Fencelines

[Dotch]

I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day

The scurs wanted a do-over after the weekend when they mistook the AC lever for the defrost lever on the Weather Eye. Will they make up for the error of their ways or be shamed once more? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Sunny Sunday with a slight chance of evening showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, partly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Partly sunny skies for Tuesday with a good chance of developing thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. We will see 15 hours of daylight on May 22nd, about the same as we saw last July20th. The normal high for May 22nd is 71 and the normal low is 50. The scurs have their zubas ready for a dip in the cement pond.

The Full Moon for the month occurs on May 21st and goes by one of several names. Most commonly it’s known as the Full Flower Moon although it was once known as the Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon, presumably because people planted corn and turned their cows out on pasture once upon a time in May. How times have changed. The Ojibwe knew this as the Blossom Moon and the Sioux called it Moon When Ponies Shed. At the ranch, it is definitely the Moon When Border Collies Shed, judging by the wads of hair that suddenly appear along the baseboards.

The weekend frost caught most of us off guard. At the ranch, we recorded a 31 degree low Saturday morning and a 30 degree low on Sunday morning. Bear in mind we live on a hill and the thermometer sensor is mounted about eye level on the garage door frame to keep it out of direct sunlight. In other words, it gets much colder than that in lower lying areas as well as in open spaces. We had very little frost while neighbor David’s tree planting area was pure white. The damage the frost did has yet to be fully determined as of this writing. Corn that was examined Monday showed that despite the total loss of green tissue the growing points were well below ground and very much alive. Whether it’s able to push out new green leaves is the question. Some early planted soybeans that were emerged also took it on the chin and in some cases may need some additional soybeans stabbed in to maintain stands and yields.

Last week’s rains made area lawns go nuts in spite of the cloudy weather most of the week. It was comical to drive around and see people donned in insulated coveralls manning their mowers Saturday. I did some mowing myself late afternoon and it was brutal. The radishes in the garden have loved the cool temps as well as the rainfall. Some of them should start to produce any day now and not a moment too soon. Thing is they are a mish-mash of varieties and whatever we get will be a surprise every time.

Another banner week of bird arrivals and in some cases departures. Leaving us for points north were the white-throated sparrows and for the most part the Harris’s sparrows. New arrivals included our first hummingbird of the season on the 13th, some white-crowned sparrows, a catbird, and a rose-breasted grosbeak on the 14th, not to mention a reappearance of a few Harris’s sparrows. Must’ve come back for the frost. Female orioles of both Baltimore and orchard species were spotted at the jelly feeder. The jelly is starting to disappear more rapidly and hopefully there are some sales soon. At any rate, we don’t worry about having to turn music on in the morning to start the day; the air is full of bird song starting with robins rising sometime before 5 a.m., followed by wrens, orioles, brown thrashers and everyone else. Rain or shine, automatic timer and no electricity required!

Found something a little odd at the kindly neighbors’ pasture as I was using the weedeater on the fence Sunday. Checked the bluebird house and found one bluebird nest on top of another. Guessing that the original nest was abandoned and another pair decided to build over it. Didn’t see or hear bluebirds but am told by the pasture owners that they have at least one nesting pair near their house.

The tabby cat and her offspring continue to grow and expand their size and territory. The mother cat, Tincture is very protective and lets the dogs know when they’re on her turf. There are no if’s and’s or but’s about it. When the dogs get too close she’s not afraid to unleash all 4 lbs. of fury right in their face, resulting in a hasty retreat by Fudgie or Ruby in particular. Kind of ironic since both dogs outweigh the cat by over 40 lbs.!

Both dogs are in mid-season lawn mower herding form though and Ruby has routinely been finding something nasty to roll in out in the yard. If you’re a dog, it’s what you do. Outside it’s no big deal. However once inside, it becomes a big deal. Somehow with our busy schedules she’s escaped getting a bath to this point. When things slow down for a moment, she’ll get one. It’s fun to torment Ruby as payback and if you’re a human around the ranch, it’s what you do.

See you next week…real good then.  

[Dotch]

The cup is raised, the toast is made yet again
One voice is clear above the din

The scurs had the Weather Eye fine-tuned to produce the nice weather following the frosty debacle the week before. Will we see a return to the freezer or have the scurs learned their lesson? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, partly sunny with an increasing chance for showers and thunderstorms by evening. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 50’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a good chance for daytime showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Monday, partly sunny with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. The normal high for May 31st is 74 and the normal low is 53.  The scurs will be picnicking following their trips to honor those who have gone before.

We finally got some of the warm weather we were so desperately looking for following the frost on May 15th. Most fields of corn recovered nicely although there were some hybrids that remained wrapped up yet as of Monday. Stands in many fields of early planted soybeans were reduced to the point where stabbing additional seed to boost stands was justified. Much of this was already accomplished or was in the process as of press time. Varietal differences were probably less important than planting date and position of the field on the landscape. Here again however, there were no absolutes. Those of us who thought we knew about frost this time of year were dumbfounded by some of what we discovered once covering fields in their entirety. Some have been quick to attempt to sell products to remedy the after effects of the frost. Appears Mr. Haney is still alive and well.

Something farmers had to be happy about was the sudden window of opportunity that opened, allowing them to head to the fields to control their giant ragweed patches. The relatively cool start to the growing season made conditions ideal for this old nemesis to gain a foothold. Indeed it is an ancient weed. Iowa State Weed Scientist Bob Hartzler once mentioned in a presentation that pollen samples corresponding to the time the glaciers receded indicate giant ragweed was one of the first plants to repopulate the landscape. And anti-allergy medicine hadn’t even been invented yet!  That said, few things are more satisfying to a farmer or an agronomist than seeing a mortal enemy such as giant ragweed appearing to writhe in pain following a growth regulator herbicide application. Warms the cockles of your heart.

Following the aftermath from the frost we were finally able to get most of the ewes and lambs weaned at the ranch Saturday morning. It was loud after that and there always seems to be one voice in the group that can be heard above the din at least for a while. 24 hours later though the racket had subsided. A group of nine ewes was hauled to the kindly neighbors’ pasture where the fence had grounded out since my visit the week before. It seemed like it was impossible to find the ground until the second trip around the pasture. In the meantime I saw the bluebird I’d been hoping to see come out of the nesting box on the hill. It made me smile to know they were using the box for the second year in a row. Something to celebrate after a day like that.

The fence at the ranch needed attention so on Sunday I made a journey around that with the weedeater to get the worst of the vegetation off the electric wires. It will have to hold until I can get there with some deadly agrotoxins to control the weeds. I was happy again as a couple of the bluebird houses were occupied by tree swallows and the nesting box affixed to the old International No. 8 plow appeared to be favored by yet another bluebird.

Sunday also allowed enough time to get the garden worked up and a large portion of it to be planted. Since my schedule didn’t allow a lot of spare time for seeding transplants, I opted to see if the weather would cooperate and allow direct seeding this time around. It did and with warm soils along with the promise of rain, hopefully the plants won’t be too far behind. In the ground went pumpkins, gourds, squash, melons and cukes as well as Indian corn. Warm season plants in the ground in hopes of a warm summer to follow.

On Monday since the rain was minimal, I decided to plant the beautiful canna bulbs Mrs. Cheviot’s co-worker Gail had given her. Needed to do some quick research on planting canna’s as it had been many moons since we last grew them. Mention was made of loosening the ground deeply and mixing composted manure into the soil below the bulbs. Not a problem. Only several hundred 5-gallon buckets worth from which to choose from. After digging a trench and performing the prescribed soil mixing, they were all planted approximately 2” deep just minutes ahead of a passing shower. Never a bad omen when you’re gardening. Hopefully the hummingbirds will reward our efforts.

See you next week…real good then.

 

[Dotch]

Got the soul of a ragpicker, got the mind of a slug

The scurs got the windshield washer wire crossed on the Weather Eye once again although it could’ve been worse. Will they dry out the forecast or will we see a deluge soon? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Partly sunny Friday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Partly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for June 7th is 74 and the normal low is 53. From June 7th we only have about 6 more minutes to gain before the summer solstice. The scurs have several naps in the shade scheduled in the meantime.

Last week’s rainfall made it difficult to accomplish a lot of fieldwork although much of the weed control was completed the week prior in the corn. This week the soybeans will start to need some attention especially on those pesky giant ragweed patches along the field borders in addition to other larger infested areas in some fields. Much of the corn was V4 this past week although the frost made it a little tough to tell with some of the leaves missing. Soybeans continued to emerge and some have reported some feeding by slugs. These little mollusks not only enjoy munching things like your hostas and garden vegetables, they like variety it seems. Control so has not been called for in most cases but it’s one more thing to keep an eye on, particularly in reduced and no-till scenarios.

At the ranch we continue to put in garden. Planted tomatoes and peppers Monday night. Kept it down to 26 tomatoes and 10 peppers so we are making progress in that area. Also planted the obligatory zucchini plants. We give plenty away although I think the sheep probably consume more than anyone. They seem to enjoy the monster-sized ones that get away on us. Some of the planting from the week before was starting to emerge including several hills of muskmelon as well as some squash, gourds and pumpkins. A few cucumber beetles were already feeding on some of the volunteer gourds so heads up. The Indian corn was almost all up which is good considering the one hybrid is 105 – 110 day maturity. Still, all it really needs to do is make it to physiological maturity since we dry it on the ear anyway. There are a few things to plant yet including string beans and some flowers for the hummingbirds and other pollinators.

Both Ruby and Fudgie continue to need brushing. Ruby in particular likes cuddling against you and if you’re wearing a dark colored shirt, afterwards you’re also wearing lots of little white hairs. Saturday morning presented a good opportunity to give both a thorough going over. We’ve been noticing how fast the hair disappears and one wonders where it all goes. Some perhaps blows away while it appears a large portion of it is used as nesting material by the local bird population. Monday morning a chipping sparrow was stuffing its beak full of dog hair. By the time it flew away it looked like a miniature feathered version of Wilford Brimley.

Finally got a chance to mow the main lawn in daylight hours between Sunday and Monday. It allowed me to dig the solar lights out and twiddle with them for a bit. Some have some age on them but they still work. It’s always interesting that first night to see how many come on as they should and how long they stay on. No two are alike in that department even after changing the battery and shooing any insects out of them such as earwigs. None this spring so that was fortunate. One that initially showed me that it was working decided not to so need to perform surgery to see if it is worth monkeying with. These little decorations always fascinate me with their color changes over the course of an evening. I am easily entertained.

Made the trip to the Chatfield cemetery Monday morning to place flowers on my folk’s gravesite and clean up the stone some. It’s a beautiful, peaceful place, very well kept with lots of columnar arborvitae. The wrens were singing nearby and one could hear Baltimore orioles adding their song from the other end. There were very few people about and the fellow who was mowing even stopped for a while as I was tidying things up. I placed the planter full of flowers that Mom and Dad would’ve enjoyed there and put another solar light on one side to replace the one I’d put there last year. Not sure where it went but it was nowhere to be found. Everything was in order so I made a quick trip to the farm to check on things there.

The white peonies lining the driveway were just starting to bloom, something I hadn’t noticed yet at home. Had mowed around those peonies many times over the years. The lily of the valley were about done and the Jack in the pulpit were flowering, the same as at the ranch.  Everything there checked out too with the flowers Linette and brother Stu planted a few weeks earlier starting to enjoy the recent warm weather. A few had been nipped by the frost but most were showing signs that they were survivors. Made the journey back to the ranch and after doing some organized gawking, discovered that the white peonies we’d transplanted from the farm a few years back were just starting to open. Another reminder that while you sometimes can’t go back, you can take a little piece of it with you.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Them summer days, those summer days

The scurs got the waterworks taken care of on the Weather Eye but someone still keeps fiddling with the heat control lever. Will it warm up now for good or are we building towards another ice age? Starting Wednesday, sunny with a slight chance of an evening thundershower. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Sunny and warmer Friday with highs in the low 90’s and lows in the low 70’s. Saturday, sunny with highs a modest chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 90’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with an increasing chance of a shower or thunderstorm by evening. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Monday, partly sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-60’s. We’ll see the sun rise at 5:31 a.m. on the 9th, within seconds of the earliest it will rise in the month of June. On the 13th, we will see 15 hours and 27 minutes of daylight, the most since June 27th of last year. The normal high for June 13th is 79 and the normal low is 58. Awaiting the July preview with sunscreen at the ready, the scurs have their chaise lounge set up by the cement pond.

Some cooler weather last week along with some rain made crop progress somewhat slower yet responsive to the sunshine and warmer weekend temperatures. Most corn was V5 – V6 and soybeans were all over the board due to replants and later planting dates. Most were V1 – V2. Remaining weed control measures were able to be performed on most of the corn acres and some soybean fields were also addressed. Some soybean aphids were discovered at the SWROC. There is already evidence to indicate that resistance has developed in areas of southern MN so tossing in an insecticide early to save a trip is not considered a best management practice. Our rainfall continues to arrive in measured amounts, much the same as it did last year up until the week of June 20th.  In other words, best not say that too loudly.

