By all estimates, area soybeans will be ready for harvest the third week of September, two weeks earlier than normal. The corn crop, however, is toast. The 8-to-10-inch rainfall we received a week ago came too late to help corn growers. It did restore moisture to the top soil, however, which bodes well for growers next summer.
Since we at Four Cedars Farms grow neither corn nor soybeans, harvest affects us in other ways. For one thing, it leads us up to hunting season. Already, hunters are stopping by to ask permission to access the property. One man approached me Monday while I was sitting at the edge of the lake, deep in contemplation. His sudden appearance in my peripheral vision scared the daylights out of me; I wanted to tell him he just took two years off my life! I also wanted to send him packing! But he seemed like a decent enough fellow once I got back into my skin, so I gave permission. Some advice to men: never, ever sneak up on a woman. Some of us own guns, too.
Another consequence of harvest is that those millions of bugs living among the corn and soybeans will soon be homeless. Unfortunately for us, many of them will fly our way looking for a warm place to winter. Last year we had so many Box Elders bugs and Multi-colored Asian Lady Beetles inside, I felt like I was living in a terrarium. The vacuum cleaner hose became my new appendage.
The whole indoor migration of local bugs caught us off guard. By the time we figured out what we should have done to keep them out, it was too late. Hundreds of them were warm, cozy, and foolishly crawling on the windows looking for a way out. (Bugs are not bright.) That’s where most of them ended their lives, in the space between window glass and the end of the vacuum hose.
This year will be different. We’ve caulked around the foundation, filled cracks and holes in the siding, and replaced rotted storm windows where most of the creatures got in. And since shrink-wrapping the house seems impractical, we’ve stocked up on lethal bug chemicals; we’re thinking about dousing the whole house.
So farmers, go ahead and fuel up those tractors and combines. Get that crop in. Send those bugs packing. We’re ready.
P.S. Jim does own two extension ladders that will reach the second floor. But doesn’t the arrangement pictured here look like alot more fun?
Since we at Four Cedars Farms grow neither corn nor soybeans, harvest affects us in other ways. For one thing, it leads us up to hunting season. Already, hunters are stopping by to ask permission to access the property. One man approached me Monday while I was sitting at the edge of the lake, deep in contemplation. His sudden appearance in my peripheral vision scared the daylights out of me; I wanted to tell him he just took two years off my life! I also wanted to send him packing! But he seemed like a decent enough fellow once I got back into my skin, so I gave permission. Some advice to men: never, ever sneak up on a woman. Some of us own guns, too.
Another consequence of harvest is that those millions of bugs living among the corn and soybeans will soon be homeless. Unfortunately for us, many of them will fly our way looking for a warm place to winter. Last year we had so many Box Elders bugs and Multi-colored Asian Lady Beetles inside, I felt like I was living in a terrarium. The vacuum cleaner hose became my new appendage.
The whole indoor migration of local bugs caught us off guard. By the time we figured out what we should have done to keep them out, it was too late. Hundreds of them were warm, cozy, and foolishly crawling on the windows looking for a way out. (Bugs are not bright.) That’s where most of them ended their lives, in the space between window glass and the end of the vacuum hose.
This year will be different. We’ve caulked around the foundation, filled cracks and holes in the siding, and replaced rotted storm windows where most of the creatures got in. And since shrink-wrapping the house seems impractical, we’ve stocked up on lethal bug chemicals; we’re thinking about dousing the whole house.
So farmers, go ahead and fuel up those tractors and combines. Get that crop in. Send those bugs packing. We’re ready.
P.S. Jim does own two extension ladders that will reach the second floor. But doesn’t the arrangement pictured here look like alot more fun?
1 comment:
Of course then there is Marc sitting there doing nothing!! Those guys are something...no project too big for them!
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