Fencelines (269)
The scurs caught the rains right and no one complained that an event was rained out. Apparently everyone knows what’s at stake. Will we turn the corner on the hot dry weather this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs of 85 and lows near 70. A modest chance of rain for Thursday under partly cloudy skies. Highs of 85 and lows of 65. Mostly sunny and cooler on Friday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs of 80 and lows around 65. Mostly clear becoming partly cloudy on Saturday with a modest chance of showers and a thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows around 65. Partly cloudy with a continued modest chance for a shower or thunderstorm on Sunday with highs once again of 80 and lows near 65. Mostly sunny for Monday and slightly warmer with highs around 85 and lows near 65. Tuesday July 31st brings another slight chance for showers and thunderstorms under partly cloudy skies. Highs of 85 - 90 and lows of 65 – 70. On the 29th the sun will rise at 6 a.m. The normal high for July 31st is 82 and the normal low is 61. We will see 14 hours and 36 minutes of daylight, roughly the same as we see on May 10th. The scurs have no time to waste as they enjoy their time before the school bells start to ring once again.
Recent rains have been a godsend. Most have received anywhere from .7” to over 3” in places. The moderate temperatures due to overcast conditions haven’t hurt either. As a result, corn and soybeans continue to weather the heat better than anyone would’ve expected. The root systems on the corn plants appear to be deep and even during the hottest days the amount of leaf-rolling on the early planted corn has been minimal. Soybeans have moved ahead too into the R4 stage in most fields. Not a lot of pods set yet but as the saying goes, August is the bean month. If we can continue to receive some rains from now through the end of August, we still have the potential for a pretty amazing soybean crop. Soybean aphid detects have increased but are far below treatable levels so far. There has been a lot of talk about spider mite infestation in the soybeans. Oddly enough, there has been more talk about spider mites than there have been spider mites. These tiny arachnids tend to show under dry weather conditions and aren’t limited to soybeans. They like plants such as petunias, marigolds and prickly ash to name a few. The last major outbreak here was during the drought of ’88 and we have seen nothing remotely resembling those conditions yet. Rather than playing guessing games, for some good, unbiased info on spider mites in soybeans, check out this info written by a couple of friends of mine: www.soybeans.umn.edu/crop/insects/spider_mites.htm.
Until recently, lack of rain has meant watering the garden, something I don’t like to do. However, given the amount of time and effort that has gone into this thing so far, it’s a small price to pay to ensure we actually have something to harvest. Things really do look good though and the vine crops in particular really responded to the watering. Once they got some rain well, they’ve exploded and cover most of the garden where they’re allowed to run. The hum of bees in the morning pollinating the flowers when they’re open is something to behold. Onions are getting about ready to harvest, the tops starting to dry down already. The lettuce and remaining snap peas were tilled under to allow any moisture to accumulate for the winter radish crop as well as another planting of peas. Had our first cuke of the season and there are zucchini coming on line along with a string bean crop that’s just starting. The good eats for the next several months is something to look forward to.
There seems to be one loyal hummingbird staying around the ranch. It appears to be a young one and has the feeder as well as all the potted flowers to itself. The young male cardinal has stayed around and has proven to be a feisty young lad. When the much larger grackles get in his space he becomes very agitated, letting them know his opinion of their presence. More power to him! Hopefully he chases them all away. The orioles seemed to ebb and flow more this past week although about the time you thought they might be slowing up, the feeders would be empty again. Male goldfinches are starting to lose their bright yellow color ever so slightly. The females are likely about to nest as they are showing up less frequently at the feeders. August is usually their month to nest.
Ruby has weathered the heat rather well. She is one lucky Border Collie, being able to stay in the air conditioning most of the day except during chores of course. Her favorite spot being behind the love seat where there is a vent blowing nice, cool air on her. Some days when we can’t find her, once called the thumping and bumping as she crawls out from behind the couch makes her location readily apparent. When coming home she greets us at the door with what can only be described as a bizarre combination howling/talking sound. The cool house still doesn’t stop Ruby from tearing out the door as soon as it’s opened to run the little indented dog paths she’s worn into the soil. The need to keep the sheep and the resident squirrel population in line is ingrained. One needs only to follow the yellow brick road to know her whereabouts.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were close in the rainfall department, which counts if you were one of the lucky ones who received it. Notice how they slyly continue to evade the amount question? Will we see any improvement in the precipitation picture? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 85 and lows around 70. Thursday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of s shower or thunderstorm. Highs around 85 and lows near 70. Friday, partly cloudy with highs of 90 and lows of 70. Hotter on Saturday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs of 90 – 95 and lows near 75. Sunday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms. Highs 95 and lows near 70. Monday and Tuesday, partly cloudy to mostly sunny with highs around 90 and lows of 65 – 70. The normal high for July 20th is 82 and the normal low is 65. The 20th is significant because we’ll slip below 15 hours of daylight for the first time since May 21st. We’ve also lost 29 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice on June 20th. The scurs will need to start their Tiki torches a little earlier to ward off the bugs around the “ceement” pond.
Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer has spotted Venus and Jupiter in the early-morning skies to the east at roughly 4:30 a.m. You probably recall that Venus spent much of the winter and spring shining brightly in the west. It is now a morning “star” again, outshining even the larger Jupiter. When the noted Swedish astronomer was asked what he was doing up at that time of day he claimed to be watering the flowers.
Crops continue to hang on through the heat, looking better perhaps than they have a right to. Corn continues to pollinate with some of the middle and later plantings coming online. As of this writing, for some of those fields it’s still a little too early to tell exactly how they’re reacting. One thing is for certain however, and that’s with every day we go without rain and endure the heat, it will not help ear length. Soybeans are beginning to set pods and are for the most part R3. It is past the labeled time to apply glyphosate at this point. A few soybean aphids have been found but the heat has been slowing them down too. With the dry conditions one thinks about spider mites but so far they have been no-shows in and around Greater Bugtussle. Having said that someone will cut some hay or a road ditch somewhere and we’ll probably see some. We also could see some grasshopper movement into crops given some of the same circumstances.
It was a week of hoping it would rain substantially and for most it did not. The showers and thunderstorms that moved through the area on Friday the 6th offered very little in the form of relief unless one was living on the east side of the viewing area. Gazing at the sky from the Waseca County Fair, one could see the high top of a thunderstorm developing to the south and east. Trouble was, we were looking at its backside. As we were leaving the fairgrounds we heard a report of a large amount of rain near the Holy Land (they always get more rain there) so we were optimistic that we may have received some. The road was wet all the way home, a good sign. When we turned onto our road however the pavement suddenly was dry and there was no puddle to greet us at the end of the driveway. We’d been missed again and there was only a 10th in the gauge, part of which had fallen earlier in the day. The kindly neighbor phoned me the next morning to see what we collected in the gauge at the ranch. One gauge there read 2” and that’s less than a mile and a half as the crow flies from the ranch. Ground truthing it with a soil probe in the field a few days later and there was no doubt: Him speak ‘um truth.
The dry weather woes don’t seem to faze the bird population at the ranch. The bluebird young have fledged and their call was scattered among the trees. A young male cardinal has been spotted cleaning up under the birdfeeders along with a mature male. A pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks enjoys the sunflower feeder when the large numbers of goldfinches let them. A few more hummingbird sightings although they’re still not as numerous as they were through the months of May and June. There are still a few barn swallows yet to leave the nest adding to an already prolific group of young patrolling the grounds. Not sure if they’re why the mosquitoes are seemingly starting to let up but having them around certainly doesn’t hurt.
Seldom do sheep qualify as intelligent, but they seem to be smart enough to accumulate a knowledge base that makes them a threat to get out at any given inopportune time. Take last Friday at the Waseca Coounty Fair for instance. When the animals were being judged, those that were chosen to come back for State Fair lineup were temporarily put in small holding pens on the side of the show ring. Every year it seems one or more figure out how to undo the gate latches and a sheep rodeo ensues. This year was no different and several of them became so difficult it became necessary for me to hold a few gates shut so Mrs. Cheviot could attend to her ring duties. Another ring man and I ended up nicknaming one lamb “Einstein” based on his performance.