Fellow Memories Car Club member and Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer stopped by last week to discuss old cars and of course what we’re seeing in the evening skies. June should be good for viewing Saturn, Mars and Jupiter all month long. Jupiter is about halfway up in the southwestern evening sky. Yellowish Saturn rises in the southeast sky about sunset.  Last Thursday night as I was putting the lawnmower away about 10 p.m., Mars was obvious in the southeast sky. It is red and very bright right now, the brightest it has been in 10 years. For conjunctions, on the 11th, the moon will be to the left of Jupiter. On the 16th, the moon will be above Mars. A triangle forms on the 17th, with Saturn to the lower left of the moon and Mars on the moon’s lower right. On the 18th, Saturn appears very close to the moon while Mars will be slightly to the right of the moon. Thanks to Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer and the Steele Co. Astronomical Society for providing this information.

Looks like we’re heading for some mid-July like temperatures along with drier weather so that means making some hay. Well sort of anyway. I decided it was time to take the chains off the tractor as May was finally over. No need to aerate the lawn or hayfields at this point and I’ll need to spread some fertilizer anyway. Looks like we’ll probably resort to having the Dubya’s round bale it as it’s perhaps more rank than I’d like for small square bales. That makes everyone happy. No one likes handling those little back breakers any more than necessary. Will still need to lay in some small squares for lambing pens, etc., but that will work better second and third cutting anyway.

The last three ewes with lambs were weaned Saturday morning and that made us happy. The ewes weren’t nearly as happy as it took them away from an overly generous feed bucket and more hay than they had a right to consume. With belly deep grass and other forage in the pasture, they have nothing to complain about but they still do. There’s a reason they are numerous biblical references to sheep and that’s one of them. In the meantime, during their bellering the folks who owned the ewe and lambs to be born came to pick them up. Didn’t even hear them drive in with all the racket. They had the ewe and lambs already loaded when I looked out and saw they were here.

The garden has made some impressive progress (so have the weeds) with the timely and generous but not excessive rains. Looks like all the Moregold and Buttercup squash made it as did most of the gourds and pumpkins. The cucumber beetles have needed treatment as new seedlings emerge. Luckily most hills have plenty of plants as there has been some mortality. The tomatoes and peppers have enjoyed the little heat island they reside in. Rain fell just in time so watering for the time being was unnecessary. The sweet corn planted from old seed was pretty thin so it looks like replanting that will be in order once it’s dry enough. The canna’s are coming up in the small garden. Sunday’s heat was just what the doctor ordered for this plant with tropical origins. Some four o’clocks remain to be planted to further entice the hummers and sphinx moths.

The hummingbirds must know something is up as we seem to have some regular visitors. They’ve already been scoping out the pots that Mrs. Cheviot planted last week and over the weekend. One hummer almost flew right into me as I came around the corner of the house after planting one last grape tomato. There are lots of goldfinches at the ranch once again after a couple year hiatus. They’ve taken a shine to the new feeder and like having access to water other than just puddles. Both the orchard and Baltimore variety orioles appear daily although they aren’t singing as much as they did initially. The robins and wrens are picking up the slack for them quite nicely however, starting shortly after 4 a.m. Before we know it though they’ll head south and we’ll be wondering where the summer went, again.

See you next week…real good then.    .

[Dotch]

Homegrown’s all right with me…

The scurs confidence in the Weather Eye grew after last week’s warmer temperatures. Is summer here to stay now or will we see a worker slowdown? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Sunny and warmer Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, sunny with a modest chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid- 60’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. We’ll see the longest day of the year on Monday the 20th as summer officially begins, with 15 hours and 28 minutes of glorious daylight. The sun will rise at 5:31 a.m. and will set at 9 p.m. The normal high for June 20th is 81 and the normal low is 59. The long day will mean more time spent afternoon napping and less time spent sleeping at night.

Coincidentally the Full Moon for the month also arrives on the 20th and is known in most circles as the Full Strawberry Moon for obvious reasons. Strawberries are in season during June and this makes it a favorite for many. When growing up, a bowl of strawberries with fresh Jersey cream was to die for especially if you’d milked the cow and helped pick the berries. Almost made you feel entitled to it. Not so surprisingly the Ojibwe and Sioux both agreed this was the Strawberry Moon. At the ranch we know it as the Moon When Weeds Grow.

Warm temperatures last week moved the crop along at a brisk pace. With a full tank of moisture to draw from and drier conditions, corn gutted down and reached the nitrogen that had been applied earlier. Corn this past week was generally V7 – V9 and in many cases knee high or better. Soybeans also began to make some visible progress with the 30” rows beginning to puff out. They were generally V2 – V3 with two to three trifoliates fully expanded. Weed control measures are being applied to the soybeans with time beginning to be a factor not only in weed size but in crop stage as well. Evidence is that within a week or so they should start flowering meaning some weed control products will be off label when that happens. Second cutting hay is drawing near in some fields already and with the rainfall it looks to be some beautiful stuff. Peas look good as well and the few small grain fields in existence are heading out.

The biting fly population has benefitted from the warmth as well. Stable flies have been particularly nasty as they exploit any exposed flesh quickly or in some cases bite right through your clothing. Both male and female stable flies feed on warm blooded animals and inflict a painful bite that frequently leaves a welt. They reproduce on decaying organic material such as livestock bedding or decaying grass clippings. They’re capable of flying long distances for a meal too as anyone who has experienced them in the middle of a large field or body of water can attest. Deer flies have also been plentiful although they tend to be more common around sources of water which they need to reproduce. They too are capable of flying long distances and delivering a painful bite. Few things have brought me more satisfaction than swatting a deer fly and using it for sunfish bait when they’re biting.

It appears we have finally completed the last of the garden planting. It always happens after we have both helped everyone else with their planting decisions first. The sweet corn was a do-over with last year’s seed not performing up to snuff. Luckily there was room for an additional planting as well so hopefully after Labor Day we should have plenty if not before. String beans also went in with a couple rows about 30’ long. Nitrogen was applied to the corn and vine crops so that step was checked off the list. All in all things are coming along. The tomatoes especially seem to be enjoying their own little private heat island. Working out there one dehydrates quickly but homegrown ripe tomatoes make it all worth it.

The kittens continue to expand their territory. Tuesday a.m. they were nowhere to be found in the barn although Tincture the mother cat was stalking something south of the house. Having a cat has systematically removed the mess of house sparrows from the barn and the number around the yard is noticeably less as well. I discovered too as a result of having cats that striped gophers can swim. When emptying the water tub the other night something was swimming around in it. It looked like a small rat but when I tossed the water to my surprise it was a young striped gopher. One of the kittens pounced on it and after playing around with it, devoured it. I suspect that’s probably how it wound up in the water tub in the first place.

Mrs. Cheviot finished up some more pots and planted lots of dusty millers for an upcoming fall wedding decoration. I’d planted a couple rows of four o’clocks in the small garden and left the remainder. There are probably over 100 dusty millers so it will keep someone busy hoeing between the plants much of the summer. Ruby supervised the planting, waiting to pounce when Mrs. Cheviot dug the holes for the transplants. New canna shoots continue to appear. At last count I think there are 18 and seems like a few more show up every couple days. They don’t appear to have found the composted manure yet but once they do, expect they will take off like a rocket. Fudgie in the meantime likes breaking them off. In spite of nearly constant scolding she uses selective hearing to her advantage, not unlike a lot of humans I know.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!

The scurs got a little surprise in the form of a midweek rain from the Weather Eye. Will this become a pattern or will there be more stability in the future? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Sunny and warmer Friday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of evening showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly cloudy skies for Tuesday with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. We’ll see the days become a minute shorter on the 26thwith 15 hours and 27 minutes of daylight. The normal high for June 26th is 82 and the normal low is 61. Mosquitoes aren’t bad but let you know they’re around closer to dusk. Looks like July could be a warm one. The scurs have their sun block and mosquito repellent booked just in case.

Crop progress this last week was again outstanding. Corn has reached nearly three feet in height and with the timely yet not excessive rains has rooted down well into the nitrogen, with much of it showing a deep dark green color. Soybeans began showing a few blossoms last week shortly after the column went to print so the days of several of the post emerge weed control products are becoming limited. Second cutting alfalfa has been baled in several area fields and it appears to be of exceptional quality. Spring wheat headed out a week ago and pollinated shortly afterwards. Pea crops have looked wonderful with the rains being limited as they have. We did actually see a rainfall event eclipsing one inch in Greater Bugtussle last week on the 15th of 1.22”, the first of the growing season. The first firefly at the ranch was seen on June 13th so we were due.

At the ranch we have been slightly drier but certainly not lacking for moisture yet anyway. The lawn has slowed slightly although mowing once a week is still a good idea if I don’t want to leave windrows. Fudgie and Ruby appreciate the exercise too. Generally time only allows a part of the lawn to be mowed at a time so they relish the opportunity to pace back and forth as we make the rounds. Their white socks have come in the house about the color of the Grinch several times so far this summer. It just makes us laugh at them and they wag their tails happily.

The garden is moving along also as are the weeds. They’re lots easier to deal with now when they’re still small so I make an effort to hammer them every chance I get. Tomatoes continue to set fruit and the vine crops are starting to run in places, especially the melons and cukes. Can’t wait for that first cucumber! The sheep can’t wait for the first cucumber “escape” as they cherish the seeded out, overgrown models when they land on their side of the fence. About 75% of the string beans have emerged making my trigger finger itch when I see bunnies. The replant sweetcorn has also come up although it is a little spotty. A little more could be stabbed in to fill in the stand if there’s time yet.  At last count I think there were 19 cannas that emerged with one casualty as a result of either a rodent or a bunny digging it up so I have cause for my disdain. Mrs. Cheviot’s plantings are taking shape and need watering soon if the rain misses us. Think I’m not praying for continued measured rains?

Speaking of Mrs. Cheviot, I am flying solo for a week while she’s attending a major sheep show in Missouri. It’s not like the old days where guys were once doted on by their wives and waited on hand and foot. I like to cook at least certain things and if I need to can do laundry. Not like I have to take the clothes down to the river and pound them on the rocks. A few years of bachelorhood weren’t all bad in that department. Cleaning up the aftermath from some of my culinary “masterpieces” and dirty clothes. Still sucks but it has to be done. Otherwise the house starts to look like a college apartment. Thank goodness camera phones weren’t commonly in use in 1980.

In the yard the orioles have started bringing their young to the feeders. One can tell by their coloration as well as their almost mournful sound, making one wonder if they’re lost or something. They get crabby if the jelly feeder gets empty so restocked the other day. There are several young chickadees around the yard as well. Not sure where they nested but they’re also showing up at the sunflower feeders. The young squirrels have been trying in vain to figure out the squirrel proof feeders. Watched one spend ten minutes attempting to open the feeding holes without success. It finally decided the ear corn was just fine after all.

Made the Back to the Fifties car show last Saturday and what a show! Estimates that there were many as 12,000 automobiles on the State Fairgrounds turned out to be true. The streets and lots were lined with cars with the area between them full of people as well. The drive from Owatonna was great as I had a passenger, HB, to share some laughs and keep me from talking to myself. Kinda nice since the radio doesn’t work. The Silver Hawk was a hit on the grounds and on the road as well. It is a rare bird, the only ’59 Silver Hawk I saw on the grounds that day.  It cruised nicely at 65 mph in overdrive too. Don’t get a lot of chances to drive it on the freeway so was fun to see how it reacted. Also fun to see how people reacted. Many gave us the thumbs up when they’d go on past. Much better than the digit you sometimes see.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

After the fire, the fire still burns

After some scattered and scant precip, the scurs got more heat from the Weather Eye. Will they keep their foot on the gas or will they back it down some? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm by evening. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, partly sunny with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm.  Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny and cooler Friday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Saturday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of evening showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 60’s. For Independence Day, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly cloudy skies becoming cloudy for Tuesday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm by evening. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. We’ll see the sun set officially before 9 p.m. at 8:59 on the 3rd. The normal high for the 4th of July is 83 and the normal low is 62. The scurs will be doing their best to evade the Fireworks Police once again. Happy Birthday USA!

No evading the heat last weekend as we got a little taste of July over the weekend. Corn continued to shoot upward with much of it being 4’ – 5’ tall. No worries about it being knee-high by the 4th. It’s a little uneven as a result of the frost but not as dramatically perhaps as some might’ve guessed. The height differences have become more subtle and less pronounced. We’ll likely start to see some tassels next week although cooler temperatures could slow that some. Some corn has been rolling in the heat of the day especially with the breezy conditions. Cooler temperatures have prevailed and since rainfall has been slower coming as of late, that’s a positive. We were 13% ahead of normal as of last Wednesday on GDU’s according to calculations at the SROC in Waseca. Soybeans are generally in full bloom (R2 stage). Soybean aphids have been found locally so while it will likely be a while before treatable levels develop, they’re back for another year. Caravans of pea bines are being seen going from field to field and there should be plenty of time to stab in some double crop soybeans after they’re harvested.

Lawn mowing has slowed in area lawns and no one is complaining especially me. Ruby and Fudgie may have seen the last of their grass stained white socks for a while. This should also give me a chance to catch up on the trimming something that’s been neglected for a few cycles of mowing. It also should allow the ditch to be completely mowed for the first time all spring. The ditch has been silted in enough so that the water backs up in the culvert and until evapotranspiration catches up, it’s like mowing around a mud bog.

The warm season plants in the garden are finally starting to take off and become competitive enough with the weeds so that with one more pass through with the tiller, I should be able to “lay it by” as the old saying used to go once the last cultivation on the corn was done. Indian corn looks good, the muskmelons are thriving on the heat and the tomatoes are doing especially well. A lot of fruit set and the plants are staying relatively compact. Good thing since the cages still need to go on. One more item to add to the “to-do” list.

