Fencelines

Dotch · May 1, 2013

…coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

After the snow left, again, the weather turned a tad nicer than the scurs had predicted. How will the predictions compare this week? Starting Wednesday, your May Basket could be slushy. Cloudy with a chance of accumulating snow. Highs near 40 and lows in the lower 30’s. Mostly cloudy on Thursday with a chance of rain and/or snow. Highs in the lower 40’s and lows in the low 30’s. Same thing for Friday with highs once again in the lower 40’s and lows in the mid 30’s. Cloudy and slightly warmer for Saturday with a continued chance of rain. Highs in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a lesser chance of rain. Warmer with highs in the mod 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Monday and Tuesday should get us back to partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of rain. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for May 1st is 64. The normal high for St. Patrick’s Day is 40. The normal low for May 1st is 42. The normal low for April 8th is 32. The scurs are convinced their thermostat is broken. That or someone keeps flipping the calendar back and is having a good laugh about it.

Despite the cold and wet conditions some fieldwork was accomplished over the weekend. It was however not widespread or very long-lived. A small amount of corn has been planted particularly in areas of lighter textured soil. There were fields worked down in anticipation of planting Monday only to be rained on overnight Sunday. Anhydrous ammonia, bulk fertilizer spreading and rock picking have been the order of the day for most. Fields remain just a hair too wet in many cases with some black areas apparent particularly after the overnight. Some found them wet enough when performing some of the aforementioned actions to wait before doing more fieldwork. The calendar still said April 28th not May 28th and given the way this spring is behaving, the key is planting once and making it count. There may not be another opportunity without taking a severe yield penalty.

So why are fields staying so wet? It’s no secret that we’ve been cold. How cold? Highs were in the upper 30’s as late as the 23rd and 24th, with the snow on the ground the 23rd, soil surface being frozen several time last week. Couple that with lots of cloudy, damp days. I recorded measurable precipitation on 17 out of 30 days for the month. and it shouldn’t come as any surprise things are in the shape they’re in. Yes, but don’t we have all this tile now that should help? It helps, however we also have recorded 6.3” of precipitation for the month of April at the ranch. Unfortunately tile can’t make the wind blow or the sun shine. Check the weed growth. We’re just starting to see some of the early emerging species such as giant ragweed and lambsquarters. Tree buds are also a clue. Typically by corn planting time we see wild plums in bloom. This spring/winter is a throwback to the good ol’ days. Those tales your grandpa told you were true. Patience, grasshopper.

The garden at the ranch is in the same category as the planting progress in area fields. I look longingly at the small garden on the south facing slope, thinking that one day it will be fit, only to see moisture still at the soil surface. To add insult to injury a robin was using some of the mud from the garden for a nest being constructed nearby. Seeds are ordered although when they arrive and are planted are anybody’s guess. There are several things including winter radishes and snap peas that can be planted in the summer for a fall crop so not to worry. The rhubarb is progressing though, the warm days finally allowing actual leaves to be detected from the sliding glass door. Putting in some replacement trees had to satisfy my need to plant something, the muddy soil under sod providing a clue about the soil moisture status.

The warmth did green the grass up and that has made everyone at least think that spring may possibly here to stay. While the snow may sour everyone’s attitude temporarily it won’t stay long and we can get back to more positive thinking. The arrival of new birds seems to convince me that the sky is not falling at least not yet. After hearing about fox sparrows from the kindly neighbors, there was one in our yard too on the 25th. The redpolls they mentioned were here as well although they apparently split sometime over the weekend. They had a good run of about 3 months, their longest stay in recent memory. There are still a few juncos remaining though, apparently thinking there may be something to eat when the snow arrives. They’ve actually been eating from the feeders as opposed to ground feeding which is a little unusual. Barn swallows and tree swallows arrived almost simultaneously at the ranch on April 26th. White-throated sparrows were spotted that morning so we’re getting closer to on schedule. A brown thrasher was also heard although not actually seen until the 30th. Not unusual as they’re secretive and nearly as talented at hiding as the little fat buddies.

The resident rooster pheasant has continued to amuse us and some visitors alike. A friend from South Dakota was picking up some sheep to take to a show and happened by when the rooster was crowing on the edge of the lawn. We still think the rooster is a descendant of Little Jerry as he struts his stuff while dressed to kill in his breeding plumage to attract the hens. Every once in a while a hen can be seen slinking along the pasture fence then in a sudden burst of speed running as fast as they can to his lair in the plum and sumac thicket. You’d think they’d be wise to his ways by now.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · May 8, 2013

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter

The scurs went out on a limb last week predicting snow and the snow broke the limb off. Will we see any more encore performances from Old Man Winter or was that the last of his escapades for awhile? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows near 50. Thursday, mostly cloudy with moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy for Friday with a modest chance of an overnight shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the mid 40’s. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 50’s and lows in the upper 30’s. Mostly sunny becoming partly cloudy for Sunday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 60 and lows near 40. Mostly sunny Monday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows around 50. Partly cloudy Tuesday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for May 12th is 68 and the normal low is 47. The scurs will be scouting around for the mother of all gifts for Mother’s Day gift in the meantime.

What a bizarre week for weather! You know you’re in trouble when the May snowfall total is more than double that of April and are surpassed only by the March totals for the winter. All told there was 15” of snow at the ranch. The only trouble was due to emergency circumstances, the snow board could not be used to properly gauge the liquid equivalent precipitation. We still measured 1.23” the gauge. At the SROC where snowfall was about 9.4”, they tallied 1.48” of liquid equivalent precipitation so we’re probably way shy on our measurement at the ranch if the snow/water ratio is the same. All one can say is there was a lot of water in it judging by the tree limbs down and shed roofs collapsed by the weight. This has also makes some kind of a record for driving on bad roads. Seems like about the 5th month straight where snow and ice have been the order of the day.

What does this portend for corn that’s in the ground? Time will tell but no horror stories yet. Luckily not much was planted as an overall percentage of the acres. Alfalfa survival remains a bigger concern on the few acres it still occupies. Much of it appears in poor condition which should come as no surprise. Some of the stands were aging and there have been two dry falls to make matters worse. Couple that with some encouragement by people who should know better to take late fall cuttings and it’s a wonder alfalfa survives at all. However, it is easy to overlook the fact it still hasn’t warmed up much. Some of these fields were snow covered yet this past weekend. So far at the SROC there were only 15.5 GDU’s accumulated as of May 5th. It would be a good idea to assess these fields thoroughly before making any knee-jerk reactions.

On the bird front, the white-crowned sparrows are mixed in among the white-throated sparrows. The two species are similar in appearance although when one remembers the white throat is an easy field mark to distinguish between the two. A rose-breasted grosbeak was a recent addition Tuesday. On the pond, there have still been plenty of ring-necked ducks, blue-winged teal, mallards and northern shovelers to keep one occupied. Keeping an eye on the wood duck house to see if it’s occupied. With all the recent precipitation, it’s well out in the water so it’ll take a trip out there with the waders on to see. The other wood duck house has shown signs of activity although we’re not quite sure what. The last several years it has been home to kestrels so will be interesting to see if they’re back. The rooster pheasant was parading around the lawn with his most recent conquest, a flashy, sleek little hen who followed him everywhere.

It’s been tempting to shed the winter plumage and finally shave for the summer. It’s also been tempting to remove the tree wrap from all the small trees in the yard. Seems each time those thoughts cross my mind, it snows again. One of these days though it will be done snowing. Luckily the grass has grown to the point that the bunnies should be able to turn their attention to that rather than the trees. Some new razor blades are probably in order for my face. On the topic of blades, the lawnmowers need attention before too long. Parts of the lawn will need mowing soon, after the snow piles melt that is.

Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer paid me a visit last week but alas I was not in. He did the next best thing though and left me some Cliff’s Notes on what to look for in the night sky in May. Lots of planetary goings on including Saturn rising in the southeastern sky about sunset. Later in the month we should see a tight grouping at dusk the last week in the month including Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. Jupiter is lower in the sky each night and Venus is a little higher each night. Venus should be in the northwest sky. Venus and Jupiter are both very bright, not unlike the noted Swedish astronomer.

Mother’s Day is upon us and it looks like we’ll be spending it with Mom as we always have. It was gratifying this Sunday to see some house finches coming to the “Edna’s Special” window feeder at the care center where my Mom is staying. It took a while for them to find it but they came through. It was almost surreal as brother Roger played guitar for her as she watched the birds, smiled and kept time to the music. After spending many hours at the care center the past 4 months, it has been eye opening to see the residents light up at the smallest acknowledgement. It’s also been disheartening to see that some of them seldom if ever have visitors. Pretty sad commentary on us as a society and perhaps indicative we’ve become “too busy” keeping up with people on social media and lord knows what else. Granted, care centers are generally not fun places to hang out but they are a lot more fun when someone comes to visit. You might be surprised if you take the time.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · May 15, 2013

Rockin’ robin…

The scurs kept the snow away until the weekend at least. Are we out of the woods yet or are we still following the bread crumbs? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the lower 50’s. Partly cloudy for Thursday with a slight chance of evening showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Partly cloudy on Friday with an increasing chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the mid 40’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 50’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly cloudy Tuesday with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the mid 40’s. The normal high for May 20th is 71 and the normal low is 50. The scurs may be ready to put the toboggan away for the year.

Spring has been a test of one’s patience if you’re a farmer. The snowfall that blanketed the area continues to leave its mark. Fields have been slow to dry although the temperatures and lack of wind have also been factors. Some have been determined to try fieldwork only to discover too late that fields have simply not dried very quickly. It is rather remarkable given the dry conditions we faced coming out last fall that our soil profile has been completely recharged in the top 5’. The small acreage of corn that was planted before the snow will likely emerge this week. Small grans have emerged slightly unevenly while the alfalfa that was underseeded in some of those fields appears to have caught very nicely. This is good news for those who lost stands of alfalfa this past winter and spring. Even though it likely won’t make up for the loss of the hay that was lost, it’s still better than the alternative.

Wetlands have also benefitted from the large amounts of precipitation thus far. They too are at capacity and the wildlife is reaping the rewards. Ducks and geese are busy nesting and deer can easily find water once again. The western chorus frogs crank it up every night and more recently the toads have begun their trilling to add to the wonderful sleeping music. Aside from hearing rain on the rooftop, few things will put me to sleep faster than listening to these little amphibians chirping away after dark.

Garden plans have been just that so far. Even the small garden that usually is dry by now remains damp on the surface in spots. The main garden had a layer of ice on it Saturday morning and the sleet, snow pellets and freezing rain that passed through later that morning did nothing to bolster any remaining enthusiasm I might have. Hopefully the breezy condition from Monday and Tuesday will move it along so something can be accomplished soon. One can live off the fresh produce from it most of the summer and the waiting is the hardest part.

