Harvest moon to arrive Sept. 17

Scant September precipitation and October-like temps from the scurs and the Weather Eye last week. Is this an omen for the rest of September or are changes on the horizon? Starting on Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny on Saturday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Sunday, mostly sunny with a fair chance of rain. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Tuesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny on Wednesday with possible showers and thunderstorms developing. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. We’ll slip under 12 hours and 30 minutes of daylight on September 15th. The Full Moon is on September 17th. The normal high for September 17th is 73 and the normal low is 50. The scurs haven’t forgotten how to adjust the AC just yet.

 

Full Moon falls on September 17th and this one not surprisingly is the Full Harvest Moon, the Full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox. About one-third of the time, the Harvest Moon arrives in October. It was under this moon before the days of electricity and lights on harvesting equipment, whether it be horse-drawn or by internal combustion that farmers could work far into the evening hours to gather the crops for the long winter ahead. It is also known as the Full Rice Moon for the tribes of the northern areas harvesting wild rice. The Ojibwe were one of those tribes. The Sioux were fond of their fruit and called it the Moon when Plums are Scarlet. At the ranch, it is the Full Apple or Pear Moon depending on what day it is. Sometimes it’s the Sliced Cucumber or BLT Moon.

 

The cooler weather slowed crop development somewhat, although not to worry. In true September fashion, the warmer weather forecast should help put things back in proper perspective. At least we didn’t see any frost as they did in points north towards the Canadian border. The milk line on the early planted corn was on the move as much of it was about hallway down. That would mean physiological maturity about the third week in September. Much of the crop though will still be looking forward to the end of the month to achieve that. Soybeans are operating similarly. The few fields that were planted in the April 13th – 15th time frame are moving through R7 growth stage, where one normal pod on the main stem has reached its mature color. Other fields are following along with many of the soybean plants starting to turn.

 

At the ranch we’re starting to gather some apples or at least do some taste testing to see which varieties are ripe. Our trees suffered some damage from the weight of the apples breaking the limbs in places. Hopefully the trees can be salvaged and live to fight another day. There is a lot of scab this year on the apples as well. Even though they’re not pretty to look at, those that are scabby should be edible. One could see that coming, especially on the crabapple trees early on. After all the rain, there was a lot of spotting on the leaves and premature leaf drop. Sanitation is the solution. It’s one of the reasons that some orchards keep goats or sheep in order to keep those leaves from accumulating and providing inoculum for scab infection the following year. Running them through a rumen should take care of that problem, not to mention keeping the ground fall apples picked up.

 

Speaking of the sheep, we hauled a large group of lambs to market recently, most likely just in time for some of the lowest prices of the season. Time to get rid of them, however, as keeping them much longer could result in ewe lambs getting bred. We have too many brood ewes to begin with, let alone needing to breed ewe lambs that would likely be later and more frequently have issues at lambing time. There are some indications that we may see lambs on the earlier side this time around. There were some cooler temps in July and August that could translate into December and January lambs, the same as it did back in 2021. Those early lambs can help fill age brackets for the show circuit classes. And even if they don’t, they frequently are ready for the market or locker plant when necessary.

 

Looks like we bid adieu to the last oriole of the season at the ranch on September 8th. Jelly consumption had increased for a while as relatively large numbers of orioles came and apparently went. As rapidly as the consumption increased, it suddenly came to a halt with only the house sparrows and red-bellied woodpecker frequenting the feeder. The hummingbirds are still very active, however. Mrs. Cheviot’s planters are getting a workout, and keeping the nectar feeders filled and cleaned is added to the task list. Had to laugh the other day when a couple hummingbirds found a male cardinal sitting in a tree. They must’ve been drawn to his bright red color as they kept pestering him, thinking it was a flower of some kind. He took exception each time they got close. They finally gave up and decided he wasn’t something good to eat.

 

Hadn’t had the chance to get the Studebaker out as frequently as I would’ve liked in August, but did manage to take it to Whispering Oaks in Ellendale for one evening outing. Also drove it to Faribault for our anniversary lunch at The Depot. Drop it down into third gear overdrive traveling a new stretch of road with the radial tires on it and it’s as smooth as glass. There are more opportunities on the horizon, so when Mother Nature cooperates we’ll take advantage of them as they arise. There have been a few too many weddings and other social events getting in the way, but once we put them to rest, we can focus on making more trips back in time.

 

Poppy continues to find new places to dawdle and hide around the yard when she’s called. There are enough trees she gets behind when checking out her squirrels that, given her diminutive size, it’s easy to lose sight of her. In addition to the string bean patch, the apple trees have presented her with what are likely a bunch of new smells. I’m sure there are several woodland creatures frequenting them, so that’s probably a large part of it. She may be eating some of the Honeycrisp apples too. Between that and the string beans, she has little need for stool softener.

 

See you next week…real good then.