The Longest Day
I don’t want to alarm anyone. But based on the current weather, I think the Earth is drifting closer to the sun.
I know. Our planet has been in a more or less fixed orbit around our nearest star for over 4.5 billion years. However, these times they are a changin’. So how do we know that, despite the lack of any probability it is true, we aren’t being slowly sucked sunward, which is leading us on a path to the warmest June on record? I mean, what else could explain why it’s so hot just about everywhere, right?
Regardless of cause and whether or not we’ve slipped into a script penned by Rod Serling (keep a watchful eye for melting paintings), I do think we can all agree it’s mighty toasty outside. For life on a farm, that obligates a change in our daily routines.
First and foremost, our concern is with the outdoor animals. For the mules, textbooks say that they are far more heat tolerant than their kin the horse. That’s the reason cities like New Orleans only allow mules to pull carriages and why the noble mule became the draft animal of choice for most of the South many years ago.
For Loretta, the heat of the day is met with resigned stoicism. It might not be her first choice of climatic conditions. But she’s seen it all and lived through it. From mid-morning until suppertime, she mostly stays inside, parked in front of a fan, napping. She’ll wander out of her stall and into the pasture to graze in 15-minute stretches now and again.
Annabelle, on the other hand, has never read the aforementioned textbooks about mules. She doesn’t like hot weather. And so, she gets grumpy.
But then comes sunset- a relative cooldown from the day’s heat- and the two mules spend the night grazing on the northwest pasture under a blanket of stars.
The ducks thus far haven’t shown too much stress from the weather. Obviously our web-footed friends are best equipped for the cool and the damp. However, like their wild cousins, they adapt. We keep their kiddy pool filled with cool water and they’ll spend the hottest part of the day lounging in the shade, taking an occasional swim. Like with most animals, sleeping during the worst of the heat is a sensible way to pass the time.
As for us, our work day gets split into two halves. In the morning, it’s chores as usual, albeit started a bit earlier. I’ll make several runs to the field, watering cans in hand, to water the most sensitive plants. Tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, melons and basils all get a twice daily dousing. It’s quite a bit of work hauling water like that but it wastes a lot less than broader irrigation. Besides, hand-watering the plants is sort of like concierge service for the vegetables. I think they appreciate the personal attention.
We will then weed and such until around 11am. By then, the thermometer is flirting with 90 degrees and it’s time for us to go inside the house to cool off.
Come late afternoon it’s back outside again. The temperature is still high but at least the sun’s relative position is a bit lower in the sky. The bulk of the time is spent watering, watering, and watering some more. We haven’t had measurable rain in quite a while so the one thing keeping a lot of the more fragile plants going are the watering cans. Heat will make certain plants bolt. That is, flower and go to seed rendering them no longer good eating. But water will stave off dehydration.
Then, as the sun begins to set, it’s chore time.
The mules get fed, the ducks get fed, the stalls get cleaned, and the water trough filled. There’s still enough of a crepuscule glow that I could manage to read a book by ambient light at 9:30pm. No time for that, however. Farm work continues until darkness takes hold. I’m not a fan of Daylight Savings time. It makes for some very late nights.
Summer is here full bore and there are more than enough hot days ahead. Like a certain mule, I will try to be stoic. But like another, I am also entitled to be grumpy on occasion as well. Feel free to send your sympathies to Joanne regarding the latter.