It was a watershed week watching and listening to the birds this past week at the ranch as well as at the kindly neighbors’ At home, there were still some juncos on the 7th although they left shortly after that. A Harris’ sparrow made it on the 9th and has been hanging with the white-crowned sparrows daily since. The orioles came that same day. The oriole nectar feeder bit the dust last fall so a new one was procured to replace it. It was filled and hung up at lunchtime and by 5:30 p.m., the first male oriole had already found it. A yellow warbler crossed my path the morning of the 10th as I made my way to check the black cutworm trap. Later that afternoon while repairing fence at the kindly neighbors, a bluebird could be heard calling in the rolling oak pasture. A house wren was heard at the ranch on the 12th and the first hummingbird of the season at the ranch was desperately trying to catch up with the near horizontal oriole feeder due to strong winds on the 13th. A robin’s nest with 3 eggs in it was also found on top of the boom box in the barn. It must enjoy classic rock on Power 96. The icing on the cake was the first indigo bunting of the season Tuesday morning, in stark contrast to the dozens of yellow goldfinches.

The lawn finally decided to come to life at least in places despite the generally cool spring. It was especially lush where the dogs had been using it as their personal bathroom as well as in the ditch where nutrients are easy to come by. Mowing it the first time is an adventure. Getting the aging mowers and mower operator limbered up first always takes some doing. The ditch usually take priority as the road cut is a challenge and one never knows when the next gully washer is going to fill it with water so mowing requires a watercraft license. The grass in the bottom was about the consistency of canned spinach. It gunked up the deck something fierce and caused several stoppages of play in order to de-gunk it. All in all it got done and the finished product was a definite improvement.

The Border Collies definitely seem to enjoy mowing lawn more than we humans do. When you approach the lawnmower, they get all excited and run around frantically. Once you’re seated and hit the ignition, the tire biting commences and when the blades are engaged, walking back and forth at a safe distance so the mower doesn’t get away becomes their focus. It’s great exercise for them and while they’re tired afterwards, it’s a happy tired.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · May 22, 2013

It'll be just like starting over - starting over

The scurs were deadly accurate about the odds of rain last week. Too bad they didn’t discover a way to convert their prowess into picking a winning Powerball ticket. Will their luck continue? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly cloudy Saturday becoming mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Monday mostly cloudy with showers or thunderstorms probable. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. For Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. On the 23rd we will experience over 15 hours of daylight, about the same as we saw July 19th. The normal high for this Memorial Day May 27th is 73 and the normal low is 52. After placing the toboggan in mothballs the scurs may take up waterskiing in road ditches.

Water everywhere after spending a winter pondering how we’d scrape together enough moisture to grow a crop. Soils are saturated with water ponding and no relief in sight in the near term. Corn planting was moving right along last week with somewhere in the 50 – 60% range being completed locally. Trouble was, many had planted their dry fields first and were beginning to go after the more marginal tracts. Many were stuck on Thursday last week and when the rains came that night, corn planting came to a screeching halt, remaining that way as additional heavy rain fell over the weekend. This brings into question just how much more corn may be planted. Much of this is going to depend on insurance coverage and whether one had nitrogen applied to the field. Soybeans remain an option and many farmers would still rather have a crop as opposed to an insurance payment. Growing crops is what they were born to do.

The Full Moon arrives at 11:26 p.m. on the 24th and is generally known as the Full Flower Moon for obvious reasons. It also goes by the Full Hare Moon, the Full Corn Planting Moon (we hope) and the Full Milk Moon. The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Blossom Moon and the Sioux called it the Moon When Ponies Shed. At the ranch we’re leaning towards the Full Blossom Moon as well. Crabapples, apples and wild plum have all been flowering like crazy and the lilacs are right on their heels. The Moon When Border Collies Shed could be any moon although the dog hair tumbleweeds are becoming sparser on the landscape as well as in the house.

New bird sightings have tailed off somewhat although there were a few newbies from last week. About an hour after I hit the button to send the column to print, the first orchard oriole appeared at the jelly feeder back on the 14th. About 3 days later there were a couple oddballs mixed in with the goldfinches. Upon closer examination they turned out to be pine siskins. Not sure if they were just taking their time heading north or if they were locals. At any rate they weren’t popular with the goldfinches and were outnumbered. There were over 3 dozen goldfinches over the weekend and the seed supply showed it. The jelly feeder also took a hit as the orioles brought their whole families. There were obvious young of both orchard and Baltimore types as well as females that had been absent the week prior. Hopefully Wagner’s get more of that inexpensive grape jelly in soon or the orioles will riot.

Keeping the lawn shaved in a timely manner has been nearly impossible. With warmer temperatures, every time it rains makes it appear nothing was done within a few days. It also makes timing important. Mowing the road ditch when it requires no personal flotation device has been a challenge. The windbreak is perhaps more out of sight out of mind although it’s easier to stay ahead of it as opposed to running foot tall grass through a riding mower that wasn’t designed to be a forage chopper. Mowing around rains makes the result piecemeal and when the last portion is mowed it’s time to start over again.

Gardening is still on my mind although like many a farmer, I’ve been weighing the alternatives as to what can still be planted and amount to something. Tinkering with late summer planting of certain vegetables over the years has been fruitful so I am not without options. There is also access to other sources of vegetables so not to worry. In the meantime, I continue to plant trees to take advantage of the wet spring. 40 more trees divided between Siberian crabapples, American cranberry and wild plum all went in ahead of several heavy rains. These trees were extensions of earlier plantings, filled in a few gaps and some were placed strategically to add cover and food. The birds may thank me someday. Their presence is thanks enough.

It finally warmed up and snow quit flying long enough so I could molt from my winter into my summer plumage. The day it reached 100 degrees it was tempting to get the razor out but I opted to go a few more days in case the weather changed its mind. It was getting uncomfortably warm so with my face sweating and finally being able to spend some time outside, did not want to become a heap big paleface. It felt good to feel the breeze blowing on my cheeks again although the time spent shaving could always be better spent on endeavors such as catching up on Bonanza reruns or taking a nap.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · May 27, 2013

Can’t you see that I am not afraid?

The scurs’ hot streak continued last week although judging by the hate mail they received, they’d rather it didn’t. Will Shelley deliver more this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly cloudy on Thursday with a better chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs again in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly cloudy and slightly cooler overnight on Friday with a remaining good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s and lows near 60. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Finally, mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the low 70’s with highs in the low to mid 50’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Tuesday, chances of rain again with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for May 31 is 74 and the normal low is 53. Our daily gains in daylight are slowing as we move into June to about a minute per day. The Acme do it yourself ark kit the scurs ordered has been backordered.

Another disappointing week for fieldwork with some getting out to attempt to make something happen on Friday only to plug planters, get equipment stuck and then get rained out before dark. It has been frustrating to say the least. About one more week and corn planting will be over for all practical purposes. Then the decision will have to be made whether to take the insurance money depending on the coverage or take the risk to plant soybeans. Some will not have that option with chemical already applied to some fields that would preclude that. We’ve had a pretty good run though with ’93 being about the last time we had widespread planting difficulties. It’s not the first time something like this has happened and probably won’t be the last. The corn that has emerged is peeked as are the soybeans that are up. Yet further evidence we need sunshine and warm temperatures.

Can’t plant garden, and I’m out of trees to plant or places to put them. When you’re dealt lemons, make lemonade. Making a batch of rhubarb sauce Sunday was an easy way to make use of what we do have. It’s so simple yet such a tasty spring staple. The plants have really become huge with seed heads coming already on the green variety and a few even showing on the red plants. There really is no difference in the flavor although the natural red color of the sauce makes it look more appealing, one reason some recipes call for addition of red food color when using the green variety. Up next: Rhubarb pie!

Watching the birds and peeking in their houses has made for an interesting diversion as well. Always curious to see who is where and how many. It too has not been without some disappointment. The wood duck nesting box that housed the kestrels remains unoccupied. Makes me wonder if something happened to them or more positively, if they found a better location. The house sparrows seem to have become emboldened in their absence, showcased by the remains of the tree swallows they’ve pecked to death in some nesting boxes. It irritated me to find they’d moved in on houses that had produced tree swallows for over a decade without incident. The house sparrows promptly made it onto the same list as the skunks. Obviously they have not seen Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven”.

On a more pleasant note, there is a chickadee nest in the nesting box on the edge of the yard. Was looking to see what kinds of nests we had on Saturday and found one box that was full of moss, lichens, and other odd looking nesting material. Having seen a photo someone had posted on an outdoor forum I frequent, that was my first thought. There had been a pair of chickadees hanging around and recently there has only been one seen at a time. Sunday during the nasty weather I spotted both again and watched as one of them made its way back to the bluebird house in question and went in.

Sunday was one of those days too to catch up on how many birds were there during the week. Otherwise the only snapshot I get of who’s emptying the feeders is if I go home to make a sandwich and let the dogs run briefly. The jelly consumption had spiked making me wonder if some of the house finches and chickadees seen helping themselves were responsible. Nope, it was a horde of orioles instead. There had been 6 – 8 at times but when I looked out and lost count at 16, that was pretty self-explanatory. They have also become rather brazen and seem to have lost their fear of me. Their jelly feeder was empty so decided to fill it. One colorful Baltimore male got within about 3’ of me so I extended the jelly spoon towards him and rested it on a twig. Hesitant at first, he greedily cleaned up the remaining jelly in the spoon. Cross that off my bucket list.

The soccer mom van remains the gift that keeps on giving. Saturday was time again to make one of those trips to the store where you go the bathroom in the big orange silo. The van sleeps outside but it didn’t hesitate one iota, making the journey to Owatonna without skipping a beat. It wasn’t raining, it started, the heater worked and the van didn’t even pee on my foot like it sometimes does. For some odd reason after a rain, water collects somewhere up under the hood. Upon affixing my soccer mom driving wig, placing the van in reverse and backing up, water can be heard running. If you look down at your left foot, you suddenly discover where. Our Border Collie Gus also used to do the same thing when he was happy to see you so I’ve always figured the soccer mom van was just glad to be going somewhere.

Once inside the store it began to rain outside, again. After running through checkout I made my way back to the van and loaded my supplies. Wig in place, I fired it up, put it in reverse and sure enough the sound of running water could mean only one thing: My left foot was wet! That and turning the windshield wipers on, the wiper blades were in tatters. It was my lucky day though. Went back inside and Don helped me find the right wiper blades, the ones that didn’t cost me more than the van was worth. Thanks Don!

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · June 5, 2013

Well it took me years to get those souvenirs,

And I don't know how they slipped away from me

The scurs forecasts are becoming repetitive, aren’t they? Rain, clouds, cool, and not much else. Will we ever see summer or are we stuck on early May? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows near 50. Mostly cloudy Thursday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs near 70 and lows in the upper 50’s. Monday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny Tuesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. The normal high for June 7th is 77 and the normal low is 55. We will experience 15 hours and 22 minutes of daylight on the 7th, gaining only 6 more minutes by the summer solstice. The scurs are saving lots on suntan lotion so far this summer.