Did get after the burgeoning thistle population last week and not a moment too soon. Some of the Canada thistles were starting to flower. While they smell good and they’re a hit with the red admiral butterflies, it drives me crazy to see that. The rear mounted mower was attached and off we went. Felt terrible when I accidentally knocked over one bluebird house that contained some baby tree swallows. Fortunately, the house was intact but had been torn off the now bent post. The babies were still moving around inside so while shaken up, they were very much alive. I quickly scrounged up a piece of 2” x 6” and some deck screws and within a few minutes, the house was back on the post. The parents came back too once they were sure I wasn’t going to mess it up again. I was thankful for that.

Another car show on Saturday for Ellendale Days is in the books. It was a hot one but we persevered, sans our fearless leader Jerry. Wasn’t quite the same but we slogged through it and managed to have some fun. I was behind schedule and couldn’t find the smaller cooler I was looking for so had to bring a bigger one. That just meant putting more refreshments in it. And to make matters worse, The People’s Republic of Steele Co. had decided to put fresh oil and pea rock on my usual route into Ellendale. Once I discovered that, a quick U turn was in order to double back around by Beaver Lake. Oh well, I was already late and it meant I got to spend more quality time driving the Studebaker!

Sunday I kicked back a little after doing chores, filling some bird feeders and watering all the pots, planters, etc. I decided to go after the thistles in the nooks and crannies I couldn’t get at earlier with some “deadly agro-toxins” as Betsy’s dad calls them. Milestone (aminopyralid) has become a favorite as it is lethal on Canada thistles and starts to bring a Christmas tree-sized bullthistle to its knees within a few hours. As I’ve noted in the past, spraying these weeds also seems to pique the interest of the sheep as they delight in eating the flower buds off of them. As is the case with several products in the carboxylic acid family, a good portion of the aminopyralid remains in the plant in addition to having good soil activity. It also runs right through the animals when they consume it and is not metabolized. In other words it’s like the proverbial match that burns twice. Several times over the years I’ve noticed circular patches of dead broadleaf weeds where I didn’t spray, apparently where one of the ovines had urinated. Not bad. Not only will they eat the weeds, they’ll spray them too.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Lit up like a firefly
Just to feel the living night

The scurs got some dandy weather out of the Weather Eye, to the point where folks had to put on jackets and cover up with their blankies at night. Will our taste of late August continue or will we be stuck on July a while? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a good chance of a thunderstorm by evening. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Thursday, partly sunny with a good chance of a showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Sunny and cooler Friday with a slight chance of a daytime shower. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of evening showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny and sticky for Tuesday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm by evening. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. The normal high for the July 10th is 83 and the normal low is 62. The scurs will be getting mentally prepared for another edition of Farm and City Days.

Crops continued to progress in rapid fashion last week. Some areas received some welcome rain after seeing corn rolling as a result of the heat earlier in the week. Many corn fields are showing the flag leaf so we should see some tasseling this week. Soybeans also enjoyed the warm temperatures early week and the rain on Thursday as well. There are already some small pods beginning to form on some of the early planted soybean fields. Some early planted small grains are beginning to show some subtle signs of ripening. Pea yields have generally been very good although as one moves west where more rain fell, they tail off dramatically. Some of the third cutting hay is also getting closer as a result of the early 1st crop. Odds are good we’ll see some take four cuttings this summer.

Thursday’s rainfall at the ranch marked the first time this growing season we’ve recorded over an inch of precipitation. It came hard and with a lot of wind, leaning neighbor’s corn fields as well as our own Indian corn. Luckily it has largely recovered. So has the lawn. It looks like the time taken to sharpen the lawnmower blades was well spent. If the forecast is correct, we should see more rain this week putting many back in the mower seat again. In Bugtussle proper, rainfall was not so abundant so residents may get a reprieve until after the weekend celebration.

Bird gawking at the ranch has been steady for most of the summer thus far. Apparently we must be a hotbed of activity for the orioles. There were four adult male orchard orioles vying for a spot at the jelly feeder on Thursday and lots of young as well. Likewise for the Baltimore orioles. Several brightly colored males suddenly appear out of nowhere and after gobbling several beakfuls of grape jelly, they vanish almost as quickly. Lots of hummingbirds right now and they keep the nectar feeder hopping. Several times they’ve almost drained it which is somewhat unusual for us. There has been one male rose-breasted grosbeak and an occasional cardinal to round out or list of notable guests.

The long holiday weekend went way too fast the same as it always does. There were several get-togethers to attend so we worked hard during the day and played at night. Mrs. Cheviot was gone so she’ll just have to take my word about the day part. We got lots of weeding done in the gardens which should’ve been perfect timing. Uprooting weeds and allowing them to desiccate a few days ahead of a rain usually help ensure that they die. It was definitely time to get through the main garden with the tiller. The weeds weren’t huge which was good but they were numerous. Couple that with needing to weed by hand around everything, planting one last row of string beans and putting 26 tomato cages on and that pretty well burned up the 4th. Had thought perhaps that I’d be able to spend some quality time on the lawnmower. Guess again.

As mentioned I played at night. There were some spectacular fireworks displays at our neighbors on the 2nd and of course the annual fireworks at Beaver Lake on the 3rd. Like many Border Collies, Ruby does not deal well with loud noises and especially fireworks. She likes to go to her “safe-place” namely behind the love seat when fireworks or thunderstorms appear. After the second consecutive night of manmade booming and blasting in the neighborhood, she was taking no chances. When I finally got home from some friends’ celebration and into bed she wedged herself right up tight against my back. I drifted off quickly after a long day only to be awakened by someone snoring. Ruby of course. Haven’t seen any of those anti-snoring devices for dogs advertised on TV yet but I bet they’re in the works.

The fireflies have been out in full force since the second week in June at the ranch. It’s almost surreal at times to look out the window after dark and see just how numerous they are. Not all that long ago, some were lamenting there were fewer fireflies. These folks must be related to the monarch butterfly alarmists. For starters, like most insects their populations are cyclical. Fireflies are no exception. They like moist conditions so when conditions are less moist especially for a number of years not so surprisingly, their numbers will likely be negatively affected.  Also not so surprisingly, the people making the most noise about fewer fireflies often happen to be from areas where life is urbanized. Light pollution, mosquito spraying, along with draining and developing firefly and other insect habitat for another big box store or subdivision are a way of life. Come out, watch what unfolds every night in our backyard and tell me with a straight face we have fewer fireflies. On second thought, just stay where you are. We’re enjoying our monarch and firefly “shortage” just fine thank you very much.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more

The scurs had the Weather Eye tuned into rainfall this past week, bringing welcome rains to those who had been drawing the short straw previously. Are we stuck on the rinse cycle or are we destined for a dry spell again? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of a daytime thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny and cooler with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny and slightly cooler Friday with a modest chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid to low 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-60’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny and sticky again for Tuesday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. The normal high for the July 15th  is 83 and the normal low is 62. This week and part of last week are typically our warmest of the year. The scurs are living on Tums after a Farm and City Days parade candy overdose, hoping they survive until the Waseca Co. Fair.

The Full Moon rolls around on the 19th and is generally known as the Full Buck Moon as the male white-tail deer are developing their velvet-covered antlers. The Full Moon also goes by the Full Thunder Moon as well as the Full Hay Moon. The Ojibwe called this the Raspberry Moon and the Sioux knew it as the Moon When Red Cherries are Ripe. At the ranch, we fondly refer to it as The Moon When We Can’t Keep the Bird Feeders Full.

Crop progress after the rain was nothing short of spectacular. Corn as promised began showing tassels in the early planted fields and the soybeans were at full R3, meaning one pod at the 4 uppermost nodes 5/16th of an inch long. Rainfall was generous yet in most cases locally did not overdo it. In Bugtussle proper the July rainfall thus far has equaled the total precip amount for all of June at 3.19”. At the ranch, July rainfall has nearly doubled the June total with 4.07” recorded thus far. Only 2.07” was tallied in June. This should bode well as most corn has rooted well and rainfall continues to fall in relatively measured amounts. Small grains continue to turn across the landscape and third cutting hay is up next for those waiting for the rainy stretch to let up.

Just as the field crops have taken off, so have the garden crops at the ranch. Placement of the tomato cages couldn’t have been more timely as they have grown nearly a foot in the past week. Some tassels are already showing on the Indian corn, somewhat amazing since it was planted May 22nd and is rated 110 day maturity. It does get extra GDU’s back there however and it may be a variety that tassels and silks early so perhaps not so surprising. The vine crops are running well and seem to have caught up with some of the applied nitrogen as well as the large portion likely mineralized where the garden has remained relatively weed free. The string beans planted on July 4th were nearly all up as of the 11th so it should make for a fall crop, if I can keep the bunnies at bay that is.

Something else that has suddenly been rejuvenated is the lawn. Rainfall has kicked it into gear and now the crabgrass is coming on strong. Warm season grasses will tend to do that. Luckily the blades on the mowers were sharpened over the 4th so we’re ready. The only bad thing was picking up all the sticks in the back yard that had been accumulating since the last mowing. I threatened to bring a boatload of sticks to my little fat buddy at Beaver Lake. Seems he was struggling to get a fire started over the 4th and wound up burning most of the newspapers in the household. He claimed that old Fencelines columns seemed to work best. I extended an invite for him to pick up as many sticks at the ranch as he needs for fire starting purposes. After all, ash and soft maple trees shed sticks for the sheer joy of it. In the meantime they’ll make more papers and Fencelines columns.

Something that isn’t bringing much joy to area residents is the presence of a reddish to dark brown crawling insect about 5/8” long known as an earwig. They appear to be flourishing based on the number of questions received about them. First off, these are not native insects, they originated in Europe. Earwigs likely have been here several decades although the first we saw of them at the ranch was about four or five years ago, after they’d hitchhiked from Pipestone in a box that had contained wedding flowers. See? Yet another reason men don’t like weddings. Actually Pastor Espe had brought some specimens into my office before that so they’ve likely been around. These insects look rather fearsome with a pincher-like structure on their abdomen known as cerci. Cerci are used for protection as well as holding their prey or other food source. They’re not capable of generating enough leverage however to inflict wounds on humans. They feed on decaying organic material, other insects and occasionally plant material. They are typically harmless but are frequently a nuisance.

At the ranch, earwigs show up almost anywhere, usually outdoors but sometimes not. From this past week: Putting a crock pot back into its carrying case I offed one that resisted eviction from the case. They enjoyed getting inside the hummingbird nectar feeder. It’s necessary to dump the contents and clean the feeder, again. Probably the worst incident occurred Sunday when getting ready to fuel up the lawnmower. I discovered the earwigs had taken a shine to the nozzle on the gas hose. A dozen or so crawled out when I removed it from its holder. Fortunately, I’ve been using a funnel with a screen in it to prevent spiders, beetles, wasps, etc., from getting in the fuel tanks. How does one control these pests? The link below to a fact sheet from the U of M contains fun facts on their origins, life cycle and helpful advice on their control and prevention. Good luck. Sadly enough, about the only thing that seems to control them effectively for any length of time though is winter. Oh goody.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/earwigs/

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Well if I had money,
Tell you what I'd do,
I go downtown buy a Mercury or two.

The scurs had the Weather Eye dialed in on some beautiful weather this past week, with some rain to finish the week. Will their sticky fingers from cotton candy at the fair translate into more sticky weather and fat man warnings or will we see damp and cooler? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a modest chance of a daytime thunderstorm. Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the mid-70’s. Thursday, mostly sunny and warmer with highs in the low 90’s and lows in the mid-70’s. Mostly sunny and slightly cooler Friday with a modest chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid to low 90’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the low 80’s and  lows in the low 60’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. On the 20th we slip back below 15 hours of daylight, having lost 29 minutes of the precious commodity since the summer solstice. The normal high for the July 20th is 82 and the normal low is 62. The scurs know it won’t be long and the yellow livestock haulers will soon be making their appointed rounds.

Much of the corn crop in the area has been in the process of pollination this past week. Those earliest planted fields appear to have pollinated well although the crop is shorter in stature than some years. That means little as far as yield and may be a positive when it comes to dry down and tillage in the fall. Soybeans are well into R3 and in some of the earliest planted fields are R4 with pods > ¾” long at one of the four uppermost nodes. The fields planted in 30” rows are nearly touching and should have the rows closed in many cases next week. Some have asked whether the heat will affect the crops and the general answer is no. If the duration of this hot spell is short as predicted, the impact should be minimal given the generous and timely rains we’ve been receiving. With the old rule of thumb that we need roughly an inch of rain per week for optimal yields, we are right on track or ahead of that schedule in much of the area.

Indeed we are in good shape at this point for soil moisture. At the ranch for the month of July we have recorded 6.02” of rain and at the Mall for Men, at 4.35” as of 7/18. The stretch of relatively dry weather from mid-June to just after the 4th used up a fair amount of soil moisture and gave us more room to operate in the profile. Interestingly at the SROC, the soil moisture measured on July 5th was just under 6” available in the top 5’ after having been nearly 10” on 6/17. There were some warm windy days that made the rapidly growing crop pull hard on the moisture in that timeframe as evidenced by the corn rolling on those hotter late June afternoons.

