There has finally been significant rainfall for Will County. I had noticed some very deficient growth in some of my spring crops during the dry April. An area of drought had encircled Lake Michigan and my hay fields were visibly showing it. This week I will make some random observations; not all pertain to agriculture.
Many people were frustrated with the multiple mornings of frost this May. I remember about 40 years ago reading that the week before Mothers Day is considered to have a 50/50 chance of being the last frost of the spring. Has climate change affected that rule? Not long ago a meteorologist at an event I was attending stated that Northern Illinois receives 45 more frost-free days per year than 60 years ago. He added this caveat; most of those frost-free days are at the end of the growing season. This spring seems to confirm that. My early sweet corn was off to the races until the frost froze the plants to the soil.
Almost every year I have someone ask me why the sweet corn he or she planted was not successful. This is one of those ventures most should leave to the full-time farmer. There are many agronomic techniques that are more difficult to apply in a small garden than they are in a large field.
By far the worst enemy of small patches of sweet corn is wildlife. An adult raccoon or coyote may devour 10-20 ears a night. These marauders usually arrive about 7 days before the corn is ripe. Let’s assume you plant a 10’x50’ patch. That is 1% of an acre, roughly 250 seeds. The friendly raccoon will show up a week before harvest; and after inviting some friends, they will have most of it eaten by the time you get an ear mature enough for your own table.
There is talk/speculation of many items being in short supply. Tractors and farm equipment, as well as cars and trucks, have supply chain shortages affecting availability. Plastic resin shortages are reported to cause disruptions in the supply of many plastic items like twine, tile and net wrap. Computer chips, chicken wings, bacon, many medications, syringes and chlorine, as well as gas, all appear to be in short supply at a time when the vaccines have finally become widely available. Just the other day a friend had a terrible time finding Killians Irish Red beer; he had to go to several liquor stores before he could make a purchase. You know it is getting serious when beer and chicken wings are in short supply.
Just remember, when that raccoon comes in July to raid your sweet corn, he is following CDC guidelines and wearing a mask. Which brings me to another issue with masks. Several years ago I wore a mask into the bank and they called the police. Now they won’t let me in the bank unless I wear one. I wish they would make up their minds.
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