The scurs were on top of their game last week, telling us it would start to cool down. Somehow that shouldn’t come as a surprise the second week in October. More fall this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a high of only 45 and lows dropping to 30. Thursday, mostly clear skies with highs of 50 – 55 and lows staying above freezing at 35. Warmer on Friday with mostly sunny skies. Highs near 60 and lows of 40 – 45. Saturday, partly cloudy with highs again around 60 and lows near 40. Minute chance of an overnight shower. Partly cloudy on Sunday with a tiny chance of a shower. Highs near 60 and lows around 40. Cloudy and cooler on Monday with a slight chance of a shower. Highs of 50 and lows around 30. Mostly sunny Tuesday with highs around 50 and lows near 35. The normal high for October 21st is 58 and the normal low is 34 so temperatures will be seasonal. The scurs are eyeing the candy dish sure in the knowledge it will soon be full of Halloween treats.
The area did manage to garner some rainfall this past week as well as more wind. Rainfall was extremely variable with 2” falling near Easton and only a 10th in Bugtussle proper. West of town in suburban Matawan nearly an inch was measured while at the ranch we manage to scare up .3”. At least the fire dangers have subsided somewhat, although there was a fire again last Friday during some of the windy conditions. Eventually this will come to a halt once everything is in the bin or hauled to town. What a difference a week made temperature-wise though. Last weekend folks were cruising around in their shorts and this weekend it was time to break out the coveralls. Harvest progress finds many finishing up with corn, a nearly unprecedented feat. With the army of tillage implement operators working the fields seemingly right behind the combine, area fields follow the season; they get dark pretty fast.
Road construction season has been never ending in this area, seems like. With Highway 30 and 83 under construction, it’s been difficult to get around easily. The harvest season plus the number of people detouring around the construction has put additional pressure on the gravel side roads. The washboards it has helped create can rattle your dentures loose and with little rain, it’s difficult to grade the roads.
Around the yard at the ranch sure signs that summer is over include the sudden bright coloring of the flowering kale and cabbage. Some prefer the purple while others are sold on the white centered varieties. It’s nice to have some of both, me thinks. The 4 o’clocks have pretty much thrown in the towel for the season. There is still an occasional bloom but they are small and inconspicuous. The plants have been focusing most of their time on producing the grenade-shaped seeds that usually mean lots of volunteer plants next spring. Ditto with the morning glories. Some flowers yet as the plants begin to degrade into the twisted, tangled mass that catches snow if not removed. The surprising plants include the impatiens that after a watering and a little rain, continue to bloom far past what we’re use to.
The fall birds are making a subtle return to the feeders as well. A hairy woodpecker was the most recent returnee to the sunflower feeder. The red-bellied woodpecker has made himself at home on the ear corn even though he sometimes has to wait for the squirrel to leave to gain access. The juncos are back and seem to like the fact the summer vegetation is still intact, making wonderful places for them to hide from would be attackers such as a sharp shinned or Cooper’s hawk.
What a difference a week makes. The weekend of the 8th and 9th I was manufacturing a corn shock with a pair of shorts on. This past weekend though it was a good idea to get bundled up while finishing the last of the vegetable harvest. The potatoes, onions and carrots were dug. The onions were disappointing as expected. Planting them in June was probably not a best management practice although while small in size, they still do the job when fried up with some of the new red Pontiac potatoes. Still tough to beat Pontiacs for frying. Some of the stabbing victims made it from the garden to the pan in under an hour so they don’t get much fresher than that. The carrots were exceptionally nice again this year and yielded a large washtub full. Best of all since it has been dry, there was very little soil clinging to them. Some of them were so long that they broke off in the dry hard soil when trying to extract them with the potato fork. Didn’t seem to matter when they were scrubbed up and microwaved.
Ruby got to help with the vegetable digging process. As each forkful of soil was lifted to expose the potatoes, she was right on top of it, waiting for one of those spuds to make a false move. Picking tomatoes meant a lot of watching too as some of the damaged fruit made its way over the fence to the sheep. Yes sheep will eat just about anything including overripe tomatoes. Something being thrown and sheep to watch as a result. A little red and white Border Collie can’t ask for much more than that.
See you next week…real good then.