We were just about to head back to the fair that evening and as we were going down the driveway we noticed a couple of our own lambs were out. They’d slipped through the electric fence and as soon as we chased them they went back in. We put the fence back up but it wasn’t charging. It was getting toward dark and since sheep are clannish there was little danger that they’d stray very far should they decide to get out again. We took off and had a great time with some friends and when we came home the lambs were still in. The next morning I was up early and found them still asleep as I did the chores. I then set out to find where the fence was grounded and after walking almost the entire length I discovered the broken wire and repaired it. While I was eating breakfast, I looked out the window to see what appeared to be the instigator warily strolling towards the fence, about to test it. The ewe lamb kept walking slowly then suddenly did a backflip when it contacted the wire, nearly causing me to spit my coffee out. Ya gotta get up purty early in the morning to put one past ol’ Mr. Cheviot.
See you next week…real good then.
Lucky for the scurs, they haven’t been calling the amount of rainfall in their forecasts. It rained in the general area both days they predicted, just not enough to measure. Will we see something measurable this week? Starting Wednesday through Thursday, mostly clear with highs of 85 – 90 and lows around 65. Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy with a slight chance of daytime showers and a moderate chance of an overnight thunderstorm on Friday. Highs again of 85 – 90 and lows of 70. Partly cloudy Saturday and Sunday with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm on Saturday and a slight chance on Sunday. Highs around 90 and lows near 70. Mostly sunny and hot on Monday with a slight chance of a thunderstorm. Highs near 90 and lows around 70. Partly cloudy on Tuesday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs near 90 and lows around 70. The normal high for July 15th is 83 and the normal low is 62. We will experience 15 hours and 8 minutes of daylight on the 15th, roughly the same as we saw on May 26th.
Crops by and large took the heat fairly well last week. Corn was tasseling and silking right along by the 4th and by Monday, some of the earliest planted corn was pollinated some of the 30” row soybeans are working on closing the rows. Some herbicide applications still need to be made so it will need to be done soon. Soybean aphids are still scarce to nonexistent, yet. While the heat wave likely slowed their reproduction, chances are they will make their presence known before it’s all said and done. Livestock producers were not so lucky with the heat. Last Thursday was tough with no breeze and heat indexes well over 100 degrees. This made it tough on cattle, turkeys, hogs and sheep. We lost a lamb that evening that had been born a couple days prior. There was just no way it could get enough fluid by drinking milk off the ewe to stay hydrated. Otherwise we were lucky, maintaining as much air movement as we could on confinement animals and keeping water sources full and clean.
We continue to see evidence of more new bird arrivals in and around the ranch. It had to be close to jump day at the pond for the wood ducks as the hen was sitting atop the nesting box on Sunday morning. The mosquitoes, deer flies and wood ticks have been so vicious however that I didn’t venture down to the area to witness the event. A female orchard oriole was dipping jelly out of the feeder then flying to a branch where she was feeding it to her young. And while I’m not sure if it was a young one or not, there was a hummingbird at the feeder again on Sunday morning. It was back again in the afternoon. More barn swallows are appearing all the time and that’s good news for keeping the flying insect population in check. The bluebirds continue to raise their brood in the nesting box attached to the old plow at the ranch. The female usually appears anytime you get near the plow. The bluebirds at the kindly neighbors have started a nest for a second brood. What happened to the kestrels? They have scattered to the 4 winds although the other day I saw 5 apparently young kestrels playing around on the wires not far from where Ingeborg used to live. Could it have been the 5 that hatched in the wetland this spring? There’s no way of knowing for sure.
In and around greater Bugtussle we are starting to hear the cicadas call already. TH from Waseca heard some a few days before we did on July 3rd at the ranch. Oddly enough, a week or so prior the cicada killer wasps were setting up shop at the City Hall garden. In the native prairie pasture, the yellow Indiangrass and big bluestem are also ahead of schedule having headed out over a week ago. The burn in the CRP really brought the bluestem out as in places it has become almost a solid stand. Can almost envision the Ingalls family wading through the tall grass prairie with the mountains of Walnut Grove in the background. (that’s a joke)
The garden needed some extra attention this past week. Seems the cucumber beetles are extremely aggressive this year and won’t leave the vine crops alone. That and of course the heat and dry weather prompted me to add some water into the equation, something I generally don’t do very often. Some of the garden is doing fine without it particularly the tomatoes. They showed no sign of stress although they did stop setting fruit during the hot spell. The bunnies pretty well destroyed the beet and snap pea crop. It will give me a chance to attempt a late summer planting of peas however about the same time the winter radishes are seeded. This time there will be a fence to contend with.
It was sad to hear about the passing of Andy Griffith on July 3rd. I still remember watching the show when it was first on and we had the old black and white Columbia TV. The older episodes are still in black and white even though I now watch it on a color TV. No one was more unflappable than Andy while he kept Barney reined in and protected Mayberry from the riff raff that drifted through from time to time. The show was so wholesome and down to earth that whether you were young or old, you could appreciate the message and the humor. Some of the old vehicles are interesting to look at too. The characters could’ve come from just about any Smalltown USA although not everyone had an Andy as sheriff. Seems like the Barney Fife-type was equally as common. It’s still easy to catch the old reruns on TV Land and they honored Andy Griffith last Saturday and Sunday with an Andy Griffith marathon. I must admit, I caught a couple episodes including the classic where Aunt Bee makes pickles that taste like kerosene. Watching that show is still a guilty pleasure after all these years. Thanks Andy for making it possible.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were right about it being hot. They just missed the part about it staying hot and not cooling down for the 4th.
Since the column goes out to a select Internet crowd, they get another crack at it. Starting Wednesday the 4th, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 95 and lows around 75. Mostly clear for Thursday with highs again near 75 and lows around 75. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs 95 and lows of 70. Partly cloudy and slightly cooler on Saturday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs near 90 and lows of 65 -70. Partly cloudy for Sunday’s Farm and City Day parade with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows around 65. Monday and Tuesday, mostly sunny with highs of 80 – 85 and lows of 60 – 65. The normal high for July 8th is 83 and the normal low is 62. On the 8th, we will have lost approximately 11 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice. The scurs will be glad because it will be easier to elude the much vaunted Fireworks Police under the cover of darkness.
With the odd holiday in the middle of the week going on, we somehow overlooked the Full Moon for the month. Not to worry, the Internet subscribers will still be able to read about it in a timely fashion and in reality, the Full Moon name actually describes a timeframe and not the individual date where the Full Moon happens to fall.
This month’s Full Moon occurs on the 3rd and is generally known as the Full Buck Moon, as the bucks’ antlers are in the velvet. The moon also goes by the Full Thunder Moon for the thunderstorms that are common or supposed to be for the month of July. It also goes by the Full Hay moon.
The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Raspberry Moon and there are indeed wild raspberries ripening locally, until the birds eat them that is. The Sioux were also fruit eaters, calling this the Moon When the Wild Cherries are Ripe. At the ranch, we know it by several names, including the Where Did I Put the Bug Spray Moon.
Crop progress has been a little more mixed this week depending on where you live. The “haves” who got more rain have been surviving the heat relatively unscathed. The “have-nots” who were on the short end of the rainfall have noticed the corn leaves beginning to roll on the hot afternoons.
It isn’t quite such a big deal prior to silking, but during silking, four hours of leaf rolling adds up to 1% yield loss as per a presentation by Dr. Jeff Coulter, the only Extension agronomist named after a plow part. Soybeans are continuing to look less like an afterthought and more like a real crop, particularly where they’ve started to outgrow the iron deficiency chlorosis. Small grain fields turned rapidly towards the end of last week, something that typically does not bode well for phenomenal type yields. My neighbor’s Spring Treat sweet corn should be about ready. I can’t wait.
