I want to be where the sun warms the sky

The scurs kept the Weather Eye dialed into summer. Are we in for a June Swoon or will temps continue to stay warm? Starting Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny Friday with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Partly sunny on Saturday with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Sunday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of rain. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny Monday with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with continued chances for rain. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 60’s. On June 7th, our daily gain in daylight slows to less than one minute per day. We’ll only gain about 6 minutes more by the summer solstice on June 21st. The normal high for June 7th is 76 and the normal low is 57. A nap in the hammock in the shade sounds appealing to the scurs.

 

This corn crop certainly isn’t napping With GDUs accumulating at a late June to early July pace, it shows. Corn has some of the best color we’ve seen in years for this time of the growing season. The nodal root system formation was evident last week when digging up V4 plants. Nodal roots already 4” – 6” long were noted and that meant the plants were tapping into nitrogen as well as beginning development of the root system that will carry the plant to maturity. Soybeans have been going through the ugly duckling stage, although worries about stands have been alleviated somewhat by recent rains and warm temperatures. Fields with heavy residue are behind those that were worked, which is no surprise. Not all the soybeans got the benefit of the same warm temps the earlier planted corn did. The sun needs to keep warming the sky for that to change.

 

Something that has also been refreshing after the past couple years has been the relatively low level of mosquito activity. Now, I have encountered a few in the backyard at the ranch, but they’ve been sparse, unlike the past several seasons. Aside from a few annoying blackflies, about the only insects that have been a real pain literally are the stable flies They started in a few weeks ago and are only too happy to come along for the ride, whether it’s a side-by-side scouting fields or a boat while you’re trying to catch some supper. I can honestly say I have never regretted killing a stable fly. They deserve everything they’ve got coming to them. I derive great pleasure watching barn swallows and tree swallows picking them. I’m pretty sure the numerous toads here won’t pass on them either.

 

The garden continues to take shape. All the large vine crops were planted Saturday after a morning bomb session with the tiller. Once that was done, over 40 hills were planted between squash, pumpkins, and gourds. Three rows of string beans were put in Sunday morning with the intention to plant cucumbers and muskmelons upon our return from the first outing of the year in the Studebaker. It decided to rain, so that pushed the process back a couple days. Not to worry. Last year we were looking at melon and cucumber seed that was rotting in the ground at this point. There is plenty of time to plant those yet, along with sweet corn and sunflowers. The ground is prepared, and, unlike last year, it’s dry. Once the seeds germinate, the sprouts should fly out of the ground.

 

At long last we were able to get the Studebaker out for a drive. Setbacks were numerous, but our crack Studebaker mechanic rose to the challenge and eventually found what was wrong. As it turns out, there’s a good reason to keep your old parts, which we did. Sure enough, the NOS rotor supplied with the tune up kit failed and caused all sorts of questions before answers were found. A rebuilt carburetor was definitely a good idea as the original had a vacuum leak, making the gas mixture a little tricky. The rebuilt carb in combination with a new electric fuel pump, plugs and points made it run like it hadn’t run before, at least as long as I’ve had it. It was much more responsive and didn’t lug down even at lower rpm’s in overdrive. It made the trip to Faribault for lunch enjoyable, but not as enjoyable as making it home again without incident.

 

Birds start their day at the ranch at 4:30 a.m. I swear there’s a robin with a bullhorn pointed at the bedroom windows, since it’s been nice enough to open them up overnight. I wonder if it’s the same robin that’s suddenly decided the rain gauge makes a good toilet? The last several rains have been rather disgusting to measure and have me questioning the accuracy of the reading. Not only is there a quantity of bird poop in the cylinder, there’s also some plugging the hole in the funnel. It also tends to absorb some of the moisture. Eventually the robin will move on, but in the meantime, it takes some of the fun out of reading the gauge.

 

Poppy finally got her toenails trimmed and not a minute too soon. The young lady who trimmed them did a great job and Poppy was none the worse for wear. She was definitely stealthier once back home on the laminate floor. No clicking of toenails to give away her position. Of course when you do zoomies the roughly 70’ length of the house, it’s still pretty easy to know where she’s at. After she’s done tearing around, it’s especially easy. Poppy will be sound asleep on her pillow, dreaming of the squirrels that got away, again.

 

See you next week…real good then.