2022, animals, Business, Family, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Seasons

July is Corn Month

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

They say July is corn month and August is Soybean month. Because July is the critical time in corn development, while it’s August for soybeans.

The corn has tasseled so it’s full height now, the silks are out, GDU’s, while down a bit this week with the cooler weather (which I love by the way) are 1714, 104 above normal.

I’m still mowing weeds, but I expect by the time you read this I will have finished. Or, if not exactly “finished”, given up and quit. The one area I’ve got left to mow is really rough and I will get tired of bouncing around in the cab.

All the crops are looking good, and while I was thinking I’d be cutting oats next Monday or Tuesday, looking at it Thursday shows a lot of green kernels yet so I may wait out next week yet.

The storms last Saturday knocked some oats down and in one field I saw some corn lodged on the edge of the field.

 (“lodging” is basically stalk failure) Oats, As the plant is green and growing it has a lot of give. But as it matures, dries up, and turns golden, the stalk loses its flexibility, meaning it will break off in the wind. And it’s odd, how only certain parts of the fields will do that. Wind is very curious, as the songs from last week’s blog showed. 

You can see from the pictures, only one part of the field went down, while the rest didn’t. And the green weeds still stand up. It’s all interesting.

We got nearly 2” of rain Saturday afternoon and then another .6” Saturday night. Kelly and I drove around in the gator checking on things after the afternoon storm. No trees down at least. And then we found a mama duck and 9 ducklings. Once again, Kelly is wrangling ducklings and I’m pointing and offering unsolicited advice.

Using a fishing net, she captured just about all the ducklings and I could get them in a box. But they’re tiny and a few escaped the net. She chased them down and we cleaned up a side pen for them. Now, just to catch mama. I remember one other year we did this; the mama could track the squeaking of the ducklings and we put up a ramp and eventually she got in there with them for a happy reunion. That wasn’t working this year and Kelly eventually captured her with the net too. Kelly and mama duck were in the pen and I was out in the gator. I heard some noises, and honking, and the doors wiggled a few times, and the mama got her head out the door once. But they’re all together now. We’ll keep them in here for a month or so. Until they’re big enough to survive outside… and we’ll see what happens.

A neighbor about ½ mile cross country from us said he saw two bear cubs playing on a log in his pond the other morning. Some neighbors have seen bears before, and we always assumed they were just passing through. But cubs… I don’t know, that seems like mama bear must be settled in here. Just what we need; another predator. I think it would be cool to see a bear. Long as it’s not eating the chickens. Do bears eat chickens??

CoCoRaHS – Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, And Snow network is an organization I heard about a few years ago. Cocorahs.org

Every day I report how much rain we’ve gotten. Some people report snow depth, and some people have full-fledged weather stations. I just report rain with some minor details like last Saturday’s amount in the afternoon and the evening. It is interesting to me to compare rain events in our area. There are about 14 reporting stations in the Rochester area, and three within a few miles of us. It’s interesting how the rain amounts can vary between us. I got a certificate for 250 reporting observations.

I’ve talked about the barn swallows outside our front door and the nest they’ve had for several years. Well, must be new residents this time around and they do not like us coming and going and they dive bomb us. Even at my car, 20’ from the nest they’re buzzing my head. We keep telling them “It’s us! You know us!”

ARE YOU A FALL RISK? ANY ISSUES WITH ANYTHING FALLING DOWN LATELY?

61 thoughts on “July is Corn Month”

  1. I have been struggling with sciatica, which sometimes makes my left leg want to give out on me as I descend the stairs at work. I am in PT for this. There will beva post next week.

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    1. My right leg is still bad. I always say it feels like it is in a sheath, but they never get what I mean, neurological from pinched nerves in lower spine. Hope spine will move again, off of nerves. Slept 9 hours straight, so I woke up in severe pain. I have been sketching. I am sure I need to give that up because it cause nerve issues in neck. But I need the outlet of sketching, but I need to quit. But my balance is still good.
      I sit so much. So painful to stand or walk. But sitting is bad. Yesterday over with her I was sitting in the lousy recliner that was left in her room so my leg was up. My knee locked up three times. So I do have some structural isses with that knee and I thought it was all coming from back nerves.
      I will stop whine here, not get into not getting referral for brain MRI.

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        1. I had a referral to get it scheduled. But Mayo hospital is not cooperating. I have to go to them because Mankato clinic where I doctor is not set up to sedate people for an MRI. Mayo may have a problem such as with staffing, or they may be being difficult about it since they would like to drive Mankato Clinic out of business.

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  2. Glad you have some more ducklings, Ben!