It continues to be a spring that defies the odds. First, it breaks rainfall records for the area for the 3 month period of March. April and May, then decides to remain cold and cloudy so that fields are having a difficult time drying out. This has translated into large holes in some corn fields where corn simply never germinated and hence did not emerge. Most of this occurrence can be traced to drainage. Yes but we have lots of tile, remember? Yes but tile systems are only designed to handle so much and over 18” of precip in the last 3 months has overwhelmed them. If you don’t think so there are plenty of people who were stuck and would likely argue with you. Corn planting except for some attempting to fill in some of the aforementioned holes has largely come to a halt. Soybean planting finally began in earnest although fields remain in marginal condition in terms of fitness.

The ewes and lambs were finally weaned off this past week and lots of bellering was in store overnight. This primarily because the ewes going to the kindly neighbors were on the trailer waiting until morning. Oddly enough, the ewes settled down pretty fast this time around, apparently realizing that the lush pasture grass was a lot better cuisine than what they’d been getting in dry lot. The lambs enjoyed having extra bunk space and not having to compete with their own mothers for feed. The fencer at the kindly neighbors wanted to a little persnickety after working initially a few weeks back when the fence had been redone. Mowing under it and redoing the grounds didn’t seem to help as the light would only flash intermittently even though the spark was evident when doing the screwdriver test. Eventually I gave up as the time to mow the lawn was diminishing. The next day when I came back to check on the fence and ewes, the fencer was working normally again. Go figure.

The bugs were equally responsible for my early departure. Between the mosquitoes and blackflies, they had annoyed me long enough. The worst part is the mosquitoes will likely be with us for a while. All the ponded water and continual wet conditions has played right into their hands, er, beaks. Another way that droughts have an advantage over wet seasons. The June bugs have also been banging off the window screens and around the garage lights. Coming from white grubs, the adult insects are merely a nuisance while the larvae damage root systems on lawns providing an open invitation for moles to come looking for them.

The bird migration is largely complete although a couple catbirds arrived just the other day. They’ve made themselves right at home, using the jelly feeder whenever the orioles aren’t. A group of cedar waxwings has been hanging around too, appearing to eat the petals off the apple trees. Hadn’t seen that one before. It appears the indigo buntings may have taken up residence here. There could be a nest in one of the arborvitae near the garden area. I say area as there still is no garden planted due to the wet conditions. That’s OK. If the buntings don’t mind it may stay that way for a while yet. They’ve been helping themselves to the oriole nectar feeder anyway, pecking at the openings for long periods of time.

The berry bushes planted for the birds have burst into bloom. Nannyberries, American cranberry, chokeberries and red osier dogwood are all lending their fragrance to the fresh morning air. If the floral outburst is any indication, there should be plenty of food for weary autumn travelers or overwintering guests of the feathered variety. Of course when mowing the lawn, it’s something to look forward to.

On my last trip home I made a visit to the attic to see if I could locate some of the treasures reputedly hidden there. I did finally locate some boxes that were clearly labeled with my name on them so it was like opening King Tut’s tomb or at least taking a journey through the past. I found old 4-H records complete with pictures of lambs as well as some of the field of corn shocks we’d made one fall. There were souvenirs from both trips to Venezuela and college applications. Probably the most interesting thing I ran across in my brief search was a 1959 Motor Trend magazine that came from my cousin Phil once upon a time. In it they detailed several of the new cars for that model year including the 1959 Studebaker Lark. It claimed the six cylinder would cruise right along at 70 mph. Funny, I don’t remember pedaling the 1960 Lark VI that fast. That and it steered hard. Sometimes it even took two of us to drive it.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · June 12, 2013

Give me the beat boys and free my soul...

When the scurs are on a tear, they’re tough to stop. Of course when all you predict is cold, wet and cloudy, odds of being right have been pretty good. How good will this week be? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Thursday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Partly cloudy on Friday with a modest chance of a daytime shower or thunderstorm with a better chance in the overnight. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Partly cloudy on Saturday with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows in the low 60’s. Partly cloudy Sunday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Monday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. On June 15th we will see 15 hours and 28 minutes of daylight, with only one more minute to gain by the summer solstice. On June 15th the normal high is 79 and the normal low is 58. The scurs will be staying up past their bedtime to enjoy every minute of the warmer weather.

The past week saw very slow meaningful progress once again. Fields remained too wet for widespread planting to occur in general. The only fortunate thing about the cool conditions so far has been the slow growth of the weeds in most fields. Most farmers used a pre emerge herbicide on the corn and it has paid big dividends as operators wait for fields to dry enough for post emerge applications. Some of the corn planted May under less than ideal conditions is beginning to emerge and somehow, the stands don’t look too bad. There was additional corn stabbed into some of the dead spots in areas although the time for that is soon running out. Soybeans remain largely unplanted although a few days of dry weather could change that rapidly. We continue to get just enough rain in areas to keep fields from becoming fit and the calendar becomes an increasingly large factor even with soybeans. Yields of soybeans planted in mid-June generally fall into the 30 – 40 bu./acre range and decrease from there down to the 15 – 20 bu./acre range once we get into July. After about July 10th, all bets are off as to whether a crop could be harvested for grain. Soybeans could be harvested as a forage as oddly enough, that’s what they were first used for back in the early 1900’s.

Something that continues to grow extremely well this spring is area lawns. As one observer pointed out recently, it’s already time in a lot of cases to put a sharp set of blades on. Once the grass starts to head out, it gets tough and isn’t nearly as easy to cut as it was early on. And if you’re like moi, battling to keep up with it and only able to mow late in the day once a week, you’re probably mowing grass that’s wet and longer than you’d like. A sharp set of blades never hurts in that circumstance. I have a hunch the evening lawn mowing here may be coming to a screeching halt pretty soon if the burgeoning mosquito population has anything to say about it.

Some area gardeners have taken to their gardens finally. Here at the ranch we’re getting closer although water was still standing on the edge of the main garden Monday morning. Unlike Betsy’s Dad who has a system tiled garden, ours seems to have become wetlands. We’re going to have to file for prevented planting pretty soon if it doesn’t change. We may opt more towards some container gardening for some things and plant things we know will still make it given the shorter growing season we’re likely to have. Things like string beans, sweet corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers will all still be fine for several weeks yet. We were planning to plant some things anyway in late July after experimenting with them the past several summers. The winter radishes worked well seeded then although the snap peas have been a tad more stubborn, perhaps needing to be planted a little earlier. The fall lettuce was extremely good and in fact reseeded itself where the row had been. So at least something has been planted.

The birds remain active although they appear to be busy nesting and not consuming as much at the feeders as they did a week ago. The possible exception would be the jelly feeder that needs to be filled every couple days. In addition to the orioles using it, now we have catbirds, buntings and grosbeaks eating jelly too. Often wonder what would happen if I put a loaf of bread and some peanut butter out for them. They really do sing beautifully though. Even tonight as I type, the robins have been singing along with the wrens, orioles and common yellowthroats. Can’t beat that kind of musical talent. It really frees the soul as they eventually find their roosts and go to bed, until about 4:30 a.m. anyway. At least they drown out the racket from the ewes and late lambs we just weaned.

It never bothers me to separate ewes from lambs in a year like this one where brood ewes are gobbling down 10 and 20 dollar bills, particularly when the pastures are lush. That really got my attention last Friday when feeding the group we’ve since weaned off. I put a hanging feeder over the panel and when it didn’t hang quite right I leaned over to adjust it. One of the greedy ewes who had immersed herself in the pan suddenly flung her head up, catching me in the melon above the left eye. I saw stars for a second then felt a warm rush as blood appeared on my chore glove. I pulled a wadded up Kleenex from my pocket and began heading towards the house.

Mrs. Cheviot saw me holding the bloody rag over my eye and frantically asked what was wrong. When I uncovered the wound and asked if it warranted a trip to the emergency room, she told me in no uncertain terms she wanted nothing to do with it until I cleaned it out and got the bleeding stopped. I did just that. When she came in and saw the inch long gash, we headed for the ER. The nurses cleaned it out some more and the Dr. glued it shut with some surgical glue. We had a discussion as to whether the glue burned or stung when placed in the wound. I thought it stung but he said some kids were of the opinion that it burned. Whatever. All in all it turned out OK. However, it only strengthened my resolve about sheep: Just another reason we eat them.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · June 20, 2013

You had a bad day

While not perfect the scurs were certainly correct on predicting some warmer temps. How will we fare this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a slight chance for an overnight shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of rain during the day with a good chance in the overnight. Highs near 80 and lows in the mid 60’s. Friday, the first day of summer, partly cloudy with a moderate chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Saturday and Sunday, partly cloudy with good chances for showers and thunderstorms Saturday night and Sunday. Highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Monday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Tuesday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of an afternoon shower or thunderstorm. High near 80 and lows in the low 60’s. The normal high for June 21st is 81 and the normal low is 60. We will max out on daylight at 15 hours and 28 minutes, with the days beginning to be measurably shorter by one minute on the 26th. The scurs new pool furniture should arrive just in time.

The Full Moon for the month occurs on the 23rd and is known as the Full Strawberry Moon for obvious reasons. Normally by later June the strawberry season is starting to wind down. This year however it will likely coincide with some of the best berries of the season due to the cool spring. The Ojibwe and the Sioux both agreed on this one calling it the Strawberry Moon although they had to settle for the small wild variety. Mighty tasty as well but it would take some time to get enough to put on strawberry shortcake. At the ranch we call it the Full Lawn Mowing Moon as we often seem to finish the mowing well after dark.

June continues to follow the May rainfall pattern with measurable precipitation being recorded on 11 out of the first 18 days. Progress in area fields has continued to be slow as a result. There are still lots of folks trying to get their soybeans planted and getting stuck to boot. There are some who are still planting some corn into blank areas in fields not so much for getting corn as much as it is to have something out there other than weeds that will tolerate some of the herbicides applied. The comment has been made that this will be a spring to be remembered. It will also be one we’d just as soon forget. Early planted corn that was put in before the snow has reached V6 – V7. Many tried to take advantage of the narrow window of nice weather conditions to make their post emerge herbicide applications. These too have come at a price in some fields where wet spots have yet to disappear. Soybeans have begun to emerge and in general stand appear adequate despite some of the seed being lower than usual germ.

Gardening activity at the ranch has been limited to Mrs. Cheviot getting all the large planters planted and yours truly scorching off the weeds in the garden with glyphosate. The soil in most of the garden area remains too damp to till and plant. We will be stabbing some things in yet once the tide goes back out.

The pasture fence was sprayed the same evening as the garden. The mosquitoes were ferocious as has been their wont this June. Luckily I was able to cinch my hooded sweatshirt down and gut it out. Walking through the long grass prompted clouds of the little blood thirsty insects to fly up and greet me. Not so luckily several of them followed me all the way into the garage, looking for any opportunity to get in the house they could find.

The pace of bird activity continues to slow at the feeders. Apparently the female Baltimore oriole must be sitting on the nest as she hasn’t been seen for some time. The female orchard oriole has been visible upon occasion but the main visitors to the jelly and nectar have been the males. The goldfinches have been increasing in number again as evidenced by their thistle seed consumption. Suddenly absent are both the indigo bunting and chickadees. One always hopes nothing happened to them although with the number of stray cats on the prowl one never knows.

