The scurs and the Weather Eye teamed up for another warm, dry week. More of the same or will we get a taste of early September highs in the new month? Starting on Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Sunny on Saturday with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Sunday, sunny with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Tuesday, partly sunny with a fair chance of developing showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Cloudy on Wednesday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. On August 3rd, we will have lost one hour of daylight since the summer solstice. August 6th, the sun will set at 8:30 p.m. The normal high for August 6th is 80 and the normal low is 60. Come Monday, the scurs will be sleeping off another Freeborn Co. Fair.
Another week of scant precipitation coverage and amounts. After not being able to turn the spigot off in May, June and early July, precipitation has been much harder to come by. Even with all the rain we had, we still need some periodically to help feed the shallow root systems found under many of these plants. Some would say well, we had some heavy rain last year in May too and the crop rooted down well. That’s the whole point. It rained early and the root systems had a chance to really anchor the plants well. There was very little sign of root lodging on corn anywhere in this area. More corn has reached blister stage and has pollinated well. Ear size looks OK, although there are places in many fields where there are no ears due to the drown out spots. Most have finished planting into the holes to provide cover and competition for weeds. Soybeans look decent from the road, although we have the month of August that really makes or breaks the crop.
Our weather appears to be following the script as we transition into a La Niña pattern. We likely will see some better rainfall coverage over the next 8 – 14 days, then odds are in favor that it will continue to be dry but warm heading through the months of September and October. That would be a positive for those whose corn and soybeans are uneven, particularly for those with replanted crop. LP prices are relatively reasonable, however, so booking some is still not a bad idea. Something the dry, warm weather probably won’t help with is the relatively hard soil. If you’ve attempted to dig holes or work any ground, it is often like a brick. Dry soil could mean wearing points on primary tillage implements more rapidly. Some rain prior to harvest would help alleviate that situation as well, although it will need to be more general than it’s been. I figured the other night if I watered the small garden I could make it rain. It did, but not very much. Probably should’ve watered the big garden instead.
Doing chores is generally a pretty mundane experience. Hauling pails, feed pans, slices of hay and occasionally bedding isn’t exactly the most exciting experience, but it’s a necessary one unless you want to wind up on the 10 o’clock news for animal abuse. Every once in a while there’s something in a water bucket that needs attention. Most of the time it came out of the rear end of a sheep, but other times it is or was alive. The latter would include expired rodents such as mice and rats or the occasional house sparrow. There are those creatures that thrive in water and that would include frogs and toads. Monday morning brought a newcomer to the list, however. When I looked in the water bucket and saw something black in it, it wasn’t instantly recognizable. Closer inspection revealed it to be a salamander swimming laps. I’ve seen them in the well pit and of course crossing the roads towards fall, but this was a personal first. As they say, there’s a first time for everything.
Three blushing tomatoes made it in the house before something decided to wreck them. When our tomatoes were planted, they were essentially no tilled into some fairly wet soil, even though it was one of the driest areas we had. They’ve done well and best of all, there’s no blossom end rot on any of those specimens, something that seems to happen on those earlier tomatoes. There are also many more setting, so given some cooler nights, we should be just getting started. Even the peppers I wrote off weeks ago look as though they may amount to something if our season runs long enough. I planted some fall garden on Sunday, hoping to catch a rain. I didn’t, but the snap peas and winter radishes can lie there a few days before a rain or an assist from the garden hose. If there’s time, I’ll probably put some fall greens and some of the typical spring type radishes in. They do equally as well in the fall and seem to take advantage of the cooler nights by adding some additional sweetness to their firepower.
The bird population is showing signs of transitioning at the ranch. The orioles are still coming to the jelly feeder, but more sporadically. Fewer full colored male Baltimore types, but did see a male orchard oriole in full plumage Tuesday morning. Goldfinches too are less numerous. They pick away at the thistle feeders from time to time. When I was picking some cattails for Mrs. Cheviot, I noticed a lot of them hanging out in the CREP acreage. There has been a Cooper’s hawk perusing the yard recently and it’s an unwelcome visitor. The blue jays sound the alarm and within seconds there are barn swallows and kingbirds chasing the intruder off. The hummingbirds are seen occasionally, but not like some years. I suspect as we move into August that will change as they start migrating through from points north. Swallows are gathering on powerlines in places, especially east of St. Olaf Lake. It won’t be long and they’ll be gone.
While Poppy has spent some extended time in the kennel, she’s also had longer stretches out of it as well. Gardening continues to be one of her favorite pastimes. She even likes to eat the string beans when they start to appear on the plants. We’ve had a fair amount of visitor traffic including 4-H kids and parents as well as some overnight guests. This gives her a chance to experience more and different people, hopefully to learn how to behave in a more appropriate fashion. Corgis aren’t Border Collies as we continue to discover. There needs to be more repetition in order to get commands to sink in. Getting Poppy to stay down and not jump on people has been taking some time. When something is that cute, it’s hard not to allow it. If everyone’s on the same page though, eventually the light bulb will come on. As they say what goes up must come down.
See you next week…real good then.