Lookin' like something' the cat brought in

Despite being overzealous in their late 7-day rain forecast, the scurs and the Weather Eye correctly called the continued warmth. Does Mother Nature let Jack Frost in the door, or does she keep him at bay at least another week? Starting Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Sunny on Saturday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunday, sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Tuesday, cloudy with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 50’s. On the 25th we’ll see 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. On the 28th, the sun will set just before 7 p.m. CDT. Next Wednesday is October 1st already. The normal high for October 1st is 67 and the normal low is 44. Even with the warm forecast, the scurs have located their weenie roasting and s’mores skewers. It’s coming, folks.

 

If this forecast holds, it should make an excellent week for harvest to begin. The crop is all but made in most fields, with most corn having reached physiological maturity as of this writing. Or it will be close enough, so a frost anytime soon won’t matter. Likewise with the soybeans. Most of them are well into R7 and R8, so a frost would affect yields very little. In many instances, a frost on the soybeans to even up maturity and kill off any weed escapes would be just fine with most. The recent hail that fell primarily to the north caused some significant damage to the soybean crop in particular. Very easy to discover up to 6 bushel per acre on the ground the next day. The worst part of that is many of the pods were cracked open. As they continue to dry, the pods curl up and even more beans shatter. If that doesn’t get the job done, hitting the stems with the sickle bar and reel will.

 

We continue to accumulate insect pests as the crops mature. Last week we mentioned the multi-colored Asian ladybeetles. Sunday was about as bad as I’ve ever seen them, making it nearly impossible to be outside. Some new arrivals include the “no see ems,” a localized term for the minute pirate bugs. These tiny insects came out in force Saturday and Sunday. They’re “good guys,” voracious feeders on aphids in both corn and soybeans. However, they like to taste test humans once their food source dries up. They’re also attracted to light colored surfaces, including white sand-colored Studebakers. I thought I’d done a terrible job of wiping the car down Saturday before the cruise. Then I noticed that what I thought were fly specks started moving. One other pest that we often ignore are the northern corn rootworm beetles. These insects have no pollen or silks to feed on in the corn. Instead they opt to feed on soft plant tissue such as flower petals. They’ve ruined many fall flowers at the ranch. A frost can’t come soon enough for those freeloaders.

Some of our regular fall insect visitors without an attitude have appeared recently. The white-lined sphinx moths are back, visiting things like petunias and 4 o'clocks. The latter are in full bloom right now, so they've really been busy working them over. I tried to photograph one sphinx moth, but it was camera shy. It’s pretty amazing the way they can hover & mimic a hummingbird. There was one working the flowers over at the kindly neighbor's recently outside their 4-season porch. We had to look twice to be sure it wasn’t a hummingbird. I was a little concerned that, with the wet July & August, we wouldn't see the sphinx moths this fall. Wet weather can create an environment for diseases of moth and butterfly caterpillars. Fortunately, there was plenty of purslane, one of their favorite host plants to eat.

 

At the ranch it’s been the summer of the ugly duckling vegetable garden. Never in my widest dreams did I think we’d wind up with the vine crops we have. The cucumbers, after replanting and looking like something that the cat drug in, simply amazed me. Struggling to get ahead of the purslane with every weapon at my disposal, the patch finally started to take shape by mid-July. By the end of August, it was one of our better efforts, supplying many including the sheep with cukes by the bucketful. The muskmelons beside them were much the same, all replanted, all battling for their survival against the purslane. It appears there will be several heirloom melons to eat eventually if the weather holds. Last but not least, the gourds. The weeds got so bad that I had to get down on my hands and knees to find the seedlings the striped gophers hadn’t dug up. When I found them, I was convinced they’d never amount to anything. They’ve since exploded, definitely outkicking their coverage. 

 

Amphibians have been active in the leadup to winter. It won’t be long, and they’ll be looking for their winter hangouts. I was a little concerned that the salamander living under the water bucket in the barn was thinking it had already found that spot. It was under the bucket every morning and night during chores for several weeks. Not a problem, except it would be out of luck once I clean the barn. I was relieved one morning to see it was gone and hasn’t returned since. Several toads a couple of inches in diameter (They’re almost round.) have been spotted patrolling the cucumber patch. I’ve encountered them during several pickings. Lift a leaf and there appears to be a dirt clod underneath until it hops. Likewise in the office the other morning. It appeared there was a small clump of dirt on the floor. When examined more closely, a wood frog began to hop across the floor. It was slippery, but once captured it was released outdoors. The perfect size to gobble down mosquitoes.

 

Poppy is getting used to both of us being back home for a while anyway. I’m slated for another Canadian excursion this week, but those are short term relative to the weeks Mrs. Cheviot has been away. Poppy makes a great companion for those occasions, unusually quiet for a Corgi at times, then letting me know that the neighbor sneezed two miles away. I’m just glad she sleeps through the nights as well as she does. On the occasions when she does need to go outside, Poppy’s very good about standing on her hind legs by the bed and pawing at me. I figure if she’s good enough to do that, I ought to be good enough to let her outside. Beats the alternative.

See you next week…real good then.