The scurs were largely unsuccessful in their attempts to get the Weather Eye to warm up our forecasts. Will Old Man Winter continue fooling around, or will he Make April Great Again? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy Thursday with a modest chance of daytime snow & rain, with a good chance of evening rain. Highs in the mid-40’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly cloudy on Friday with a good chance of forenoon rain and a fair chance of an afternoon rain snow mix. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the low 20’s. April Fools’ Day, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 30’s and lows around 30. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the low 30’s. Monday, partly sunny with a slight chance of forenoon showers, with increasing chances later in the day. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Mostly cloudy on Tuesday with a good chance of rain showers late. Highs in the low 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. The sun will rise just before 7 a.m. CDT, the same as it was already doing on CST February 24th. On the 31st, our daylight will be increasing at 3 minutes per day, with or without Daylight Saving Time. The normal high for April Fools’ Day is 48 and the normal low is 29. Trust the scurs forecast. Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations.
We continued to make slow progress towards spring this past week. Even though we garnered some much needed sunshine as a moral victory, we failed to warm the temperatures up much. Unless something drastic happens, we won’t break the 50-degree mark for March officially. Albert Lea did record a 52-degree high last Wednesday, but Waseca and Owatonna did not, with both weather stations recording sub-50 degree highs. The thermometer at the ranch also called it 49 that day. Fortunately, we’ve lost the vast majority of the snowpack in south central and southeast MN. The slow melt kept rivers and streams from getting as high as they otherwise might have, given a quicker warmup. The frost is reputedly out of the soil commonly by those digging holes or tiling. Tile systems are running. The only problem is, with temps dipping into the teens, the surface has been freezing up routinely every night. It’s not drying up very quickly as a result. In recent days, it’s taken until noon for air temperature to go above 32 and by 8 p.m., the temperatures drop below freezing. With only eight hours above freezing per day, for those without large, heated shops, it’s tough to get excited about getting equipment out and rolling around in the mud.
Likewise with gardening. Even on the faster ground south of the house, the soil remains tacky on the surface and muddy underneath. It’s tempting to mud some radishes or lettuce in, but past experience indicates that’s an exercise in futility regardless of how much you try to convince yourself otherwise. Best follow my own advice and wait until conditions are fit. There is reason for hope, however. The daffodils poking through on the south side of the house last week were joined by emerging jonquils, tulips, and hyacinths this week. In the bed by the lilacs in the front yard, I was surprised to see crocuses coming up, even though that bed had some leaves and up until recently snow covering it. They are a treat to watch as they blossom so quickly. If you forget about them though, you might miss them. Best of all, when removing some of last year’s residue from the rhubarb, there were buds coloring up and breaking through the soil surface. What don’t you like about that?
I thought perhaps, with all that positive news, I’d press my luck and see if the pussy willows were ready for harvest yet. The venture would give me some idea of what the electric fence situation might be as well. When I got to the wetland area, I determined the snow was deep enough that I really didn’t want to attempt to traverse it. Even in the pasture, there were places on Sunday where it was still a couple feet deep, plenty deep enough to get the Gator stuck. I skirted around most of it once in the CRP and to my disappointment, I couldn’t get to all the pussy willow bushes. Not only that, those I could get to weren’t quite ready. Looking at the forecast temperatures, one would have to come back in about a week for them to be at their prime. I noted some of the perch trees on my list to be removed, then headed off to the pasture to survey the perimeter fence, crossing my fingers.
The fence along the CRP was in great shape despite the ravages of winter. There were a few insulators knocked off and wires down in spots, but overall, not as bad as some years. As I got closer to the building site, my heart sank. In places the fence was still buried in snowbanks up to four feet deep. That would take several weeks to emerge from the glacier given the forecasts. That would also necessitate expanding the temporary enclosure in front of the barn, so two round bales could be fed rather than just one. Fortunately, the snow left where the hog panels live, so that can be accomplished after dragging another hay feeder from the main lot and putting it in place. I can always do that in my spare time along with getting all the crud picked up in the yard and the apple trees pruned. No rest for the wicked.
We had company this past weekend on Saturday and ate breakfast out on Sunday. That’s a lot of activity relative to what we’ve become accustomed to. Poppy was the center of attention on Saturday as my niece’s daughters, Ellis and Everly, got to experience the affections of an “attention-starved” eight-month-old Corgi puppy. While the sheep weren’t particularly cooperative, the girls had a blast running laps along the line of round bales. Lunch at The Willows capped off a pleasant visit. However, I don’t think there was any doubt what their favorite activity was. I think their mom, along with grandpa and grandma, were entertained by Poppy as well. Our being treated to breakfast by Auntie Mar Mar and Unkie Gregory the next day at the Ellendale Café was the icing on the cake. Speaking of cakes, we even managed to score one of Mar Mar’s prized blueberry coffee cakes. Nuked and topped with just the right-sized hunk of Hope Creamery butter, it made a perfect ending to a relaxing weekend. Those relaxing weekends will likely come to a screeching halt in the near future.
See you next week…real good then.