One Strange Summer

This summer's weather has been so odd, strange, mixed-up, or any other word you want to substitute for crazy!  It began in spring when the weather was so warm, so early.  My dad says it seems like we skipped a whole month somewhere.  A lot of people don't pay that much  attention to the weather forecasts, but for farmers, it's a way of life.  Chelan usually stays up until the weather segment is over and then he goes to bed.  The unusual weather has taken its toll around the farm.  Hopefully, next summer is a little different!

I took some pictures a few weeks ago to try and explain:

1.  Corn harvest usually happens in September.  This year, we started harvesting corn at the end of July - way too early.  Surprisingly, the corn didn't do as badly as we thought it might!

2.  Because we haven't had measurable rain for about 2 months, most of the soybeans had to be swathed and baled for the cows to eat.  They just weren't going to produce beans.  It's really sort of sad to see them being "harvested" this way.

a row of swathed beans

Here is a bale of soybeans.  I like this picture because it tells the story of
this summer:  thunderheads in the distance and not coming our way!

3.  Again, because of the lack of moisture, the cows are running out of grass in the pastures.  Chelan and his dad started bringing them back home mid-August.  This also means that they had to grind hay bales for feed.  The cows usually come home in mid-October, so chores will be done 2 months longer than normal.

The first time Delaney saw this pile of hay, she kept
saying, "Pile, pile, pile!"

Poor cows - I'm sure they would much rather be out in the open!