The Weather Eye was on track, so the scurs predicted rain and rain it did. Is there more where that came from, or do we coast until it snows? Starting Thursday, cloudy becoming mostly sunny with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Sunny Friday with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Saturday with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Sunday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Cloudy on Wednesday with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. The normal high for October 22nd is 55 and the normal low is 34. The scurs will be getting their Halloween costumes out of mothballs. Not only will people see them coming, they will smell them.
Harvest came to a halt last week as measurable precip fell across the area for parts of three days. It was a welcome rain for the most part. Falling as slowly as it did, very little if any ran off. There were still plenty of cracks in the ground in many fields, so much of it went right in. Rainfall totals varied from 1.5” to well over 2”. It doesn’t mean an end to the drought, but it may decrease its intensity for the time being. The soybean harvest is largely completed and a rough guesstimate on the corn harvest is in the 40% - 50% range. Some potential stalk quality issues as mentioned in last week’s column appear to be apparent in some fields. Some of those fields showed their hands early on, especially those hybrids that were black layered over a month ago. It was a good idea to go after those before they became trouble. Soil temp questions will likely be asked, so anhydrous ammonia applications can begin. We should be in good shape this upcoming week and, with the soil moisture in good shape, it should seal well.
Looks like the gardening has about run its course for the season at the ranch. I took the time on Sunday morning to manufacture a corn shock as promised. Before I did, however, a deer walked past the living room window while I was having coffee. She sauntered around the yard like she owned the place, helping herself to some apples before suddenly spooking. Earlier Poppy had sent something running by the sweet corn patch. Thought maybe it was one of the sheep on the other side of the fence. Might not have been. I harvested some of the green sweet corn and Indian corn stalks to make enough bundles for a corn shock. Typically, shocks consist of 35 – 40 bundles containing 7 – 9 stalks per bundle. After tying all those bundles by hand, I decided there was a good reason corn binders were invented. I cheated a little when I built the shock. There’s a steel post in the middle of it. It probably would’ve stood on its own, but since this one is just for decoration, wasn’t about to take any chances.
More birds passing through at the ranch with each passing day. Can probably take down the last hummingbird feeder as that ship likely has sailed. The juncos were spotted this past weekend for the first time this fall. I suspect they may have been here prior to that, but it was the first time they got close enough to the patio to easily identify them. There have been lots of robins in particular this fall. They feast on the nannyberries, crabapples, and American cranberry. They also love to bathe in the bird bath. Frequently one can be seen frantically flapping its wings and splashing water around like an out-of-control pressure washer hose. Some days, when enough robins use it, the birdbath needs to be filled a second time. Once the migratory birds are gone, plenty of chickadees, nuthatches, house finches, woodpeckers and blue jays seem to be setting up shop for winter. We’re ready for them. Winter? Not so much.
The sheep appreciated the recent rain as it continued to help their pasture stay green and actually grow. That should help take a little pressure off the hay supply. The kindly neighbor still runs a rotary screener, so the sheep in their pasture have enjoyed gobbling screenings down daily. The forage quality in both pastures has dwindled somewhat as the season nears a close. That’s apparent in the ewes’ mineral block consumption. No one’s fault; that’s just how it works this time of year. To supplement their diets, the sheep in both pastures serve as little garbage disposals. Apple, cucumber and squash peelings, whole zucchini, ground fall apples, lettuce hearts, bread crusts, radish tops, sweet corn cobs, out of code pumpkins and the list goes on. All of it makes its way over the fence. They come on a dead run when it looks like something might be heading their direction.
With autumn progressing, Poppy has been taking notice of the changes in the yard. Sometimes she tends to be rather vocal about it. The thing that’s interesting is trying to figure out what set her off in the first place. It doesn’t take much, although we were trained by 25 years’ worth of Border Collies, so we should be used to it. Last week it was a pile of vine crops that showed up outside the living room window. This week it was apple harvesting equipment being left by the apple tree overnight, the Gator being parked in front of the granary rather than on the trailer and the addition of a corn shock in the front yard with pumpkins, gourds and squash surrounding it. Makes for lots of growling, which is somewhat tolerable. The loud barking that often follows? That gets old pretty fast. Yes, we know it's there. Get back to your regularly scheduled programming, Corgi.
See you next week…real good then.