Rain in Edmonton

[Elektrishun]

You know it's serious business when Canadians switch from describing rain in metric to imperial.

 

[Chicken lights]

You know it's serious business when Canadians switch from describing rain in metric to imperial.

Imperial is the superior measuring system

 

[6.5 Fan]

You know it's serious business when Canadians switch from describing rain in metric to imperial.

I always use the imperial system for all measurements. When my kids and grandkids start telling me stuff in mm or cm i just zone out. The only bit of metric i use is in certain calibers of pew,pews, refering to 6.5mm, and many others. I guess i'm just and old dinosaur stuck in the past, dooooomed to extinction.
Oh by the way we ended up with 3 INCHES of rain on the weekend. Oh crap i do use metric, i did convert to metric temperature.

 

[Susquatch]

I always use the imperial system for all measurements. When my kids and grandkids start telling me stuff in mm or cm i just zone out. The only bit of metric i use is in certain calibers of pew,pews, refering to 6.5mm, and many others. I guess i'm just and old dinosaur stuck in the past, dooooomed to extinction.

6.5 is also 264 but ya, I hear ya.. I'm pretty bilingual. But despite the majority of my career being in metric, I still THINK in Imperial. Trying to think in metric just crashes the computer. I see or read or hear 5cm, and my mind instantly sees 2 inches and a wee bit.

Oh by the way we ended up with 3 INCHES of rain on the weekend.

Holy Crap. So you are prolly gunna lose some crop then. With that much rain, I'd lose some here. In fact, I lose at 1.5". Anything over 3/4" is dangerous - it mostly depends on how fast it drains off. Even a well established crop will drown if its feet are underwater for too long.

 

[6.5 Fan]

No crop loss likely, it soaks in fast around here. The only pooled water was in the hard packed yard and even that soaks in within the day or so.

 

[Susquatch]

No crop loss likely, it soaks in fast around here. The only pooled water was in the hard packed yard and even that soaks in within the day or so.

A lot of my low ground is clay. When it gets too wet, it acts like a rubber liner. Only the odd crayfish hole drains down to the drainage tiles. Oddly, a prolonged dry spell actually helps because the cracks can sometimes reach all the way down to the tile. So I have to cut small drainage ditches on the surface to get the bulk of the water off to the municipal drains. Drainage is a serious issue around here.

 

[DPittman]

A lot of my low ground is clay. When it gets too wet, it acts like a rubber liner. Only the odd crayfish hole drains down to the drainage tiles. Oddly, a prolonged dry spell actually helps because the cracks can sometimes reach all the way down to the tile. So I have to cut small drainage ditches on the surface to get the bulk of the water off to the municipal drains. Drainage is a serious issue around here.

Much of our ground here is also dominately clay but our precipitation is usually not excessive throughout the growing season so it benefits us more than harms us. When the rains is in large quantities (like recently) the clay soil absorbs the moisture like a sponge...and like money in a bank account it will eventually get mostly drawn out.

The only bit of metric i use is in certain calibers of pew,pews, refering to 6.5mm, and many others

Now talk about a confusing and inconsistent bunch of ways to identify a calibre of a gun....calibre, gauge, metric, cartridge/case capacity, etc. I get them all figured out then I forget again.

 

[Susquatch]

When the rains is in large quantities (like recently) the clay soil absorbs the moisture like a sponge...and like money in a bank account it will eventually get mostly drawn out.

This is difficult for me to comprehend. I've both laid new drainage tile and repaired existing tile. Miles of it.

Normally the clay forms a non-permiable unpenetrable boundary layer about 18-24" down. When you dig it up, it is like frangible slate rock. Nothing can pass through it. It's dry as a bone below it and could be wet above it depending on how much rain there has been.

When you install drainage tile, things change. The shattered clay doesn't harden. Instead it forms a wet rubber membrane that same 18-24" down. Nothing can reach the tile.... unless..... the surface cracks. The cracks can grow as the sun bakes it until the cracks reach past the membrane layer. I hate the cracks. Any water that falls, just runs down into the cracks and fails to soak into the top layer at all. Basically, my crop dries out even when it rains.

A half inch of rain once a week all summer long would be awesome!

 

[DPittman]

This is difficult for me to comprehend. I've both laid new drainage tile and repaired existing tile. Miles of it.

Normally the clay forms a non-permiable unpenetrable boundary layer about 18-24" down. When you dig it up, it is like frangible slate rock. Nothing can pass through it. It's dry as a bone below it and could be wet above it depending on how much rain there has been.

When you install drainage tile, things change. The shattered clay doesn't harden. Instead it forms a wet rubber membrane that same 18-24" down. Nothing can reach the tile.... unless..... the surface cracks. The cracks can grow as the sun bakes it until the cracks reach past the membrane layer. I hate the cracks. Any water that falls, just runs down into the cracks and fails to soak into the top layer at all. Basically, my crop dries out even when it rains.

A half inch of rain once a week all summer long would be awesome!

Yes that's a different matter than what we have. What you are describing are hard pan soils which heavy clay and silt contribute to but are not the sole cause of. Like you say they can be inpenatrateble by water and many crop roots. Proper (and not frequent) deep tillage can often break through this hard pan. Deep tap rooted crops, reduced conventional tillage, and increased organic matter can also help alleviate some of the problem. Clay soils with low organic matter are very difficult to farm and timing of field operations is crucially important.

 

[Susquatch]

Clay soils with low organic matter are very difficult to farm and timing of field operations is crucially important.