It was a good week to get familiar with the air conditioning unit once again at the ranch. Prior to about Wednesday of last week however, it was nice to open the windows at night to let the house cool down then close them during the day. Coming back into the house, it rarely got above 74. By about Wednesday though, Ruby and I’d had about enough.
The high was 97 and it wasn’t cooling off in the overnight, so we flicked the switch. The weather did relent on Friday night and we opened the windows up once again to listen to the grasshoppers and toads sing.
There are once again scads of small toads in the yard with most of them concentrated in the road ditch where the culvert frequently contains water. There are also some large toads hopping around in the barn catching flies.
Judging by their girth, they're fairly successful little hunters even though they give a person a little start when discovered behind a bucket or bag of feed. The mosquitoes have done what everyone expected they would; become a nuisance for those needing to be outdoors.
They’ve been bad even during the daytime. When one is out of the breeze they come lookin’ for you. They aren’t nearly as fun as the fireflies whose rise from the grasses just after dusk is nothing short of surreal.
Luckily, we have the toads to help out as well as an abundance of recently fledged barn swallows and tree swallows. Both seem to enjoy snapping flying insects out of the air and there are plenty to grab.
The barn swallows have developed a real distaste for Ruby though, although she seems to enjoy chasing them around. It appeared the orioles’ consumption of jelly and nectar was slowing somewhat until late last week when they brought the youngster along to feed.
In short order, they cleaned out both the nectar and jelly feeders Friday afternoon, then scolded me when I went to refill them. That’s gratitude for ya!
There is a young male orchard oriole that has been making regular visits now and he must’ve informed the chickadees that jelly is good stuff because they’re eating it too. The birds suddenly missing in action are the hummingbirds.
It’s likely that the females are busy feeding the young at this point so they’re preoccupied with catching insects for them. The males stay away from the nests so as not to attract predators that see their bright throat patch.
They’re likely busy with some of the many flowers in bloom in the wild presently. When the young fledge from the nest, don’t be surprised if there are more hummingbirds than ever at the feeders and plants around the yard.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs did well mid-week and on the weekend forecast but days 6 and 7 continue to baffle them. Will they remain baffled another week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy and hot with highs near 95 and lows near 70. Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and a thunderstorm for Thursday and another warm one with highs near 90 and lows of 70. Slightly cooler for Friday under partly cloudy skies. Highs around 85 and lows near 65. Mostly clear on Saturday becoming partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm in the evening. Highs of 85 and lows near 70. Partly cloudy on Sunday with highs of 85 and lows of 70. Mostly sunny and warmer on Monday with highs again near 90 and lows near 70. Partly cloudy for Tuesday, slightly cooler with highs of 85 – 90 and lows of 65- 70. A prediction for Independence Day calls for mostly cloudy and cooler with a possible shower or a thunderstorm. Highs near 75 and lows of 60 – 65. The normal high for July 4th is 83 and the normal low is 62. The scurs will be working on their wrist action for turning up the A.C.
Crop growth following last week’s generous rainfall and warm temperatures has been nothing short of tremendous. We should see tassels in some area corn fields prior to the 4th of July, something we would not have imagined last year at this time. Most soybeans are flowering as of this writing and pea harvest yields continue to impress. Small grains are through the flowering stage and are into the critical grain fill period. Hopefully the heat doesn’t ruin what appears to be a nice crop. Second cutting alfalfa is in the process with reports of better yields than what was harvested from the first cutting.
The garden progress has been positive too although the weeds are right on the heels of the vegetables. Some nitrogen was applied to the various crops Saturday and was dissolved by light showers. Some additional watering was necessary to move it into the soil however. It’s doing its job as everything is taking off. This week will be crucial for getting the tiller through the vine crops so they can work their magic and canopy over any small weeds that come afterwards. The tomatoes have liked their home where new ground was broken up with them in mind. Potatoes in the main garden have responded to the brush clearing that was allowing too much shading during critical parts of the day. In the small garden, the Pontiacs are about waist high and flowering like mad. Should be interesting to see what’s under those vines come fall. It always is.
We continue to be a bird nursery and there are so many to different species it’s tough to keep track of them all. Most of the tree swallows have now fledged, leaving behind their now crusty feather lined nests. I usually clean them out just in case there’s a chance a late-nesting bluebird is looking for a spot. Appears the bluebirds at the kindly neighbors’ pasture have left the nest, having seen some young birds there recently. At home, the bluebirds continue to incubate three blue eggs in their nesting box on the old plow. They let you know when they think you’re too close to the nest so it’s best to leave them alone. The killdeers must have hatched too, leaving behind one egg that was apparently sterile. Unfortunately no one was around to witness them leaving the nest, which is not surprising. Once they’re dried off they’re ready to run. There has been ample killdeer calling from the soybean field adjacent to the area where their nest was located so it’s likely that’s where they went. It’s been interesting to watch a mother and young downy on the tree holding the sunflower feeder. The mother would fly up to the feeder, grab a sunflower seed, crack it open then scoot around to the youngster and stuff it in its mouth. This process was repeated numerous times making one wonder how many more times until she’d had enough and would tell junior to get his own seeds.
Ruby and I have been manning the ranch all by ourselves with Mrs. Cheviot in Missouri at a sheep show and sale. We’ve had our ups and downs. Luckily there were lots of leftovers from the weekend. On Sunday we decided we’d had enough with the antics of a yearling ewe who’d cleared the panel into the fat lamb pen. Since her destiny was that of a brood ewe anyway, the logical course of action was to put her in the pasture. Trouble was none of the brood ewes were in sight so after putting the ewe where she belonged Ruby and I set out to find the others. It didn’t take long and with Ruby’s nice out run and follow up, they were all together. The same ewe however decided to hop over another panel to get back into the fat lamb pen that night when I fed them. After putting a cattle panel in its place, she was captured once more and hasn’t bothered since. Must’ve heard my mutterings about Morgan’s Meat Market. You may run but you can’t hide, especially when you’re the biggest, fattest, greediest pig, er, ewe in the pen.
Auntie Mar Mar’s visit to celebrate her birthday last Friday night was entertaining. She enjoyed one of her favorite pastimes watching the birds even though she isn’t real good at identifying them. Hint: All the little black and yellow birds are goldfinches. A birdfeeder and bird book are definitely in her future. We were able to use the new grill again to see how it functions and it passed with flying colors. The time also passed too quickly with many a good laugh, especially when Mar Mar told us she was coming back to steal Mrs. Cheviot’s pots and dig up my potatoes. Looks like we’ll probably need to put up some of those cattle panels around the house to keep her out.
See you next week…real good then.
After getting everything rinsed off by the Thursday evening and early Friday morning rains last week plus the recent heat and humidity, the scurs are still soggy. Will this next week change all that? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs 75 and lows near 60. Mostly sunny and gorgeous on Thursday with highs around 80 and lows of 60. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs of 80 and lows around 65. Slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm on Saturday and warmer with highs of 80 – 85 and lows around 65. Mostly clear on Sunday with highs around 80 and lows near 65. Partly sunny on Monday with continued pleasant temperatures and a chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs around 80 and lows near 60. Cloudy and cooler on Tuesday with a chance of rain. Highs of 80 and lows around 65. The normal high for June 20th, the summer solstice is 81 and the normal low is 59. We will experience the longest day of the year with 15 hours and 28 minutes of daylight. The sun will rise at 5:31 a.m. and will set at 9 p.m. The scurs will be bottling some of that sunlight and warmth for January.
