The scurs and the Weather Eye delivered plenty of warmth, but not much rain. Are we due or are we doomed? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the mid- 60’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with a fair chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of a morning shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with a fair chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. We continue to lose daylight at an increasing pace, slipping below 15 hours of daylight on the 20th, about where we were back on May 22nd. On the 25th, we start losing over 2 minutes of daylight per day. The normal high for July 20th is 81 and the normal low is 61. The scurs are convinced maybe adding some windshield washer fluid to the reservoir on the ’74 Gremlin X may bring rain. Maybe run it through the car wash while they’re at it.
It's taken a while, but corn is tasseling as we approach potentially one of the hotter stretches of the summer. While we may be down, we’re not out just yet. More moderate temps in the recently updated forecast could buy us a little more time while we wait for rain. This summer seems to be morphing into one of those where we receive rain often enough, just not much at a time. It’s also becoming one of the haves and the have nots. This past Sunday from the ranch, we watched it rain hard as a small system ran down I-35. It was a pretty good downpour along the freeway while we managed to eke out a measly .04”. The week before, another rain passed to our north about three miles, dropping 1” – 2” between Otisco and Hope. We received .09”. Same thing Tuesday morning as the system followed along I-90.
Early planted early maturing soybeans in particular should be setting pods. As mentioned last week, they can hang on until the cavalry arrives in the form of August rainfall. While both corn and soybeans are healthy as a horse, it’s been especially difficult to find much wrong with the local soybeans so far. A few soybean aphids have been found, but it takes some effort to find them. We don’t have a large concentration of overwintering habitat for them locally, so we are fortunate in that respect. We have to rely on winged aphids from other areas to really make our populations jump.
I received some text message pictures of people cultivating this past week. Even with fuel prices as high as they are, cultivation can still be an effective tool for reducing weed pressure in many fields. The photos brought back memories, mostly fond ones actually. Putting the two-row front mounted cultivator on the Co-Op E4 was a workout every year. Taking the loader off, taking the loader posts off, switching the hydraulic system over, taking the seat off, putting the rockshaft on the platform, putting the seat back on, attaching the fenders and actually getting the cultivator lined up, so it went in the square holes in the cast iron frame took about half a day when doing it alone. Add a few new shovels when needed and it was a lean, mean weed killing machine.
Early on the shields needed to be set down tight and it was hard to go very fast without covering the crop. 2nd gear at 2.7 mph severely limited the acres you could cover. If you were lucky, you could run it in 3rd gear high range, moving along at a blistering 3.7 mph. When the crop got a little bigger, for the second pass, you’d go the opposite direction to get the weeds that might’ve slipped through on the first cultivation. One could shift up to 4th gear low range, raise the shields up some and march along at 5.3 mph. If it was possible to make the holy grail of a third cultivation, the shields came off, the inside shanks were widened slightly and the dirt flew roaring along at a whopping 6.3 mph, two rows at a time.
Some of the same principles have gone into weeding the garden at the ranch this summer, only by hand. With the dry weather, conserving moisture has been of the utmost importance. Minimal disturbance by using a hoe has been effective for removing small weeds between the spotty rains. This year, purslane has been our primary problem followed by redroot pigweed and waterhemp in areas. It’s not terribly competitive, but purslane’s sprawling growth habit can make it difficult to pull, so an extremely sharp hoe scraped along the soil surface like a razor has worked wonders. Few things more satisfying than flipping a large purslane plant upside down with the roots pointed skyward to wilt in the heat. That or tossing it over the fence and waiting for the sheep to come along and gobble it up. Doesn’t take long usually.
There’s a Canada thistle patch in the pumpkin and gourd planting that’s been annoying me. It was there when I tore up the chunk of lawn to make room for more vine crops. Mowing had limited its scope, but the thistle patch persisted. Where I could do it without collateral damage, I sprayed it with glyphosate. Where I couldn’t down under the canopy, I used that razor-sharp hoe to cut them off or pulled them while wearing leather gloves. I recall cultivating late through a patch or two of Canada thistles in the soybeans as a lad. While it didn’t eradicate them, once the soybean canopy slammed shut, it made their lives miserable. It definitely thinned the herd. Betting that a thick pumpkin and gourd canopy will operate similarly.
Hay could be a tight commodity, so we were lucky enough to strike a deal with the local Studebaker mechanic who had needed to make room for this year’s crop. While we’re still missing having Ruby around, it’s been fun to make friends with Paco & Chloe, their resident dogs. Like most dogs, they’ve responded well to the therapy, sitting there begging when I open the pickup door. They love to be petted and that’s good for all of us. Other dogs in the neighborhood react the same way when I stop. It means treats and attention will follow. These dog friends will help bridge the gap while we wait for our new puppy to arrive in October. It’ll be here before we know it.
See you next week…real good then.