Just about perfectly describes that part of my farm. Now if you could just describe the perfect timing in words that a blind shaky old man can understand ...... I never seem to get it right. My worst field is only about 9 acres. But that 9 acres has sandy soil here, gravel there, loam along two sides and one corner, and clay in the belly.

If you cultivate it when the clay is sorta happy, the sand is too dry to germinate a seed. So I usually end up with a few patches of bricks.

 

[DPittman]

Just about perfectly describes that part of my farm. Now if you could just describe the perfect timing in words that a blind shaky old man can understand ...... I never seem to get it right. My worst field is only about 9 acres. But that 9 acres has sandy soil here, gravel there, loam along two sides and one corner, and clay in the belly.

With small fields you might be able to time some of your field operations specifically for the particular area/soil characteristics but realistically some operations like seeding it probably won't be possible to have multiple timings to account for that variability in soil types. In that case, the most challenging area OR the most productivearea should dictate the timing of field operations (in my opinion).

 

[Susquatch]

With small fields you might be able to time some of your field operations specifically for the particular area/soil characteristics but realistically some operations like seeding it probably won't be possible to have multiple timings to account for that variability in soil types. In that case, the most challenging area OR the most productivearea should dictate the timing of field operations (in my opinion).

Ya, that's pretty much what I do. Depending on the weather and weather forecasts, I delay working and planting the productive areas as much as practical to allow acceptable germination and then I live with whatever happens to the clay at that time. The weather bitch blows holes in the plan whenever she feels like it. To your point, the yield on my productive dirt more than makes up for the brick yard losses.

 

[Elektrishun]

Imperial is the superior measuring system

Mostly

Just imagine telling some trouble maker, "Ya better smarten up before I put my meter in yo' a**!"

I mean, that's 3.28 foots!

 

[Doggggboy]

Imperial is the superior measuring system

Debatable, for sure.
But in machining, don't you essentially bastardize imperial into metric by switching from halves and quarters and 64ths and 128ths of an inch, used all the time in woodworking, to tenths and hundredths and thousandths and ten thousandths? Like, why not continue to 512ths and 1024ths and 2048ths? I mean, you're basically using the whole idea of the metric system for small stuff but still using biblical cubits for longer distances. I don't get it and I still use both systems because I grew up with both and still use both. " I'm 50 KM out of Regina just go down 33 Hwy, turn left and go 3 miles down the grid, turn left, go 1km, turn right and I'm 1/2 mile off the grid. But it's -30C right now so if we get an inch of snow and the wind is blowing 40km/h it might take longer"

 

[Chicken lights]

Debatable, for sure.
But in machining, don't you essentially bastardize imperial into metric by switching from halves and quarters and 64ths and 128ths of an inch, used all the time in woodworking, to tenths and hundredths and thousandths and ten thousandths? Like, why not continue to 512ths and 1024ths and 2048ths? I mean, you're basically using the whole idea of the metric system for small stuff but still using biblical cubits for longer distances. I don't get it and I still use both systems because I grew up with both and still use both. " I'm 50 KM out of Regina just go down 33 Hwy, turn left and go 3 miles down the grid, turn left, go 1km, turn right and I'm 1/2 mile off the grid. But it's -30C right now so if we get an inch of snow and the wind is blowing 40km/h it might take longer"

I thought tenths hundreds and thousandths WAS imperial? And yes that's the Canadian way, mixing and matching, meat sold by the pound, height and weight in imperial, waist size imperial, road signs metric, but we still say miles for distance or just say it's 3 hours away. Then over here you get a mish-mash of French and English to further confuse things.

I don't get why there's different weights for a ton or different gallon sizes. At that point it's just silly

One of my last SK loads the guy told me he was halfway between the curling rink and the graveyard

 

[Susquatch]

Like, why not continue to 512ths and 1024ths and 2048ths? I mean, you're basically using the whole idea of the metric system for small stuff but still using biblical cubits for longer distances.

I don't think it's the fractions that make something imperial. After all, I routinely use quantities like a quarter kilometer or a half centimeter, and I also routinely use tenths, hundredths and thousandths of an inch etc.

I believe it's the units of measure that define both imperial and metric. Feet, miles, pounds, and Fahrenheit versus meters, kilograms, and Celsius.

 

[Ironman]

I always use the imperial system for all measurements. When my kids and grandkids start telling me stuff in mm or cm i just zone out. The only bit of metric i use is in certain calibers of pew,pews, refering to 6.5mm, and many others. I guess i'm just and old dinosaur stuck in the past, dooooomed to extinction.
Oh by the way we ended up with 3 INCHES of rain on the weekend. Oh crap i do use metric, i did convert to metric temperature.

Oh, btw, if you really want to cause some torment, go ask the tire shop to fill your tires to 241.3 kilopascals. We got 1.125" west of Edmonton overnight

 

[Chicken lights]

Oh, btw, if you really want to cause some torment, go ask the tire shop to fill your tires to 241.3 kilopascals. We got 1.125" west of Edmonton overnight

or have them torqued in newton meters

 

[Elektrishun]

Land titles

Lot of people who claim to live on acreages are actually living on hectareages.

 

[JustaDB]

go ask the tire shop to fill your tires to 241.3 kilopascals

I'm fairly conversant in most common measurements, both metric & Imperial, & can usually convert back & forth fairly accurately with memorized conversions. That said, I don't have a clew WTH a kilopascal is in relation to PSI.