Heavy rains went through on Thursday last week and brought an end to another too-dry spell. When one looks at the rainfall pattern, it has gone in spurts, preceded by high winds then followed by two weeks with very little other than very localized precipitation. The results have actually been overall favorable thus far with a corn crop that appears to be well rooted and soybeans that are shrugging off their annual dose of iron deficiency chlorosis quickly. Once we get by Wednesday’s rainfall event we should be in for another drying out period. Corn has really jumped and some of the later planted fields changed dramatically. The nodal root system has expanded deeper into the soil profile where more nitrogen could be found. The result is that nice deep green color we like to see this time of year. Some soybeans are starting to flower already and while no soybean aphids have been found just yet locally, they have been found elsewhere so it’s generally just a matter of time. Second cutting alfalfa is underway in some fields and the tonnage looks better than what was harvested for first crop. Hay supplies will be tight so getting as much as one can will be important.
The early mornings at the ranch are generally brought in about 4:30 a.m. by a robin that I swear has a bullhorn. Never seen bird with a set of lungs like that. It wakes up the chipping sparrows and the house wrens so that by 5, it’s so loud you have to close the windows if you plan on getting back to sleep. Usually by July, much of the loud singing has subsided and it becomes easier to deal with the usual sheep bellering. This past week brought a male rose-breasted grosbeak back to the feeders to keep all the bright yellow male goldfinches company. The hummingbirds have located the min-petunias in the pots now although they don’t pass up the sugar water in the nectar feeder either. The killdeer continues to sit on the nest at the kindly neighbors while on a sad note, the brown thrasher nest in the garden was devoid of eggs as of last weekend. Just before that I spotted a brown thrasher in the yard that appeared to be injured as it managed to escape into the underbrush. Just before that I noticed a stray cat that apparently has set up camp in one of the numerous brush piles. Over the years I have developed a dim view of stray cats and put them in the same category as skunks, opossums and raccoons, to name a few.
As some have noted, the fireflies are out and at the ranch, it’s no exception. Not sure if we’ll see the numbers we have the past several years, but they’re certainly on the early side. This also coincides roughly with the hatch of corn rootworms and reports are that feeding on corn roots has begun. In the garden you may want to keep an eye on your vine crops. Why? Lots of striped cucumber beetles were noticed feeding on seedling cucumbers at the ranch on the 18th. Control measures were taken quickly so the other vine crops will bear watching as well. Spotted cucumber beetles have been seen in area corn fields for almost a month already, so I’m not sure what they’re up to. Also seen at the ranch were some click beetles. These develop from wireworms in the soil, generally a pest of corn seedlings. We used to enjoy playing with them as I’ve mentioned before. Flipping them on their backs, they flip over with a click of their head capsule. Oddly enough, I find myself still playing with click beetles.
The soccer mom van recently developed another malady, namely a loud exhaust system. Made it difficult to be very stealthy when sneaking off with my driving wig on to the store where you go to the bathroom in the big orange silo. The boys at J & S just grin when they see the contraption coming, affectionately dubbing it “The Cash Cow.” There is virtually no end to the repairs they could perform on it but there is a limit as to what the checking account and common sense allows us to spend on it. Somehow we got off easy this time as the exhaust system had just come unhooked ahead of the catalytic converter. It only took an hour or less to repair with the part being readily available locally. Mrs. Cheviot said there were almost tears of sadness when they couldn’t milk more than a hundred bucks out of it. Oh well, we have lots more vehicles. After all, June is Dairy Month.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were a little unsure of themselves after most of the area missed out on any accumulation from late week showers. Will they be more confident this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorms in the daytime with a better chance of evening rain. Highs around 75 and lows near 60. Thursday, partly cloudy with a fair chance of a shower with decreasing chances for the evening. Highs of 80 and lows of 65. Partly cloudy, sticky, icky and warmer on Friday with another slight chance of a shower. Highs near 85 and lows around 70. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs of 85 and lows around 65. Partly cloudy Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80 and lows near 60. A good chance for showers and thunderstorms on Monday with highs near 80 and lows around 60. Partly sunny for Tuesday and cooler with a continuing good chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 75 and lows near 65. The normal high for June 15th is 79 and the normal low is 58. We will see 15 hours and 28 minutes of daylight on the 16th and will only gain a few seconds by the Summer Solstice on the 20th. The sun will set at 9 p.m. on the 19th. The scurs have their swim fins ready in case we really do see some substantial rain.
Last week was just what the doctor ordered for corn and soybean development. It also gave area farmers a chance to catch up on their weed control. Even some soybean fields were beginning to be treated with herbicides as the weeds also appreciated the warm, sunny weather. Corn made knee high by the 4th, of June that is in some fields so we are definitely ahead of schedule as of right now. Strong winds over the weekend made herbicide applications difficult for most although the cooler temperatures following the rain from Sunday night are likely to produce more favorable results than spraying in the heat anyway. Spring seeded small grain has pollinated and would benefit from some cooler temperatures and rainfall in much of the area.
The weekend winds meant I could actually mow the lawn during daylight hours for a change. With Mrs. Cheviot finishing her last weekend stint at the greenhouse before it closes, it was a pretty uneventful day other than it was windy and very hot. It didn’t stop Ruby from biting the tires on both lawnmowers as they were driven out of the garage. It had been a long time since the last mowing so it took a while to get it all done. It needs to be done though otherwise the abandoned farmstead look attracts undesirable elements such as woodchucks. Yes they’re fun to shoot but they’ve usually dug holes under a foundation somewhere by then.
Ah, but the garden has been one of my favorite hiding places. I leave the cell phone in the house when I go out there because I’m not going to hear it in the first place. Besides, that’s where the damn things belong this time of year. The garden is pretty much complete now with string beans and cucumbers planted last week all emerging and off to a good start. Even the sweet corn planted on Tuesday night was starting to emerge as of the following Monday morning. The plants that are stealing the show thus far however are the muskmelons. Already beginning to sprawl, they are flowering in response to the ideal growing conditions. Most of the pumpkins and squash too are starting to get good dark green color to them and given an inch of rain, they will explode. Mrs. Cheviot brought home lots of salvia plants and yours truly planted his traditional 4 o’clocks. Both should satisfy the hummingbirds who visit the yard daily.
My other favorite hiding place has been anywhere I can keep an eye on my little fat feathered buddies. The killdeer still has not hatched out her young as of Monday night. She drags her wing and messes with my mind but she also lets me get within about 4 feet. She takes a good photograph too. The kestrels fledged on Tuesday much to our surprise. They apparently developed enough wing strength from Sunday to Tuesday to make it as far as the trees in the fenceline. It was somewhat bittersweet as they were fun to watch develop and that a professional photographer friend had come from 2 ½ hours away to photograph them. The adult kestrels were not very cooperative, hunting from high altitudes and were constantly on the move. He did get one outstanding photo of an adult carrying a mouse back to the trees where the youngsters were waiting so it wasn’t all for naught. It was a fantastic shot, showing what kestrels do best: Hunt.
As mentioned last week, we saw bluebirds and discovered this week that they are indeed nesting. In fact they are nesting in the bluebird house attached to the depth adjustment lever on the old No. 8 International plow in the pasture. It’s just great to have bluebirds back at the ranch once again. In addition, near the garden in a spruce tree probably planted by the red-headed 4-Her, a brown thrasher nest was discovered complete with 4 cream colored eggs with reddish speckles. And, as an added bonus, when fixing fence Monday night, I checked the wood duck nesting box in the wetland. The hen blasted out of the box like she’d been shot out of a cannon as I approached. Not sure how many eggs she may be setting on but there appears to be a full clutch under all that fluffy down. In the background the young kestrels could be heard from their perches in the trees behind me, calling for more food. The parents were Johnny on the spot, answering and hauling edibles into the trees, then back out on the hunt again.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were tracking well last week, calling the rain as predicted. Will they be as fortunate this time around? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs around 80 and lows near 60. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a moderate chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs of 80 and lows of 65. Friday, partly cloudy and warmer with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs of 80 – 85 and lows around 65. Saturday partly cloudy and warmish with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs 85 – 90 and lows near 70. Mostly sunny for Sunday with continued heat and mugginess along with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs around 90 and lows close to 70. Mostly cloudy on Monday with some relief from the heat along with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80 and lows of 55 – 60. Remaining mostly cloudy and cooler on Tuesday with highs of 75 – 80 and lows around 65. The normal high for June 10th is 78 and the normal low is 62. The scurs will be lounging beside their cement pond .
