Hunters moon to arrive on Oct. 17

The scurs and Weather Eye provided evidence last week that Jack Frost was alive and well. Does he return to make everyone cover their tomatoes or does he skip a week or two? Starting on Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Sunny on Friday with a fair chance of rain in the evening hours. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Partly sunny on Saturday with a fair chance of showers in the a.m. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Sunday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny on Monday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Tuesday sunny with highs in the low 60’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. The Full Moon is on Thursday. The normal high for October 17th is 58 and the normal low is 36. The scurs will be warming their tootsies by the fire awaiting another knock on the door from Jack Frost.

 

The Full Moon as mentioned is on the 17th and is primarily known as the Full Hunters Moon. It was at this time that settlers and indigenous people were busy harvesting game for the long winter months ahead. Their prey had been fattened up well from the summer. Not only would it be at its prime, the cooler temperatures made it easier to prepare the meat without spoilage. The Ojibwe called this the Falling Leaves Moon. The Sioux knew it as the Moon when Wind Shakes off the Leaves. At the ranch we generally see it as the Moon of Draining Hoses. Hopefully it doesn’t become The Moon of Hauling Water Buckets any sooner than necessary.

 

Harvest continues to thunder along. By most accords, it should wrap up easily before the end of the month. There has been a noticeable hesitance, causing many to hold off on primary tillage just yet. Justifiably so. While there is adequate moisture in most fields courtesy of the generous August rainfall, the signature of the fall thus far has been one of warm temperatures and scant precipitation. No reason to open that soil surface out and allow it to lose moisture any sooner than necessary. The good news is we should see some chances of rain Friday into Saturday, although not an overly abundant amount. Still, settling the dust would offer a welcome respite. The frost was definitely a blessing for those with beans still in the field. Nature’s desiccant.

 

Finally got the suet feeders out for the backyard birds on Saturday. There weren’t a lot of takers, but by Sunday morning there were customers lined up. Hairies, downies and some flickers were taking advantage of my generosity. Bird activity in the backyard has been somewhat slower than in other years. The warm, dry fall has probably had a lot to do with it. The goldfinches in particular can frequently be found in the CRP here at the ranch, feeding on things like Maximillian sunflowers and other composites as the seeds ripen. Still, the chickadees can be seen shuttling between the sunflower feeder and their favorite spruce tree shelter. The house finches like the sunflower feeder as well. Blue jays seem to eat just about anything, although they really seem to enjoy filling their pouches with corn kernels from the ear corn. The squirrels seem to be preoccupied with hauling acorns around just yet.

 

We picked a fair number of tomatoes and a dozen or so bell peppers that showed up late. The peppers weren’t huge, but more than I would have guessed for the first two months of their miserable existence. Pumpkins, squash and gourds were moved up the hill and piled for easier covering. Not as bountiful as last year, but then few years are when it comes to vine crops. Pretty hard for two people to eat over 100 squash anyway. The visit by Jack Frost Monday morning did a pretty good job of ending the garden growing season at the ranch. Overall we had to be pleased. When the May and June rains fell, I wouldn’t have bet any amount of money that we were going to see anything near what we got. Best of all there was plenty to share, the true sign of any successful garden.

 

The sheep continue to reap the benefits of the garden as well. One of the ringleaders is usually nearby anytime someone is picking veggies or tossing some of the peelings and other castoffs over the fence. The pastures have held up fairly well, although it’s time to start supplementing their diet with some grain. Presently their diets have included an abundance of leaves, many of which came down during Sunday’s windy conditions. Since the humidity has been so low, the leaves are exceptionally dry, especially if they’ve been off the tree any length of time. That leads to extra water consumption, so one has to be vigilant about keeping the water tank full. Otherwise they’ll knock it off its base and create more headaches than they normally do.

 

I got the backyard sticks picked up ahead of the major leaf drop. Figured it would be wise to do it while the leaves were only littering the lawn as opposed to burying it. It’s time to put the mulching blades and attachment on the zero turn again. It’s a little bit of an undertaking, but once they’re on, the ash and silver maple leaves are pulverized into confetti. The bur and red oak leaves take a little more effort, but after a couple trips over them, it’s hard to tell if they were ever there. Some time will need to be spent under the apple trees. So many ground falls in the longer grass that made it impossible to mow under them. It will mean a lot of raking and shoveling, then mowing with the mulching push mower. Hopefully afterwards the plan of attack will be more evident for trying to give the trees a better chance for next year. Sanitation is the first step.

 

Poppy will be seeing her third autumn as we got her in October two years ago. She enjoys all the scents and the crunching of leaves underfoot. There are few moths and the frogs she was chasing around the yard at night have disappeared. I need to get her corn shock built in the front yard, so she has more things to dawdle with. She’s convinced there’s something in the woodpile to the point of being obsessed with it. Unless it hibernates, I suspect we’ll see tracks in the snow providing clues of its identity. My guess is it’s deer mice, although it’s possible a chipmunk has moved back in after being absent for several years. At any rate, it occupies her time and channels her energy. More nap time all around afterwards.

 

See you next week…real good then.