The scurs were correct in thinking we were going to see more mid-April temps and that we would see some April showers. Will they bring May flowers? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 80 and lows around 60. Thursday, mostly cloudy in the morning becoming partly with a moderate chance of an evening shower. Highs 75 – 80 and lows of 60. Partly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of a shower during the day with a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs 75 – 80 and lows of 55 – 60. Saturday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs 70 – 75 and lows near 55. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs around 65 and lows near 50. Monday and Tuesday, partly cloudy with highs near 65 and lows near 50. On May 5th, also the day of the Full Moon for the month, the sun will rise at 6 a.m. The normal high for May 5th is 67 and the normal low is 45. The scurs will be sweeping the patio for the lawn furniture and officially retiring the toboggan for the season.
The Full Moon for the month as mentioned falls on May 5th. This moon goes by several names the most common being the Full Flower Moon. It also goes by The Full Corn Planting Moon and the Full Milk Moon as farmers would turn their cows out on pasture, hence increasing milk production. The Ojibwe knew this as the Blossom Moon and the Sioux as the Moon When Ponies Shed. At the ranch, Ruby has pretty well shed off already as evidenced by the lack of dog hair on the floor and her new, sleek spring coat. This is good news for all the couches and beds she likes to sleep on when she can get away with it.
Progress in the fields was widespread across much of the area last week as corn went in the ground quickly. We are probably somewhere in the 70 percent planted range as of Tuesday a.m. Soil conditions were about as fit as they’ve been although temperatures at times reminded one very little of corn planting weather. The sleet rainbow on Friday morning was the icing on the cake, pun intended. Some of the early planted corn was emerged as of last Friday and some of the corn planted around April 12th – 14th was beginning to emerge as of Monday. Some soybeans have been planted and while some are thinking it’s early, it is already May. Fortunately April left us with better soil moisture than what we started with but we are still several inches from a full soil moisture profile yet. The month was characterized by several small rainfall events, all of which added up to 2.56” at the ranch, allowing fieldwork and gardening to commence. Measurable precipitation however was recorded on 14 out of the 30 days for the month and temps were cold, slowing the drying process. Only a trace of the precipitation that fell was snow. Two out of three ain’t bad.
At the ranch, garden progress has continued to be slow although when it does decide to warm up, things grow at an astonishing rate. We did harvest some of the radishes planted March 18th and they have been a little on the stout side. They’re supposed to be otherwise they’d be turnips. The late potatoes were planted on April 27th, one of the last days it was fit to plant. Between the Pontiacs and Norkotahs, I managed to stab in 18 hills. The snap peas are still emerging in the main garden and there are some carrots beginning to peek through. The transplants at the greenhouse have emerged with the exception of the watermelon and a few hills of Mooregold squash. Given the warmer temps, they should come along soon.
The spring bird migration and courting season continues in and around the yard at the ranch. Sunday was a day to repair some of the roofs on the nesting boxes. Luckily there were some pieces of leftover Trex that fit the bill. Several of the houses closest to our dwelling and neighbor David’s were occupied with house sparrows so they were rudely evicted. Others have tree swallows that are always welcome as they eat a lot of bugs and do not defecate in our buildings. Sunday was also the day the first house wren was heard in the plum thicket. Monday evening I went to check on the progress of the kestrel and no hatchlings yet. I was however able to remove the female kestrel from the nest and get a close-up look at her, wearing leather gloves of course. She hunched down and was determined to stay on the eggs, almost like she was injured or feigning injury just as a killdeer had done on my excursion down to the wetland. I was careful to be very gentle as I examined her. She appeared to be fine. I photographed the little falcon and carefully placed her back in the nesting box where she settled back in. Tuesday morning we were graced with the appearance of two male rose-breasted grosbeaks. They were primarily interested in the leftover corn from the squirrel and ate some of the jelly placed in expectation for the arrival of the orioles. No Harris sparrows yet so there’s still time.
Progress continued on the Studebaker project over the weekend if you could call it that. Lately it’s more one step forward and two steps back. The heater core was leaking and when the hose was removed from the nipple on the heat control valve, the nipple was about half eroded away. That and of course the valve itself is stuck tight. There are parts available however, and it’s just a matter of what you want to spend or how long you want to diddle around waiting for repairs. There isn’t a lot of call for Studebaker parts these days so those projects tend to get placed on the backburner at some establishments. The heater core may be able to be repaired and if not, a new or refurbished one isn’t much different in price than what one would pay for those found in today’s automobiles. Whatever gets spent it’ll still be better than discovering down the road you’ve been left high and dry because parts weren’t replaced when the opportunity was there. And besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that in spite of global warming/climate change, heat might not be a bad thing to have in this country when leaf watching in the fall.
See you next week…real good then.