Aside from the surprise .52” of rain at the ranch on Wednesday last week it has remained relatively warm and dry since Saturday. This allowed many fields of corn to be sprayed for weeds under ideal conditions. It was definitely time as some of the weeds that had escaped the digger earlier this spring were large and becoming a concern. Soybean emergence had also been an issue as evidenced by some unevenness in the stands. Fortunately soybeans are fairly resilient and once they shrug off the “uglies” from the iron deficiency chlorosis, they begin to resemble a real crop. Small grains are heading out and alfalfa has benefitted greatly from the rainfall the last part of May. First cutting was disappointing in some places with some eager to blame insects based on their presence at the time of cutting. However, weather after the crop broke dormancy was not always “alfalfa-friendly” and led to slower-than-anticipated growth given the early start. The lack of precipitation from last fall and subsequent low subsoil moisture was not a positive factor either.
This week brought more activity from our feathered friends around the ranch. The young kestrels are approaching the time to fledge from their now extremely messy home. I went down to check on them Sunday night as I have for many weeks now and upon opening the inspection door on the nesting box, one of them hopped out and fluttered about 10’ into the grass below. I closed the door quickly so no more of them were tempted to come out, retrieved the escapee and stuffed it back in the entrance hole. I’ve been keeping a weekly photo record of their progress so the only way to get a photograph was to put the cell phone camera in the hole and snap the picture. It was hard to tell whether they were all in there yet, but judging by how crowded they were, it appears they’re all there. I would expect by next week they’ll be on the wing if the Sunday night’s performance was any indication.
In the yard, we had a female cardinal picking up under the sunflower feeder on Sunday. Cardinals are still a novelty at our place although they have been appearing with greater frequency the past several years as the bushes grow in size. The female orchard oriole has been making an appearance lately with her mate at the jelly feeder. A catbird or catbirds seem to have a taste for jelly along with a house finch or two. Probably the most significant observations involved the bluebirds. On Saturday a female bluebird was seen resting on the eave trough, then flew into the trees by the driveway. On Monday morning, the unmistakable royal blue of the male was spotted going away towards the pasture where there are three bluebird nesting boxes that are possible nesting sites. Will be interesting to see if they’re nesting in one of them or simply passing through. They’re always a treat to see regardless.
The Canada thistle population in the pasture around the yard required some attention. Some had attained a height of nearly 3’ since the May rains. Before going to a graduation Sunday, it was time to do battle. Having purchased some Milestone recently, the conditions were perfect. By the time we returned from the graduation a few hours later, some of them were already starting to writhe in agony. By the next morning they were all in a state of distress. Something about making thistles miserable that satisfies the inner sadist in me.
Sadly the last of the radishes were consumed the other night. They had a pretty good run though, supplying many meals worth and allowing us to share them with several others. Was a good a thing too as the second planting a few weeks later amounted to only some pencil thin roots and tops that bolted. Tomatoes, peppers, string beans and cucumbers were planted quickly Sunday night just before dusk so everything is in with the exception of some sweet corn. The weeds have really taken off with the recent warm temperatures so it will be a full time job to keep them at bay. Once the squash and pumpkins get rolling though there are few weeds that can compete with them. Rotating them around the garden not only helps keep the weeds down, they have the effect of mellowing the soil probably by deflecting some of the pounding rain with their huge leaves. Lord knows we’ve had plenty of hard rains thus far. The sphinx moths continue to work over the beautiful pots and planters Mrs. Cheviot has placed in front of the house while the toads ride shotgun for any flying insects that meet their criteria. All is right with the world…
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs couldn’t miss last week as it rained just at the mere mention of precipitation. Will our rainy stretch continue? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny becoming partly cloudy with a fair chance of some evening showers. Highs near 60 and lows around 50. Mostly cloudy on Thursday with a continued chance of showers. Highs again around 60 and lows dropping to 45. Friday, partly cloudy and starting a warming trend with a slight chance of showers. Highs of 65 and lows of 50. Saturday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower. Highs of 70 and lows of 55. Partly cloudy and much warmer on Sunday and Monday with a continued slight chance of a shower. Highs 80 – 85 and lows around 65. Tuesday should be mostly sunny with a high of 85 and lows near 55. The normal high for June 1st is 75 and the normal low is 54. The scurs will be checking to see who monkeyed with the thermostat and that the calendar says that it really is May and not March.
There are many astronomical events coming at us this week. First, the Full Moon for the month falls on the 4th, being known as the Full Strawberry Moon. Both the Sioux and Ojibwe were in agreement on this one and it’s no wonder. The wild strawberries, while small, are tasty morsels for young and old to enjoy and savor. We will have another partial eclipse of the moon on the 4th as well. The only problem is the moon will be setting as it is going on, similar to the last one. The eclipse will start about 3:46 a.m. and the moon will set at 5:40 a.m. The most exciting and unusual event involves the transit of Venus across the face of the sun on June 5th. Just as we mentioned before, it is never a good idea to look directly at the sun so it will probably be most safely viewed on TV. The transit will begin at 5:04 p.m. and will be halfway across the sun by 8:26 p.m. just before sunset. The thing that makes this event so unique is the fact it will not happen again until 2117. If you miss it, better mark your calendars. For more information go to: www.astro.umn.edu/venustransit.
More rainfall in the last week at the ranch and all over the greater Bugtussle area. We tallied 3.08” at the ranch and other places were showing similar amounts. Prior to the rains were strong winds gusting to over 40 mph that were responsible for windblown soil capable of causing crop damage. The jury is still out on a few of these fields although most are recovering. Even though the rains were spread over the course of five days, the common denominator with most of the rainfall has been the intensity with which it has fallen. It has caused more gully erosion and will make these fields rough to traverse once they become dry enough. Something that has been surprising however is the slow pace of the wetlands to become fully recharged. The wetland here at the ranch still is not at full capacity despite the nearly 6 inches of precipitation that has fallen in May.
Around the ranch it’s been interesting to watch the new babies of all sorts as they make their appearance. There are four young fox squirrels content to clean up under the birdfeeders. They of course drive Ruby crazy as they play on her turf and she goes after them with a vengeance, exploding through the door once it’s opened a crack. The kestrels in the wetland continue to develop rapidly. After being little fuzz balls a week ago, they’ve already grown the brown feathers typical of young kestrels on their backs. As fast as they’re growing, one can see Ma and Pa Kestrel nearby most of the time. They almost have to be in order to keep that tribe fed.
At the kindly neighbor’s, I’ve been greeted by a killdeer feigning injury every night when stopping on my way home to check the ewes there. Couldn’t figure out where the babies might be that she was trying to protect until I almost stepped in the nest. Tucked in the large crushed rock, the coloration of the eggs made it almost undetectable. I marked it with a small piece of orange plastic so we didn’t step in it. Later in the weekend I was trimming under the fences at the kindly neighbor’s and checking on bluebird nesting boxes as I went along. The nesting box that has hosted bluebirds for many years was occupied by a house sparrow nest, which I quickly dispatched. Two other nesting boxes contained tree swallows, which are always welcome, especially when the biting flies and mosquitoes are out. The last house I came to had been unoccupied last year so I was pleasantly surprised to peer inside and see a female bluebird on the nest staring up at me. I thought about photographing her but slowly closed the lid and latched it instead. They had come back again just as they always had and I didn’t want to do anything that might make them change their minds.
