sutton023

If you would like to know why your plants may be late in shipping, here's why: Decorah is the town we usually ship from - roads damaged, and out - At the moment; water is still rising; and it's raining again in a spotty but heavy fashion; I just got soaked to the skin in a downpour that was not on the radar when I went out to check the sheep fence. We're not flooding here, yet; but our ground is totally saturated; and our neighbors are in real emergency situations. Just so you know!

There is a radar picture to bring tears of joy to any meteorologist - it's absolutely classic, absolutely clear - and dangerous.  The kind of storm where they truly save lives, by giving warning in time.  This is known as a " bow echo " storm formation; because they resemble an archer's bow.  See that little white plus sign, just to the right of the middle of the bow?  That's Badgersett Farm; precisely. And that's absolutely the most dangerous place to be for one of these storms; and if you come this weekend for the Field Day - you'll see why.  That's where the most violent winds are; trained observers in Preston reported gusts over 70 mph (hurricane) for this storm; as I watched it, I was guessing 70 to 80 mph. From that Wikipedia entry: "Bow echoes are capable of producing straight-line winds that are just as strong as many tornadoes. A strong bow echo will produce more widespread and intense damage than the majority of tornadoes. " Yup.  ...

As the entire world knows, our Annual Field Day; which we've been holding every year for more than 25 years; is always scheduled for the 3rd Saturday in August - which is this weekend; Saturday the 20th. And it looks like rain.   Really looks like rain, in this very rainy summer.  So - we'll be having Field Day activities on Sunday, too.  If Saturday is what fits your plans, and you're willing to risk the rain- we'll be here for you.  And we'll be ready for you on Sunday; too (the weather predictions look great for Sunday - at the moment - clear sky, light wind and a high temperature of only 66°F...) This has happened only once before - but in fact we have made the decision that from now on this is how it will happen every year . And.  Even BIGGER NEWS - we've made the decision to be formally "OPEN" - on ALL the weekends, from this start in August - until Christmas.  If you can't make it here for our Field Day; you'll now be able to just COME...