We had yet another visiting skunk last week and probably wouldn’t have noticed it if Fudgie hadn’t poked her nose in the granary door. Something was rattling around in the trap as a response to her being nosey and I was hoping it was a cat. Much less danger of getting sprayed out of the deal. Alas such was not the case. It was a skunk all right and another big one at that. It still surprised me that one had suddenly appeared as the bait in the trap was months old and pretty dried out. They just don’t make moldy leftovers like they used to.

Back to the old drill again of pulling the trap out of the building with a long piece of twine attached. Getting the animal out without making a stink (pun intended) is nearly impossible. Shooting them with the blunderbuss is the easy part with removing them from the trap not far behind. This one was playing possum however. When dumped out of the trap, the skunk suddenly sprang back to life although his ability to spray had been largely curtailed. The trusty double barrel was close by so once the skunk was dispatched life was back normal once again. Well, except for the skunk of course.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · June 26, 2013

Dude looks like a lady...

The scurs have certainly have had the rain dance down this growing season. Will they come through with a sun dance for this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly sunny for Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny for Saturday and Sunday with a slight chance of shower or thunderstorm both days. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows near 60. Monday, mostly sunny becoming partly to mostly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. On July 1st we will have lost approximately 3 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice. The normal high for July 1st is 82 and the normal low is 61. The scurs will be floating on their rubber ducky if it isn’t raining of course.

More heartbreak in area fields as farmers attempted to get one last push in before most contemplate throwing in the towel. Many tractor, sprayer and other equipment operators found themselves stuck as they tried desperately to maneuver around the wet spots. It has been a miserable planting season and one we can’t get behind us fast enough. Measurable precip has fallen now 15 out the 25 days in June thus far at the ranch. While not threatening the 8+” of precip in May, the frequency of precip is rivaling it. Some of the early June planted corn actually looks alright. The stands are uniform and not characterized by the large blank spots typical of some of the mid May plantings. Post emerge spraying on corn has been an absolute fright due to the wet fields not to mention the possibility of a sudden shower washing the herbicide off before it has a chance to work. Some are contemplating adding additional nitrogen to the corn although getting it applied may be difficult with a ground rig for a while. Soybeans have emerged almost as well as the June corn although after the heavy weekend downpours, areas of some fields are once again under water. Small grain fields generally speaking simply look ugly. The excess rains haven’t been kind to them either.

Lawns continue to make up for lost time after last year’s drought. One of the worst problems at the ranch has been the lack of dry conditions in which to mow. That and the mosquito population has been booming. I’ve come to dread the electric fencer being grounded out as that means a trip around the fence to contend with a continual swarm of not only mosquitoes but now deer flies as well. With no breeze usually about the time it happens, the easiest way to deal with them has been to put on the hooded sweatshirt and cinch the hood up tight so they can’t get at me. Sure it’s pretty warm but short of slathering myself with repellent, it’s a small price to pay as long as the AC is working in the truck when I hop back in.

More of the old reliables are back at the feeders again, namely the rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings and an occasional chickadee. The orioles and catbirds are still active as are the hummingbirds although their feeders were becoming overrun by black ants. A quick trip to get a few ant guards after ridding the feeders of the pests and they’re remained ant free ever since. Now if I could just get the robin using the rain gauge as a toilet or the barn swallows attempting to build a nest over the front door to cease and desist. Around the countryside in my travels this past week, there were several sightings of pheasant broods, some of them as large as a dozen or so in a group. One possible benefit from all the prevented plant acreage may be the establishment of more diverse temporary habitat. Speaking of prevented planting, the garden here will provide very little in the way of habitat I’m afraid, unless you count the one hill of zucchini that made its way into the ground.

Some have inquired how the cut over my eye has healed. Fine thanks although no one ever told me that the surgical glue would take a good chunk of my eyebrow with it when it decided to let go. I must’ve caught it in my sleep one night because when I looked in the mirror the next morning, I felt a little like Uncle Leo from Seinfeld after his stove blew up. Perhaps I could get Elaine to draw the missing hair in with a marker. Mrs. Cheviot thought that perhaps I should just get the other one waxed to match. Given my propensity to drive the soccer mom van on excursions hither and yon that might not be a bad idea. I could probably get my bikini wax at the same time.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · July 1, 2013

Leave you when the summer comes along.

The scurs finally got the sun to shine and not a moment too soon. Will we continue to see old Sol for another week? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a high in the upper 70’s and lows near 60. Mostly sunny Independence Day with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Partly cloudy Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm overnight. Highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Sunday partly cloudy with lows in the low 80’s and highs in the mid 60’s. Mostly cloudy on Monday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. The normal high for the 4th of July is 83 and the normal low is 62. By then we’ll have lost 6 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice and the sun will be setting before 9 p.m. for the first time since June 18th. The scurs will be bribing the fireworks police and sticking pins in their Mark Dayton doll to celebrate.

Conditions finally turned favorable at least from a temperature and precipitation standpoint. Windy conditions unfortunately were also part of the equation, making spraying legally difficult. Thanks in part to the wind, some of these fields can now be crossed without getting stuck. Too little too late in many instances but it should help make preparations to establish a cover crop easier to accomplish if the forecast holds. Much of the corn planted (that actually came up) in the 4 day window in mid-May is well over knee high and will be closer to waist high by the 4th. Some of the early June planted corn will be close to knee high so there remains some optimism at this point that planting it was the right thing to do. Soybeans planted during the mid-May window of opportunity were flowering last week as you may recall the days were already becoming shorter. Some are continuing to plant soybeans not surprisingly. The experience of peas after soybeans in the area makes it a viable option until at least the 4th. Small grains were heading out and pea harvest was supposed to get underway this week. Alfalfa harvest was largely completed where it survived the winterkill. Tonnage in some fields was surprisingly good although the calendar date probably had something to do with it.

Parts of the garden at the ranch dried out enough to allow operations there to proceed. There were several dozen budded buttercup squash transplants that made their way into the ground along with several dozen tomato plants, some with fruit attached. Some early sweet corn and string beans were planted along with cucumbers and peppers. One thing about it, with the days getting shorter the plants will push themselves to reproduce as they know the clock is ticking. In the flower department, four O’clocks were seeded for the hummingbirds. Mrs. Cheviot got the planters all established around the house before she left on a sheep show/sale junket. Upon her return she put the salvia transplants in under Ruby’s close supervision. Between the salvia and the planters, the hummers should have plenty to keep them occupied. Parts of the garden still remain wet however and it’s unlikely those areas will be planted this year, not unlike many area farmers fields. One can only plant/give away so many winter radishes.

The hummingbirds apparently have recognized that there are flowers and nectar to be had as they are becoming increasingly more frequent and active in our yard. They’ve adapted to the new oriole feeder, something I wasn’t sure they’d do given that it had little ball valves to keep the ants and flies out. The orioles too have resumed eating jelly like it’s going out of style although they’re still getting lots of assistance especially from the catbirds. There has been no sign yet of the new hatch of orioles yet at the feeders though that day has to be coming soon.

Even the mosquitoes seem to have relented somewhat. The windy conditions this past week helped and the shallow puddles some of them were reproducing in have dried up to no one’s chagrin. The first firefly of the season was seen at the ranch on the sliding glass door on June 24th. There have been many more to follow and they increase nightly, competing with the solar powered hummingbirds, butterflies and sunflowers on the patio.

My Mom’s passing on Friday has left me raw and hurting inside, to the point that it’s too soon to write much about her given the circumstances. Suffice it to say she was my most faithful reader and I received many phone calls over the years regarding articles I’d written. I’ve mentioned in the past she had a New Richland connection as her best friend, Marion Lingenfelter had grown up in this area. As I was planting garden Sunday afternoon, I was thinking about Mom and the visits she and Marion had made to our place, not to mention the vegetables we’d send their way. Even though I’d scrub the veggies pretty well, Mom always remarked that Marion said she could tell they’d been grown in that good black New Richland dirt. Marion passed away back in November and now with Mom recently gone, there are suddenly two fewer people to share our garden produce with. Despite the fact that they’re both gone, I know Mom would’ve been disappointed if I hadn’t at least attempted to plant something in that garden to share with others. I know both she and Dad would have. And she would’ve been even more disappointed if I didn’t continue to write this column each week, also to be shared with others. Thanks for reading and allowing me to share.

See you next week…real good then.

MN Shutterbug · July 1, 2013

So sorry for your loss Mark. Thoughts and prayers are headed your way.

Shetek kid · July 7, 2013

Sorry for your loss. Thoughts and prayers sent.

Dotch · July 11, 2013

Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.

The scurs continue to keep bringing some warm temperatures our way although some areas need some rain. Will they catch a passing shower? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows near 60. Mostly sunny Thursday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Mostly sunny for Friday becoming partly cloudy with a good chance of evening showers and thunderstorms. Saturday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Partly cloudy Sunday with another modest chance for a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the lower 80’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Mostly sunny on Monday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 80’s and lows near 60. Mostly sunny with a possible shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows in the mid 60’s. We continue losing daylight at slightly more than a minute per day, having lost 20 minutes on July 15th since the summer solstice. The normal high for July 15th is 83 and the normal low is 62. The scurs don’t care about how much daylight there is. They just want as much time as they can get in the hammock before the first frost.

My how things change in the fields in a week. Corn is now over waist high in most fields planted in our 4 day May planting window and has shown some signs of moisture stress. Odd one might think given all the rain we had but roots haven’t needed to reach for moisture so the root systems are shallow. This has also made nitrogen difficult to reach and some fields have benefitted from supplemental N applications. Soybeans continue to move along as well with many of the fields planted in June now beginning to blossom. By publication time, most will have thrown in the towel on soybean planting. Typically by July 10th, all bets are off for those who have planted beans after peas in this area. It’s time. Small grains continue to fill and head toward maturity. Planting date may have sealed the crop’s fate although with some cooler weather and a timely rain it may be better than it looks. We shall see. Contending with the prevented plant acreages has provided an additional challenge to the growing season. I had to laugh as I watched a neighbor go by with a large, folded up digger full of weeds, resembling a giant dump rake. Some are spraying first then working the fields while others need to work it down first as the fields are still pretty rough from last fall’s primary tillage. It’s a mess any way you slice it.

Area lawns and gardens have begun to show some signs of the hit and miss July rainfall pattern that has become entrenched the past two years. At the ranch the slope that had greened up first has as predicted dried out in spots. The growth of the rest of the lawn has slowed appreciably so that mowing once a week should be about right. Not that there’s time to mow it more frequently anyway, it’s just nice to think it could be. The seeds planted in the garden have taken off as well they should. The calendar will say mid-July shortly after press time and race is on for them to produce seed for the next generation. Every hill of cucumbers came up and the sweet corn has all emerged. While the string beans are a little uneven a soaking rain should remedy that. All the blue salvia, gazania and flowering kale made it into the ground while Mrs. Cheviot was away. Watering them in became a necessity as the winds blew for much of the weekend. It should be interesting to see if the bunnies like blue salvia as well as they did the red stuff.

