The sounds of changing seasons

More scant September precipitation only with July-like temps from the scurs and the Weather Eye. Is this the week we break through and get some fall recharge or are we still waiting? Starting on Thursday, mostly sunny with a good chance of rain by evening. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Sunny on Friday with another fair chance of rain in the evening hours. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a good chance of rain. Cooler with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a fair chance of forenoon rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Tuesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. We’ll see sunrise at 7 a.m. CDT on Saturday with autumnal equinox following the next day on the 22nd.  We slide just under 12 hours of daylight on the 25th and won’t see over 12 hours of daylight per day until St. Patrick’s Day. The normal high for September 22nd is 71 and the normal low is 48. The scurs may have to remember where they left the axe to spit wood soon.

 

No shortage of heat this past week as daytime temperatures were more like mid-July than mid-September. Not unusual, however, as we’ve seen this happen several times before, usually about the time someone starts fretting that we’re short on GDU’s. The issue now is whether or not this weather has pushed the crop too hard, so they can worry about that instead. Fortunately we’ve cooled down nicely in the evening hours. Everyone needs a hobby, I guess. The milk line on the corn moved down quickly over the past week. There were some fields on Monday where it was barely showing. Soybeans, too, changed dramatically over the weekend. It will be a few weeks on most fields before harvest yet in these parts. Still a lot of variability in maturity here. On a recent trip to SE MN, it appeared there soybeans were significantly ahead of here and ripening more evenly. Many fields will likely see the combines rolling this week in parts of Dodge and Olmsted Counties.

 

It has not been a fun year to do corn yield estimates. The amount of variability makes it almost impossible to come up with a number that’s remotely close to representative. In a good year, yield estimates should be done about every 40 acres to be considered accurate. In a year like this one, probably more like every 20 acres. Each sample takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes. No one has that kind of time, nor wants to pay someone for it if they did. Recently the experience has been hampered by warmer than normal temperatures. Wearing shorts helps, but it also opens you up to collecting all the woolly cupgrass and barnyardgrass seeds from the poor weed control in your boots and socks. Now, you’re not only hot and sweaty, but your feet are also uncomfortable as well. And you’re still in all likelihood not a lot closer to knowing what the final yield on the field will be anyway.

 

It most certainly has pushed things in the garden faster than we can keep up with. It was a good thing I’d picked several grocery bags of string beans when I did. With all the social obligations and everything else, the string beans quickly got ahead of me. Same with the sweet corn, although there gets to be a point where I’ve had enough to suit me. Right now the tomatoes are prime time. One can see them ripening on the vines when driving up on the ranch. They’ve been nothing short of spectacular, despite all the rain they endured. The peppers on the other hand have been an absolute bust. It’s looking grim for seeing any after a bumper crop last year. There is a fair amount powdery mildew starting to affect the vine crops, particularly the pumpkins. That’s okay. Now we can actually start to see what’s under those heavy vines. Surprisingly, it looks a lot better than I ever imagined it would back in June and July. I had serious doubts that we’d get any vegetables at all.

 

The birds continue to provide entertainment and tell us subtly that the seasons are changing. The hummingbirds have been just nuts. It’s hard to tell just how many there are sometimes as quickly as they move from one spot to the next. The flowers continue to provide plenty for them to feed on along with keeping the nectar feeders clean and filled. One pleasant surprise was the discovery that there was still an oriole at the jelly feeder on Monday the 16th. It looks like an immature male given the size and he showed up periodically over the weekend. This gave me a chance to empty the last of the bargain brand jelly into the feeder for him. There’s lots of help in that department as the red-bellied woodpecker and blue jays like to help themselves too. The color on the male goldfinches is fading fast. It won’t be long, and their drab olive winter plumage will be their standard attire.

 

Poppy shows signs of becoming an adult dog, although there is still plenty of puppy in there to remind you she still isn’t. On the adult side, she’s become trustworthy enough to go long stretches in the house outside her carrier when we’re not home. On the puppy side, there are still lots of zoomies indoors and out telling you she really isn’t very old yet. We had a batch of kittens this spring that eventually wound up with a 100% mortality rate. Feeling good that the cat population was being held in check, we suddenly had a tame stray kitten show up that was lost, or someone must’ve dumped off. The only saving grace to this kitten is it’s become Poppy’s new favorite playmate. Her prior little buddy grew up and now spends more time fighting with the other cats. This newest addition keeps her occupied for the duration at chore time. After Poppy play time usually comes Poppy nap time. In fact, sometimes when she gets nestled in her little dog hole, it’s tough to get her to budge. That has to be the adult in her coming through.

 

See you next week…real good then.