The garden, lawn and weeds also continue to grow, well, like weeds! On Memorial Day it had been a while since the last mowing due to dry conditions so the bromegrass (June grass for you old-timers) was heading out making the lawn look more like a poor excuse for a hayfield. There needs to be some serious time spent soon in the carrot and beet patch as the weeds are threatening to take over. The beets in particular are a little thin so they need all the help they can get. Six flats of vine crop transplants were planted Sunday in the mud after the Saturday downpour. They were fortunate to be watered in with the overnight showers in the wee hours of Monday morning. Even after a windy Memorial Day, they looked none the worse for wear, showing no signs of moisture stress. As wet as the soil is and with cooler temps forecast in the near term, they should be in good shape. Now all that’s left to plant are some sweet corn, cukes, tomatoes and string beans. Oh and one hill of zucchini. Should be several years’ supply right there.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs had it pretty close to right although the rain for last Saturday didn’t materialize. Will we see some welcome precipitation this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy with an increasing chance of rain into the evening hours. Highs near 85 and lows around 60. Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy and slightly cooler with a chance of showers in the daytime. Highs of 75 and lows of 55. Cooler again on Friday under partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of a shower. Highs 70 – 75 and lows near 60. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a slight chance of a shower during the daytime hours increasing slightly by evening. Highs of 80 and lows around 65. Showers and thunderstorms likely for Sunday with highs of 85 and lows of 65. Cooler on Memorial Day Monday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs of 75 and lows near 55. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs around 80 and lows of 60. The normal for May 28th is 73 and the normal low is 52. By then the rate of increase on our daylight will have slowed to roughly a minute per day. The scurs will be cooking out and remembering those who fought and died so they could do so.
The weather, namely the wind, kept everyone occupied last week. Some crop damage occurred although it was minimal. Leaves were tattered in areas on some corn fields and soybeans were not emerged for the most part so they were spared from the wrath of the blowing soil. Fields this time of year remain very vulnerable to erosion by the wind and water both. Once a canopy forms to help protect the soil, the vulnerability decreases somewhat, particularly to wind erosion. After seeing some 30 to 40 odd fields this last week that had some sort of erosion-related issues, it’s probably a good idea to put in a plug for the folks at the NRCS and SWCD. There are programs to help decrease the severity of these issues available. All you have to do is inquire. Corn grew rapidly with the warm temperatures and soybeans began to emerge on the early planted field this past week. Early planted small grain is in the boot stage and looks very impressive.
At the ranch it was weaning time once again Sunday. The ewes at the kindly neighbors pasture seem to get over the process much more quickly than those that remain here. Part of it here is they can see their lambs and part of it is they seem to enjoy bellering anyway for the sake of bellering. Just coming out of the house is enough to set them off. I enjoy tormenting them after the last several weeks of feeding them when they almost knock you over trying to get at the feed. That behavior wears thin after a while, especially when knee and hip joints are as expensive to repair or replace as they are. Feed is expensive too and the grass is plentiful so it’s just plain silly to keep putting up with that nonsense. Ruby seems largely unimpressed by all the commotion especially since she has to wait outside of the panels we set up until the sorting process is over. Tough to do sometimes when you’re hard-wired for action.
Finally was able to get on top of the weedy parts of the garden so they are ready for planting transplants. The hot windy conditions last week made for an excellent kill on weeds such as lambsquarters, horseweed and shepherd’s purse. Six rows of Indian corn were slipped in quickly just before dark on the 15th. It should be emerging any day now. Most of the garden is doing OK although rains would benefit some of the peas and beets. The potatoes are really starting to take off, especially the Pontiacs and Norkotahs. Apparently they appreciated the treatment with composted manure they received before planting if their dark green leaves are any indication.
The weekly trip to the wetland on Sunday night was a real treat. When approaching the basin 30 or so giant Canada geese took off, looking a little like a bunch of B-52s as they launched into the wind. The little kestrels are continuing to grow and are becoming defiant. They’ve started doing the little kestrel version of the adult kestrel call and hissing when the door is opened. Of course when it’s as cool as it was Sunday night with a stiff northwest breeze, they’re probably expressing their opinion of the draft they’ve been subjected to. I may have seen the male finally as he left the nesting box although both parents right now are constantly on the move foraging for food to feed the youngsters. In the nesting box put in place Easter Sunday, a new wood duck nest was discovered after I’d checked out the kestrel progress. When opening the nesting box it was readily apparent that the cedar shavings had been rearranged. On top of them was white fuzz, breast feathers placed on top of the nest from the hen. Fishing down through the soft, dry nest I plucked beige colored egg that was no doubt from a wood duck. Placing the egg back in its place was a great way to end my weekly visit I thought to myself.
See you next week…real good then.
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The scurs were spot on with a dry forecast with seasonal temperatures. Will we continue down that path? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs of 75 – 80 and lows around 55. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a chance of overnight showers. Highs of 80 and lows of 60. Partly cloudy on Friday highs of 80 - 85 and lows around 65. Saturday, partly cloudy with a chance of an evening shower. Highs of 85 and lows around 65. Partly cloudy on Sunday with a chance of a shower. Highs near 75 and lows of 55. Monday, mostly sunny and cooler. Highs of 70 and lows of 55. Mostly cloudy on Tuesday with highs of 70 – 75 and lows near 55. The normal high for May 19th is 70 and the normal low is 49. On the 22nd, we will have reached 15 hours of daylight. The scurs are thinking that since there is only about a month until the days start getting shorter, it’ll be a good time to check out the snow blower.
Progress was rapid in the fields after the dry, breezy days. The remaining corn acres went in quickly and the soybean planting commenced. The only fly in the ointment was the crusting and water ponding on some of the corn acres planted just prior to the heavy rains the week before. Otherwise we are off to a tremendous start. Pre-emerge herbicides appear to be working well and most fields are remaining relatively clean. Alfalfa harvest has started in some areas and small grain has responded well to the warmer temperatures we are experiencing.
Birds are changing with the seasons as they always do. The juncos preceded them and now the white-throated, white-crowned and Harris sparrows that appear every spring at the ranch have made their way north. There were some newcomers however. On May 8th, a male redstart was picking through the foliage on the ash trees and the female orioles made their first appearance. On the 9th a male yellow-headed blackbird made himself known with his raucous call. Another couple new arrivals include the common yellowthroat and a warbling vireo. They’re old friends but seldom if ever seen. While they’re not migratory, the first Hungarian partridge I had seen in quite some time appeared when I happened by a filter strip on a field west of Bugtussle. We still hear rooster pheasants crowing in the morning although they’re not nearly as obnoxious as the robins who crank it up about 4:30 a.m. By 5:30 they must be searching for food because they’re quiet. All that can be heard is the soft cooing of the mourning doves. It’s hard to make yourself wake up once that is heard.
All five of the kestrel eggs hatched! A quick check Sunday morning revealed five fuzzy little occupants in the wood duck house. So far so good as they all look healthy and well nourished. Have been a little concerned that there has been no male seen in the area. They reputedly help with the feeding chores. Luckily we have had a target rich environment with large numbers of moths for them to feed on. The June bug supply seems to be holding its own as well. Eventually they may get to dine on small rodents that the parents tear into small pieces. Their sloppy housekeeping however sure makes for a messy dwelling by the time they’re done with it so the house will need to be taken down and thoroughly cleaned before next spring arrives.
In the evening Venus continues to reign supreme in the western sky although by month’s end it will be just above the horizon at sunset. Mars is high in the south-southwest and Saturn is likewise in the south-southeast. On the 20th there will be a partial eclipse of the sun beginning around 7:15 p.m. and continuing through sunset. Approximately half the sun’s surface will be blocked by the moon. It is never safe to stare at the sun so unless you have equipment designed for that purpose; it’s safest to view it on TV.
The garden has been on hold for a while until there is sufficient time to plant everything. Every transplant we seeded grew so will try to get them into the ground in a little more timely fashion than we did last year. Almost all the potatoes have emerged now including the Pontiacs and Norkotah’s. Recent warm temperatures have helped push the snow peas planted on March 18th into more respectable looking plants. Only about 1/3 of them grew so they have lots of space.
