The scurs finally got the Weather Eye to kick out some real summer heat. Will their tweaking continue to yield results or will we see more sneak previews of September? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Independence Day, partly sunny with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Partly sunny on Friday with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm, highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Monday, partly sunny with continued chances of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday with a decent possibility of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Heading into what is typically our warmest time of the year, the normal high for the 4th of July is 83 and the normal low is 62. The fireworks police will be kept busy with the scurs under surveillance for yet another holiday.
Crops really took off this past week with the welcome summer heat. Still lagging 16% behind on GDU’s as of last week, early planted corn gutted down and exhibited results of getting into the applied nitrogen. Even some of the later-planted corn has come around so it’s not in the ugly-duckling phase anymore. Soybeans too made progress with blossoms being found on some of the early-planted, earlier-maturing varieties. The only fly in the ointment was that along with that, soybean aphids were also discovered. Appears those who were thinking that our cold winter had frozen them out were mistaken. The worst news though is that after two months of well below normal GDU’s, it will be difficult to catch up with that much growing season already in the books. Chances are we’ll need all of September, again, to get this South Central Minnesota crop to the finish line.
While crops were loving the heat most people who had to be out in it were not. Given the cool May and June, most of us are simply not used to it yet. At the ranch on Saturday it was time to turn on the AC if nothing else just to dry out the air. It’s not like we keep it real cool, but taking that humidity out makes it bearable with the thermostat set in the mid-70’s. Sleeping becomes easier and Ruby of course doesn’t argue. She always seems to be looking for cool places to nap and with the AC on it opens up more possibilities.
Apparently the cooler weather has agreed with this year’s lamb crop. They have grown as fast as any group we’ve ever had on the place. Visitors to the ranch have asked about their age and have been surprised when we’ve told them they’re this year’s crop. Unlike the field crops, they’ve been able to play catch up. With most of them being born into brutal February conditions, one wouldn’t have bet on it. It’s a good thing they’ve come along as fast as they have. The lamb burger supply in the freezer has taken a major hit.
We do continue to enjoy a bountiful supply of birds to view, although it appears many of them are still on parental duty. Almost all the orioles seen are males or maturing birds. Hummingbird sightings are on the increase. The goldfinches have been more faithful this year than we’ve seen in a long time. I bought the last bag of thistle seed just about the time the major group decided to depart. Oh goody I thought, now I’ll have to sit on that until it gets stale. Not the case. The goldfinches that stayed on have kept at it. Won’t be long and they’ll be through their bag of seed. They probably weren’t happy the thistles in the pasture got the boom lowered on them but they aren’t talking with their mouths full either.
It has been interesting to keep track of what birds are building nests and where. We had a fair number of tree swallows occupying the bluebird houses at the ranch and one house wren in particular who decided to kick the house sparrows out and build in another bluebird nesting box. I did notice too that there seemed to be a lot of wren activity right next to the house. Sure enough, one had decided the gas grill, which gets used infrequently, was a prime location. Guess I’ll have to keep using the charcoal grill for now. It’s unlikely I’d use the gas grill before winter anyway, so they’re in luck. Just need to check it out for bird nests the next time I use it.
If you travel the gravel roads as much as I do, you’d have to agree that their condition coming out of winter was a fright in many cases. Large frost boils that became large soft spots were common across much of the area. Luckily, as we keep moving into summer and gravel has been added along with the roads being graded more, the spots are coming around. They’re still not perfect, but then there’s probably no good reason to be driving 120 mph on them in the first place. If you’re moving that fast, you don’t know what you’re missing.
See you next week…real good then.