Nannberry leaves had brilliant color

More warm sun and dry to round out September from the scurs and the Weather Eye. Does October offer more cooling and some precip or do warm and dry prevail? Starting on Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 40’s. Sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Sunny on Saturday with highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Sunday, sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny on Monday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Tuesday mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for October 5th is 64 and the normal low is 41. The scurs are starting to think they should’ve invested in the sweatshirt factory rather than the umbrella factory.

 

The severe, clear, warm temps and continued lack of precipitation has kept harvest moving at a steady pace. Soybeans are getting closer to harvested, although there are still some fields and patches remaining. Even some of the fields that were harvested were questioned by combine operators when the stems were green and the soybeans themselves were 11- 12%. Yields on soybeans have generally come down to earth. Sure, there are some surprisingly good fields for the year, but they have been more the exception and not the rule. After finishing up with soybeans some are anxious to get going on corn. Might not be a bad idea as one can never count on the weather to do a person any favors. A smattering of corn has been picked. Reports of both yield and moisture were surprising in a positive sense. The sample-size was too small to represent any kind of a trend. Some good news never hurts, however.

Those looking for a hobby are starting to worry about the lack of rain again. In September we measured only .69” in Bugtussle and a measly .50” at the ranch six miles to the east. This is not that unusual and, when one thinks about it, not all that alarming when it comes to crop production. The last several years are a case in point. In 2022 for instance, we had an extremely dry fall. We had abundant, wet snowfall, however, and ground that never completely froze under it for most of the winter. This allowed much of the snowfall to percolate into the soil. Many of us also received heavy May precipitation that year. Given those two factors, we overachieved across much of south-central MN. Last year we actually had fairly decent fall recharge in September and October, but very little snowfall with a much warmer than normal winter. We received abundant rain in April. Won’t even go there about how much rainfall we received in May and June.

 

The garden continues to churn out tomatoes beyond expectations. They have been beautiful and generally large. As a result we continue to enjoy BLT’s several times a week when we’re not eating tomatoes with coleslaw or cottage cheese. Not too shabby with macaroni salad either. Afraid the cucumbers have packed it in for the season. They were tremendous and we’re hoarding the few remaining cukes in the refrigerator. The sheep were lucky recipients of numerous overgrown specimens over the course of the growing season. Try as you might, there always seems to be some that hide under the dense foliage. Same with the zucchinis. Can think there are a few that should be ready in a couple days. Upon checking, they’ve suddenly grown to over two feet in length. Oh, well, they too are showing signs of powdery mildew.

 

With the wetter season we had going on in August, it brought about conditions that allowed for development of a lot of leaf diseases on many species of plants. The nannyberry leaves that had such brilliant red color last fall are also covered with powdery mildew. It usually means they’ll be dull brown and fall off the bushes rather quickly and unceremoniously. Several who have happened by the office have also mentioned rust on their bluegrass. We’ve noticed that at the ranch, especially on the north sides of buildings where it remains shaded part of the day. The rust usually isn’t harmful to the bluegrass, but it does leave the rusty red spores on your shoes and the mower. A suggestion in one lawn care guide was to remove the infected clippings from the lawn. With the drier conditions in September, the problem seems to have solved itself. I wasn’t about to rake all that stuff up.

 

Looks like the hummingbirds’ last day at the ranch was September 27th. That one showed up after it appeared they were gone a day or two earlier. There was still enough fresh sugar water mixed up to refill a couple of the nectar feeders. After cleaning them out, I did just that and also filled one feeder with a 3:1 water to sugar ratio solution just to see if there was any preference should any hummingbirds happen by. None have, so it will remain an unsolved mystery. Leaves falling from the trees sometimes make me look twice to see if it’s one last hummingbird, but alas. Still lots of robins passing through, using the birdbath and eating nannyberries. Still haven’t replenished the suet supply, which was totally gone. Once the nectar feeders come down, that’ll be the next step towards welcoming the overwintering guests. I do so with a sense of foreboding as winter has such a cold, dark finality to it. I find less and less positive about it every year. I’m convinced the hummingbirds heading to Costa Rica have this thing figured out.

 

On the 8th we will have had Poppy for two years now. Time has flown by. Seems like only yesterday we were in Missouri picking her up. Seeing all those Corgis in one spot was an unforgettable sight. Her riding in my lap all the way back from there was especially memorable. She’d wake up, rustle around a bit, then curl up and go back to sleep. She’s spent most of the last two years convincing us she’s not a Border Collie even though she’s taken a shine to sleeping in the dog hole Ruby made in the couch. Now she’s mostly through the puppy stage, although at two years old she should be. She knows the routine, although lately she’d like to sleep in rather than heading outside for chores. Not an option. Ranch rules are if we have to do chores, so does she. Poppy has perfected dawdling to an art, although she knows when we’ve reached our limit and need her to come, now! Takes a while sometimes. As we often say, it’s a good thing she’s cute.

 

See you next week…real good then.