Kansas Dust Storm

Dateline October 6 2011

Ever heard of the "Dirty Thirties"? or the "Dust Bowl"?

For those of you who have never heard of this

 it was during 1930 to 1936 (and in some places to 1940)

where terrible dust storms blew across

the American and Canadian prairies.

It was caused by severe drought conditions and many 

years of poor land management.

If you'd like to read more on this you can go

HERE

Well starting on October 4th we had 3 days of what

I call a mild case of the "dirty thirties".

THIS is what we saw out our windows.

I didn't dare take my camera outside

until after it was all done blowing.

The only places that seemed to get hit by this

were the ones that were down wind of

fields that weren't planted with a second crop.

Because of our record breaking heat and drought conditions

this summer and fall and the fact that they cut down

the windbreaks to the south and west of us

and didn't plant those second crops

we got hit bad.

Just going outside to feed the chickens or collect eggs 

or run to the car got you grit in your teeth

and dust in your eyes and in your hair

not to mention make your

allergies flare!

Where the dogs would lay on the kitchen floor...

there was a little pile of powdered dirt.

That same stuff came into the house through a couple of 

places under our front door! 

When I realized what was happening I put a towel along

the bottom of the door but it was too late.

Some of that dust got into the house and I had JUST finished

dusting and vacuuming everything 

because my sister is coming to visit soon!

Oh well...I can't complain about being bored ;)

That pumpkin had just been put outside a couple of 

hours before this picture was taken...if that!

When I finally got outside to take pictures...every step I took blew up a dust cloud.

Below is how this stone is supposed to look.

When I went out to collect eggs at night while this was happening

it looked like a blizzard in the beam of my flashlight!

The poor plants were covered.

When you live in the country you expect dust.

We sure weren't expecting this though.

And here just before this happened I had gone around

and swept off all the window sills and porches 

and sidewalks and was thinking

"what a cute little clean cottage".

Two days later....it rained. For 3 days. 

Fortunately hubby had taken the leaf blower out and went

around the place blowing the dust off every surface he could!

We still ended up with a mess.

But hey...we finally got rain!

I'm connecting with Amy for 

Farm Friend Friday

Have a great weekend!

ps...things are finally turning green here after 1.5 inches of rain last weekend :)

Yes...3 days and only 1.5 inches of rain!

I'm sure I heard the tree's give a happy sigh though.

Que Sera Sera

The Trumpet Vine that's climbing up the weather vane that's seen better days.

It rained!

Yes we actually had a storm hit us

last evening and we got 

3/4 of an inch of rain.

I'm so happy.

That means I don't have to water 

2 or 3 times today!

Yesterday morning I took my camera out

and took some pictures around

the farm.

It was hard trying to find something

that looked nice as everything has 

about dried up from the drought

but at least I got a few shots

for you. 

I'm afraid we haven't been enjoying our

porch since spring as it's just 

been way too hot. 

You can see the dead looking grass

through the trellis.

The only plants that are doing well

are the petunia's I planted.

The perennials are looking pretty sick

with this heat.

This is how our 

Lilac Lane 

looks during a normal

summer.

This is what it looked like yesterday.

This is how the field across 

the road normally looks

in the summer.

This is how it looks this year. 

The farmer harvested the winter wheat

around mid June

but because of the drought 

he has not planted a second crop.

Most of the corn planted in our area 

has dried up and will only be good

for silage. 

The farmers with irrigation 

are the only ones who will profit this year.

Our pastures and lawns 

are yellow and crunch

when you walk on them.

The picture below is how they 

normally look this time of year.

The only thing in the garden that's

holding it's own is the watermelon

and melon vines.

Below is the only watermelon 

that's growing and it should be

HUGE by now!

These are rare heritage Kansas Melons

below.

This one should be ripe soon.

At least the garden hasn't been a total

loss this year. 

The tomato plants are HUGE 

but we've only gotten

a few tomatoes from 

2 plants out of the 10 

we planted. 

Oh well....que sera sera.

(what ever will be will be)

Hopefully when the temperatures cool down

and we get more rain we'll be enjoying

BLT'S and fried green tomatoes soon.

I hope you're enjoying a beautiful summer.

Maura :)