Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Seasons Roll On

The change of seasons in mid-summer is a subtle one, much more subtle than the rapid spring melt in April, or the first snow in late fall.  But change it does, and as this blog claims to document the seasons, I try to notice when patterns of change come together.  Over the past two weeks several changes have occurred that force me to admit that late summer has arrived.

One of the first signs summer is passing the mid-point is the hay harvest, mostly for feeding beef cattle; dairy farms cut their hay nearly two months ago, and are now into a second cut.

And here at home our own harvest occurs in early August, the garlic.  The Head Gardener grows something like 22 varieties of excellent garlic, and for two weeks both the garage and shed are filled with garlic laid out to dry.

Elsewhere in the garden, there is still lots of colour, but the Brown-Eyed Susans always seem to mark the beginning of late summer to me.  All the other bright flowers have been in bloom, now the daylilies are winding down, but the bright Brown-Eyed Susans will now last for weeks.

Away from the garden it's the goldenrod that starts turning the meadow yellow.  We have a lot of it out back.

On farms around the valley, the wheat is ready for harvest.  As you drive around, the golden fields of wheat are perhaps the most obvious sign of mid-summer in the landscape.  Haying is pretty well finished, while corn and soybeans are still green, but wheat is ready for the combine - today this field has already been harvested.

We also have a lot of cooler nights and mornings, often with heavy dew.  These tamarack needles were showing off the dew in the morning sun just a few days ago.

And of course, though I hate to mention it, the early leaves start turning.  This is Virginia Creeper, most of which will end up bright red.  It's only a few shrubs turning colour yet, but it's a taste of things to come.

So 'summer' is over, and 'late summer' has arrived in my mind.  Tomorrow I'll share some info about all the crops you see driving around the valley.

Linking to:
http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.ca/search/label/Outdoor%20Wednesday


13 comments:

  1. What a great variety of outdoor scenes. Truly enjoyed them as I have never been to your part of the world.

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  2. Lovely variety of photos, enjoyable by a former farm girl. This is my first visit, and I'll be back.

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  3. Very cool Furry...
    I actually noticed the bales of Haynes our drive home from the cottage....
    And my virginia creeper has a red tinge at the tips of the leaves....
    A sign of things to come....
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  4. Gorgeous shots!

    I'm now really noticing it in how short the days are getting as to where they were a month ago.

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  5. I love the rolled hay and have taken many pictures of them myself.
    I'm no longer waking up with the sun shining in my window at 6:10. Soon I'll be starting my walk in the dark again.

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  6. Lovely shots. Here in central Texas wheat was harvested already. Corn is well on the way to being dry stalks. And the sun is shifting noticeably further south. In 2008 when we spent time in western Canada in early June the fields were barely showing signs of the wheat coming up. We crossed Kansas at the end of June and the combines were already in the fields harvesting.

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  7. Beautiful captures. And great info. about the changing seasons in your area. Thanks for sharing this delightful post! I linked with Outdoor Wednesday for the first time! I am happy to be among some great photographers! I enjoyed visiting tonight.

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  8. I enjoyed your photos, our scenery is much the same:)

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  9. I loved this post, the tamarack needles/new to me - and all that garlic; do you market this produce? That would be a super crop to harvest and have drying out in your shed like you do; very interesting to see. The fields ready for harvest look great; as I said, I really enjoyed the country flavour of your post

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  10. Thanks for visiting Carole. We don't market the garlic; it gets given to friends, mostly in the form of planting stock for people who want to grow their own, and it seems to have a very high reputation as good garlic. Our 'farm' is VERY small - about 18' square!

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  11. We are having a very "fallish" day here in my neck of the woods, so your post was very timely. Beautiful pictures! I enjoyed seeing all the garlic laying out to dry. Thanks!

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  12. Another great set of photos. We just went to the Garlic Festival in Perth. It's that time of year!

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  13. Love the dew on the tamarack. Our wheat has been cut here. The corn is all tasseled. Soybeans nice and green. Yes, second cutting of hay is in progress.

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