noticed some yellowing a couple weeks ago in my older sections. Started cutting at 2.5", watering twice a week for 30 minutes, and no more yellowing.

How long ago did you put the sod down and what height are you mowing it at? I ask because that night time watering with the warmer temps and high dews this week can lead to fungus issues.

What have you done for lime apps in the past? I started throwing lime in June because my soil was acidic as well (think it was around 5.4) and it takes a while for lime to help (did 50lbs of pellets over my 2000 sq feet) in early June then again mid July. This formula and website was helpful although I did not follow it 100% in retrospect. https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/soil-acidity-and-liming-basic-information-for-farmers-and-gardeners#section_heading_7192 Then I aerated the soil (not lawn because there wasn't one and the soil was so compacted) and put a 4:1 mixture of the most screened loam I could find to sand in the areas that needed to come up. Was a lot of hauling 5 gallon buckets but worth it. I wish I had done the entire lawn this way because in the areas I did not I can notice a difference in color and density, I'll be digging out and doing those small spots this fall and re-doing them. This thing is a life saver for leveling.