The scurs and the Weather Eye doled out more beautiful weather again last week. Will their success continue, or will they be on the dole after hitting a bump in the road? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of daytime showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a decent chance for a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. On September 6th we fall below 13 hours of daylight, roughly the same as we had back on April 5th. The normal high for September 6th is 76 and the normal low is 54.
While last week was absolutely gorgeous for humans, particularly for sleeping humans, it probably wasn’t what we wanted to see in terms of crop development. As Chip Flory has mentioned, a slow burn on the end of the season allows the corn crop in particular to deposit a maximum amount of dry matter. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we are falling slightly farther behind on GDU’s as a result. While that in and of itself isn’t necessarily something to lose sleep over, the potential for injury from an early frost is heightened. Corn this past week was largely reaching full dent, which typically means about three weeks until physiological maturity. Some was more like early dent, so that adds another five to seven days onto the equation. Solar radiation is a wildcard and so far August it was close to normal. Let’s hope we continue to get lots of sunshine as this crop needs all the help it can get to finish before Jack Frost makes his debut.
Soybeans showed some ugliness this past week as diseases suddenly made their presence known. SDS showed up in more fields as did white mold after giving little indication it was present earlier. Fortunately the late appearance of both diseases will likely limit the impact it will have on yield. Two years ago when white mold was a major problem it showed up in early August and spread like wildfire. Drier conditions this time around probably haven’t hurt either and as mentioned in a previous column or two, the slow canopy closure particularly in 30” rows was a blessing in disguise. Now the issue becomes remembering for the next time for these two diseases. Neither problem can be solved easily by rotation, so that usually means more input costs to try to maintain yield.
Summer continues to hang on in some respects. There were still some fireflies September 1st rising out of the grass in the backyard at the ranch ,albeit more slowly than in July with the cooler evening. Some orioles are also still in evidence as of September 1st. Thought I heard them scolding me while I was tending some storm damage in the back yard about August 25th. I’d stopped feeding them while I was gone. Since I had some grape jelly left, I plopped some in their feeder just to see what would happen. Big mistake. Shortly afterwards several young orioles appeared and later that day male Baltimore and orchard orioles in full plumage were spotted. I even put a couple orange halves and a new nectar feeder out for them in case I couldn’t get their jelly feeder filled in a timely manner. They keep coming, so I keep feeding them. Now they know I tried.
Hummingbirds have shown up sporadically. Along with the oriole nectar feeder I purchased a replacement for their favorite hummingbird feeder. As I discovered the hard way, glass still breaks easily when dropped in a porcelain sink. There hasn’t been much interest in it yet so again, was wondering if they were even around. After chores Sunday a.m. I walked past the cannas by the well and there was one busily working the red blooms over. Other times they’ve been seen feasting on four o’clock nectar. In either instance they’re very difficult to see as their coloration perfectly camouflages them against the green backdrop. The easiest time to spot them is when they take a break on the rungs of the tomato cages. One needs to look quick because they’re off in a heartbeat to their next flower.
The late planted garden has begun to yield some produce. Tomatoes appear to be ripening more quickly now the days are getting shorter and the evening temperatures continue to cool. So far the yellow pear and grape tomatoes have been the most prolific. After a closer look on Sunday the full sized tomatoes aren’t far off either, showing signs of blushing here and there. It was gratifying to see was the first meal of string beans from the July 8th planting. The 50-day rating on the variety until ready to eat was right about on target. These late planted beans were as frequently happens very sweet and tender once cooked.
Attended the Cheap Trick-ZZ Top concert on Labor Day and, aside from being cut short by the heavy weather heading in, it was a great time. Took one of my little fat buddies along so that made it even more enjoyable after seeing the fair all day. I’d forgotten how many hits Cheap Trick had compiled and being a part of the generation that watched MTV when they actually played music videos, ZZ Top brought back great memories. It was also their 50th Anniversary Tour. I’ve been a ZZ Top fan for over 40 years. Much of that time was spent listening to them over the airwaves on rock and roll stations after hours. Thanks to Mrs. Cheviot’s diligence we had great seats, about 16 rows from the stage. Probably a good thing we sat that close. After listening to ZZ Top all these years, it’s likely one’s hearing isn’t what it once was.
See you next week…real good then.