The pastures have responded well since our abundant early May rains. Some of the first lambs born were weaned from their mothers on Sunday morning. The ewes were then trailered to the off-site pasture owned by our kindly neighbors to the south. Either they’re real good sports about it or the ewes get far enough away from their house so they can’t hear them. The remainder of the ewes and lambs will be weaned here soon and it never fails that we can hear the bellering for about 3 days. When we throw them out there, it always seems that the summer is long and the sheep can survive forever on the belly-deep grass. Unfortunately that’s never the case. Too soon summer is gone; we’re bringing ewes back home and feeding hay again. We need to enjoy it while it lasts.
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs wasted no time predicting the precipitation last week. The precipitation wasted no time falling either. Will we see more of the same this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly clear with highs of 65 and lows near 45. Clear again for Thursday and slightly warmer with highs around 70 and lows of 55. Partly cloudy Friday with a fair chance of daytime showers or a thunderstorm with decreasing chances into the evening. Highs of 70 and lows of 45 - 50. Mostly sunny for Saturday and Sunday with highs of 65- 70 and lows of 45 - 50. Mostly cloudy Monday and warmer with highs of 75 and lows falling to 55- 60. Mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy by evening with chance of a shower. Highs near 70 and lows of 55 - 60. The normal high for May 13th is 69 and the normal low is 46. The scurs remind you that Sunday is the mother of all holidays.
Fieldwork progress was hit and miss depending on location last week. May 3rd and 4th allowed some to finish their corn planting while others focused on the soybean planting. Corn has emerged and generally very well. The rains that fell this past week have caused some erosion concerns in areas due to the intensity of the storms. However, rainfall amounts while generous were not overwhelmingly damaging in most cases. If we can get the faucet at least turned down a tad we should be able to finish planting. Remember, don’t pray for rain, pray for favorable weather.
In the yard this week it was almost all for the birds. Starting on Tuesday, meadowlarks were heard in the pasture as I toiled in the garden. On May 3rd, the first two male Baltimore orioles appeared and at almost the same time, one of the Harris sparrows that usually appears in early May. The next day there was a male orchard oriole at the jelly feeder and with rumors of hummingbirds in the area, it was time to break out the sugar water feeders. The next morning I was rewarded for my efforts with 2 male ruby-throated hummingbirds darting from feeder to feeder. A red-headed woodpecker also decided to appear at the sunflower feeder so I made sure it was well stocked. It also seems to enjoy the jelly feeder. A catbird sampled some jelly not long after that and the final arrival for the day was a male indigo bunting. We haven’t seen them every year here but we’re always glad they decide to stop.
Around the wetland the recent rains have been cause for song and celebration. The noise from the thousands of frogs and toads is almost deafening. The basin is at about 2/3 – ¾ of capacity. One of the kestrel eggs had hatched as of Sunday night, putting a crowning touch on the day. The mother was on break as I photographed the newbie and I quickly left the area so as not to frighten the adults. Luckily there are huge numbers of relatively large insects including moths and most recently June bugs for the parents to catch and feed to the offspring. There are also plenty of small rodents and of course house sparrows that they will hopefully tap into.
The radish crop has been very bountiful. Apparently planting them March 18th was to their liking. The harvest yielded not one but two 2-gallon pails full of the red globes and after the processing, put a small dent in the scads of margarine containers we have. The potatoes planted a week after Good Friday have finally started to emerge. Cold temperatures didn’t allow much to happen for several weeks. I was thankful to see them. It’s a pain to replant them and buying potatoes from the store just isn’t the same. The yard had become such a fright so that it was mowed between weekend thunderstorms. Like many area lawns, the dandelions make it look like it wasn’t touched two days later. The nannyberries and chokecherries should be in full bloom this week as the freeze(s) earlier this spring apparently didn’t hurt them much. The burr oak tree is finally coming around after taking a hit from the freeze. It appears the pear trees have no fruit set. Even though some of the apples took a year off, the Snow Sweet tree appears ready to bear its first apples.
Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I couldn’t help but think of Mom last week when I was applying for a passport. A passport is not helpful to get into Canada for a fishing trip these days, it’s a necessity. As proof of identification for the application, I needed a certified copy of my birth certificate or my long since expired and presumed lost passport. When I called her, she was on her way out and said she’d look for it when she got back. Let me back up a moment though to tell you Mom has always kept meticulous records. For example, a couple years ago, the co-op had called her and claimed she owed rent on an LP tank at our farm near Stewartville. Mom told them she was sure we owned the tank while the guy from the co-op was insistent that their computerized records were correct. She said she had the receipt somewhere and would call back to confirm that information. She found it and called him back, rattling off the tank serial number on the purchase she and Dad had made back in 1957. The guy on the other end of the line had to be dumbfounded when she asked if she should bring the receipt in. He said no, that was OK, that their computerized records didn’t go back that far and that he needed to do some more checking. He called her back later, apologizing, saying that apparently there had been a duplication of that serial number on another tank at the manufacturer. Score: Mom 1, computerized record keeping system 0.
Back to the birth certificate. Mom had called and left a message saying she had found it and I should call her back when I got the chance. In order for a birth certificate to be considered a certified copy, it needs to be one issued by the courthouse with a dated, embossed seal. There are also unofficial hospital copies that are given to new parents, which was what I was afraid Mom would have so I called her back. Nope. It was the real McCoy she had stashed away after we had taken a family vacation to visit my oldest brother who was in the Peace Corps in Venezuela. The date that document was procured: 1967. And you guessed it, she also found my passport from 1974, teasing me that I looked like I was about 12 in the photo. I bet I was at least 16 and might’ve even been shaving. No wonder we never got by with anything as kids. She remembered everything, reading us like a book and was always one step ahead of us. Our friends would often wonder why some of the hair-brained schemes we’d cook up were snuffed out long before we could pull them off. She was even accused of having radar by some kids at one point. Looking back now, even though we’d pool our intelligence and resources, both of which were extremely meager, it’s no wonder we couldn’t put anything past her: We had no idea who we were messin’ with! Happy Mother’s Day Mom!
See you next week…real good then.
The scurs were correct in thinking we were going to see more mid-April temps and that we would see some April showers. Will they bring May flowers? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. High near 80 and lows around 60. Thursday, mostly cloudy in the morning becoming partly with a moderate chance of an evening shower. Highs 75 – 80 and lows of 60. Partly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of a shower during the day with a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs 75 – 80 and lows of 55 – 60. Saturday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs 70 – 75 and lows near 55. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs around 65 and lows near 50. Monday and Tuesday, partly cloudy with highs near 65 and lows near 50. On May 5th, also the day of the Full Moon for the month, the sun will rise at 6 a.m. The normal high for May 5th is 67 and the normal low is 45. The scurs will be sweeping the patio for the lawn furniture and officially retiring the toboggan for the season.
The Full Moon for the month as mentioned falls on May 5th. This moon goes by several names the most common being the Full Flower Moon. It also goes by The Full Corn Planting Moon and the Full Milk Moon as farmers would turn their cows out on pasture, hence increasing milk production. The Ojibwe knew this as the Blossom Moon and the Sioux as the Moon When Ponies Shed. At the ranch, Ruby has pretty well shed off already as evidenced by the lack of dog hair on the floor and her new, sleek spring coat. This is good news for all the couches and beds she likes to sleep on when she can get away with it.
Progress in the fields was widespread across much of the area last week as corn went in the ground quickly. We are probably somewhere in the 70 percent planted range as of Tuesday a.m. Soil conditions were about as fit as they’ve been although temperatures at times reminded one very little of corn planting weather. The sleet rainbow on Friday morning was the icing on the cake, pun intended. Some of the early planted corn was emerged as of last Friday and some of the corn planted around April 12th – 14th was beginning to emerge as of Monday. Some soybeans have been planted and while some are thinking it’s early, it is already May. Fortunately April left us with better soil moisture than what we started with but we are still several inches from a full soil moisture profile yet. The month was characterized by several small rainfall events, all of which added up to 2.56” at the ranch, allowing fieldwork and gardening to commence. Measurable precipitation however was recorded on 14 out of the 30 days for the month and temps were cold, slowing the drying process. Only a trace of the precipitation that fell was snow. Two out of three ain’t bad.
