Soybeans anyone?

The farmers were finally able to plant the fields this week. It's been hot and dry and lovely for six days straight.
The fruit trees seem to be suffering a bit. I am not sure if it is the wet ground, a fungus, a bug, or maybe deer. It is probably a combination of things. Hopefully this can be solved, or we will be growing rhubarb instead. Rhubarb is easy.
J just celebrated her birthday too. Her sisters built her a horrendous cake. We got a bucket of fudge swirl ice cream to soften the appearance. It all tasted good.

Still the wettest spring ever...

It is the wettest spring ever recorded!... well, at least as far as I'm concerned. We weeded and sprayed the garden. The rhubarb is going to seed. I forgot to pick some.
The fields are still waterlogged. The farmers haven't been able to put any crops out as of yet. I am worried that our renter won't be able to plant on our land this year. Last year at this time we had corn, about a foot high. We were planning on planting soy beans this year. They are a shorter crop, but should be in the ground before June in order to finish before frost.
The front field has so much water in it that it looks like a pond. There is a pair of mallards in it. I hope they don't have a nest.
I trained the grapes a bit today. I hope I am better at this than I am at training the dog.

I forget what these flowers are called... "something munk."

Rhubarb in front of the old grapes in front of the Yellow Delicious apple tree.

It's almost June and the field is still fallow.

Our new duck pond in front of the farm.

The wettest spring ever...

We are trying to get the orchard together. It's been so wet. We got the trees in the ground finally, but I am afraid their roots will rot. The tenant farmer who rents the ground hasn't been able get started yet. I am wondering if he is going to bother at all this year. I hope so, we could use the income.
It is supposed to dry out a bit next week. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Planting and tending the orchard has eaten into the time alloted for artwork. I should be back to full time next week. I am still finding some time for digital painting on the ipad. I am starting a series of small oils later this month.
Here are a few shots of the farm.

Planting the last of the trees...

Despite wind and rain and winter springs, we finally planted the last of the fruit trees today. I hope they will like their new home on the western side of the farmhouse above the creek.
Now it is time to work on weeding the berry bushes we planted last year and spray pesticides on the mature apple trees. We got organic products to treat the trees for pests. Hopefully they will work. If they are ineffective, the Orkin man may be paying a visit to our orchard next year.
Learning proper pruning techniques and pest control will be among my biggest challenges over the next year or two. Oh yeah, and Adobe Flash and Painter 11. Learning is a lifelong process I suppose.

The debate rages on...

Study of Margo- Arches 140# hot press 8" x 10"

Study of Margo Arches 140# cold press 8" x 10"

I am working on a traditional watercolor portrait this week. It has been a while since I've painted a large picture in watercolor.
I am used to working on hot press paper. Recently I got the chance to admire some amazing watercolor portraiture. Many of these pictures were painted on cold press paper. I like the way the pigment settles into the texture of the paper and gives the flesh tones a dimensional feel. Paintings on cold press also have a slightly lower sheen since more pigment is absorbed into the paper. One also has to be careful not to apply too much pigment too early as it can be difficult to lift out.
These issues gave me a lot of trouble working on the darker sides of the face. After two or three glazes of color and value, the paper seemed to give up. Each subsequent glaze lifted everything off of the paper leaving a sort of muddy yellowy tone. I tried spraying fixative onto the picture which seemed to help a bit, but I am not sure if watercolor is ok to fix.
It was a relief to try the same picture on hot press. I am much more comfortable with the finish on the paper. I am betting hot press paper has more sizing. The paint doesn't get absorbed into the paper as quickly as cold press. This being said, I still managed to overwork the dark areas and burnt out the paper like in the first attempt. I really must get the dark values correct in the first or second pass of paint. This is hard to do- maybe it will come with practice or maybe I can find a way to safely fix the glazes between washes.
I don't feel much closer to my painting goals today. Each practice painting has good and bad qualities. I am going to spend the rest of the day working on a digital image and will get back to this later.
Tomorrow is another day.

OAC landscapes...

The Ohio Arts Council requested landscape paintings from Ohio artists. Here are a couple of my submissions. Landscapes aren't my favorite thing to paint, but it was fun to get out the watercolors again.

Waiting for spring to arrive.

We went out to the farm today. We were hoping to plant some of the fruit trees which came in the mail late last week. They are bare rootstock, from a company in Michigan. In our zone, April is the ideal month to plant them. The weather hasn't allowed us the chance. We've had several storms come up from the south dumping tons of rain. Ohio has also been faced with punishing winds, less than optimum conditions to plant little apple trees. So instead we went to the county courthouse to look for any records they may have about this history of our farm.
Utica gas extraction is coming to Ohio. Apparently this is similar to the Marcellas shale mining that is currently going on in PA. We aren't sure whether or not we will be approached, or what our neighbors plan to do. We want to have a clear understanding of what contracts are currently on our property and what our rights are. The whole thing is mind-boggling. Some landowners in Pennsylvania weren't careful about the agreements they signed and thus ended up with nightmare scenarios. Hopefully, we won't make the same mistakes.
We found a bunch of leasing agreements that dated back to as early as 1937. Some of them seem to be expired. Most of them deal with allowing the companies to keep pipelines that run across the corners of the property. One contract talks about rights to look for natural gas and oil but it seems to be expired. I have to read them carefully which is as dry as toast. We also have to contact one of the gas companies. We are entitled to a rental payment of ten bucks per year for one of the lines. That will buy us a celebratory breakfast at Waffle House. Can't wait.
Even though the papers are dull to read, I can't help but be intrigued by the history of the farm. Seeing the Hoovers and the neighbors names and signatures on the documents make them seem more real somehow. I wonder about the negotiations. Were they railroaded by the oil companies? Did they cut some sort of side deals? It looks like one of the agreements gave them free heat for a while, it's a shame that wasn't still going.
Our farm was in the previous family for for 126 years. They must have known a few things to keep the place that long, through two world wars and the depression. Some of their relatives have visited and related funny stories which I will share later.
Hopefully the weather will break soon and we will be able to get the trees in the ground. I took a few photos today that offer signs of the promise of spring and wonderful things to come this year.