The garden continues to flourish as do the weeds it contains. The weeds were well controlled as recently as July 4th but some cooler temperatures and rainfall have allowed a bountiful crop of lambsquarters, waterhemp and redroot pigweed to gain a foothold. Otherwise it looks satisfactory. A bunny fence was erected to protect the late planted string beans and the first planting is just starting to flower. Some of the cukes need to be checked over as they’ve had some prolific blooms for at least 10 days. They’re sneaky about hiding the cucumbers under the canopy only to be found when they already contain seeds. They become sheep food at that point as they’re not as fussy as I am.

One plant that has drawn a fair amount of comment and concern locally is the yellow topped weed showing up in large amounts in area road ditches and along the abandoned railroad tracks. The plant I’m referring to is wild parsnip and the infestations have increased over the past several years. It is of Eurasian origin and may or may not have been brought here on purpose. The root is edible. Wild parsnip is in the parsley or carrot family and is generally considered a biennial, although some may categorize it as a short-lived perennial. Typically it exists as a basal rosette the seedling year, bolting and producing yellow flowers on a tall stalk with an umbel or umbrella shaped inflorescence the next summer.

The plant is toxic containing a chemical called furocoumarin. It produces blisters on human skin as well as causing blisters and photosensitivity (sunburn) in livestock especially on lighter colored skin. The plant is toxic in all stages of growth whether consumed fresh or dried in hay although concentrations of furocoumarin decrease as the plant reaches maturity. Fortunately it is not very palatable and may be consumed only if other feed sources have become exhausted in a pasture scenario. For control repeated mowing may be helpful although while mowing once the plants have bolted may help reduce seed production, it may actually allow better conditions for the rosettes to establish themselves. Control of this weed is best achieved in most cases chemically when the plants are in the rosette stage.  Products such as 2,4-D for broadcast spraying and glyphosate for localized application are most effective. Repeated applications over a number of years may be necessary to reduce the amount of seedstock in the soil to achieve long term control.

Just a short note after spending several days this past week cruising in the Silver Hawk and trying to keep up with Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer in his ’58 Ford: Participated in a couple weekend car shows and enjoyed them thoroughly. These shows to some extent are becoming more like mobile museums than car shows. They routinely feature now extinct companies such as Mercury, Rambler and Plymouth. The 1929 Buick the gentleman from Owatonna restored reminded me of the wagon my Dad had made from the chassis of the ’28 or ’29 he once owned. Looking at the cars is a blast. I can spend hours at it. What I enjoy most though about the shows is visiting with people. Several of us have turned trying to remember people’s names into a team sport. It’s always fun to talk about bugs and weeds in addition to automobile history. I was particularly flattered at the Waseca show that a salesman who’d sold us several automobiles many moons ago stopped and reintroduced himself. He wondered how the cars he’d sold us worked out and they were quite honestly among the most reliable vehicles we ever purchased. He liked the Silver Hawk and as it turns out he’s also a fan of reading the column as is his wife. Always nice to know it’s not just for starting fires, fish wrap and lining bird cages anymore.

See you next week…real good then.

  

[Dotch]

Oh oh, listen to the music all the time.

The scurs and the Weather Eye had the heater on full bore after becoming confused on which direction the lever was supposed to go. Will we see more sticky weather, will we see a prelude to September or both? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms by evening. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy and cooler with a moderate chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny and slightly cooler Friday with a modest chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with highs in the low 80’s and  lows in the mid-60’s. For Monday, mostly sunny and steamy with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday and continued steamy with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. On the 30th the sun will rise after 6 a.m. for the first time since May 4th. The normal high for August 1st is 82 and the normal low is 61. Judging by the roadkill raccoons, the scurs have deduced that sweetcorn season is underway.

Another week of progress in crop development. It was uncomfortable for humans and livestock while the corn and soybeans took it very much in stride. Corn has for the most part pollinated with a few later planted and later maturing fields still at it at print deadline. Pollination looks very good thus far with ear girth appearing very positive. Leaf disease prevalence has been minimal while moisture with timely and generous rains couldn’t be much more to the crop’s liking. Soybeans are a strong R4 for the most part with some of the earliest planted fields already exhibiting some plants at early R5. Soybean aphids while present even after being here for a month have not exploded and in many fields remain concentrated on the field borders. Diseases have been minimal as well although there is some concern about white mold. One needs to keep in mind that in order for a disease outbreak to occur the disease organism must be present, the host must be susceptible and conditions must be favorable for its development. Trying to make dry hay in the past two weeks has been a challenge. Hay cut last week simply did not dry enough to allow it to be baled without preservative and bagging before rain fell on Saturday. More nice clean hay.

Rainfall for this July has been nothing short of amazing in much of greater Bugtussle. In town as of press time we had garnered 5.41”. At the ranch, 7.33” has fallen. Contrast this to the 8.74” that has fallen so far in July at the SROC in Waseca. So far, much of the rainfall locally has been in measured amounts so the soils have been able to absorb it without causing a great deal of ponding. Apparently the mosquitoes were not told about this as they seem to have found a way to reproduce. As it approaches dusk, one wants to be near the indoors as they come out in force.

The heat and rain also brought garden crops and flowers along very rapidly. Tomatoes suddenly ripened and immediately began to split. A zucchini that was too small to pick yet on Wednesday was over 18” long by Sunday. The weeds also were going nuts as the ground was too wet to till. Some of the cannas began to show their flower spike in the whorl as a result of the tropical conditions. The morning glory has attained a height of over 10’ and is still climbing up the yard light pole. This has to be among the earliest occurrences. The blue and magenta flowers are a beautiful contrast to their makeshift trellis.

Area lawns have followed suit. It’s unusual not to hear someone out grinding away at night until the dew comes on and it becomes too wet. Crabgrass has been especially prolific this year with the heat. In addition many farm yards like that at the ranch have seen brome and quackgrass come back to life after the abundant rains. One can mow one day, look at the lawn the next and wonder if you really mowed it or not in those places.

The lawn at the ranch is once more home for dozens of toads. The hatch this year appears to have been very good as there are numerous toads in the ¾” long category. I still get off the lawnmower and try to move them out of harm’s way when I see them. Tragically I don’t see them all but I try. The barn is also home to several toads which are as round as they are long. The flies are plentiful and they make sure they get their fair share. There are several toads inhabiting the many garden plots. The sudden movement when they decide it’s time to find another spot to hang out used to startle me briefly. Now they’re just part of the garden.

The birds are subtly changing as the summer rolls along. Sure, there are still more than a half dozen orioles descending as if out of nowhere after filling the jelly feeder after it runs out. However, their singing has ceased and it’s only a matter of a little more than a month before they say adios. In the meantime, we still have house wrens, dickcissels and common yellowthroats picking up the slack. And of course a male cardinal. One has taken up residence in the neighborhood and his singing overshadows all the others.

And while we’re on the subject of singing, the singing group I had the privilege to be part of in high school got together to practice for the upcoming 40th class reunion. Not sure when that happened the last time; it’s been a while. As a group it might’ve been 40 years ago but who’s counting. It took a little for us to get going again although within a matter of a few minutes, it was almost like riding a bicycle. Carefully heeding volume and pitch while melding individual parts into one, the sound was still there. No question about it. Listening and blending so as to allow a unified harmony rather than allowing one voice to dominate was always our trademark. Best of all the fun was still there and that’s what really matters.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Thunder only happens when it's raining…

The Weather Eye had the scurs wondering which Nash Rambler product was going to show up after a rollercoaster temperature ride last week along with hit and miss thunderstorms. Will our shorter days catch up to us or will we have more summer? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the mid-80’s and lows in the upper 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny and muggy with a good chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Partly sunny and cooler Friday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 60’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. On the 7th, the sun will set before 8:30 CDT, the same as it did back on May 12th.The normal high for August 7th is 81 and the normal low is 61. The scurs will be rocking to Nuge at the Freeborn Co. Fair on the 5th.

Crop progress continues to thunder along. Some spotty rainfall with those receiving it not complaining as it does no good and those not receiving it equally as happy. Corn is moving along from blister to milk stage and soybeans still range generally from R4 – R5. Weeds are starting to peer over the soybean canopy in places and although they are largely non-yield threatening, it takes the picture postcard aspect some farmers desperately strive for out of the picture. Soybean aphids took advantage of the week with less precipitation to increase in numbers. It will become a race to see whether or not they can mount a serious assault or if the beneficial insects and fungi can keep them at bay. Despite the heavy soybean canopy, without additional precip the advantage probably goes to the soybean aphids. They appear to be survivors and relatively speaking, our knowledge of them in this environment is still in its infancy. Small grains are being swathed and of particular interest is a field of barley just east of town. Not a lot of that being raised locally anymore so it threw many for a loop to see it.

Rainfall for the month of July was abundant. At the Mall for Men/Corn Palace, 5.59” was recorded for July with 8.21” at the ranch and 8.93” at the SROC in Waseca. Normal precip for July at the SROC is 4.42 so it was much more generous than some years have been. It also illustrates just how much precipitation can vary from location to location. As happened Monday, a lot of thunder was heard but the rain developed over the top of us and moved north. Some have asked about GDU accumulation and as of July 27th at the SROC, they had calculated 1574 GDU’s, which was 9% greater than normal for that date.

Lawns have been going nuts recently with the warm temperatures and July rainfall. Particularly noticeable is the crabgrass. There are two main types; large or hairy and smooth or small. Both are common here. Both gum up mower decks and cause many to curse their existence. There really is nothing that will control crabgrass now except Jack Frost. Since crabgrass is an annual, it generally matures in late August to early September. It’s also prone to many leaf diseases that tend to shorten its lifespan even more. If you’re serious about controlling crabgrass next year, you’ll need to get some crabgrass control product from your favorite lawn and garden establishment and apply it about the time the lilacs bloom for best results. While it’s a poor source of forage for livestock, the positive is the seeds are popular with songbirds.

Around the yard at the ranch, the morning glory continues to encircle the power pole more completely. It’s a welcome sight on the way to the barn in the morning. Orange and yellow zinnias cover the rest of the bed completely, to the point that the weeds don’t stand much of a chance. The cannas have opened up, their bright red spikelet’s bringing back memories of the cannas Mom used to grow. They’re not flowering as uniformly as those used to although I suspect that may be an advantage. The hummingbirds should enjoy them over an expanded period of time.

The orioles have officially begun slowing their grape jelly consumption. Not a moment too soon as some weeks they were blowing through a 32 oz. jar every three days. They’re not completely done yet though as a male orchard oriole was nervously watching me Monday through the sliding glass door as he greedily helped himself. There are periodically some young orchard and Baltimore types as well. All are wary though and it’s difficult to catch much more than a fleeting glimpse of them before they bolt.

Fudgie will turn 13 on August 6th. I had thought she’d actually be turning 14 but the math indicates otherwise. That’s still not a young dog by anyone’s measure however. She enjoyed a good tire biting, growling and barking session when I started the mowers up Sunday then followed them around for most of the afternoon.  Seems like only yesterday she was a little wriggling red and white puppy. Sure Fudgie’s slowed down some since we got her back from Mom when she became ill and was unable to take care of her. She loves to be outside but if it’s hot out, Fudgie will find the shadiest spot in the yard available for a nap. Not just older, smarter.

Auntie Mar Mar comes through in the clutch. While I’ve been scouring the house for cookies, bars, cake or any other desserts there have been none to be found. Until recently. As luck would have it, I was the beneficiary of Auntie Mar Mar’s leftover baking entries. I’ve long enjoyed staples she’s made such as raisin bars and bran muffins but this year there were some coconut cherry bars that appeared the next day. It was almost as though I’d suddenly won the lottery.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

You know it's now or never, take a chance on rock and roll

The scurs are wondering if replacing the Weather Eye out of the ’74 Gremlin with one out of a Pacer will result in additional sunny weather. Will the August drying out continue or will the fall recharge start in earnest? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny and muggy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the mid-70’s. Thursday, partly sunny and continued muggy with a good chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Partly sunny and cooler Friday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for a.m. showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Mostly sunny Sunday and pleasant. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. On the 15th we slide back below 14 hours of daylight, roughly the same as April 25th. The normal high for August 15th is 81 and the normal low is 60. The scurs are thinking the shorter days mean longer naps by the cement pond.

Crops continue to thunder along. GDU calculations at the SROC provide one of the reasons. As of August 3rd they had calculated 1741.5 GDU’s, something the records indicate is typically attained August 11th. Soil moisture was also slightly above normal although some additional rains to take us to the finish line in August could prove beneficial. Some early planted early maturing corn hybrids have started to show a few dented kernels. Soybeans are for the most part R5 yet, a stage of growth that last about two weeks. Some earlier planted early maturing soybeans will reach R6 next week. The height of some of the soybeans is impressive with many fields running about 4’ tall. Some occasional white mold can be spotted although it is not widespread throughout most fields. SDS can also be noticed and it too is not generally widespread. Small grains are being combined and the yields have been encouraging. It was the right kind of a year for them with plenty of rainfall and moderate temperatures.