It has been a good summer for biting insects thus far. The mosquitoes can be counted on to come and find you if the breezes don’t cooperate. I don’t know what variety these mosquitoes are but they gang tackle you and waste no time about getting down to business. Even when the breeze does cooperate, the stable flies pick up where the mosquitoes leave off. Checking my legs and the back of my neck after playing weekend warrior, they are peppered with welts and bumps. As a result few things in life give me more satisfaction than swatting mosquitoes and stable flies. It’s just a darn good thing wood ticks can’t fly. There was an “insect” in the bathroom I could not identify the other day. Something was lurking on the counter behind some stuff so I had rolled a magazine up to smack it. Turns out it was just a hunk of my eyebrow with surgical glue still attached. I wondered why it didn’t move much.

At the feeders the new crop of orioles have showed up, both the Baltimore and orchard types. The young Baltimore orioles seem to show up anywhere and everywhere, in the trees by the house to in the barns and especially on the jelly feeders. I’m guessing neighbor David has provided much of their nesting habitat and we supply their favorite food. It’s just good to see them. We’ve been noticing some different behavior in the brown thrashers, namely their taking a shine to the ear corn feeder. More than once I’ve watched one pluck a kernel of corn, fly to the ground and proceed to wail on it with its beak to consume it.

I am much obliged to all those who have taken the time to express their condolences on my Mom’s recent passing. Receiving all the hugs, e mails, text messages, phone calls, cards and letters let me know how much people care. In particular those who watched out for me while Mrs. Cheviot was gone to Michigan kept me from staying home by myself and just working. Not that I didn’t work, it just wasn’t the only matter to be concerned with. I enjoyed taking a breather if only for an afternoon or an evening. While time heals all wounds, socializing is the salve that helps expedite the process and I am grateful.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · July 17, 2013

Old friends, memory brushes the same years, silently sharing the same fears.

The scurs actually called for rain over the weekend and we received a generous helping, to the point where our cup runneth over, among other things. Will we be so blessed this week? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny becoming partly cloudy with a steamy high in the low 90’s and an equally uncomfortable low in the low 70’s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with an increasing chance of a shower or thunderstorm as the day wears on. Highs in the upper 80’s and lows again in the lower 70’s. Partly cloudy on Friday with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly sunny for Saturday and cooler with highs in the lower 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Partly cloudy Sunday with an increasing chance foe showers and thunderstorms into the evening hours. Highs in the lower 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Partly cloudy Monday with a good chance foe showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Tuesday, mostly sunny and cooler with highs near 80 and lows in the lower 60’s. On the 20th we slip back below 15 hours of daylight, about the same as we experienced on May 22nd. The normal high for July 22nd is 82 and the normal low is 62. The scurs should recover from their tummy ache from the Farm and City Days parade candy by then.

The Full Moon for the month of July falls on the 22nd this year and goes by several names. Known by most sources as the Full Buck Moon, so named for the month when white tail bucks begin growing their antlers. It is also known in some circles as the Full Thunder Moon for the numerous thunderstorms common during the month as well as the Full Hay Moon for obvious reasons except if your alfalfa winter killed. The Sioux knew this moon as the Moon When Wild Cherries are Ripe and the Ojibwe called this the Full Raspberry Moon. Indeed there are black raspberries ripening under the lilacs, apparently the result of some avian visitor once upon a time.

The weekend rain caught most of us off guard. When the chances were reduced to 20% Friday night, one didn’t expect rainfall amounts of over 3” in spots. In the fields crop progress is becoming readily apparent. The heat plus the rain has had the desired effect on the corn, namely making it tall enough so you can’t see the big holes from the road anymore. Corn has stretched to a height of 4’ and up to 5’ in places. Some of the early planted sweet corn has begun tasseling with most of the regular dent field corn not expected to tassel yet until closer to the end of the month. Soybeans are flowering like crazy although some of the later planted fields have yet to bloom. The rain also seemed to encourage a growth spurt in the soybeans as well as another flush of small weeds. Small grains are starting to show signs of turning in areas and the rains were also beneficial for them.

The rain was also wonderful for the late planted gardening attempt at the ranch. The string beans show signs of filling in the gaps in their stand and the squash have turned green after having been a sickly yellow color for much of their duration in the ground. The cukes are growing rapidly after emerging like a house afire as well. Even the tomatoes have set fruit on the vines even though they’re less than a foot tall. The flowers have taken off with the rains halting what was promising to be a lot of watering. After munching on the gazania the bunnies have been conspicuously absent. Apparently they dislike the shots ringing out from the school book depository or perhaps the recent appearance of an old friend.

The feathered friends in the yard are very subtly changing their pattern. No longer are the robins singing at the top of their lungs at 5 a.m. with their song period becoming shorter and of lower intensity. Their second brood is scattered around the yard and keeps them hopping. The wrens continue to pick up some of the slack as do the common yellowthroats. They remain well concealed, rarely seen but frequently heard. Something had the entire yard in a tizzy shortly after dusk on the 10th. A great horned owl was perched on the granary and the barn swallows in particular were taking exception to its presence. Of course I was glad to see it as great horned owls prey on my nemeses, the striped skunks and bunnies. The enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine.

It has been difficult to keep lawnmowers operational this summer. Last summer I purchased another one just so we’d always have one that worked. Well that didn’t go quite as planned. It appears Howard blew a head gasket if the puddle of oil underneath it in the garage was any indication. Not to worry. Whitey was still functional even though the battery wasn’t charging; fine as long as the battery charger was handy. Whitey’s status suddenly changed when turning around some trees in the backyard, it became apparent that steering it was no longer an option. Thankfully it didn’t happen I was doing my outrigger crew impression on the road cut. Again, not to worry.

Whitey Jr. hadn’t been run for a few years so it was time to pump the tires up and dig it out of the shed to see if we could get it to commence. A new battery was procured and we’ll be working on getting it online once again. If that doesn’t work, there are posts and at least a couple hundred feet of electric fence wire in the shed. It would take roughly 10 minutes for the entire yard to be fenced in. Of course it wouldn’t take the sheep 10 minutes to devour all the trees and flowers but at least the lawn would be mowed. Details.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · July 24, 2013

You say goodbye and I say hello.

The scurs had some of the showers right last week, it just depended on where you lived. Will you have to move to get rain in this week’s forecast? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Thursday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Partly cloudy for Friday with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Saturday, partly cloudy with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Partly cloudy for Sunday with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Monday, partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Partly cloudy for Tuesday with an increasing chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for July 27th is 82 and the normal low is 61. We will see the sunrise after 6 a.m. for the first time since May 4th. The scurs will be sleeping in and savoring the additional dark time.

The heat from the past week moved crops along rapidly with corn tassels emerging in many fields. The moist soil conditions at planting have been evident as digger wheel tracks and other features undetectable until now have reared their ugly heads. Considering the later planting date, corn seems to be rather short, perhaps the opposite of what one might expect. However, there is a hybrid component to this as well, with many switching to earlier hybrids of shorter stature. Soybeans are all over the board depending on planting date. As of Monday, one could find soybeans between R3 and R4 and go the next one only to find them in the V3 stage. At least at this point, a drawn out harvest seems likely. Soybean aphids have been scarce and it would be a blessing if they stay that way. Many soybean fields are exhibiting weed control problems with waterhemp. It appears that the long expected waterhemp resistance to glyphosate has likely arrived. Overall though, the crop here still has potential. As many have pointed out, both the corn and soybean crop look good for late June.

The garden at the ranch also falls into that category. The string beans planted June 30th have reached about 6” and the sweet corn is about a foot tall. The cucumbers loved the heat as did the tomatoes, setting more fruit as the week went on. The squash are starting to move although it may be too little too late. Saturday was a good day for killing waterhemp on the prevented plant garden acreage. As of yet, no resistance has been documented in waterhemp to cold, hard steel. As thick as it was it made an excellent green manure crop. Ground was also prepared for the fall garden project. Snap peas, winter radishes and lettuce are on the agenda. With the drier conditions forecast, planting them now and watering them in may be the course of action taken. No sense planting seeds and waiting for late October rains to germinate them.

The lawnmower wars continue at the ranch. In spite of my best efforts, Whitey Jr. would still not commence likely due to a bunch of crud in the carburetor. No gas getting to the ignition chamber is usually a clue. Howard was repaired however and made an appearance after neighbor David’s grandson and ace mechanic worked on it. Howard is a little like his namesake I think. After deciding to quit a couple times while mowing, Howard too was not getting fuel to the carburetor. Unhooking the fuel line and blowing back into the gas tank moved the obstruction in the fuel tank. The next move will be to run the fuel level down as low as possible and remove the tank. My guess is there’s a spider or an insect that had made its home in the gas nozzle and wound up in the bottom of the tank. Removing a tank from another mower a few years ago revealed 4 or 5 spiders in the bottom of it. Finding one or more in Howard’s tank would come as no great surprise.

The orioles continue to gobble down jelly, sugar water and orange halves faster than ever. Every couple days the jelly feeder and orange halves need refreshing and cleaning out the nectar feeder. For those berry loving birds, this should be their lucky year at the ranch. The nannyberries, chokeberries, crabapples, honeysuckle, American cranberry and red osier dogwood are heavily laden with green fruit. Barring some unforeseen disaster, there should be an ample supply to help feed the migrating and overwintering bird population. Hate to send visitors at the ranch away with an empty stomach.

It was time to switch to another cell phone once again and making the change has been a learning experience. There really is no instruction book anymore per se so you’re just left to your own devices, punching icons to discover what the thing can do. Luckily for me the young chap at the store did a pretty good job of explaining the basics of the system. There was an amazing amount of dirt in the Crackberry when he opened it up to extract the memory card. When I told him there was enough in there that we could bag it up and send it to a lab for analysis, he seemed less than amused. Most not be an app for that. He apparently was unaware that Confucius say, Agronomist have rye wit.

The new phone is droid based, different than the Crackberry to be sure. With a touch screen it’s capable of confusing you faster than ever before. Now, I don’t like cell phones, but I tolerate them, categorizing them as a “necessary evil” in this day and age. Our society has put so much emphasis on instant gratification and worshipping these and other electronic gadgetry that some are downright rude if you don’t just drop everything to respond to the stupid things. When you start to feel compelled to answer your cell phone in the bathroom as a result, something tells me that we have gone too far. That’s too much accessibility. What’s even worse, with all this text messaging the art of prank phone calls has fallen by the wayside. All the fun has been sucked right out of it. No longer can you disguise your voice, call the neighbor to ask if their refrigerator is running or call the drugstore to see if they have Prince Albert in the can. Not that I’ve ever done anything like that but I heard stories.

See you next week…real good then.

MN Shutterbug · July 25, 2013

What’s even worse, with all this text messaging the art of prank phone calls has fallen by the wayside. All the fun has been sucked right out of it. No longer can you disguise your voice, call the neighbor to ask if their refrigerator is running or call the drugstore to see if they have Prince Albert in the can. Not that I’ve ever done anything like that but I heard stories.