    Anyone my age is a fall risk, I think. I like to think Iess risk because I have pretty good balance from doing t’ai chi, but any dumb move can result if a fall, and I just don’t always pay attention to what I’m doing!

    Husband put up several supports for the squash, etc. to grow on. I can see as they get heavier and heavier, some of them are going to topple over unless we support the supports in some way.

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  3. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I am headed out to visit my mother this afternoon for several hours. My hands will be full of old family pictures to review and discuss with her, and I will take a serving of ice cream in the cooler. This is her source of calories these days. In her nursing home, everything is about reducing the fall risk: you can wheel into the shower which has no barriers, the toilet looks like an armed tank with all its supports, the sink is low but allows the wheelchair to roll beneath it, and the bed rises and falls with a remote control. I should be back by the end of the day unless there is unmanageable road construction to navigate.

    The significant fall around my house was Lou and his motorcycle. He is selling it after getting it shined up and all repairs and maintainance up to date. He says he no longer has the muscle strength to manage a Suzuki 1000. It is a lovely red color. Someone will buy a machine that has been loved and babied.

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  4. Not lately. Moving my bed to the wall now keeps me from falling out of bed when I have a “thrashing” dream. I must have right-sided dreams as I’ve never rolled out the left side.

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  5. Bears will indeed eat chickens. I have couple stories I have told before about that. Price you pay for living in the north woods. We always put our chickens in at night, which they mostly did on their own. Bears will eat pigs too, rather large ones.

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    2. I bet when bears are sitting around at night after dinner and if they start talking about humans they say things like “oh my god they eat leaves and vegetables.”

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  6. If I were to answer the question about being a fall risk honestly, I’d have to admit that I probably am. Ever since my “big” fall in 2012, I have been extremely aware of just how vulnerable I am, so I’m careful. In the hospital, and subsequent rehab, I learned just how devastating falls can be, and very often are, to older people. Even the slightest uneven pavement can trip me up. I know I should quit wearing sandals and get rid of the various rugs in our house, but you have to draw the line somewhere as to what you’re willing to give up. I shudder to think of what our living space would look like if an “expert” were to come and “seniorize” our house. I’ll cop to the fact that a walk-in shower (and tub) would be easier for me to navigate than our old claw foot bathtub. Getting in and out of that tub in getting increasingly difficult.

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    1. Right now I have to lift my right l;eg with my hand to get it over a regualr bath tub. PT has done me so much good for gait and balance.

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    3. if you ever decide to make the switch i’m interested in helping make the down payment by buying the claw foot

      nothing better than a deep claw foot

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  7. I lift my feet about 1/2 inch off floor when I walk. Therapist is trying to train me to lift them higher, which I do when I pay attention, but how can I pay attention all the time?

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  8. My big fall was in September of 2016 – tripped and fell while playing pickle ball and fractured my left femur (undiagnosed osteoporosis was the real culprit). It was considered a hip fracture – had surgery to place a “nail” into the femur – surgery 18 months later to remove the hardware. Thanks to wonderful PT and a fabulous acupuncturist, my hip is back to 98%. While standing, I can’t lift my left leg quite a high as my right one but that’s the only “handicap” as a result of the injury. Even though I am back to full activities, I am certainly more aware of possible pitfalls and am more careful, especially if hiking or walking on an uneven surface. And I was so gun-shy about falling while riding a bike, not riding it for a few years, I finally gave it away this summer. I occasionally trip on something (sidewalk crack, edge of a throw rug, etc.) but have not fallen as a result. (Knock on wood!).

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  10. I have lots of stairs in this condo. There are 14 stairs from the basement (actually on ground level and exits to the garage) up to the main level. The bedrooms and laundry are upstairs again, another 14 steps. So I run up and down stairs much of the time. Pippin is an anxious dog and he’s convinced that I’m going to leave to go to work so he stays right under my feet a lot. He’s also afraid of the dark but I embrace it. So when I turn the lights off on the main level to go upstairs to the dark bedroom, he stays right under my feet due to his fear. I don’t think I have to describe the possible danger here. I’ve started leaving a light on upstairs for him so that he will go up willingly, ahead of me. Stairs have been my nemesis since I tripped and fell running up once in 2001. I broke a bone in my foot at that time.

    I have a pair of flip-flops that I love. They’re so comfortable. Unfortunately, the toe is a bit long for me (which is really unusual because I have longish toes) and it seems the toe catches on things when I walk fast or don’t pay attention. Another hazard. I’m not willing to change my footwear yet.

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      1. I have had to do this to a couple of my pairs as well. For exactly the same reason that Krista mentions.