Not sure how the barley yielded, but the field raised east of town prompted some questions about barley and what the criteria was for raising malting barley. Working in North Central North Dakota when I was first out of college I got some firsthand experience with the crop. I came to understand why it was no fun to thrash back in the day as my Dad had mentioned. The long fine beards (awns) got into everything and made you itch just looking at them. When raising malting barley, it had to be a variety approved by the American Malting Barley Association. There were varieties that were approved in Canada just across the border that were not in the US at the time, part of what gave Canadian beer a stronger flavor. It also had to meet quality requirements for protein, plump kernels and starch. Low protein was desirable so nitrogen applications had to be controlled to keep protein low, yet provide an adequate yield to make it worthwhile. Luckily the two-foot nitrate nitrogen test worked in that drier, cooler climate making the task easier. Feed barley was raised by some for livestock feed and it compares favorably with corn. I raised chickens one year with leftover seed barley and they were every bit as good as the corn fed models I grew up eating.

The weather has agreed with much of the garden as well. With the drier weather the tomatoes have begun ripening again. String beans have really started firing on all cylinders while the cukes appear to have been beset with bacterial wilt, vectored by cucumber beetles. Pumpkins, gourds and squash are peering from under their canopy while the muskmelons are doing their best to remain concealed. There needs to be some time to get the fall garden in since there is some space for it. Peas, radishes and greens help prolong the fresh produce growing season.

The backyard bird sights and sounds continue to gradually change. There are still a few orchard orioles both juvenile and adults coming to the jelly feeder but the Baltimore types have been conspicuously absent lately. Couple that with changes in the bird calls and one can start to sense the end of summer is not that far down the road. The common yellowthroats are silent as are the dickcissels. There is still some wren music albeit more broken and substituted with scolding as they attempt to ride herd on the new batch of young that recently left the nest. The chickadees have continued to stay and make themselves heard as well as some young nuthatches appearing from time to time. Hummingbirds empty their nectar feeder about once a week when only filling it half full. They also have access to all the pots, cannas and now four o’clocks as they start to come online. Goldfinches and chipping sparrows have been faithful, the male goldfinches coming to the feeders while the females are likely nesting.

Fudgie celebrated her birthday in style. She got a good brushing and while the chipping sparrows didn’t gather the dog hair for their nests, she seemed relieved to be rid of it. She even sat still while the wads of hair came loose, something she rarely does. After that, it was time to follow the lawn mower around and sleep in the shade once it got warm. A dog’s life if ever there was one.

Had the good fortune to attend a couple concerts last week at the Freeborn Co. Fair. The Nuge was in town Friday night and not without controversy. As it should be. Charlie Daniels was at the venue the next evening and he did not disappoint either. I just hope when I’m 80 years old I can still sing at all, let alone able to sing, play guitar and the fiddle with the level of competency that he displayed Saturday night. I had to laugh at some of the complaints about the Ted Nugent concert though. My feelings have always been if you don’t like the music or the former Amboy Duke’s guitarist’s message, don’t rain on others parades if they do. Or just appreciate the music for what it is. There are a lot of musicians whose political views don’t necessarily jive with mine. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy and appreciate their talent. Thanks to the Freeborn Co. Fair for continuing to bring that talent to the stage year in and year out. From one old rock and roll fan who still enjoys and appreciates it.

See you next week…real good then.   

[Dotch]

There I go, turn the page

The Weather Eye dished up another batch of rainfall for the scurs to ponder over. Is this the week for us to feel September or will we see glimpses of July? Starting Wednesday, partly sunny and muggy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny and muggy with a modest chance for showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Partly sunny Friday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the upper  50’s. Saturday, partly sunny and cooler with a slight chance for a.m. showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Mostly sunny Sunday and pleasant with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance for showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. The normal high for August 20th is 80 and the normal low is 59. The scurs are contemplating applying for one of those school bus driving jobs soon.

The Full Moon for the month occurs on August 18th. It goes by the Full Sturgeon Moon as it was during August that sturgeon were most easily harvested by the native tribes. Some also called it the Red Moon as the haze caused the rising moon to appear red. It also has been called The Green Corn Moon or the Full Grain Moon. The Ojibwe knew this as the Berry Moon and Sioux called it the Moon When Cherries Turn Black. At the ranch we know it as The Pick Stuff in the Garden Moon.

The crop continues to advance at a breakneck pace. We continue to be about 10% ahead of normal on GDU accumulation and although it appears we’ll cool some over the next week, the crop remains ahead of schedule. Much of the corn has dented and soybeans are well into the R5 stage with some of the earlier planted, early maturing varieties a full R6, meaning one pod with the seed completely filling the pod at one of the uppermost four nodes. Some SDS appearing with greater frequency in the soybeans along with some white mold. There is ample soil moisture at this point, enough so that we should make it to the finish line with very little more rainfall necessary.

Still seeing and hearing some subtle signs of the seasonal changes in the bird population. It continues to become quieter and quieter, with a few goldfinches twittering and an occasional wren adding what will likely soon be the end of their summer soundtrack. That said, there are lots of little wrens scattered all over the yard and one nesting box still containing baby wrens as of Monday morning. There was also one last batch of baby robins produced as their chirping and the scolding of the parents indicated when the cat appeared. There are even some orioles that slip in and out of the yard almost unnoticed. A brightly colored male Baltimore appeared on the 12th, the first one in several weeks. There are still some juveniles and an orchard male in full plumage consuming grape jelly. More hummingbirds are gracing the yard daily. When the orioles roost on the cannas, the hummers appear out of nowhere to shoo the orioles away from their “stash”.

Never let it be said that we don’t cater to the pollinators in our yard and gardens. There are bees of all kinds constantly working on salvia, white clover, vine crops, purslane, oxeye and even some milkweed. Probably the most noticeable feature is the morning glory that continues its ascent up the yard light pole. It also provides many blooms that open in the morning and close during the heat of the day. Likewise, the four o’clocks operate on a similar schedule, opening after 4 in the afternoon and providing evening and morning forage not only for hummingbirds but bees and sphinx moths as well. The four o’clocks have a wonderful combination of colors this year including red, yellow, white, pink and one that looks suspiciously like a Studebaker paint color known as “flamingo” on the 1960 model Hawks. Studebaker always was ahead of its time.

There are always some of the stinging insects that are not on everyone’s Christmas card list, notably the paper wasp. Many have asked what purpose do they serve? Other than stinging one at an inopportune moment, I‘ve sometimes had a difficult time answering that question. Turns out though that they do fill a niche. They feed things like flies, caterpillars, spiders and other arthropods to their young while preferring sweet foods such as decaying fruit and flower nectar themselves. This is why they’re occasionally seen on peony flower buds as the buds secrete a sweet substance that they along with ants like. A nice guide detailing life cycles for not only paper wasps but other common wasps and bees in the Upper Midwest can be found at:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/wasp-and-bee-control/

Lastly, making another junket for the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour starting August 21st through the 25th. Taking them a year at a time at this point. There’s never a good time for this as it always seems something comes up to further complicate matters. Many loose end to tie up before pulling the pin on a week of your life. It also takes some preparation time to get a handle on what one might expect to see in addition to those that are “givens”. This in addition to the late nights spent writing copy after a day of doing yield checks while travelling through OH, IN, IL, IA and parts of MN. While it’s great to see all the friends and acquaintances one has made over the years, it’s going to be equally as great to put another one in the books and turn the page.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast

After a September preview, the scurs decided to swap the Weather Eye from the Pacer out with the original Gremlin model. Will summer return or are we destined  Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid- 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Partly cloudy Friday and cool with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, cloudy with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. For Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with highs in the low 70’s  and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for August 27th is 79 and the normal low is 58. The scurs have a trip to the Great Minnesota Get Together in the works for next week.

Crop progress slowed a bit with the cooler temperatures and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some milk lines are beginning to show on the corn on some early planted early maturing hybrids, meaning maturity is only a few weeks off. In most cases though, prevailing wisdom is that corn should be ripening near the end of the second full week of September. Soybeans are more variable perhaps but they too should be wrapping up about the same time. It has been one of the most miserable stretches for making dry hay in recent memory. Even those with alternative means of forage harvest have struggled.

In spite of all the rain making the haying difficult the sheep at the ranch have reaped the benefits of the lush pastures. With a lighter than usual stocking rate, some of it probably could have been hayed. However, it’s just as easy to let the sheep eat it as opposed to mowing and baling it. They have responded by looking like someone has been feeding them shell corn all summer long.

It appears that Mother Nature should have for the most part broken the back of this year’s soybean aphid infestation. Frequent rainfall with a plentiful supply of beneficial insects to keep gnawing at their numbers kept them from reaching threshold levels in many places. That said, it didn’t keep us from scouting for them just to make sure. On any given day, my truck becomes a miniature zoo full of insects. It’s not uncommon to spy syrphid fly adults and larvae, pirate bugs, ladybugs, lacewing larvae and green cloverworms on the loose. Combined with senescing corn and soybean tissue, after a while the vehicle can start to smell a little gamey.

Am writing from the road although I’m getting my start on this column in Spring Valley as I await the class reunion. Watched the Ag Days parade while I was waiting as well. When the parade was over I heard what sounded like someone revving a loud dirt bike not far from where I was writing. Turned out to be a pony motor on a John Deere 820 the gentleman had shut off after completing his parade route. I suddenly recalled how noisy that starting process was as the old Poppin’ Johnny clattered and banged its way back to life.

The 40th class reunion came off without a hitch, as if it was ever in doubt. One seems to spend a lot of time trying to figure out who some of these people are after not seeing some of them for over ten years. It was amusing as several of us would see spouses and try to figure who they might be, only to realize they were frequently the other half of the equation. While we did have some outstanding individual athletes, our class was most noted for its musical talent. That talent was orchestrated by the renowned maestro Nelson and his lovely assistant. Many of the former choir members joined forces and proved that after 40 years, we can still bring it. Dino brought the house down with the auctioneer song and Stud E. Baker and the Fairlane 500’s rounded out the evening’s performance. Before we knew it the night was over and it was time to go home. Endings always come too fast.

Flying has not been one of my preferred methods of travel for over 15 years. Sure, I’ve been up in small planes numerous times but that’s been to look at things like crop damage or nutrient deficiencies. Flying out on Sunday to the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour meant keeping my carry on to a minimum and trying to keep straight what they’ll allow or won’t. I tried to make sure if there was something they wouldn’t allow it wouldn’t be something I couldn’t do without. I sent all my necessities on with my old pal Jerome knowing that it would arrive to the proper destination rather than having me wearing the clothes I landed in for a week while my luggage went on a nationwide excursion. Wearing the same clothes all week probably wouldn’t have bothered me but I wouldn’t have been very popular with the people riding around with me.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

After the boys of summer have gone

The September preview being short-lived, the scurs wondered what temperature thermostat the Gremlin Weather Eye had in it. Summer indeed made a return but will it last?  Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 50’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Sunny Friday with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Saturday, mostly sunny becoming mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of evening thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly cloudy Sunday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 60’s. For Labor Day Monday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday and warmer with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the low 60’s. We will experience less than 13 hours of daylight on the 5th, the first time since April 5th. The normal high for September 5th is 77 and the normal low is 55. The scurs will relax and take it all in from their perch in the hammock.

Crop maturity has continued to be ahead of schedule despite last week’s cooler temperatures. Much of the corn in the area is half milk line, meaning that for those wanting to chop it for silage, it’s getting close to go time. Soybeans are largely R6 meaning the soybeans in the pods are filling the pod cavity at one of the four uppermost nodes. They have been done flowering for 10 days – two weeks in many cases so there will be no new pods set. Some disease issues have arisen, namely SDS and pod and stem blight for starters. White mold can be found on individual plants although it apparently didn’t have the cooler temperatures it needed to become a full blown epidemic. SDS on the other hand has thrived in the wetter environment we’ve had, appearing in many fields where it hasn’t been noticed before. While it is common, it will likely only nickel and dime yields. Some will attempt to make hay this week as the forecast appears to be offering a rare opportunity that has been a long time coming.

Rainfall for the month of August has again been bountiful. At the ranch for the month of August we’ve recorded 8.73” of precip and at The Mall for Men it tallies 9.86”. At the SROC in Waseca the total is 11.70” as of the 30th, landing it in 2nd place to the all-time record of 11.89” set back in 1924. Any way you slice it, August has been a wet month. Let’s hope Mother Nature comes to her senses soon so harvest can progress without a lot of snarling and gnashing of teeth.

The frequent rainfall has meant lawn mowing has been a weekly ritual for most of us. Tough to recall a summer when there wasn’t at least one stretch where the lawns dried out and mowing was unnecessary. It almost reached that point back in late June at the ranch, then changed its mind once the rains started in July. 8.21” later in July plus the aforementioned August precip and it still needs mowing every 5 – 7 days. Doesn’t help matters we’ve been gone for some chunks of time recently and that our mowers, Howard and Whitey are showing their age. Still, if we keep the blades sharp, the oil changed and grease them when recommended we may still be able to eke out this one last summer out of them before my little fat buddy attempts to sell me a replacement. He better have a sharp pencil. I’m a firm believer lawnmowers shouldn’t cost more than $300.

While the yard needs mowing, the transitioning birds don’t seem to care. There were still a few male Baltimore orioles visiting the jelly feeder Monday night as I was writing this literary masterpiece. No orchard orioles although they may have been there; I just didn’t see them. Some nuthatches are getting comfortable with our feeding setup with chickadees sounding their approval while the hummingbirds run rampant. They try to feed on as much nectar as they can between trips to the cannas and four o’clocks. Probably the most numerous birds right now and most vocal are the goldfinches. They’ve been hitting the thistle feeders hard since I arrived back from the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour. Luckily I’ve traded some vegetables for thistle seed so it doesn’t break the bank. The faint sound of a house wren can still be heard at the ranch occasionally. Summer is definitely fading fast.

