The scurs and their vaunted Weather Eye forged ahead into April. Have we lost Old Man Winter or is he still lurking in the weeds? Starting Thursday, mostly sunny with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny on Saturday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Sunday, sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Cloudy on Monday with slight chance of rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny on Wednesday with highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. We’ll see the sunrise before 6:30 a.m. CDT on April 15th. On the 16th, we’ll achieve more than 13 hours of daylight for the first time since last September 5th. April 17th the sun will set at 8 p.m. CDT. The normal high for April 17th is 56 and the normal low is 35. The scurs are hoping their Easter candy lasts until the next solar eclipse. Or at least until the May baskets show up.
Rainfall & temperature are the engines that drive our growing season. After leading us on that spring would be ultra-early, Mother Nature has been dragging her feet. Not the first time this has happened, and it should come as no surprise. It’s unrealistic to expect that since we had 70-degree high temps in early March that the spring would just keep coming. Indeed, highs have struggled many times to get into the 40’s since then. That’s why even with the welcome rainfall, things aren’t greening up as quickly as one might expect. And that’s fine. It’s still early and should still allow an opportunity for planting to proceed ahead of schedule. Having some soil moisture stashed away for future reference takes priority. As one sage pointed out, if you mow your lawn a lot over the course of the growing season, you’ll likely have a good crop. No one has said they’re anxious to start mowing their lawn, however.
Some apparently recall I planted some radishes back on January 31st and are wondering how they’re doing. Well, the radishes that actually came up are doing OK but are still basically marking time. They’re still cotyledon stage and haven’t shot any true leaves yet. When I planted them, it was more to demonstrate the old adage, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” I tried the same thing with salad greens and none of them came up. Even though we did have a few warm days, it has just been too cold for too long. Ditto with the radishes I planted in late February. It takes an average soil temperature of about 45 degrees to germinate radishes. At those lower temps even radishes won’t grow very quickly.
Was thinking back on my first ag related job when I was a freshman at the U. Was fortunate to work for MN Crop Improvement Association one spring. There were lots of certified seed dealers raising public seed varieties. MCIA’s job in addition to screening for purity, weed and disease-free seed was to provide growers with accurate germination tests. I’d seen alfalfa, corn and soybean seed but had little exposure to many of MN’s other crops. It was interesting to place the various small grains on the blotter paper and put them in the germination chamber. I also got to see flax seed and learned quickly that Dad was right. It was very slippery trying to pick it off the vacuum head with the tweezers. One could see the horror stories he told of people suffocating in flax bins were probably true. I wasn’t particularly fast but tried to make sure the tasks were done right. Eventually I worked myself out of a job. Little did I know I’d be looking at some of the same crops growing in the field just a few years later. Funny how that works sometimes.
After recent rains have washed all the salt away, it’s getting closer for the Studebaker to head out on its maiden voyage for the season. First however, there was a potential safety issue that needed to be addressed. On some of the older cars, the steel used in the rims was not as hard as what manufacturers started using in the 60’s. Not a problem using bias-ply tires they were designed for but put a set of radials on to improve the ride and problems can arise. One of them involves rims becoming bent as the radials put more stress on them. Replacing those rims with the newer, harder steel models while not cheap, is the best option from a safety standpoint. On this particular model Silver Hawk, the 15” x 6” Chrysler rims are a perfect replacement that should allow the original lug nuts to be used. That and be more carefree as one rolls down the highway.
The ewes and lambs are once again back in the front lot. When they were turned loose they looked like they were shot out of a cannon. The running, hopping and bouncing was at a frenetic pace. Could see them racing back and forth from the window. It didn’t stop until well after dark. Tuesday morning before chores they were right back at it again. Can’t blame them. The ewes were prolific this year and it was getting crowded indoors. No surprise once they got more room to maneuver. There were already gawkers slowing down when they spied the lambs tearing around the enclosure. As always, it’s OK to watch them but if people want to gawk, it’s safer to pull in the driveway. Traffic travels at such a high rate of speed on our blacktop, I’d hate to see anyone get hurt or worse.
Poppy had more rainfall to contend with this past week. That being the case it meant more wiping her down before we let her traipse around the house. It also meant more naps between rain showers and windy afternoons like Sunday. Like the Cheviot sheep, Corgi’s with those erect ears aren’t fond of wind as their ears serve as direct conduit. Finding a place out of it is preferable and if it happens to be napping on a couch, so be it. Can’t say as I blame her. Even without erect ears, the wind takes its toll on human beings as well. Saturday’s breezy conditions while moving hay and feeding equipment around was enough to convince me. A little lunch put me over the edge, on the couch right next to Poppy.
See you next week…real good then.