AUGUST

       In August the landscape on the western Canadian prairie ever so faintly begins to change. The sunlight is not the direct bright rays as as the angle of the sun has changed. It is drier. Plant activity is shutting down. The nights are colder. Two nights ago our low was plus 3 C.

      It's a good thing that we have these changes or is it people taking advantage of the changes. It's harvest time in this huge prairie land. Weather is extremely important. It has to be dry to harvest the grain.

     So I'm talking like an old farm boy even though I left the farm 68 years ago. You can't take the farm out of the  boy. 

    Farmers grow different crops so that they can stagger harvest times and give themselves a long harvest time. My nephews farm. Their first harvest is silage which they take off green. Then they swath some crops that can lay in the swath until later. Then they straight combine wheat. This means they harvest the grain when it's standing. Nowadays this looks like the indie 500. Combines have a 45 ft and 37 ft cutting width. I can't believe the speed these machines travel. They are one big sensor. An operator sits in the cab but doesn't do much. The canola is swathed. that means that the plants are cut and laid in a row. They can be threshed later when it's dry enough. 

    Things have changed on the farm since I lived there but it's still an interesting process. 

   Now if I've made any errors one of my brothers will tell me I'm sure. 

   So August begins a busy time as many things change on the landscape and people take advantage of the change. .

    Critters take advantage of the change and either leave or collect food for the winter or go to sleep. Some Richardson's ground squirrels have already gone into hibernation.  

THE COMING OF FALL

     The coming of fall is a mixed experience for me. There are some good things and some bad things all in due time. We had very warm weather and then in two days it turned cold and we had light frosts. 

     I have anxiety when fall is on the way. Fall means freezing. Freezing of plants. We talk about a killing frost. That means that most plant activity is over. I worry about that first frost. I always have plants that I want another week or 10 days out of. 

    Once that killing frost is over , the anxiety is gone. I can now enjoy fall with all it's color and wonderful smells. 

    The sun is paler as it moves deeper south. 

    I like fall activities. I like cleaning up my yard with all the plants that need to be taken care of. Regular summer gardening activities are over.

    Fall is a beautiful season with awesome color. 

    I liked fall on the farm. I liked harvesting , running combines and  hauling grain. Harvesting took a long time as there had to be dry conditions. I liked running the tractor doing the fall field work. I also got to stay out of school for about 6 weeks.

     I phoned my 83 year old brother about 10 days ago and he was out running a combine for one of his sons. I phoned him first and there was no answer. He knew I was calling but he couldn't see in the dark to  press the right buttons. 

Fall Gardening

      Gardening is winding down in this part of the world.  I think of vegetables first when gardening is mentioned. I like planting vegetable  gardens, watching them grow and eating the fresh produce as it comes directly from the soil.

I can taste these by just looking at them

A few beets are still left.

Onions have been pulled for a while so that they can dry and be stored.

The onion crop was poor this year as they didn't have time to complete growth.

I will leave the miserable sunflower for birds to pick through.

The remains of the bleeding heart

The bleeding heart in prime time.

Who couldn't like bleeding hearts

     My Dad and maternal grandfather were skilled gardeners. I guess my brothers and I were influenced enough that we all like gardening. For my Dad the vegetable garden produced a major proportion of food.  Vegetables were processed or stored and had to last to the next summer. In Dad's day produce was not sold in stores. A vegetable garden was vital.

     Sadly gardening comes to an end each fall. I have to harvest the late produce, clean things up and work the soil. I have just a small garden patch and I work everything by hand. I use a fork to work up the soil. My soil has become very hard in the last few years so I'm trying to add plant material to soften the soil. I get two loads of shavings and work them into the soil. So as well as good food I get a tremendous amount of exercise and fresh air.

    So I've had a wonderful summer with these plants and will be ready next spring to start over again.