Saturday, April 26, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty six

This is Idaho potato country. The growing season is short and cool.  The altitude runs around a mile high.  The deep volcanic soil was deposited here by eons of unceasing winds.

Wheat is another crop planted in the area.  The tiny green sprouts pushing up through the dirt will soon have the rolling hills looking like giant golf courses.
The inconsistent supply of rain is supplemented by water from huge center pivot sprinkler systems.  A section of one can be seen here in the foreground.  

Scattered over the area are big potato cellars where the spuds are stored after harvest.  Some are gray steel and the newer ones are white.  The round ones that look like fat rocket ships are grain silos.

Only a few decades ago potatoes were stored in dirt covered cellars supported by wooden poles covered with wire and straw.

New to the area are cell tower farms.  They mostly grow on the tops of hills.

Friday, April 25, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty five


A local lady who claimed she was a Master Gardener once told me it was close to impossible to raise maple trees in our Zone 4 weather and clay soil.

A different expert at a tree nursery recommended a Deborah Maple, a close cousin to the Norway Maple which is so hardy it's sometimes considered an invasive species.  My Deborah is doing well, thank you very much.  She is expected to grow to fifty feet tall and to live over a hundred years.

Deborah did so well I planted an Autumn Blaze Maple in the front yard after my weeping birch was assassinated by a backhoe and borer beetles.  Autumn Blaze is doing fine too.  She looks gorgeous in the fall and is also supposed to grow fifty feet tall and outlive both me and my grandkids.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. – Chinese Proverb

Thursday, April 24, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty four


Today's post...

...is brought to you...

...by the color...

Red.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty three


Left my telephoto home.

Took close-ups.

Frosted Flakes.

How does a tree get on Facebook?  It logs in.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty two

This photo post is especially for those who haven't seen the town around BYUI for the past few months.

A campus housing boom is leveling landmarks and filling in vacant lots.
This five story building is going up between fifth and sixth south just west of campus.

Another gigantic multi-story building just north of the football field is filling up a whole block between Center and First West on Second South.  Porter Park is a block away on the left.  
These are just two of the new apartment complexes going in.  Most will have parking garages.

The campus itself is building more housing for single students just off Seventh South. Plus an expansion to the Central Heating Plant has the southwest side of campus all torn up.

It's a good time to be a construction worker here but getting around town has its challenges.

Monday, April 21, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty one


Weather for my bike ride this morning was close to perfect.

In the morning this route is fairly free of traffic except for joggers, an occasional car and a school bus or two.

Only a month or so before school is out for summer vacation.

I stopped along the way to take a photo or two of the young bulls at the elk farm. Unfortunately for them they are being raised for, "...amazing 100% guaranteed, fully guided, 3-day trophy elk hunts" at luxury resort in the nearby hills. Personally, I've always thought guys went on hunting trips so they could wander around in the woods, suffer in the cold, eat bad food, drink adult beverages and maybe shoot something they could bring back and brag about.  A guaranteed hunt at a luxury resort seems about as sporting as shooting beef cows on a golf course by a Hilton hotel.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE--A PHOTO A DAY--day twenty


What you do with plastic Easter eggs after you get all the candy out.

That is if you happen to be a four year old boy.