The scurs were glad the Weather Eye’s drier forecast arrived just in time. Will we see a dry Memorial Day, or will it snow as it did in 1992? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny Thursday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, sunny with a slight chance of evening rain showers. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny on Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Memorial Day, mostly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Sunny on Tuesday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. May 29th is Memorial Day. The normal high for May 29th is 73 and the normal low is 53. The scurs have a cookout planned so hopefully the Weather Eye will make good on their kinder, gentler forecast.
Crops are beginning to take shape although there will be plenty of replant and soybeans going in the ground yet this week. Fields have finally dried sufficiently to get a good, close up of the crop conditions and in some cases, it hasn’t been pretty. Rainfall on 9 out of 10 days meant mostly cloudy conditions. Very small or just planted crops meant very little evapotranspiration. As wonderful as these heavy clay loam soils can be under dry conditions, they can be equally problematic under heavy precipitation such as we just experienced, especially when relying primarily on tile drainage to remove excess water. The recent heavy rains exposed the vulnerability of some of the tile systems themselves as many were never designed to take the resulting sheer volume of water from the massive increase in tile drainage the past 30 years. When outlets are underwater, water drains slowly leaving soil saturated for longer periods than desired. Now as mentioned last week, the issue becomes how much replanting is warranted once soil conditions are dry enough? There will likely be no right answer until the combines roll come fall. Some of the earliest planted corn has reached V2 – V3 while the soybeans planted before the deluge started are V1 or unifoliate stage. Perhaps 50% of the soybeans remain to be planted as of this past Monday.
So far, the mosquitoes haven’t been the issue one might’ve suspected. The black flies or buffalo gnats on the other hand have picked up the slack for them. In and around the heavy rainfall areas they’re more than happy to annoy and bite whenever the mood strikes them. Repellents are largely ineffective so wearing long sleeved shirts and long pants is the most effective way to avoid bites. Their bites are painful and itch, sometimes leaving a red welt from their slashing, slicing mouthparts. Only the females bite, and like mosquitoes, they’re most active a few hours after sunrise and before sunset. Fortunately their small size makes it more difficult to navigate under windy conditions. We seem to have our fair share of windy stretches so at least it’s good for something.
https://extension.umn.edu/biting-insects/black-flies#common-black-fly-species-in-minnesota-1817661
As luck would have it, I contracted the alien going on two weeks ago. It started out as a scratchy throat and stuffed up head. It managed to also make me extremely tired especially at first which was OK as it was either raining or so wet very little could be done outside, including gardening. I did manage to mow the lawn. Some of it was getting overgrown to the point that it looked like something had chewed it off. Fortunately, I noted others in the area had lawns that looked very similar. The warmer temps have moved the lawn along so it will be time to get after it again this week. The garden has dried some too although there is a fair weed infestation to run through the tiller. Last Saturday I resorted to a burndown treatment to deal with the weeds. Once they’re mowed off, it should make matters much easier.
It looks as though we’re finally done lambing, maybe. One of the two show yearlings from last year we thought was open recently began showing signs that she was bagging up. Not exactly what we were hoping for when we put her in with the rest of the brood ewes last fall. As was fully expected there would be a little lamb running around the pasture one day in the near future. That day was Tuesday. After chores there was bellering and sure enough, a ewe with lamb at side in the upper pasture. It took a little coaxing but within a few minutes, the little tyke was corralled with mom following close behind. After closing doors, opening gates and plopping the lamb in the pen, the ewe hopped in behind her. What hopefully is the end of the Ronco lambing season. But wait, there’s more!
More birds have arrived including common yellowthroats and warbling vireos. The vireos are hard to see but their burbling song seems never ending some mornings. Poppy has an interest in the birds, primarily chasing them around the yard. Robins are her favorites as they are frequently bobbing around the yard looking for nightcrawlers. That seems to be Poppy’s activity at night when we let her out for potty time. We watch as she waits, then pounces in the grass. The lawn is loaded with nightcrawlers as evidenced by the castings and resulting rough ride on the lawnmower. After several minutes of that, she has to be reminded that it’s time to do her business. Of course, maybe Poppy is trying to tell us she wants to go fishing. Sounds like a plan.
See you next week…real good then.