Hot August night

The scurs noticed the Weather Eye is kicking out heat again. Do July-like conditions hang around another week or will we see fall again? Starting Thursday, mostly sunny with a good chance of evening showers. Highs in the mid-80's with lows in the low 70's. Sunny Friday with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the mid-80's with lows in the upper 60's. Mostly sunny on Saturday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the mid-80's with lows in the mid-60's. Sunday, partly sunny with a modest chance of evening showers. Highs in the low 80's with lows in the mid-60's. Mostly sunny on Monday with highs in the low 80's and lows in the mid-60's. Tuesday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70's and lows in the low 60's. Partly sunny on Wednesday with highs in the upper 70's and lows in the upper 50's. On September 5th we'll see 13 hours of daylight and Labor Day is on the 71h. The normal high for September 7" is 76, and the normal low is 54. The scurs will keep their fridge stocked with ice cold beverages.

 

The heat returned with a vengeance after leading us on with September-like temperatures the latter part of August.

 

The results shouldn't be as detrimental as they were last year in mid-September when temps were in the upper 80's and low 90's. Most corn was half-milk line last week, meaning we were looking at maturity in about two weeks.

 

Sure, there are some early planted, early maturing hybrids defying that rule of thumb, but they are the exception.

 

Once temperatures moderate, harvest may behave more normally. We're still likely to finish harvest early as we're roughly 10 days ahead of normal. Likewise with the soybeans. Some are turning rapidly while other fields are taking a more leisurely approach, changing very slowly. Our rainfall seems to be following a similar pattern to recent falls, starting September with little major precip on the horizon. That can change.

 

The recent warmth has moved things along on other fronts. There were trees and other vegetation showing color from the hot August nights. The sedum I moved from its original bed last fall is blushing, soon to attract pollinators of all kinds. Cannas continue their spectacular run with some attaining a height of 9' while the morning glories I'd left for dead continues has ascended to over 10' on the power pole. Silver maples are also making me believe they may show more color this fall than in recent years. The autumn blaze maple is showing signs it too doesn't want to be left out on the action. Sumac in places on the edge of the yard has started to show hints of red, but nothing like what it sure to come.

 

Bird activity in the backyard has been transitioning from our summer guests to the more permanent fall and winter species. There have been orioles moving through yet, although as long as the house sparrows aren't around, the jelly consumption isn't on a par with May and June. Usually by Labor Day we bid adieu to them and focus on the hummingbirds for a few more weeks. The sugar water goes down more quickly than it has all summer as they move through. Goldfinches have started bringing their young to the feeders judging by the appearance of small, drab olive birds accompanying the still brightly colored males. In my wintertime journeys into the CREP acres, I frequently find their summertime nests attached to the red osier dogwood I'm looking to harvest.

 

It's been interesting to see what appears to be an uptick in monarch butterfly activity and numbers this summer. As kids we had a black cherry tree in the front yard they frequently gathered on when making their way south. When we first moved to our present location, there was a silver maple in the backyard that was a gathering place for them in the fall. It's been many moons since that happened, but it looks like there is a renewed effort on their part to congregate once again. A large part of this is due to weather conditions to their liking for migrating and breeding season. Sure, habitat improvement helps, but it is only piece of the puzzle. There are a lot of milkweed plants in CRP and in road ditches all across the area. If you don't think so, take another look.

 

I seeded some fall garden ahead of the rain on August 29th.

 

My success with the early spring planted garden was a dismal failure, so thought we'd plant snap peas, radishes and some salad greens to give it another go for fall. Success is never a given when gardening. Luckily we received close to a half inch of rain early Saturday morning within six hours of planting it. Unfortunately the weather turned hot again, so by Monday night, I was watering the new seeding to tide it over until rainfall showed up again. As if on cue, rainfall appeared in the forecast. Hopefully it'll arrive soon enough and be substantial enough to carry it until it germinates. If not, more watering. Isn't gardening fun?

 

Poppy has been coming up short on dog days lately. Too many places for us to be over the past several weeks with county fairs and now State Fair in the mix. Fear not. That should be changing soon. Mrs. Cheviot returns from the fair on Sunday and should be around for a stretch. Then Mrs. Cheviot is gone again, but yours truly will ride herd on the Corgi as harvest gets started. We do a fair amount of ball playing and exercising the backyard woodland creatures. By the time the day is done and supper is over, we're tuckered. After our celebratory Drumstick where Poppy vacuums up the peanuts that fall off the top, some TV and lights out. Rinse and repeat.

 

See you next week...real good then.