Vegetables continue to pour from the garden despite the wet conditions. The tomatoes are on their last legs however, the damp weather having been favorable to the development of  a lot of fungal disease. There are plenty of ‘maters to eat though and that’s the main thing. The mosquitoes while picking them are also plentiful. My first attempt at tomato harvest the other night resulted in a trip back to the house for repellent. It was like trying to deal with a swarm of bees. These mosquitoes waste no time either. They land and they bite. I defy them to attempt that here in January.

And finally, another Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour and State Fair sheep show are in the books. This year’s editions were relatively uneventful and it seems I can’t have one without the other. Not much changes really. I sleep in a strange bed every night, stay up until the wee hours of morning, then get up early and do it all over again. As an encore I go to the State Fair on Saturday morning and show sheep. And people wonder sometimes why I’m cranky! I was amused by the outcome of the sheep show though. We only had a couple yearling ewes this time so it wasn’t like showing the 20 head we used to haul around. One of this year’s contestants was rather ornery and unlikely to compete so that’s the animal I showed. I gave what we thought was actually the better ewe to the hired help as it’s dirty pool to stick them with a problem child. As it turned out, once I got the ewe dragged into the arena she showed pretty darn well. So well in fact she beat our other ewe and the judge used her for reserve champion. I’m still somewhat in disbelief about that one but hey, I’ll take it. The ewe was still ornery though, jumping, hopping and fighting me all the way from the show ring back to the pen. Me? I was tired but I was cranky.

See you next week…real good then.     

[Dotch]

It's been a long time coming
It's going to be a long time gone

Labor Day ushered in more July-like temperatures causing the scurs to check the temperature label on the Gremlin thermostat once again. Could the Weather Eye be stuck or will this be summer’s last hurrah?  Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, sunny with increasing clouds and a moderate chance of showers by evening. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Partly sunny Friday with a good chance of showers. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Saturday, mostly sunny and cooler with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms by evening.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Monday, partly sunny with a decent chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday and cooler with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the mid 40’s. The sun will set before 7:30 on the 12th, something that hasn’t occurred since March 22nd. The normal high for September 12th is 74 and the normal low is 52. The scurs will be watching for those large yellow livestock haulers on weekday mornings. Yes kiddies, school is back in session. Parents rejoice!

The crops continue towards maturity at a rapid pace and in some cases have already achieved it. Some corn has reached physiological maturity (black layer) and corn silage is being harvested in some areas. Stalk integrity at this point is generally OK. Shorter plants this year won’t hurt. However, stalks will not improve over time and the frequent rainfall creates an environment favorable to stalk and ear rots. Checking your fields is the only way to know what condition they’re in. Hint: Wear lots of mosquito repellent. Many early maturing soybeans too are close or have reached R7 with one pod on the main stem that’s reached its mature color. In fact, one field not far from Bray Park had nearly complete leaf drop as of Monday. If not for such damp conditions, some warm temperatures would soon put that one in the harvested category. Speaking of harvesting, there are some mighty ugly battle scars in the sweet corn fields. And finally, some haying weather this past week. The forecast looked good and aside from the surprise shower tossed in Tuesday a.m., fields that had stood well past their intended harvest date were rapidly knocked down.

Haying was on the agenda at the ranch too. With no window of opportunity long enough to bale hay, we waited. With the kindness and patience of the Dubya’s, we managed to pull it off. It was difficult to get the hay dry however. Temperatures were moderate, in the mid-70’s and the winds wouldn’t blow to help out. Couple that with wet soil surface conditions and some overcast skies, hay that was cut on Wednesday had a difficult time being ready to bale yet late Saturday afternoon. It just stayed tough. We were able to bale one small field and used inoculant on it. By the time we were done with it though, the dew was about ready to come on. The wind did finally blow on Sunday so we flipped the other field in the morning again and the Big Dubya rolled it up. Almost anyway. The round baler broke on the last bale leaving a small piece of windrow for me to retrieve with the trailer. Waste not, want not.

At the ranch we are also wondering if the orioles are indeed gone for the season. The last one was spotted on the morning of Saturday the 3rd, departing about four days earlier than the year before. They arrived on May 7th so once again, we were able to enjoy them for about four months. Between the Baltimore’s and the orchard orioles, they blew through more jelly this year than ever. The hummingbirds have taken center stage for now. Their days are numbered too although they have plenty of hummer friendly flowers to forage on until they pull the pin. In the meantime goldfinch numbers continue to swell to levels reminiscent of the good old days. Almost two dozen were scattered between the feeders and some on the ground underneath on Monday. Winter is no big deal to them.

Not sure if it counts or not but shortly after 7 a.m. as I was seated in the oval office half asleep, I felt something causing me to move involuntarily. I thought perhaps I was having some back spasms or something but it wasn’t something I was doing myself. Didn’t think anything of it until I started reading about an earthquake that had sent shock waves as far north as North Dakota. Coincidence? I think not.

Took the Silver Hawk out for a drive on Labor Day. It was a long time coming. With the Crop Tour and State Fair suddenly behind us, it was a spur of the moment albeit much needed escape from crowds, media, and people in general. Motored to a little spot in Madison Lake called The Trailblazer, one of the local establishments I frequent sometimes during the work week. We tried out some different roads to get there, avoiding the four lane as much as possible. Most of the roads we picked were nice and smooth and when we were on the freeway, we sailed right along with the rest of the traffic thanks to the overdrive. Of course we had some detours that made the trip more interesting. Luckily we had no schedule other than to be home in time for chores.

When we got to the restaurant I greeted the owner who I’ve struck up conversations with over the years, mainly about the Park Rapids area. Lunch hit the spot and the adult beverage we washed it down was refreshing especially considering the increasing temps outside. As we were leaving he got my attention and asked if that was my car. I smiled, told him it was and that it was a perfect distance for us to drive, not to mention a nice place to eat. He seemed tickled we’d made the trip and really liked the car after ogling it outside while we were eating. On the way home we went through Alma City and as we slowed for the stop sign, an oncoming driver flashed a big smile and gave us a “thumbs up”. Closer to Waseca, a farmer mowing lawn by the road did the same thing. A developing pattern when driving the Stude: People appear genuinely glad to see it. At least they smile a lot and use the proper digit.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Modern love gets me to the church on time

Last week’s showers as predicted by the scurs and backed up by The Weather Eye were followed by some gorgeous fall weather. Will we get one more dousing or will it straighten out and allow harvest to commence soon? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Thursday, partly sunny with increasing clouds and a good chance of showers and thunderstorms by evening. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Cloudy Friday with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a slight chance of forenoon showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Sunny on Sunday with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly sunny becoming mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for September 16th is 73 and the normal low is 50. The scurs are thinking the worm will turn weather-wise with the upcoming Full Moon.

The Full Moon for September will occur on September 16th and is The Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is that Full Moon closest to the equinox which this year is the 22nd. The Harvest Moon can occur in October although two out of three years it is in September. This is the moon during which staples such as squash, pumpkins, squash and corn were harvested. The light of the bright moon also allowed the pioneers to harvest well into the night. The Ojibwe knew this as the Full Rice Moon as this was the time they harvested the wild rice in their canoes. The Sioux also interested in food as they knew it as The Moon When Plums are Scarlet. At the ranch we know it as The Apple Pie Moon especially if one has Schwan’s ice cream. The Haralson tree is loaded once again.

Crops continue to head to the finish line although perhaps not as quickly as one might’ve guessed. While some of the 100 day and earlier maturity is mature, 105 day corn planted in mid-April had still not black-layered as of Monday with about one-quarter of the milk line still showing. Likewise soybeans that were turning last week continued to turn and harvest appears to be on a more normal schedule than anticipated. Some of the early planted, early maturing varieties appear to be the exception to the rule. Some of the reports are very promising. Leaf drop is nearly complete in those fields and some dry weather will be in order to allow harvest much before the last week in September.

At the ranch, the mosquitoes continue to hamper garden harvest. While they have been nearly impossible to deal with, a recent purchase of mosquito nets to cover one’s head should help finish the job. Slathering myself with insect repellent is getting old and breathing mosquitoes is not an option. The last of the tomatoes in the main garden remain and picking the squash, gourds and pumpkins will need to begin sooner than later with the vines dying as rapidly as they have. As mentioned above, apples are also on the slate. They are numerous and a breezy day for their procurement would be welcome.

Other insects in the news at the ranch include a nest of bumblebees in the back yard. I grew up fearing bumblebees and bees in general. I was stung by a nest of unknown bees in a stump when I was growing up. Of course I’d messed with them and got what I had coming. Dad had taken them out with some distillate as he called it, actually some heating oil leftover from a tank he’d removed at a house in Spring Valley he’d purchased in 1963 but I digress. After being stung, I was convinced he was the bravest man I’d ever seen.

Ruby and Fudgie both have had run-ins with the bumblebee nest, reminiscent of those many of us as farm youth had when baling straw. Many times when running over the wrong spot in a windrow, we’d suddenly jump off the rack and run as dozens of bumblebees swirled around us. Apparently the bumblebees built their nests in the ground, likely in striped gopher holes and we had the misfortune of disturbing them. The same thing happens when mowing the backyard. Fortunately knowing bees are less active towards evening, I can wait until near dark to mow there.

The orioles appear to have officially left now. After writing they were gone on the 6th I spied one last straggler on the 8th. Haven’t seen any since and the hummingbirds have even taken to trying to fish some of the remaining jelly out of the feeder. They’ve got it made until they decide to leave with all the blooming plants.

And finally it was International Drive Your Studebaker Day on Saturday. http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/driveyourstude.asp

As luck would have it, it also fell on the day of a wedding that Mrs. Cheviot was decorating for and I was obligated to attend. By the time I got the day’s errands completed (go here, go there, get this, get that, and oh could you do this?) I was running out of time. The Silver Hawk was still a buggy mess from the weekend before and needed to be cleaned off before it was presentable. There was just enough time to make an abbreviated crop tour and drive to the church in style. I wasn’t 100% sure which church the wedding was at a few days prior. As I pulled into the church lot in Meriden, the lot was filling up. I noticed a restored two ton Chevy flatbed destined to haul the wedding party to the reception. Yep, I was in the right place and what’s more I was even on time.

See you next week …real good then.   

[Dotch]

We've got rural scenes & magazines

Last week’s heavy rain proved that the scurs can rely on the Weather Eye to deliver rain on a regular and frequent basis. Will the Weather Eye predict a break soon or will the rainy pattern continue repeating like a broken record? Starting Wednesday, sunny with a good chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Cloudy Friday with a moderate chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 50’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with and increased chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. Partly sunny becoming mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for September 26th is 69 and the normal low is 45. The sun will rise after 7 a.m. CDT on the 21st and on the 22nd we observe the autumnal equinox. On the 26th we creep below 12 hours of daylight. On the 28th, the sun will set before 7 p.m. CDT. With all this good news the scurs are guessing there will be celebrating in the streets.

Corn and soybeans keep inching ever closer to the finish line. Corn has been slow to black layer however and as of last Friday, many of the 105 day maturity hybrids still had a milk line showing low on the kernel. Soybeans too have taken their sweet time. Prognosticators who were sure we’d have a lot of soybeans harvested by now have been disappointed. Some early corn and soybeans have been harvested however and the results so far have been very favorable. Corn moisture on sub-100 day hybrids was in the upper 20’s with yields running north of 200 bu./acre. With the damp weather, not a lot more harvest reports but those early beans that have been harvested have been promising. Some disease pressure is starting to crop up here and there in the corn with diplodia ear rot being one showing up with greater frequency in area fields. This occurs frequently in conjunction with sprouted kernels on the ears. The wet weather since pollination continues to leave its grubby little fingerprints.

Soils are generally at field capacity as harvest nears ever closer. After adding up the dates with recorded rainfall since April at the ranch, I came up with 62. I was wondering why I was starting to get writer’s cramp. Of note was a recent release from the SROC in Waseca where they set a record for the wettest two month period ever in July and August at 20.63”. At the ranch we were slightly more fortunate at 16.94” and in Bugtussle proper, we were only blessed with 15.45”.  Normal May – August precip at the SROC is 17.79”. We are in for a wet start to harvest at the very least and rain continues to be in the forecast.

In spite of the rain we continue to witness some of our insect friends as opposed to our insect enemies (mosquitoes). White-lined sphinx moths were noted working over the four o’clocks on the evening of the 16th. From a distance it was a little tough to tell if they were moths or hummingbirds. Their behavior is slightly different and upon closer inspection they were indeed sphinx moths. The wet weather too has taken a toll on some moths as there are fungal diseases that affect the larvae, killing them before they pupate. Several instances of this were noted on green cloverworms in area soybean fields.

The hummingbirds are starting to appear restless. Last year they were gone on September 28th from our feeders at the ranch. The aforementioned four o’clocks are starting to wane and the cannas appear to be coming down the home stretch as well. Not to worry. When it’s time it’s time. It’s still fun to watch the little hummers chase each other around the yard in the meantime. Their antics make them well worth the meager price of a cup of sugar in their nectar feeders.  