Au contraire, Mark. If you have a Gmail account, you can use Google Voice and make calls thru your computer which is dubbed Voip. You can choose an area code from 100 miles away for your personal phone number, so if someone has caller ID, they'll never figure out who is calling. All you need is a cheap microphone. There is also an Android app for using Google Voice with your cell phone and an app for making your voice sound like a robot or like you just sucked on some helium. Believe me, it works. I tried it from my tablet on my neighbor when their barking dog was annoying. They didn't answer their phone, but as soon as they heard my recording of a barking dog come thru their answering machine, they immediately brought their dog in the house.

Dotch · July 25, 2013

lol! Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Oops! Was that out loud?

Dotch · August 1, 2013

Could it be that somebody else is looking into my mind?

The scurs were a little generous on their high temperatures for last week but at least the promised rain came. Are we due for more this week? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorms. Highs near 80 and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny becoming partly cloudy on Thursday with a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance for showers or a thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly cloudy Saturday with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Sunday, partly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Partly sunny for both Monday and Tuesday with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for August 1st is 82 and the normal low is 61. The scurs continue to enjoy sleeping with the windows open.

This past week saw some timely rain fall and conditions cool down with fall-like high temperatures. Rainfall was variable however and amounts generally ranged from .25” - .9”. Indeed, the high this past Saturday was 63 and that corresponds to the same highs we would normally see on October 8th and 9th. The highs on Friday and Sunday were both at 72 and those highs are what we’d expect for September 17th and 18th. While it’s been wonderful sleeping weather and some have given their air conditioner a break, it hasn’t done any favors to crop development. With days becoming shorter and no heat wave imminent, we may have to hope for a warm September to bring this crippled crop to maturity. On a positive note, much of the snow corn has pollinated and conditions could not be better for that planted mid-May. Soybeans are also setting pods with many of the earlier planted fields being R3 – R4. Small grains continue to ripen and some who are swathing the crop may lay it down this week.

The conditions were right and with rain predicted for last Thursday, the fall garden crops went in the ground at the ranch Wednesday evening. There were at least 7 different types of radishes planted, a couple types of snap peas and 2 varieties of lettuce. Some of the radish varieties are spring type and some are designed to be planted for fall harvest. Oddly enough the spring type radishes planted late summer last year turned out better than their spring planted counterparts. The rain and cool temperatures so far should be to the liking of all of these cool season vegetables. Investigating their progress Monday evening, one could row the radishes on the east side of the garden. My, that was quick!

The rest of the garden however has stood still. For some reason tomatoes don’t grow very fast with 60 – 70 degree temps. The flowers don’t seem to mind though. The morning glories are making their twirling ascent up the light pole in the yard. Far behind last year’s pace though, they’re still flowering and adding some color to the yard. The blue salvia have really taken off since the rain and the increased hummingbird activity has followed right along with them. In the CRP and pasture, big bluestem and yellow Indiangrass have begun to head out. See a herd of bison come thundering over the hill and it would look much the way it did some 200 years ago.

While out and about spraying pasture fences for weeds, I spied several nests of birds with eggs in them yet to hatch. There was a robin nest with 4 eggs and the wren had taken over where the tree swallows had raised a brood earlier. There were 5 eggs in that one. At the kindly neighbors pasture, the bluebirds are working on their 2nd brood with 4 blue eggs in the bottom of the nesting box. The mosquitoes seem to be letting up some so maybe this next week we can run a daring mission to the pond to see what might have been nesting there.

Some black walnut trees were brought to my attention this past week and I too had noticed a couple of them down by the lake starting to turn already. Doing a little investigating, there has been some anthracnose mentioned as a possible cause of their premature turning. Anthracnose is a fungal disease favored by wet weather conditions such as we had earlier in the year. Generally not serious but too many years in a row can weaken the tree. It’s not unusual for walnuts to start turning ahead of everything else but the end of July is perhaps a tad on the early side even for them.

Do you believe in signs from above? When I went to visit some friends at their lake place back on July 6th, I saw what had to be a ’57 or ’58 Studebaker Silver Hawk parked next door. I drooled over the car as MS and I admired it. Sunday as I was heading in the door in our little rural church, I spied something out of the corner of my eye in the parking lot: A Studebaker Avanti! The front end was a dead giveaway and though there wasn’t time to ogle it before church, I had an idea whose it was. I was right so after church I had to take a closer look at my neighbor’s prize possession. After church I checked my e mail and there was a photo attachment of new old stock flooring material for the 1960 Lark residing in the garage. The photo was actually of material original rubber flooring for a ‘61. The main color appears to be the same only with light blue flecks in it. The cut should be identical and that’s the main thing. Why do I get this feeling sometimes that someone is trying to tell me something?

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · August 7, 2013

Oh, well, the night is long the beads of time pass slow…

The scurs were able to sneak a little dribble of rain in last week’s forecast but it stayed dry until Monday. Will we see some showers this week or will our trend of being dry-cleaned in August continue? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Friday, partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Mostly sunny on Saturday with highs again in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Sunday, partly cloudy with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid 70’s with lows near 60. Mostly cloudy for Monday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of rain. Highs near 70 and lows in the mid 50’s. The normal high for August 11th is 81 and the normal low is 60. Already upon us the Perseid meteor showers should peak in the pre-dawn hours of August 10 – 13th. The scurs will be laying on their blanket under the stars in anticipation.

Another cool week with little rainfall occurring in most of greater Bugtussle and environs. Some of the hand wringers and worry warts are already convinced that we should get out the plow to save some time on this crop. Obviously haven’t heard of global warming. Seriously, corn continues to develop although perhaps not at a rate we’d like to see and ditto with the soybeans. Corn planted before the snow was milk stage on Monday and most soybeans are R4 with a few early planted early maturing soybeans approaching R5. Some things we can keep an eye on in the meantime are the soybean aphids that have become more numerous in the past week. This type of weather is exactly what they like and since it hasn’t froze yet, we at least need to pretend the soybeans might actually amount to something.

At the ranch, garden and beds are coming along, producing blooms and biomass anyway. Recent rains have perked everything up, at least giving one the impression that we are having a summer of sorts anyway. Tiger lilies are a vivid orange and nothing messes with them in their space. The blue salvia has especially enjoyed this stretch of weather, their blue flowers reminding me of the blue flax fields I once traversed in North Dakota. The winter radishes have exploded from their cotyledon stage to several true leaves. In particular, the Japanese daikon-type radishes grow rapidly and develop a deep tap root. They are essentially the same thing as the tillage radishes planted on the prevent plant acreages so it’s no surprise that these plants are being used for this purpose.

It has been some beautiful sleeping weather. Even the mosquitoes are losing ground as it has dried out. They still come looking for you but not squadrons at a time as they did a month ago. There have been some questions about what all the little powder blue butterflies are. Most of what we are seeing are eastern tailed blues. If you look closely at their wings there is a little tail on each hindwing. The adults feed on nectar especially from plants such as low growing legumes like the white clover in lawns. The females lay eggs on buds of some of the same plants and the larvae feed on the flowers. Adults, primarily males tend to show up around puddles, wet spots or damp manure piles prior to mating. It is thought that they are looking for protein which may increase their fertility, possibly improving the odds that their genes will be passed to the next generation. Gals, if you find guys face down around mud puddles or manure piles, that may be a clue.

There are actually 2 partially functioning mechanical lawnmowers at the ranch! Doing some carburetor cleaning on Whitey Jr., the float valve was stuck, hence the reason for very little gas getting through to run the 12 horse behemoth. It made Fudgie and Ruby’s day as they had a big afternoon circling it while we made the rounds in the ditch. Emptying 2 wasps, a spider and some unidentified bug from Howard’s gas tank, I was convinced I’d solved the engine stalling problem. Starting off on Saturday with confidence we rolled through the main lawn in record time. Moving over across the driveway, the mower suddenly died, again. It died once more and after giving me one last gasoline bath, made it the rest of the way. Took it back into the garage and got out the light to look in the tank. Sure enough, there was a small beetle on the bottom. It must’ve clung to the wall of the tank when I rinsed it. A more thorough rinse job is on tap as well as using the recently purchased funnel with strainer when filling it up. Taking the gas tank off gets old after the first couple times.

Fudgie turned 10 on Tuesday and continues to settle into her new home at the ranch. Actually it’s her birthplace as she was part of the litter that included Jet and Gus. It was when caring for them that Mom fell in love with the wriggling little red and white female Border Collie. Fudgie’s found a favorite spot to lie any time she wants to be in the shade with a breeze. The small porch on our patio fills the bill and must seem like a smaller version of the deck she enjoyed at Mom’s. From our porch she can keep an eye on the sheep grazing on the hillside below the house. It’s also a perfect spot to see what the neighbors might be up to. Fudgie has definitely taken a shine to it as it’s become the first place we look when we can’t find her. Now that the bugs have let up some, can’t say as I blame her. As the little fat buddies all know, it’s always good to have a place to hide.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · August 14, 2013

Better run through the jungle, don't look back to see

The scurs were close predicting the Sunday rain, only it rained earlier rather than later. Since weather forecasting is like horseshoes and hand grenades, they’ll take it. Will their success go to their heads after next week? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s. Mostly sunny on Thursday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows near 60. Partly cloudy on Friday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70’s and lows near 60. Partly cloudy Saturday and Sunday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Monday, partly cloudy with highs near 80 and lows around 60. Clouding up for Tuesday with a chance for a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. The normal high for August 17th is 80 and the normal low is 60. We will slip below 14 hours of daylight on the 15th, the same as we had back on April 26th. The scurs are convinced that there is still plenty of time to catch a tan during their afternoon naps.

The Full Moon for the month occurs on the 20th and goes by several names, the most common being the Full Sturgeon Moon. This was because the tribes of the northeast and Great Lakes region could most easily catch sturgeon during this timeframe. It has also been called the Full Red Moon due to the dust common at this time of year making the moon appear red when it was close to the horizon. This was also known as the Green Corn Moon and the Full Grain Moon. The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Berry Moon for the blueberries they were harvesting in competition with the bears. The Sioux also knew this as the Moon When Cherries Turn Black. At the ranch it has become known as the Moon When Bread Molds. Some nasty tasting stuff when you don’t catch it before it hits the toaster.

Crop progress was apparent again last week as some of the early planted early maturing corn was in the dough stage. Some of the earliest planted soybeans were R5 stage and not so surprisingly, the soybean aphids dislike them at this point. They’d rather have the later planted models still in the R3 and R4 stage. Sweet corn is being harvested and the last of the peas should be in the books soon. No bragging about yields of either so no surprises there. Small grain harvest should be completed this week and that also promises to be mediocre. Planting small grains in late April and early May seldom works well, even when we get cooler temperatures to go along with it. Many of the prevented plant acreages have been seeded and they are adding a different look to the landscape for this time of year. Most of the fields have been seeded to oats and given the timely rains that have fallen, the emergence has been tremendous. Some are entertaining thoughts of harvesting this material because of the hay shortage but baling for most is probably a long shot. Hay can occasionally be made in November but so can snowmen.