At the ranch, garden progress has continued to be slow although when it does decide to warm up, things grow at an astonishing rate. We did harvest some of the radishes planted March 18th and they have been a little on the stout side. They’re supposed to be otherwise they’d be turnips. The late potatoes were planted on April 27th, one of the last days it was fit to plant. Between the Pontiacs and Norkotahs, I managed to stab in 18 hills. The snap peas are still emerging in the main garden and there are some carrots beginning to peek through. The transplants at the greenhouse have emerged with the exception of the watermelon and a few hills of Mooregold squash. Given the warmer temps, they should come along soon.
The spring bird migration and courting season continues in and around the yard at the ranch. Sunday was a day to repair some of the roofs on the nesting boxes. Luckily there were some pieces of leftover Trex that fit the bill. Several of the houses closest to our dwelling and neighbor David’s were occupied with house sparrows so they were rudely evicted. Others have tree swallows that are always welcome as they eat a lot of bugs and do not defecate in our buildings. Sunday was also the day the first house wren was heard in the plum thicket. Monday evening I went to check on the progress of the kestrel and no hatchlings yet. I was however able to remove the female kestrel from the nest and get a close-up look at her, wearing leather gloves of course. She hunched down and was determined to stay on the eggs, almost like she was injured or feigning injury just as a killdeer had done on my excursion down to the wetland. I was careful to be very gentle as I examined her. She appeared to be fine. I photographed the little falcon and carefully placed her back in the nesting box where she settled back in. Tuesday morning we were graced with the appearance of two male rose-breasted grosbeaks. They were primarily interested in the leftover corn from the squirrel and ate some of the jelly placed in expectation for the arrival of the orioles. No Harris sparrows yet so there’s still time.
Progress continued on the Studebaker project over the weekend if you could call it that. Lately it’s more one step forward and two steps back. The heater core was leaking and when the hose was removed from the nipple on the heat control valve, the nipple was about half eroded away. That and of course the valve itself is stuck tight. There are parts available however, and it’s just a matter of what you want to spend or how long you want to diddle around waiting for repairs. There isn’t a lot of call for Studebaker parts these days so those projects tend to get placed on the backburner at some establishments. The heater core may be able to be repaired and if not, a new or refurbished one isn’t much different in price than what one would pay for those found in today’s automobiles. Whatever gets spent it’ll still be better than discovering down the road you’ve been left high and dry because parts weren’t replaced when the opportunity was there. And besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that in spite of global warming/climate change, heat might not be a bad thing to have in this country when leaf watching in the fall.
See you next week…real good then.
Ten font locked and loaded, the scurs venture forth into another week of weather forecasting. Will it finally decide to be May or will we remain stuck in our mid-April trance? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Warm with highs near 75 and lows dropping to 40 - 45. Partly clear on Thursday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs of 45 and lows of 35. Friday, mostly cloudy and colder with a good chance of showers. Highs of 55 and lows near 40. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a moderate chance of showers decreasing into the overnight hours as skies clear. Highs of 45 - 50 and lows back below freezing at 30. Partly cloudy Sunday with highs around 55 and lows in the 35 range. Monday, mostly sunny with highs of 55 and lows of 45.. Mostly cloudy and warmer with a chance of showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday. Highs near 60 and lows around 45. The normal high for May 1st is 64 and the normal low is 42. On April 26th we break above 14 hours of daylight as we continue to gain daylight at just under 3 minutes per day. With their Easter goodie supplies rapidly dwindling, the scurs will be keeping an eye out for those May baskets on Tuesday.
Field progress was slowed by measurable precipitation recorded six out of seven days since April 14th as of the 20th and eight out of 10 days as of April 23rd at the ranch. Still, the amount has not been insurmountable and the total accumulation since the 14th has only been 1.87 inches. With the subsoil as dry as it was, a few good drying days strung together and fieldwork could commence once again in earnest. Early planted corn in the area looked healthy as of last Friday and this Monday. The first planted corn should emerge sometime this week. That corn which hasn’t emerged yet appears healthy and the soils remain friable underneath yet, not saturated. Small grains and alfalfa continue to look very impressive, although the cooler temperatures have slowed their growth relative to what we saw initially back in late March and early April. There has already been a lot of handwringing and worrying about insect pressure due to the early spring. It’s a little early to get too flustered about that just yet. Some of the same freezing temperatures that zinged vegetation may have had the same effect on emerged insects, so time will tell.
Some inquiries have been made about the large number of small black and orange butterflies in the area. This spring has made for a phenomenal migration of red admiral butterflies. I had been meaning to write about these as early as late March when they first began to show up out at the ranch. The larvae from these butterflies feed primarily on stinging nettles so unless you are propagating nettles for tea or to torment your nosey neighbors, consider these butterflies the “good guys.”
Around the pond there are a few small patches of nettles, but would venture to guess they won’t amount to much. The blackened ground surrounding the wetland from the earlier burn has become a green carpet since timely rains have occurred. The kestrel continues to set on a clutch of five eggs and would expect to see some hatchlings in the next week or so. No activity in the new nesting box, but with the rains the water level in the pond has increased. There are a couple pair of blue-winged teal normally on the water and frequently Canada geese using it as an area to rest after feeding on the new green grass surrounding it. On warmer evenings, the western chorus frogs and the American toads blend their chirps and trills together into a soft, sweet, white-noise lullaby. Sleeping with the windows open is pure heaven when that occurs.
In the yard this week we witnessed the first of the white-throated sparrow migration, typically a precursor or vice-versa to the appearance of Harris and white-crowned sparrows here. Sure enough, Monday morning the white-crowned sparrows arrived along with the first barn swallow of the season. Along with that, there are some male goldfinches dressed in their full colored bright yellow suits. That usually means one thing: It’s time to start stocking up on jelly for the Baltimore orioles that can’t be far behind. Last year set some kind of record for us with somewhere near 30 orioles in the trees on the south side of the house at once. That meant some serious jelly consumption to be sure. It will be interesting to see if we encounter those numbers again or if that was just an anomaly.
The garden progress continues to follow that of area farmers as in slowly. Some of the vegetables planted back on the 14th have started to emerge including the lettuce and radishes. The last of the early garden was actually planted on the 17th as conditions dried enough on the surface to allow it. The carrots and beets went in nicely then received several rains after that. Last Sunday the late potatoes were procured. Even my potato producing buddy from ND claims that Pontiacs are still about the best tasting red potato out there. Apparently they are somewhat disease prone, but here they seem to thrive. The Norkotah russets fast became a favorite after last year. They kept well into the spring and made for some great baked potatoes especially on some of those cold nights. The vine crops were also seeded Sunday. I thought we had cut back but there were still six flats with 108 total hills started. There will be several hills of cucumbers direct seeded and at least a couple hills of zucchini planted yet too. Oh yeah, we really cut back all right. This is sorta how Congress operates, isn’t it?
The rainy weekend weather allowed some work to progress on the Studebaker project once again. Getting the water jacket on the engine cleaned out before sticking the newly refurbished radiator back in it had been on my list for quite some time. Doing it without everything in the way is always a plus. Using the flush kit I modified to accomplish the task it was surprising how little crud was actually in it. Much of that had apparently come out earlier when the radiator itself was removed. The flushing operation came off without a hitch except I discovered the water pump leaked. A new water pump is available so may as well get that installed before placing the radiator back in front of the170 cu. in. flathead six beast under the hood. A leaky water pump comes as no surprise since the car had set since 1983. Something that may come as a surprise to some readers is the fact that from 1957 to 1963, Studebaker was the importer for Mercedes Benz automobiles with many dealers offering the import as an additional line. What could’ve happened if Studebaker had continued their arrangement with Mercedes? I guess we’ll never know.
See you next week…real good then.