It has been nice to get a breeze lately if nothing else for relief from the ever present mosquito population. Lawn mowing can be accomplished quickly before the wind goes down and vegetables can be harvested if you hurry as well. The sheep take advantage of this too. Some I’ve talked to seem to think that since sheep have wool they’re not bothered by flying, biting insects. However, since over the centuries sheep were selected for clean legs and faces to facilitate easier, cleaner shearing, such is not the case. Rather than stuffing themselves into a stinky corner in the barn and stomping their feet to get away from the pests, our little flock can be seen sleeping on the hillside under a tree chewing their cud when there’s a breeze. Much nicer than allowing them to fill the barn up with manure over the summer months while exposing their lungs to the stale air. And it makes for a nice pastoral scene, reminiscent of the covers from some farm magazines. That’s the way it was meant to be.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

You take a trip to the city lights
And take the long way home

Last week’s torrential rains provided a real test for the scurs and the Weather Eye. Will our break come soon or will we continue breaking records? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of an evening shower or thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the mid-50’s. Monday, partly sunny with modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm.  Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Partly sunny becoming mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’s. The normal high for October 1st is 67 and the normal low is 43. Now that the flood waters have subsided, they will be confined to swimming in their own backyard.

What a weather week last week turned out to be. Early harvest activity came to a screeching halt as heavy rains raked the area in the overnight hours of the 21st and 22nd. At the ranch the storm total was 5.42” although .35” had fallen the day prior. Another .55” followed over the weekend. In town it was even more generous with 7.91” of rain falling on the 21st and 22nd, being supplemented with another .47” over the weekend. It’s just wet all over as of this writing and while sunny, breezy, low humidity conditions prevailed on Monday, the temperatures only reached the mid-60’s after starting out in the in mid-40’s. Not a rapid drying day although at least it wasn’t raining. Some crop remains in standing water after everyone had been banking on no holes in fields due to a near storybook growing season in terms of rainfall locally. There will be some loss in those areas due to crop unable to be recovered mechanically and perhaps some damage to the grain itself.

The rains probably left their most noticeable mark in area towns where flooding caused road closures, evacuations as well as business and school closures. It became extremely difficult to get around with all the road closures with the flooding of 2010 already being a distant memory. As it turned out, we were more fortunate this time around. Rainfall in the eastern part of the Le Sueur River watershed was less than it was in 2010 allowing waters to recede perhaps a little more quickly. Some were quick to point that it was drier in 2010 so this episode should’ve been worse. However, when it rains with the kind of intensity that it did in either event, the water isn’t going to infiltrate these soils very rapidly. If anything this time the already full soil moisture profile in the top 5’probably allowed surface runoff to occur at even a little more rapid pace than in 2010.

After the storm at the ranch there was some debris to pick up in the yard but not to the degree those in town had to deal with. That said, it was time to attempt to fish the vine crops in the garden out of the mud before they started to rot. It was extremely wet to say the least. The Gator left some nasty ruts but at least the gourds, squash and a few pumpkins were salvaged. Most of the Indian corn also made it into some buckets so fall decorating can commence once and for all. Be nice if it dried up before attempting to harvest corn stalks for the corn shock. Getting stuck harvesting the garden would be a little embarrassing.

The sheep have made some contribution to the decorating cause as well. The leftover gourds, squash, pumpkins, etc., from the year before find their way over the pasture fence. Some of the seeds in turn manage to make their way into the soil. The vines then became huge this summer with all the rain and warmth. The sheep do a good job of keeping the stuff weeded. Only trouble with the sheep is if there’s something out there you might want to use for decorating, best claim it before they decide it’s time to start eating it. It’s too late when you look out at the vines and it suddenly looks like a stampeding herd of elephants has trampled them.

Alas it appears we may have seen the last of the hummingbirds at the ranch for the year as of the 21st. They apparently were getting out while the getting was good ahead of the storm. They’ve suddenly been replaced by the marauding group of giant blue jays that shows up in the fall. There were eight of them hopping from limb to limb, making them bend downward with each movement they made. The jays gobbled down the ear corn and greedily helped themselves to the sunflower seeds. For the time being the goldfinches are back to being their nomadic selves again. Just a smattering of them now versus a few weeks ago. In all likelihood, there is an abundance of seed that should be ripe in the CRP so that’s probably where some of them are spending their time.

And finally, fall along with the wet weather has caused some of the four-footed critters to start moving about looking for places to hole up for winter. On Sunday morning we smelled strong skunk odor in the barn when we did chores. Then after playing in the Studebaker much of the day, upon our return Mrs. Cheviot came to the house with news that a skunk was sleeping under the trailer. I quickly loaded my trusty blunderbuss and trod barn-wards to do battle with the stinky striped squatter. Found it in a good spot where it was easy to dispatch and then dispose of the body. One thing about it, if you’re a skunk, raccoon or a possum, odds of your living to a ripe old age are pretty slim at the ranch.

See you next week…real good then.  

[Dotch]

All in all it's just another brick in the wall

A week without rain led to kudos for the scurs and their Weather Eye. Will it continue or will people start their Halloween pranks early? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of morning showers. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Thursday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers or a thunderstorm by evening. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with a chance of patchy evening frost. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the mid-30’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a chance of patchy morning frost. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the uppers 30’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a chance of evening frost in low lying areas. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny becoming mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the upper 30’s. The normal high for October 10th is 63 and the normal low is 39. The scurs will be looking for non-existent mail in their mailbox on Columbus Day.

Harvest progress continued in earnest this past week after the floodwaters subsided. Still some fields displayed areas that were simply un-harvestable as water was either still standing or soils were too wet to support the weight of the combines with discretion being the better part of valor. Yield reports continue impress as yields of 70 bushel per acre on soybeans are not uncommon, with corn yields well over 200 bushel per acre the norm. Moistures have also moved down into the mid- to lower 20% range making it ideal for harvest. Luckily with propane at a reasonable price, getting the crop out sooner than later is on most farmers’ agendas before the weather changes its mind.

I spent much of the last week in Canada without television and limited cell phone service so keeping up on events at home was piecemeal at best. Sometimes that’s OK especially if nothing really bad happens. Cell phone service once across the border has always been somewhat of a gamble. You’re never quite sure until you get there how much of it will work or if it will work at all. This time around the phone and the text messaging worked although I couldn’t retrieve voice mail. It appeared there were calls to retrieve although as one Canadian said, it likely was the phone company trying to tempt you to buy up additional service. I didn’t bite and turns out the gentleman was probably right. Once back in the U.S. there were no actual voice mails I could detect.

That was just as well. The main purpose for being in Canada was a much needed break to relax a bit and get away from people. Essentially being on call for six months straight will do that to a person. The weather there was absolutely gorgeous. Bright sunshine during the day and absolutely crystal clear skies at night. The birds were showing some signs of becoming a little nervous about cooler weather approaching. What was likely one of the last loons for the season was splashing around shortly before sunset on the lake. There were juncos, white-throated sparrows and chickadees commonly seen in the underbrush. Not so coincidentally a junco was seen under our feeders at the ranch a few days before I headed north. Is it an omen? We shall see. The first night at the cabin after dark, two barred owls were heard doing their “Who cooks for you?” call making me giggle at their antics.

The leaves near Atikokan and around International Falls were nearing their peak in color. Aspen and birch were bright yellow with fiery orange and red maples contrasting against the dark green of the evergreens. In places even some tamarack were starting to show some yellow. Alas with a slight breeze, some of the leaves were lazily drifting to the ground. It won’t be long and winter will be back in the northland. It appears here we still have some leaf watching time left locally although winds could shorten the duration quickly.

My little fat buddy Billy of the North has always graciously invited me along on his autumn excursions in the Great White North and also introduced me to several of his friends while there. Saturday night we had a gathering with some of them. Everyone contributed excellent food including blueberry cake, zucchini bread, baked potatoes, salad and some lamb. There was much laughter as we discussed all manner of topics including politics with our election stateside looming ever closer on the horizon. Even Pink Floyd made the conversation, something about a wall. Not so surprisingly, there were differences of opinion among the Canadians concerning their politics which I found absolutely fascinating. It had a very familiar ring to it. As the evening came to a close it was almost as though it had taken on magical qualities. While it was rather impromptu, it appeared we’d all enjoyed it thoroughly and won’t surprise me if it happens again some sunny day. I sure hope so.  

I always dread the drive back home though as it’s a hike. It amounts to about eight hours of riding in a car with about five of it spent driving. The Twin Cities traffic made it a stinkhole that next time I’ll avoid on the return trip. As I got closer to home I could see harvest activity so I knew I was back on call again. I pulled up to the garage and shut the pickup off to unload. As I grabbed the first armload, I spied Ruby trotting towards me, her tail tucked and wearing her happy face. She almost exploded as she jumped into my arms with all her whining and yipping. The neighbors might’ve thought she was being beaten the way she was carrying on. Before I left she’d given me the sad eyes, knowing that something was up. I got a similar look upon my return as if to say please don’t leave me again. Do dogs cry? I think so and in this case they were definitely tears of joy.

See you next week…real good then.      

[Dotch]

When she boogie, she do the tube snake boogie

Another week with some rain had some cursing the scurs and the Weather Eye. Will they see the error of their ways or be doomed to a repeat performance? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of a morning shower with overnight frost. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the low 30’s. Thursday, mostly clear with frost in the morning. Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, mostly cloudy with a chance showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 60’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday becoming cloudy with a slight chance of evening showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the low 50’s. Monday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 70’s with lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. All kinds of annual milestones this week; few of them good. The sun will set before 6:30 CDT on the 15th and rise after 7:30 a.m. on the 16th. We also creep below 11 hours of daylight on the 16th.  The normal high for October 16th is 60 and the normal low is 37. The scurs are starting to notice a pattern developing here.

The Full Moon for the month is on the 15th and goes by the Full Hunter Moon. It was at this time that natives and pioneers alike were busy stockpiling meat and furs to take them through the long winter ahead. The Ojibwe knew this as the Falling Leaves Moon and the Sioux took note of it as the Moon of Falling Leaves/Changing Season. At the ranch we know it as the Moon When Chores are Done in the Dark, until we turn on the lights of course.

Other celestial considerations include Venus about 30 minutes after sunset above the horizon in the southwest sky. Saturn will also be low in the southwest sky about 45 minutes after sunset. Saturn and Venus will start out a fair distance apart in October and end up with Venus under Saturn on the 27th. Jupiter will appear low in the eastern sky mid-month and will get a little higher with each morning. Mars will continue to fade, becoming dimmer as the month progresses. Thanks to the Steele Co. Astronomical Society and Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer for providing this valuable stargazing information.

Harvest progress was hampered last week by continued all too abundant rainfall. It was extremely wet after the torrential September rain and it doesn’t take much to make fields too greasy to navigate for a while anyway. Shorter days, cooler temperatures and no crop uptake makes one rely on percolation and evaporation to dry the soils. Neither occurs at a very rapid rate this time of year on these heavier soils in particular. Still, most are doing what they can to get whatever crop happens to be accessible. On Monday there was a lot of activity to get back into soybean fields where areas had been cut around due to wet soils. Many reported being stuck a time or two previously so the urgency becomes ever increasing with any mention of rain in the forecast. Soils are typically wet enough so being in a hurry to do fall tillage should be down the list of priorities at least until conditions are drier.

Something that has taken a turn for the better is the mosquito population. Oh they’re still around even after the frost events. However, they’re not attacking in hordes as they were and those individuals that are around aren’t nearly as aggressive as their earlier counterparts. About the only thing at the ranch that’s somewhat of a nuisance are the multi-colored Asian ladybeetles. Even they pale in comparison to their numbers when soybean aphids first arrived on the scene. Picking up the apples and seeing the clusters of them in the fruit where birds had inflicted a wound reminded me though how much they still annoy me.

Not a lot of bird activity around the yard but did refill the hummingbird feeders one last time just in case. Fellow bird watcher and feeder TP had mentioned seeing some at her feeders in town not that long ago. Had a little sugar water left anyway so decided if it helped a passing hummer, it was better than dumping it out. There are still plenty of cannas and salvia still blooming that survived the frost as well so doubt they would’ve gone hungry. Did see another brown creeper on Sunday along with more nuthatches and chickadees. Since we’re seeing more of our typical “winter birds” starting to increase in numbers and looking for a handout, I put a couple suet feeders back out. The house sparrows have already figured out the horizontally configured suet feeders so may try an old bluebird nesting box trick to dissuade them. Reputedly hanging pieces of fishing line with weights on them sometimes hinders the house sparrow’s efforts. Worth a try.

Everything seems to be pointing toward fall becoming winter. When mowing the lawn over the weekend, the native pink ladybugs (Colleomegilla maculata) were clustering in the longer grass around the trees and there was a noticeable absence of American toads that had graced our presence all summer. The spider webs of thousands of tiny spiders in their ballooning process were visible against the setting sun Sunday night. Even at the Mall for Men we see signs of the impending change in the fauna. Tuesday morning I looked at the floor at what appeared to be a piece of brown crop residue about 8” long. Then it moved. Closer observation revealed what turned out to be a ribbon snake. It probably thought it had struck the mother lode of all places to hang out for the winter as it just sorta blended in. After capturing the little rascal and showing off my prize to the others, I let it go outside where it could hopefully find somewhere else to crawl in. Although as dirty as it gets in here during the heat of the battle sometimes, we’d probably never notice another occupant.