Bird feeding has been slowing somewhat although about the time we think we’ve seen the last of the orioles, they surprise us. In particular, the orchard orioles appeared to be gone already but that was disproven over the weekend when a full colored male was helping himself to the jelly feeder. One trend that has been ringing true is that the Baltimore orioles that we still have appear to be predominantly young males. The catbird has staked a claim to the chokeberry (aronia) bushes, heavy with dark purple fruit. Not far from their hangout one morning there were pheasants cackling in the garden. They love to bathe in the dust there so I snuck out behind the dogwood bushes to get a look at them. Sure enough five of this year’s crop took flight after surprising them. About the size of leghorn pullets but not colored up yet. They will be by October though.

Both Ruby and Fudgie got their fair share of tire biting and lawnmower herding in as we cleaned Howards gas tank of insects for what is hopefully the last time. Fudgie got more brushing over the weekend and it seems to be never ending. After I was through, the clumps of fur made it look like there were several dead animals laying in the yard. The lawnmowers, the ones that work anyway will make short work of that. I am firmly convinced though that I’m no longer brushing a dog, just a large ball of lint.

With the Pro Farmer Crop Tour looming on the horizon once again it’s been time to try to catch up on getting the gardens weeded and the lawns mowed. Nothing worse than coming home to a total mess. Along with that however there needs to be a little time to smell the roses once in a while too. I promised myself I needed to see what kind of shape the wetland area was in so braving the mosquitoes I set forth on the journey down the hill. Amazingly enough, once in the CRP the little bloodsuckers weren’t as bad as they were around the house. Could’ve been because I was moving at a pretty good clip and not taking any chances.

The basin itself had become surrounded by cattails nearly 10’ tall so getting to the water meant walking through what seemed like a jungle. When my head popped out of the cattails, I was in total amazement as wave after wave of young mallards leaped into the air from the water’s surface. All in all I counted somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 – 40 total. There were scattered teal too as well as a smattering of shorebirds, all startled by my sudden intrusion into their very private little world. I smiled as taking the time to deepen the wetland back in January had paid off, knowing the waterfowl was enjoying collecting the dividends.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · August 19, 2013

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.

The scurs predictions for scant rainfall chances and amounts as well as warmer temps were on the money. Will we see more of the same? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of evening thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Partly cloudy on Thursday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Friday, partly cloudy with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly sunny for Saturday and Sunday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Mostly cloudy for Monday and Tuesday with chances for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for August 25th is 79 and the normal low is 58. The scurs know it can’t be long before the large yellow livestock hauling vehicles resume their regular schedule.

This column is coming to you from the road this week, as we travel with the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. The first day of travel towards our destination in Champaign IL found a generally much better looking crop from the road than what we’ve been accustomed to seeing in south central MN. The crop, in particular the corn is predicted to be huge nationwide although there are some recent indications that the bloom may be coming off the rose so to speak. I’m not going to speculate on that right now; that’s why we take the yield checks and take into account crop condition. Then we have some data to go on. Without data, it’s just a windshield survey. Follow us on agweb.com and on Twitter at #pftour13. My handle is @MNWeedWizard if you want to follow my tweets.

The trip had an interesting beginning to it. Packing the large bag, I discovered there was still something in one of the zippered compartments. When I opened it up, I discovered a bunch of dirty socks and underwear left over from last year’s Crop Tour! I wondered why it seemed like I ran out so quickly so I purchased some new ones, figuring that Mrs. Cheviot had probably disposed of some of the more tattered models. No problem. Now I should be able to go for a month before having to worry about it. Then go buy more.

There have been some techno issues though. It seems like the more technical these electronic gadgets become, the more trouble they cause me. One would think for someone who lusted after one of those Philips turntables that used heat sensitive controls to operate it you’d be able to figure these things out. I also had a Toshiba microwave that had a touch pad for controls back in about 1982. Must not have done me much good. I was in a quandary when trying to start the leased vehicle and accidentally stepped on the brake, allowing me to start it. When I tried to remember what I’d done the next time, just poking the start button did nothing to satisfy my need to get moving. About that same time someone called and I had a dickens of a time trying to run the touch screen on that. Seems I’m unable to handle more than one techno disaster at time.

Then of course there are all those little icons on the buttons in cars you’re apparently supposed to be born knowing the meaning of. Driving a rental car from Cedar Falls to Columbus OH I had plenty of time to play with most of the buttons and actually figured out how to turn the radio on by the time I arrived at my destination. I still remember trying to get the rear window defroster to work on my own pickup. There was a button for the heated mirrors that had a little picture of the mirrors on it so that couldn’t have been it. Then there was one that had a snowflake on it so one would think that might be the correct button. For whatever reason, the rear window did not defrost. Come to find out, that one was for the air conditioning! A lot of good that did me in January.

The dogs always seem to know when something’s up when one of us is leaving. Fudgie and Ruby act almost as though they’ve done something wrong. There’s more clingy behavior, more moping and less of the typical behavior. If they only knew how much we miss them when we’re off galloping around the country. That’s one of the beauties of a dog however. No matter how long you’ve been away, when you return they’re always glad to see you and expend some additional energy towards letting you know that. Perhaps they think if they do that, you won’t be as apt to take off on another extended journey again anytime soon. Of course it could also be that they would like to go along the next time. When asked if they’d like to “go with” they suddenly become very excited. More than once we’ve had to coax them back out of the car when the door gets left open afterwards. That’s a clue.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · August 28, 2013

I know I need a small vacation but it don’t look like rain…

So much for the scurs predicting high temperatures. Those 90 degree highs were unexpected and made everyone get acquainted with their air conditioner once again. Will we get back to reality soon or will September be the new July? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs near 90 and lows in the upper 60’s. Mostly sunny on Thursday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Mostly sunny for Friday with highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the lower 70’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs again in the upper 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Mostly sunny for Sunday with highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. For Labor Day, mostly sunny and slightly cooler with highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the lower 60’s. Mostly sunny becoming partly cloudy with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows in the low 60’s. The normal high for September 1st is 77 and the normal low is 56. On August 27th the sun will set before 8 p.m. for the first time since mid-April. The scurs will be enjoying Labor Day in their hammock far from the madding crowd. Sheep farm, goofy dogs, yeah, it kinda fits.

Someone certainly decided we needed to come out of the refrigerator and onto the stove. While some are rejoicing that we are finally getting some warm weather for this crop once again we need to be careful what we wish for. The pattern of sparse and randomly distributed rainfall in August has entrenched itself for the third year in a row. Without some rainfall in most areas, prolonged hot dry weather can only spell lower yields. Early planted corn has just begun to dent and without rainfall, tipping back on the ears given the generally shallow root systems is inevitable. Likewise on the soybeans. Where rainfall was received recently, the soybeans are setting additional pods on the plants. No such luck where it did not rain last week.

Soybean aphids exploded with a vengeance last week keeping sprayer operators hopping. There is some puzzlement over the dynamic increase in populations despite of the hot conditions. Were the aphids conditioned for the weather extremes by the cold temperatures preceding this recent heat wave or have they been fooling us into thinking they prefer a cooler weather regime previously? Difficult to say at this point. About the only thing certain about soybean aphids this season anyway is they don’t follow the rules and would rather make them up as they go along. After the season is over there will be lots of time to mull over what happened and perhaps something in the data will point us in the right direction. In the meantime, the mosquitoes should have taken it on the chin at least around soybean fields anyway.

Another Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour is in the books as is our showing at the MN State Fair. While I usually dread going in either case, I’m usually glad I went and this year was no exception. On the Crop Tour we saw a good corn and soybean crop in OH, IN and IL with IA and MN being more problematic. The thing I’ve always liked about the Crop Tour over the years though is the people. I’ve made friends all over the country and I’d like to think all over the world as a result. The State Fair is no different in that respect. I ran into my little fat buddy from Bemidji and we spent time seeing what might work for a Canadian fishing adventure. The last time I took an entire week off other than for an illness, showing sheep, or to work at home was 1987. I think everyone deserves a small vacation once in a while, including me.

One of the things I look forward to the most when I get back from Crop Tour is checking out the garden to see how much it changed in a week’s time. Man did it ever. With the heat there were string beans and radishes coming out our ears. There were some tomatoes that finally ripened as well. Not only that but the leaf lettuce was already in its prime, enough so that I purchased some salad dressing at Pete’s to start my diet. It’s never a good idea to step on the scale for at least 2 weeks following Crop Tour. The evening meals are superb and eating at places like the Angry Pickle in Decorah during the day probably doesn’t help. Did I mention they had raspberry pie?

I was surprised to see there were still orioles hanging around the feeders yet when I got home. Their days are numbered however and usually sometime in September they bid us adieu. The goldfinches are numerous once again though after being almost nonexistent last spring and winter. The hummingbirds have been more sporadic this summer than some years with a few loyal customers at the feeders and planters, yet not consistently. There have however been plenty of white-lined sphinx moths taking advantage of the flowers such as the blue salvia. With the 4 O’Clocks just beginning to flower, they will be sure to enjoy them as well.

The dogs have been glad to have me back home while Mrs. Cheviot is riding herd on the exhibitors in the Open Class Sheep Dept. Even during the hot days the dogs would rather be outside watching what I’m up to as opposed to laying around the house. They do however seek shelter from the sun with Fudgie perching on the south porch while Ruby is content to watch the sheep in the barn. What for I’m not sure but Border Collies will be Border Collies.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · September 4, 2013

Oh I was born 6-gun in my hand…

The scurs had their blinders on once again thinking that we were stuck in a warm temperature rut. How quickly that changed on Saturday night and Sunday! Will we see an encore performance of the heat or are we getting ready for fall? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs on the mid 80’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Sunny for Thursday with high in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Slightly warmer and sunny again for Friday with highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Warmer still for Saturday under sunny skies with highs in the upper 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. A change starts on Sunday with a slight chance of daytime showers and thunderstorms increasing as we approach the evening hours. Mostly sunny in the morning becoming mostly cloudy by evening with highs in the mid 80’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Mostly cloudy for Monday with a moderate chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny on Tuesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for September 7th is 76 and the normal low is 54. The scurs will be resting after a long week of turning the thermostat down to cool off.

More progress towards crop maturity was made last week. However the high temperatures have taken a toll on things causing the predicted tip back on corn and abortion of many of the small pods in the soybeans. Scouting soybeans for aphids last week in a pair of shorts, I discovered my socks were full of little pods when it came time to take my shoes off. Corn that was planted in our 4 day window of opportunity in May has generally dented and some of the early maturing soybeans planted in that same timeframe had reached R6 as of last week. Our lack of rainfall has taken its toll on pastures. A seemingly endless supply of nutritious grass back in early July has dwindled to lesser quality and amount. Some are dangerously close to tapping into an already short hay supply, again. Rainfall at the ranch totaled 1.15” for the month of August and at the office an even 1 inch.

