The scurs finally got the sun to shine and not a moment too soon. Will we continue to see old Sol for another week? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a high in the upper 70s and lows near 60. Mostly sunny Independence Day with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the mid 60s. Partly cloudy Friday with highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 60s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm overnight. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the upper 60s. Sunday partly cloudy with lows in the low 80s and highs in the mid 60s. Mostly cloudy on Monday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 50s. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 60s. The normal high for the 4th of July is 83 and the normal low is 62. By then we’ll have lost 6 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice and the sun will be setting before 9 p.m. for the first time since June 18th. The scurs will be bribing the fireworks police and sticking pins in their Mark Dayton doll to celebrate.
Conditions finally turned favorable, at least from a temperature and precipitation standpoint. Windy conditions unfortunately were also part of the equation, making spraying legally difficult. Thanks in part to the wind, some of these fields can now be crossed without getting stuck. Too little too late in many instances, but it should help make preparations to establish a cover crop easier to accomplish if the forecast holds. Much of the corn planted (that actually came up) in the four-day window in mid-May is well over knee high and will be closer to waist high by the 4th. Some of the early June planted corn will be close to knee high, so there remains some optimism at this point that planting it was the right thing to do. Soybeans planted during the mid-May window of opportunity were flowering last week; as you may recall the days were already becoming shorter. Some are continuing to plant soybeans, not surprisingly. The experience of peas after soybeans in the area makes it a viable option until at least the 4th. Small grains were heading out and pea harvest was supposed to get underway this week. Alfalfa harvest was largely completed where it survived the winterkill. Tonnage in some fields was surprisingly good, although the calendar date probably had something to do with it.
Parts of the garden at the ranch dried out enough to allow operations there to proceed. There were several dozen budded buttercup squash transplants that made their way into the ground along with several dozen tomato plants, some with fruit attached. Some early sweet corn and string beans were planted along with cucumbers and peppers. One thing about it, with the days getting shorter the plants will push themselves to reproduce as they know the clock is ticking. In the flower department, four o’clocks were seeded for the hummingbirds. Mrs. Cheviot got the planters all established around the house before she left on a sheep show/sale junket. Upon her return she put the salvia transplants in under Ruby’s close supervision. Between the salvia and the planters, the hummers should have plenty to keep them occupied. Parts of the garden still remain wet however, and it’s unlikely those areas will be planted this year, not unlike many area farmers fields. One can only plant/give away so many winter radishes.
The hummingbirds apparently have recognized that there are flowers and nectar to be had as they are becoming increasingly more frequent and active in our yard. They’ve adapted to the new oriole feeder, something I wasn’t sure they’d do given that it had little ball valves to keep the ants and flies out. The orioles too have resumed eating jelly like it’s going out of style, although they’re still getting lots of assistance, especially from the catbirds. There has been no sign yet of the new hatch of orioles yet at the feeders though that day has to be coming soon.
Even the mosquitoes seem to have relented somewhat. The windy conditions this past week helped and the shallow puddles some of them were reproducing in have dried up to no one’s chagrin. The first firefly of the season was seen at the ranch on the sliding glass door on June 24th. There have been many more to follow and they increase nightly, competing with the solar powered hummingbirds, butterflies and sunflowers on the patio.
My Mom’s passing on Friday has left me raw and hurting inside, to the point that it’s too soon to write much about her given the circumstances. Suffice it to say she was my most faithful reader and I received many phone calls over the years regarding articles I’d written. I’ve mentioned in the past she had a New Richland connection as her best friend, Marion Lingenfelter, had grown up in this area. As I was planting garden Sunday afternoon, I was thinking about Mom and the visits she and Marion had made to our place, not to mention the vegetables we’d send their way. Even though I’d scrub the veggies pretty well, Mom always remarked that Marion said she could tell they’d been grown in that good black New Richland dirt. Marion passed away back in November and now with Mom recently gone, there are suddenly two fewer people to share our garden produce with. Despite the fact that they’re both gone, I know Mom would’ve been disappointed if I hadn’t at least attempted to plant something in that garden to share with others. I know both she and Dad would have. And she would’ve been even more disappointed if I didn’t continue to write this column each week, also to be shared with others. Thanks for reading and allowing me to share.
See you next week…real good then.