Maybe, baby, you'll be true

The scurs and the Weather Eye forecast the cooldown and gradual warm-up. Is Mother Nature going to repeat her earlier autumn preview or do we stay warmer? Starting Thursday, mostly sunny with a good chance of evening showers. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Sunny on Saturday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Sunday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Tuesday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Partly sunny on Wednesday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. On September 5th we slide below 13 hours of daylight and won’t see that much again until April 6th.  The normal high for September 5th is 76 and the normal low is 55. After hearing of snow in Duluth, the scurs will begin their quest for long winter gatkes. 

 

September 7th ushers in the Full Moon for the month. This one goes by the Full Corn Moon as corn harvest should begin in earnest during its duration sometime. The Full Moon in October this year is designated as the Harvest Moon as it is the Full Moon occurring nearest the autumnal equinox. It is the final Full Moon of astronomical summer. It sometimes goes by the Autumn Moon and the Wine Moon. The Ojibwe called this the Rice Moon as wild rice harvest would begin in September. The Sioux knew this as the Moon when Plums are Scarlet. At the ranch, depending on the day, it can be the Cucumber Moon, the Apple Moon or the Pear Moon. Take your pick.

 

Our wet July and August created a veritable petri dish for fungal and bacterial crop diseases. 16.77" of rainfall at the ranch between the months of July & August. 18.36" in Bugtussle for that same timeframe. The most recent 30 yr. normal at the SROC in Waseca is 9.72" for July - Aug. The drought many weather pundits were anticipating obviously never materialized. The May-Sept. growing season precip 30 yr. norm at the SROC is 23.72". With a month to go, we've had 26.38" at the ranch & 27.71" in Bugtussle. NOAA's 30-day outlook is calling for better than even odds of above normal temps & even odds of above or below precip for Sept. If it holds, it could be ideal for harvest.

 

Crops are motoring along despite some cooler days mixed in. Early planted, early maturing hybrids are half-milk line in some cases, meaning roughly two weeks to physiological maturity. Likewise with some of the early planted, early maturing soybeans. They’re starting to turn in some area fields, pushing through the R6 stage and approaching R7. At this point, expectations are for maturity to be reached in two or three weeks. It’s actually amazing that we haven’t seen more leaf disease given the aforementioned precip amounts. The latest one to check in on the corn has been anthracnose top dieback. It typically is fairly hybrid specific and usually fungicides are applied too early to have much impact. Sometimes the yield loss is negligible, and it may serve as nature’s desiccant.

 

The garden continues producing cukes and zukes at breakneck pace. Gratifying considering the cucumbers were all replants after the first planting was a bust. Likewise with the zucchini. It also appears there may be some additional string beans thanks to more replanting. As I found with the earlier plantings, the plants compensated for the thin stand and, much like soybeans do, the plants set a large numbers of pods per plant. Enough so that we were able to freeze a respectable supply of green beans for the winter. Tomatoes are finally making their move. As expected with the cooler nights, they’re ripening more rapidly. That’s good as we have plenty of bacon and cottage cheese on hand. The small yellow snacking tomatoes have been abundant and very flavorful while we’re waiting for the full-size tomatoes to come online. 

 

The fruit trees also deserve a mention. There won’t be as many as there were last year, but the quality appears to be exceptional. At least that’s what the sheep seem to think when we’ve picked up the ground falls and toss them over the fence. The pear trees also appear to have some promise after being a disappointment last year. A lot of scab and bird damage not to mention strong winds made for a short crop. The yellow jackets feeding on the ground fall pears didn’t help matters. This time around it looks like both the Parker, and the Patten tree should have some edible pears to sample. There is some scab where the trees were in the shade part of the day, allowing free moisture for disease development. However, in the upper canopy where it dries off more quickly, the pears appear relatively scab free. Yummy!

 

Lawn mowing has started to slow down some, maybe. I swapped the blades out for the set I’d sharpened. This mower has one of those handy dandy decks that flips up. The instructions tell you to lift it so it’s over center and doesn’t fall on you. Pretty hard to tell exactly where that point is. It of course fell and I was fortunate that it only bruised the snot out of my hand. There is a jack that can be used, making the process safer. However, like many things these days, the written instructions are very vague. Rather than scratching my head for hours, I opted for the dead lift method. After searching YouTube long enough, I was able to track down a video that illustrates specifically where the jack needs to be attached to service the deck. Sounds preferable to breaking an arm.

 

Poppy continues running the household. With the recent Labor Day weekend, she was able to enjoy more people time than in recent weeks. More time playing ball and doing zoomies around the couch. Also more fascination with insects. Her latest interests are the crickets. The basement window project has helped keep their numbers down in the house, but they still make their way under the door gasket in the garage. Grab your overshoes for chores in the morning and the crickets quickly hop out from underneath them. It’s game on. Reputedly they’re safe for dogs to eat, so not to worry. Well maybe. They may, however, cause stomach upset, which is not unusual for a Corgi. Cleaning up Poppy’s tummy upset spots ain’t my idea of a good time, so maybe not.

 

See you next week…real good then.