The hot dry weather has also meant watering the garden for the third year in a row in August. The extra effort has paid off. Green beans have produced somewhere over 10 gallon bags worth and counting. The radishes have been tremendous yielders as well with numerous bags leaving for consumption by others. Leaf lettuce has been a hit too as we’ve shared the greens with friends. The cukes have started to produce although they’re not coming as fast as I’d like. The snap peas started flowering over the weekend so am keeping my fingers crossed. All in all not bad production considering there was still standing water on parts of the garden as late as June 15th. The success of the late summer radish and lettuce planting encouraged me to take advantage of the clearance sale Edna was having on vegetable seeds. I picked up a more radish seed and several varieties of lettuce type greens. The price was right. Aside from a little elbow grease and watering to get them started, I ain’t got much in it.

The sheep may be getting shorter on pasture but they have been supplemented with lots of radish tops and other assorted vegetable peelings. They have also been gardening themselves. In their pasture there was a lone muskmelon plant that grew on top of the compost pile. There were 5 melons and apparently my nose was better than theirs as I managed to pick 4 of them before they devoured the last one. They also have been raising pumpkins from seed where we threw them over the fence behind the granary. The ewes haven’t been as generous with those however. Sunday they waded into the vines and by Monday they had flattened much of those that were on their side of the fence. Fortunately some of the pumpkins managed to escape into the lawn where they couldn't get at them. Oh they’ll get those too eventually but will probably have to wait until Thanksgiving.

The birds show signs that fall is on the way. The variety of birds appearing has dwindled and suspect this may be the orioles’ last hurrah. There were 2 on Labor Day at the jelly feeder, a young male Baltimore and what appeared to be a female orchard oriole. I could hear the latter chattering at me to finish watering so they could get at the feeder. The amount of jelly though has slowed to a crawl. The hummingbirds on the other hand have ramped it up. The 4 O’clocks are ready for them having burst into full bloom last weekend. It’s not unusual for the hummers to sneak up behind me when watering, wondering when I’ll get out of the way so they can get at the planters and other vegetation planted for their dining pleasure.

Mrs. Cheviot returned home Sunday from another stint as superintendent of the Open Class Sheep Department at the MN State Fair. Luckily she missed out on all the road construction this past week. It has set the Border Collie alarm system off frequently with every machine, vehicle, or person seen and heard. The good news is being gone much of the day, I don’t have to deal with it. However, one just never knows what might trigger the alarm. I know that watching Clint Eastwood westerns sends Ruby into a fit of growling and barking, ready to launch herself at the television when she sees horses. That happens frequently in those flicks. She has no problem though when Clint slaughters 30 guys with two six guns sans reloading, something that also seems to happen frequently. The other night we were watching TV and the Geico ad with the camel celebrating “Hump Day” came on. From Ruby’s reaction, one would’ve thought the devil himself had appeared in the living room. She either isn’t a fan of Wednesday’s or camels have also made her “list”.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · September 11, 2013

And the eagle flies with the dove

The heat was definitely back as well as no rain. Will the scurs be able to scrape together some rain and cooler temps or are we doomed to continue Mother Nature’s high desert impression? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny and cooler for Thursday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly sunny on Friday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Saturday, mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy in the evening with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly cloudy Sunday with a chance of rain in the forenoon. Highs near 70 and lows in the lower 50’s. Mostly cloudy on Monday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs on the mid 60’s and lows in the low 50’s Partly cloudy and warmer on Tuesday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for September 15th is 73 and the normal low is 50. The scurs will be looking for heir blankies if some of those low temperatures are for real.

Crops continued to progress rapidly towards maturity and the heat accelerated the process. A lot of corn has noticeable top dieback. Generally this is from late season heat and dry conditions pushing the plants resulting in cannibalization of the stalks and leaves in order to provide the ear with moisture and nutrients. Some of the early planted 100 day hybrids are showing a milk line ¾ of the way down the kernel already meaning that a frost at this point would do little to impact yield in that situation. Soybeans are also showing some of the same effects of the warm temperatures with many areas prone to drought stress-namely gravel pockets prematurely ripening. This will likely mean smaller soybeans and in some cases fewer of them.

Rainfall thus far in September has been too slight for most gauges to measure. At the ranch we’ve garnered a paltry .04” with a few trace amounts thrown in for laughs. Waterfowl is not laughing however. Small wetlands are beginning to dry up, something that seemed impossible even 6 weeks ago. Cattails are browning up as the low moisture level takes its toll. Trees are also showing signs of the stress with leaves drying up and beginning to drop prematurely in places.

Birds continue to move on through. What appears to be the last oriole of our season at the ranch was at the jelly feeder on the 7th. Hummingbird numbers continue to swell and their activity around the yard can keep one entertained for hours. Their squeaky little voices can be heard anytime one gets close to a nectar feeder followed of course by the humming of their tiny wings as they maneuver around the yard. More goldfinches are evident each day and their habit of dumping seed on the ground is a telltale sign they’ve been there even when we haven’t been there to see them.

Wild cucumbers have really made their presence known this year, making them the most commonly asked about weed problem in several years. They have become a real nuisance, in some cases covering evergreens with their leaves so completely that it blocks out the sunlight. This can result in the death of the tree particularly if it’s one that’s already under stress from needle cast, drought or other malady. Wild cucumber is an annual and must come from seed each year. The seeds are contained in a fleshy oval- shaped seed pod covered with spines. There are four seeds per pod and the seeds are shed when the pods ripen in the fall. Control generally is best achieved by pulling the plants early on before they begin to climb. Early in the season herbicides such as dicamba and glyphosate can be used but precautions need to be taken so desirable species are not affected.

A visit to Mom’s on her birthday continued a tradition established over the years. The next day is our anniversary so I’ve had no excuses for not remembering either one. Mom wasn’t there of course but her presence is still seems remarkably close after being gone now for a little over 2 months. As I motored towards her place it occurred to me that it might be appropriate to take the staff at the Care Center some DQ ice cream treats as we did many time while Mom was a resident there. Upon arrival I spied my sister just finishing up watering the plants. It was hot and she mentioned that when she’d arrived, there had been a bald eagle feeding on the large raccoon carcass north of the house. The bald eagle sighting was so Mom!

Sis also mentioned taking a break and heading to Ostrander with some ice cream treats for the staff. I wasn’t arguing and was amazed how our thoughts were so alike. I’d brought along a DQ gift card but of course in true Bernard family fashion she wouldn’t hear of it. The visit went well and we were welcomed with open arms as we recalled Mom’s days there and how we all missed her. We went back to the house and with a hungry construction crew awaiting food at her place my sister had to bolt. I filled the bird feeders, put some corn out for the squirrels and cleaned the birdbath since the heat was to continue a few more days. I could almost hear Mom asking though, “Say, I hate to bother you, but would you have time to remove that dead raccoon from the road in front of the house before you go? I know the eagle likes it but it looks like heck.” Of course was always my response and this time was no different. I’d put it where the eagle would still be able to locate it and then we’d all be happy. Except for the raccoon perhaps.

See you next week…real good then.

Dotch · September 18, 2013

It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps

The scurs topped off their forecast last week with some much needed rainfall. Will we be treated to another rain before next week or will the blast furnace return? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid 60’s. Partly sunny with a better chance of showers and thunderstorms on Thursday. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the lower 50’s. Mostly sunny for Friday and Saturday with highs in the mid to upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunday, mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy with a chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Mostly cloudy Monday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly cloudy with a continued chance for rain on Tuesday. Highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 30’s. The normal high for September 22nd, the first official day of autumn is 70 and the normal low is 47. The scurs will be getting sticky fingers from making s’mores around the roaring fire on these cool nights.

The Full Moon for the month is on the 19th and it is the Full Harvest Moon. The Ojibwe knew this as the Rice Moon as the wild rice was ready for harvesting. The Sioux were also keeping an eye on potential foodstuffs as they called this the Moon When Plums are Scarlet. At the ranch it is known as the Moon Where Garden Produce Abounds, at least most years. While the season was not perhaps as kind to us this time, we still have much to eat and are grateful for it.

Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer made another visit and left some information about what’s going on in the sky for the start of the fall season. Look for the Big Dipper in the northwestern sky after sunset. As legend has it, this time of year the Big Dipper is right side up and holding its water, signifying the drier fall weather we generally expect. This as opposed to the spring when it appears to be dumping its water and giving us the rains we need. Notable among the planets in the sky this September is extremely bright Venus in the western sky. From the 15th – 19th Saturn will be slightly above Venus at dusk. When the noted Swedish astronomer leaves, one can only pause and ask himself, who was that masked man?

The welcome rains on September 14th and 15th weren’t of a lot of help to the crop in the field but they will help make fall tillage easier as well as put some moisture back in the profile we have used up. It should also help hayfields, prevented plant acres and pastures. Corn that was planted in the mid-May planting should be closing in on blacklayer or physiological maturity. Soybeans are turning on a more widespread basis with some of those 2.3 – 2.5 varieties even starting to show some color. Speaking of color, some have asked what the reddish tinge is on some of the prevented plant acres seeded to oats. It is primarily crown rust, common especially as oats are seeded later in the season. The spores that infect the oats are produced from pustules on buckthorn, the alternate host. The spores are transported from the southern states on wind currents. Infection can also come from spores produced locally on infected populations of buckthorn. Oat varieties vary in their susceptibility/resistance to the disease.

Autumn is a wonderful time to observe the flora and fauna out of doors. Salamanders were crossing the roads following the recent rains looking for a place to burrow in before freeze up. The zucchini appears to have borne its last for the season although it appears it had some help. Examining the undersides of the leaves, there were loads of aphids on the newer leaves although the small parasitic wasps had been doing their part to control them, judging by the mummified aphid carcasses. A 5-spotted hawkmoth was seen working the 4 o’clocks the other night at the ranch, about 2 or 3 times the size of the white-lined sphinx moths it was sharing the flowers with. Betsy’s Dad recently spotted night hawks on their migration through the area. More were noted Monday night in our own neighborhood as I checked the electric fence at the kindly neighbors. Bur oak acorns have been especially plentiful this fall, so much so that the squirrels haven’t touched the corn from their feeder. The sheep also have been enjoying them and by November when we bring them home from pasture, there will be few acorns left on the ground under the trees.

Fudgie survived what is likely her last brushing of the season. She’s shed off nicely and looks about 5 years younger. Am starting to think there may actually be a dog under all that fur after all. Both dogs have been busy keeping tabs on the road construction project as it nears completion. It has involved a lot of barking and growling, especially after our phone and internet service were interrupted. And then the dogs got into the act!

Seriously though, those of us in the neighborhood are just glad to have the road paved again. One was starting to wonder who hadn’t paid their taxes. The pavement had deteriorated to the point where hunks were missing. The only positive was those who love to drive well over the speed limit took a different route. The workers on the construction project have been extremely courteous, especially when we’ve been stopped by the flag persons. One night Mrs. Cheviot was attempting to get to our driveway when she was stopped until one of the operations could be completed. The young lady running the stop sign asked where she was going and Mrs. Cheviot explained that we were the 2nd place down, the place with the sheep. The young lady exclaimed, “Oh, we love the sheep!” Apparently they flag crew had set up in our driveway earlier and watching the critters had provided a brief diversion from what is likely a dull, thankless job at times. Glad the sheep could brighten someone’s day. Wonder how many they’d like to take home?

See you next week.

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