The scurs were unsure what to expect after The Weather Eye’s blast furnace bonanza. Do we ease into fall now or does summer never end? Starting Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Partly sunny Friday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Mostly sunny on Saturday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunday, sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny on Monday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly cloudy on Wednesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. On the 16th, we drop below 12 hours and 30 minutes of daylight, about where we were back on March 27th. Makes sense as we approach the autumnal equinox on September 23rd. The normal high for September 16th is 73 and the normal low is 50. The scurs will check out their rakes for the upcoming leaf drop.
Leaves are falling off the soybeans in places already although the pace has slowed somewhat once the weather cooled down to more seasonal temperatures once again. It appears we’ll be about on schedule for a more normal start to harvest than we might’ve guessed during the heatwaves. I’ve been asked many times how yield estimates are stacking up. I think Tom Hoverstad probably said it best when he mentioned in a recent podcast that the rain we cursed back in May came back to benefit us, especially when you happened to benefit from subsequent rainfall when others didn’t. Even some of the replant corn has been surprisingly good when doing yield checks. The proof will be in the pudding though when combines roll and bins are measured. The 10-man dryer has already been operating drying some early maturing corn so it's only a matter of time.
In the garden at the ranch, we’re still enjoying the fruits of a bountiful harvest with more to come. Tomatoes are ripening full bore like everywhere else, and the pepper crop has been outstanding. Heat and dry weather agreed with both of these nightshade family plants. There is still plentiful sweet corn to be had for a while yet as well. The squash, pumpkin and gourd vines are starting to die down so we can see what was under that heavy canopy. There appear to be a lot of all the vine crops. Even our meager attempt at cucumbers has been yielding some nice cukes as they responded to the frequent watering and more recently, the welcome half inch downpour late Saturday afternoon. He sunflowers are about done blossoming and have set a lot of seed already. Just in the nick of time.
The birds at the ranch are in transition mode. Male goldfinches are losing their sunny yellow coats, all the better to blend in with the sunflowers as they dry down. We saw the last Baltimore orioles on the 6th. There were still some catbirds but there are so many berries and crabapples, I decided it was time to suspend the jelly feeding operation. The bald-faced hornets were becoming increasingly annoying when trying to fill the feeder during daylight hours. They’ve also been a nuisance at the nectar feeders for the hummingbirds. The hummers have been crazy with the numbers difficult to determine. At any given time there are three or four whipping past. When the hornets get too aggressive, the little birds just head for any number of different plants including cannas, salvia, petunias, four o’clocks and coleus. When darkness arrives, the white-lined sphinx moths take the night shift.
Last week I wrote about the corn binder experience and after looking at ads on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace, it brought back memories of my first days plowing. One fall, we had some set aside acres that needed to be plowed up so they could be put back into production.. I was probably in 7th grade at the time and Dad’s pride and joy, the Co-Op E4 was hooked to the 3 14’s IH plow he had purchased. Plowing the set aside was a slow, tedious process. Pulling the plow in 2nd gear, it was probably moving no faster than 2.5 mph given the slippage. The plow had rigid beams, not trip beams or automatic reset. When it contacted a rock solidly it would unhook from the tractor to avoid springing the plow. Since the set aside was on the rockiest field on the farm it happened frequently.
It also unhooked the hydraulic hoses from the tractor back to the cylinder, you hoped. The old Aeroquip couplings were sometimes a bearcat to reconnect when they were under pressure. It took a long pry bar with a pointed end stuck in the coupling body just right along with a prayer to reconnect them. Then you hoped it wouldn’t spit the coupling back out when you attempted to raise or lower the plow. Sometimes diddling with the hydraulic control handle helped and other times not so much. Coupled with the slow rate of speed, one had to set stakes to see progress. I remember getting a ride home after football practice one night from my best friend’s sister and her boyfriend. She asked if I’d get done in time to come over and play with her little brother Kenny that night. Her boyfriend laughed and told her the rate I was going, I’d be lucky to finish by Christmas. Good times.
Poppy has taken the cooler fall weather in stride. No longer does she need to go inside to cool down, so we try to keep her outdoors with us as much as possible. She still enjoys going to the garden where she helps herself to what’s left of the string beans. Fine by me. No longer in bean picking mode. After that, she’ll do some cricket, grasshopper and moth chasing. Lately, being outside means staring at the sky and listening. Poppy watches the geese like a little statue as the honking waves fly past. Closer to the ground, she’s also interested in sound and movement of the hummingbirds buzzing from flower to flower in front of her. She doesn’t attempt to grab them although they are so quick, there’s little danger she would harm one. They say that dogs take after their owners. Next thing you know Poppy will want to drive the Studebaker.
See you next week…real good then.