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.