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Boy Oh Boy do I hate mud season. It is absolutely awful. Awful for me, awful for my alpacas and chickens. Awful for my paddocks. I know it is temporary, but it seems to drag on forever! And the 'season' has only just begun.
Okay, so some of you folks reading this blog aren't from New England. I am not sure if this is strictly a regional issue. I am assuming there are many other northern reaches, with a snowy winter that also experience some sort of mud season. For the rest of you, mud season is one of the less enjoyed seasons here in the northeast. Those other not so nice seasons would be Black Fly Season and Mosquito Season. Although I can fairly easily manage those two other undesireable seasons with bug netting and marigold spray.
Mud season is the time in between winter and spring. It is the point when the ground is still frozen, in our area that frozen layer of terrafirma could be up to 30-inches deep. Basically, the top few inches of the ground starts to thaw. The snow begins to melt, we experience rainy warm days and freezing night time temperatures. This freezing and thawing of the top few inches does not allow for the melting snow or rain to really soak into the ground. There is no where for the wet to drain to, so tt ends up sitting in those first few inches of soil, and it generate inches and inches of mud. Thick, wet, dirty mud.
That means you create ruts with your vehicles, slip and slide in the paddocks, and the alpacas just look miserably dirty. Short of locking them in the barn for days on end, there is really nothing I can do about it. It is simply miserable. I try to be a positive energy around here. I like things neat and clean. It keeps disease and pestilence at bay. But during mud season, there is no hope for me. Everywhere I look the critters are muddy, the paddocks are thick with mud. The dogs track in the mud and dirt. Farmer Steve tracks the mud and dirt in to the house as well.
I really hope I get through it this year. With all the snow we have had this season and the cold temperatures I am sure will return, we should be dealing with this mess for a while to come. *ugh*
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