The scurs and the Weather Eye got the rain right again. Is summer back on for August or do we take another sneak peek at September? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a fair chance of evening showers. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Partly sunny Friday with a fair chance of evening rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Monday, sunny becoming cloudy with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. On August 15th we’re back under 14 hours of daylight for the first time since April 26th. The normal high for August 15th is 81 and the normal low is 60. The scurs know all too well it’ll only get worse until after Christmas. Time to build up those reserves for winter.
Crops continue to make good progress although the cooler temperatures did slow it down a tad. That’s not all bad. With our rainfall tending to come in bunches with extended periods between rains, conserving the moisture doesn’t hurt. Some of the early planted, early maturing corn hybrids were starting to exhibit some dimpled kernels this past week. At full dent, it takes roughly a month for corn to reach physiological maturity. Likewise early planted 1.5 – 1.8 maturity soybeans were rounding the corner on R5 last week with perhaps a week to go until they reach R6 when the seed fills the pod cavity entirely. Soybean aphids, while becoming easier to find, are likely to pose the biggest threat to the later maturing, later planted soybeans and in particular those replanted after the June hailstorm event.
I’m leaving on the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour on Saturday. The weather events of August 10th have flattened corn across much of IA, IL and IN. While we received some hail in the early hours on the 10th and more about mid-morning, the damage it caused pales by comparison to what was evident on social media across the border to our south. While it would’ve been better had we not experienced the windstorm event here that goose-necked a lot of our corn pre-tassel, at least it had some opportunity to stand back up. Much of the corn pictured on social media from IA is flat, much of it with a month to six weeks to go until maturity. Some of it is snapped off entirely which will decrease yields right off the bat. That which isn’t snapped is flat and will stay that way. Harvesting it will make what we have to deal with presently look like a cake walk.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch we continue to see our late planted garden slowly but surely come online. The first cucumbers we’ve produced in several years made their way into the house Monday. Many more are on their way. Recent rains and warmer temps will expedite the process. String beans have been producing well and the rain will suit them just fine as well. The cherry and grape tomatoes have been productive enough to satisfy our tomato fix for a while. That first BLT may not come until September however. Even the zucchinis have gotten into the act. Not sure how many we’ll actually eat but hey, the sheep love them! We’ve been fortunate to have plenty of sweet corn from local sources too. Between the cobs and husks the sheep are living the dream.
They’re also the beneficiaries of the numerous ground fall apples and now pears at the ranch. This is the first year they’ve been exposed to the pears so it’s interesting to see what they do with them. The ram in the pasture at home seemed to take a shine to them right away. However, once his harem moved off to the pasture he felt obligated to follow them. When I checked the offerings I’d tossed over the fence the next day, there were a few of both the apples and pears left. There aren’t nearly as many pears as apples but there’s no doubt there will be ground fall apples for them to eat for several months.
We continue to see orioles although we know full well that after the first week in September all bets are off at our feeders. Several I’ve talked to indicate they’ve seen no orioles for quite some time so they stopped feeding them. Not us. For a while we were seeing primarily young orioles. Whether they were locals or travelling through was anyone’s guess. Then on Sunday morning we saw the first fully colored Baltimore male we’ve seen in a long time. He apparently liked something enough to stick around on Monday. The jelly feeders had run dry so he helped himself to the nectar feeder with no complaints. He’s got lots of company. The hummingbirds had staked a claim to it earlier so they had to use the other nectar feeder. They also have the option to feed on petunias, salvia, morning glories, four o’clocks and the cannas that flower increasingly daily. No one goes hungry at the ranch.
Speaking of that, Auntie Mar Mar’s visit Saturday night was long overdue. We dined and laughed most of the evening. She blessed us with a large container of sugar cookies and a fresh baked pan of blueberry coffee cake. Paired with Hope Creamery butter it’s to die for. She also brought fireworks. Since we couldn’t get together over the 4th we shot them off out in the yard. We’re out in the middle of nowhere so it’s no big deal. As long as no one was killed or maimed in the process was the main thing. There might have even been a couple adult beverages consumed somewhere along the way. When the dust settled it was well past 1 a.m. and way past bedtime for old geezers. After cleaning up some of the aftermath the next day I took the best nap since Gov. Walz started doing those daily COVID briefings. I figured they must serve some useful purpose.
See you next week...real good then.