After a moderately successful forecast, the scurs and their Weather Eye will hone in on this week. Will our September temps continue or does summer return? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a good chance of evening showers. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, partly sunny with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny Friday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Partly sunny on Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Monday, sunny becoming cloudy with a fair chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly cloudy for Tuesday with highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. On August 6th the sun sets at 8:30 p.m. CDT as we’re losing daylight at about 2 ½ minutes per day. The normal high for August 10th is 81 and the normal low is 60. The scurs will be dialing their alarm clock back as a result of the lessening daylight. Got too much sleep said no one ever.
Mother Nature put the brakes on this past week with very mid-September like temperatures. That’s OK. There’s plenty of time and we’ve been playing with the lead. Much of the corn has reached the dough stage and would make those prime roasting ears as they used to say. Many of the soybeans have progressed into the early R5 stage. Flowering in many fields has ceased and this should make it more difficult for white mold to get going. The heat in July and lengthy periods of drier weather didn’t hurt the cause either. Soybean aphids are present and while they bear watching, making a blanket statement that they are on the increase in every field would be a scare tactic. It applies to some fields and not to others.
Some followed the old “toss it in with the fungicide” insecticide routine and rumblings from these fields are that aphid numbers are increasing. No surprise there. Knock out the beneficial insect populations and prevent beneficial fungi from developing. Soybean aphid populations respond accordingly. Also not surprisingly in areas where this wasn’t done, there is a subtle presence of beneficial insects on the increase including multi-colored Asian ladybeetles, lacewings, syrphid flies and minute pirate bugs. One of the latter was drilling its piercing-sucking mouthparts into my arm while I was driving the other day. Amazing how a tiny insect with a noticeable bite can get your attention in a hurry. Later that day I saw one in action, taking out aphids on a soybean leaf. My eyes weren’t deceiving me.
Just as it has for the crops, the cooler weather has slowed our later planted garden progress. The cucumber vines expanded during the warm weather although there aren’t many setting yet. The heirloom Tendergreen string beans from Betsy’s dad did come through though. That first meal is always the best. The four o’clocks are starting to bloom just in time for what appears to be an increase in hummingbird activity. The cannas too are just about to flower, the red spike inflorescences ready to burst open with the next warm day. The morning glories continue skyward up the electric pole in the middle of the yard. Each year one wonders if they’ll ever make it the way they start out. The zucchinis? I’ve never heard anyone admit they had a zucchini crop failure, unless of course it was self-inflicted.
We may be starting our lambing season early again if indications are correct. With the cooler temps we’ve been noticing ewes sparring in the mornings. This is usually a good sign they’re coming in heat, something that happens about every 14 – 16 days. If what we saw comes to fruiting it would put lambs on the ground sometime around the end of December to early January. In the meantime the sheep come on a dead run the instant something is tossed over the fence, knowing it’s most likely edible. I know people like that.
Sunday saw the potential for another cruise for the car club as the weather looked extremely favorable. Clear Lake IA was our destination. Arrangements were made and invitations were sent out. The week prior I’d helped coordinate procurement of some parts through an Owatonna implement dealership for my brother in IA. As luck would have it the parts arrived in Owatonna Friday making a weekend hookup a possibility. A made only in MN delicacy of bovine origin also became part of the equation. My great uncle was a bootlegger, so I felt up to the task.
The cruise was largely uneventful. Relaxing actually to escape the political climate of MN. No masks required or checkpoints and Mrs. Cheviot riding shotgun as we crossed the border I had a positive feeling. With the Silver Hawk gliding along the smooth two lane roads in third gear overdrive, it made for pleasant cruising. Likewise when we’d slow down for a town, running in second gear overdrive was about the right speed for those patented Iowa 25 mph speed zones. Once to Clear Lake and The Other Place we were well accommodated as they opened up their outdoor seating area for us. With 14 cars and 25 people wanting to be seated together, that’s not always an easy task. While there the drop went down undetected in the parking lot: A skidsteer muffler and three lbs. of Hope Creamery butter changed hands. Contraband safely making its destination across state lines in a Studebaker. Who’d a thunk it? Maybe I should buy a plane…
See you next week…real good then.