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

Let's go down to the Sunset Grill

 

The little dribbles of rain from the scurs forecast last week weren’t too tough to take and the Weather Eye is geared up for another go round. Will we see continued harvest weather or we see the curtain drop suddenly? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain in the evening. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, mostly clear with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Mostly cloudy for Tuesday with a chance of showers.  Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s.  The normal high for October 22nd is 57 and the normal low is 35. The scurs are accumulating enough campaign literature that they should be able to heat their house easily this winter.

 

Harvest continues to trudge along at a steady pace. Unfortunately it doesn’t take much of a rainfall event to shut things down quickly. Soils are still wet and while they did manage to dry some last week with the wind, the soil profile remains relatively full. Not difficult to find water in wheel tracks. The surface can become greasy rapidly and that makes one rethink the wisdom of tracking a lot of mud on the road. Soybean harvest is all but completed in most areas although there are still many small patches to contend with where water is still standing or the ground is simply too wet yet. Corn moistures have some down incredibly to the point where some corn is being dumped directly in the bin. The wettest corn from some of the later maturing hybrids planted is now in the low 20% range. The famous Ten Man Dryer at the elevator has been running for about a week now but its run may be cut short. Likewise with the bin dryer at neighbor David’s, otherwise known as a sleeping pill. It is second only to hearing the pitter patter of rainfall on the roof.

 

The frosts from last week did a pretty good job of letting us know the growing season is over. Lows made it down to 31 on the 8th and 9th and were down to 28 at the ranch on the 13th. It pretty well torched the planters on the north side of the house but on the south side, some looked almost untouched. The cannas and the lone tomato in the small garden did not fare as well however. The tomato is done although the cannas appear about half froze. No matter. It will soon be time to dig them anyway so may as well remove the top growth whenever time allows. They were impressive with some reaching 7’ in height. Apparently their composted sheep manure diet on a south facing slope agreed with them. They were a hit with the hummingbirds and best of all, the price was right.

 

One thing the frost didn’t entirely take out was the mosquito population. With the weekend and early week warm up, they suddenly became reenergized. Was looking around the barn for something and found out a lot of mosquitoes were holed up there. As evening approached they intensified their biting behavior, making me head for the house. Once there, the walk in door to the garage was peppered with them. The numbers rivaled those from August. And they were just about as aggressive too. Which reminds me, time to give Ruby and Fudgie their heartworm meds again on the 19th. No sense taking any chances at this point.

 

Ladybugs have also become a greater annoyance than earlier thought. The warm Sunday found them swarming on the south sides of buildings making life miserable trying to do anything constructive. Numbers inside the house suddenly increased as well. They haven’t reached the levels at the ranch however that were encountered back in the mid-2000’s. When tearing off siding on the house or pulling bales out of the shed, huge groups could be found plastered to many vertical surfaces. Hopefully that’s not the case again for a long, long time.

 

With the leaves beginning to come off the trees we’ve noticed more activity at the feeders. The nuthatches are regulars as are the chickadees. A few loyal goldfinches remain although I suspect they have plenty of seeds to consume in the area CRP. The cardinals are back after a few weeks’ hiatus. The male often announces his return by repeatedly bouncing off the sliding glass door. Once you go see what the noise is, he flies to his perch in the tree for another crack at the “rival” he must see reflecting off the glass. The window is so dirty outside from the weather and inside from dog nose prints one wouldn’t think there’d be any reflection!

 

With Mrs. Cheviot working and me catching up on odds and ends at the ranch, we did manage to sneak off in the Studebaker Sunday before sunset for some leaf watching. The windy weather had probably taken a toll but we went anyway just to see what kind of color there was. It was spotty and somewhat muted due to the overcast although there were some particularly pretty pockets of color. We basically followed the Le Sueur River Valley and encountered all kinds of people gawking not only at the leaves but also at us. One biker in particular followed us for a fair spell. When we turned north by the pink schoolhouse, he motored on past with a huge grin on his face and a big thumbs up.

 

We got to Madison Lake and decided to have some refreshments and snacks while watching the Packers get trounced. The leaves in that vicinity were starting to reach their peak with the trees in the parking lot at the Trail Blazer being particularly colorful. At halftime we opted to pull the pin but before we left we decided to take a photo of the Silver Hawk against the fiery amur maple backdrop. At least it would serve to commemorate a few hours break from our toils. Never hear anyone say on their death bed they wished they’d spent more time working.

 

See you next week…real good then.   

[Dotch]

You re-arrange me 'till I'm sane

 

Another little dribble of rain on the 18th kept the scurs in good graces with most. Will their Weather Eye deliver yet more good harvest weather or is the onset of winter just down the road? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a good chance of daytime showers. Highs in the upper 40’s with lows in the upper 30’s. Thursday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny Friday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Saturday, partly sunny with highs in the low 50’s and lows in the mid-30’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with highs in the mid-50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly sunny with highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny for Tuesday with a chance of showers.  Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the upper 30’s.  The normal high for October 31st is 51 and the normal low is 32. The scurs are looking their downright scariest as we begin the start of the treat eating season.

 

The weather dished out a treat this past week and allowed steady harvest progress to continue. More reports of corn being put directly in the bin without additional drying being necessary and tillage beginning to go more with the generally dry week. Yields continue to amaze and on farm storage is showing signs of getting full as lines are suddenly appearing at local elevators. As expected there have also been some reports of ear molds causing some dockage as the crop comes to town. Many fields exhibited ears that remained erect allowing September’s heavy rains to keep ears damp and prone to more damage. The heavier rain forecast for Tuesday night prompted those with patches of soybeans remaining to put the bean head back on to salvage what they could. The airs was a cloud of dust and mold that in some cases it almost made it appear the combines were on fire. Many of the harvested beans were severely damaged by the standing water. It remains uncertain in some cases which the elevators will even take them.

 

At the ranch it was time over the weekend to start getting the yard ready for winter. Mrs. Cheviot dumped the pots and planters while I mowed the ditch for what will hopefully be the last time. Fudgie and Ruby were happy to follow the mower back and forth. They also got to herd the mower behind the house as the crackly leaves in the backyard were pulverized to confetti. Odds are they’ll get one more crack at the mower as the leaves weren’t totally down yet. The cannas were cut off as their season officially was over. The bean hook used to cut corn and weeds out of soybeans worked wonderfully, making short work of that operation. At least no attempts were made to cut my finger off.

 

Cat trapping or more appropriately kitten trapping was also on the slate. Seems Tincture, the mother cat that adopted us had another late batch of kittens about a month ago. They were wild although she brought them down to the barn initially last week. For some reason she moved them back under some rubble by the granary where they were spotted several days later. A small live trap comes in handy for such occasions and by late afternoon on Sunday we’d caught all four of them. There were two orange kittens along with a white and a gray one. One orange kitten and the gray one were just plain nasty, requiring some taming down before someone would want them for anything other than target practice.

 

Columnist extraordinaire Bob Hanson checked in with me last week to see if our Silver Hawk might’ve belonged to his wife’s relatives in IA at one time. Alas it likely did not.  According to the build sheet, this one was originally delivered to Neosho MO which is south of Joplin. Also, ours is a ’59. Bob thought the Hawk in question was perhaps a ’60 or ’61, which would’ve made it a “Hawk” and not a Silver Hawk. Studebaker dropped the “Silver” portion of the name for ’60 and ‘61 before remodeling the line into the Gran Turismo Hawk in ‘62. The body style remained essentially the same with subtle trim differences and a larger V8 engine than the ’59 model. One thing I discovered our Silver Hawk did not have listed on the build sheet is an automatic DQ locater feature. It still worked to perfection Sunday as we found our way to Blooming Prairie, home of the Awesome Blossoms. Also home of Peanut Buster Parfaits and Heath Bar Blizzards.

  

Speaking of silver, this Halloween marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous ‘91 Halloween Blizzard. Snowfall amounts of up to 2’ were reported in the area and power outages were common as the storm took many of us by surprise. It was a simpler time in those days. No cell phones or internet. I remember getting home and backing the Chevy Luv into the old garage as the rain was falling along with the temperature. The then little Wenzel boys called on us that evening for Halloween before the rain changed over to snow. Not long afterwards the power went off and stayed off for three days. Luckily we had a gas stove as we melted snow so the sheep had water. The Coleman lantern provided light for us to read by and we had a small 9 volt transistor AM radio tuned into WCCO. The radio was unique. It was round and covered with a Hoelon logo making it look like a miniature can of the wild oat/foxtail herbicide. Never saw another one like it. Don’t think it works anymore but keep it in the junk drawer as a memento.

 

Most fondly though I remember Murphy the tri-colored Sheltie puppy we’d acquired earlier in October that year. At ten weeks, she was a furry little bundle of energy. When the power went off playing with her gave us something to do other than read or stare at each other while the temp inside hovered in the upper 40’s. Murphy loved attacking this ladybug hand puppet we had, inflicting painful little bites with her needle sharp teeth. The growling, snarling and pouncing went on for about an hour and then suddenly, as if her batteries had run out, Murphy would nap for an hour. We’d nap too of course. Once she was fully recharged, the process repeated itself. This happened many times over the course of the next several days. It kept us sane until the electricity and our normal lives could be restored.

 

See you next week…real good then.

[Dotch]

We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world be runnin' our way

 

Some weekend rainfall dampened spirits, adding to already wet field conditions. Will our weather rebound or will we be waiting until next week? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Thursday, sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Sunny Friday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Saturday, sunny with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny on Sunday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, partly sunny with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the upper 50’s and lows in the low 40’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday with a chance of showers.  Highs in the low 50’s with lows in the mid-30’s.  The normal high for November 6th is 48 and the normal low is 29. The sun will set at 6 p.m. CDT on the 4th. We will slip below 10 hours of daylight on the 7th and the sun will rise at 7 a.m. CST on the 8th. The scurs will be enjoying their extra hour while consuming Halloween treats on Sunday. They need to keep their strength up so they can hold their nose and pull the lever for the presidential election.

 

Harvest and fall tillage came to a screeching halt after the rain on the 26th. Most have seen corn yields far above expectations. Very likely 2016 will go down in history as a high water mark for many. Weather conditions while providing more than abundant in rainfall overall allowed for some excellent crop development in the months of June and July. Metered rainfall was key to our success. Those who are hung up on total rainfall probably should review rainfall distribution by rainfall event before rushing to judgement about matters such as additional nitrogen. Temperatures should be cool enough for fall anhydrous ammonia although soil moisture conditions have generally delayed application. If it smokes and you can detect strong ammonia odor enough is likely being lost to make cease application until conditions improve.

   

Late last week and early this week I spent more time travelling to and in Canada. Starting to get familiar with the roads between here and the border. Even the dog at the Duty Free shop is starting to recognize me. The leaves were all down except for a few of the tamaracks on the American side. Something that sent a shiver up my spine on my way north though was the sudden appearance of snowbirds south of Akeley. The closer to the border the more common they became of course. Once at camp there was the odd chickadee and a gray jay that stopped by to check out the peanut shucks we’d left out for animals looking for some salt. I was hoping that I’d hear a barred owl again and I was not disappointed. The first night “who cooks for you?” was heard against the silent backdrop of the forest.

 

Billy and I picked up where we left off cleaning up around the camp and finished getting the cabin winterized. Splitting and stacking the wood that he’d cut up on our previous visit was on the agenda. We also managed to figure out the wood burning stove which was persnickety about allowing smoke to go up the chimney, preferring instead to smoke up the cabin. A quick cleanout and reading the detailed instructions led to success although I’m still not sure exactly what we changed to make it work. The smell of a wood burning stove is still one of those odors that's unmistakably pleasant to the olfactory senses. And the warmth takes the chill off like no other.

 

It’s also been fun to get to know some of the people in the area. We had a spectacular meal and great conversations at a get together with friends on the lake. Canadians have always fascinated me not only with the way they talk and the fact that they live so far north, but because they seem to be just as interested about how things operate south of the border as we are about their systems. Many of the same problems concerning taxation and services are not unique so we have no exclusive on it. There’s no doubt either that they’re probably more interested in our presidential election at this point than we are. Most of us in the States are just getting so tired of it that it’s time for it to be over. Frankly, I’m more interested in hearing about how the Canadians keep their drinking water flowing out of the lake in the dead of winter!

 

The trip home was about as usual. I thought I’d programmed the route in my phone to take me around the Twin Cities. However as I realized I was past St. Cloud, I had to look again to see what it was up to. Somehow it had reverted back to the proverbial “fastest route”. Now, to be fair, parts of the Twin Cities are a nice and there are some nice people there. However, I would not want to live there again and I sure as heck don’t enjoy driving through there. Once that far into the route though it wasn’t easy to improvise and know where I’d wind up with any degree of certainty. I decided instead to gut it out one more time. The Google Map lady of course kept announcing this delay and that delay due to accidents, yet cheerily chirping that I was “still on the fastest route”. Let’s see, I’ve been sitting still for ten minutes and that’s somehow faster than taking a little longer route where traffic is actually moving? Got it.

 

Finally, traffic slowly began moving again and after a couple more delays for accidents as well as false alarms, I was able to run at the posted speed toward Owatonna. In the meantime it was fun to torment the GPS lady with invectives to hear her say “I’m not sure I can help you with that”. After putting the hammer down I decided next time I’m going to help myself. I’m going old school and buying a map.

 

See you next week…real good then.