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  11. One of my hospital visits this year and the question of “are you a fall risk” and I had to say, well, yeah, at the moment I probably am. So got another wrist band, and we joked a pretty young nurse would have to take me to the bathroom now.
    I’m still being careful too.
    Doing better, though!
    Socks are not quite the issue they were. Progressing!

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      2. He’s one of my favorite artists. I Won’t Back Down was my best friend and brother-in-law’s fight song as he battled colon cancer. It killed him but he never surrendered.

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        1. American Girl is a classic. I thought of it in 2016 on election night. He had a line in that song, “God, it’s so painful when something is so close, and still so far out of reach.” There are lots of live videos of the song on YouTube, and unlike with some songs that became classic, the band never seems to get tired of it or phone it in. Mike Campbell talks about it in this video:..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XEeZmsv5fc

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  15. Last night, Son and I were in a grocery store (Hornbachers on 32nd and University) and I slipped and fell to the ground in the produce section on a patch of squished banana. I am ok. Only my right hand was a little sore from breaking the fall. It is surprising how fast my feet went out from under me.

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    1. Yikes
      Cub by me is careless about their floors. I will try to take this as a warning. My favorite long-tern Cub employee, who worked in the produce section, got fed up and quit last week, with management and customers.

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  16. OT – In anticipation of a hot and humid shift at Philip’s insufficiently cooled apartment this afternoon, I have prepared a big bowl of salmorejo soup made from an assortment of ripe tomatoes from farmers’ market. That’s what we’ll have for supper when I get back home, too. That and a BLT sandwich with pesto and avocado.

    Yesterday, I experimented with making pesto with an assortment of green stuff. Started off with the regular basil and pine nuts. Next a kale, mint parsley and almond blend, which is surprisingly satisfying. Carrot, radish and beet tops with almonds is really good, too. I’m ready for a few hot days, and feeling pretty smug about it. Ha!

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      1. Thanks, BiR. It’s inspired mainly by two things: the fact that these greens are both edible and rich in nutrients, and I hate to see them go to waste. It is, of course, a big bonus that they taste good, as well. I use the pesto in some pretty unconventional ways, too, and don’t just see it as a pasta sauce. I’ll stir a dollop of it into some freshly boiled new potatoes or blend it with freshly cooked couscous. It’s great on a slice of toasted bread with a sliced tomato and chives on top. I bet there are million more ways of using it that I have just not discovered yet.

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  17. OT – I’d like to alert tim and Linda to something I have just shared on Facebook. It’s an hour long livestream with Peter Mulvey of Q&A. Very interesting and informative, but it will probably only be up for another day or two. I think you’d both enjoy what he has to say. A very insightful and thoughtful artist. He’s a new dad to a 10 month old son. The stream ends with him singing one of the songs he has written for his son; not your average children’s son, I dare say.

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  18. I hafta say, the past couple of days I’ve been thinking about falling. I do have terrible balance. I haven’t fallen lately, but I do crash into things a lot. I seem to always have a bruise or two on my legs. I’ve always been clumsy, but when you’re young being clumsy is mostly an inconvenience. As you age it gets more dangerous.

    I dislike thinking that I have to stop doing the things I’ve done all my life because of my age.

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  19. part if my old guy issue is how hard i fall when i do
    i’ve gave a couple 20 foot dive in my warehouses raising hell with feet and shoulders not while i’m falling but when i stop
    i just told some softball guys i’d try playing again and see if running funny can be overcome
    i’m a catcher first baseman or right fielder these days and will have to see if i can run the bases or act as an immediate out when coming to bat even when getting a decent hit
    i can play tennis but i don’t get to the tough ones
    pool or ping pong and more mr style these days

    i’m working on developing my telescoping walker because the boomers are all having balance issues and i think i can help make life better easier more of a heck yeah transition than the pain in the ass a walker is today

    falling is something i’ve done once or twice
    fun while you’re skiing on montana ice
    but something to avoid on a ladder up high
    i hate those transitions to the ground from the sky
    but you have get out there and go go go go
    inclinations say fast but my body says slow
    my heads starting to catch on where there’s a will there’s a way
    i’m an old dog for sure and what i guess i’m trying to say
    is
    youth is wasted on the wrong people in bedford falls or right here
    so let’s give the old folks fight song a good cheer

    we are the old folks the mighty mighty old folks
    eveverywhere we go people want to know so we tell them
    we are old folks trying to avid a fall
    stand up sit down and that’s about all
    if we get too ambitious it’s gonna be bad
    falling down when you do is slow healing and sad
    life is just a box of chocolates but the various fillings discovered when you fall on different body parts takes some of the fun out of it

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