Veteran's Day
It has been an amazing weather week in northwestern Pennsylvania. While the nights have been cold, with temps in the low twenties, the afternoons have been in the mid to high fifties. Great weather for being outdoors. The first snows fell last week, so now we have Indian Summer.
The weather is forecast to be good for Veteran's Day; many communities will honor veterans with special services and dinners. It is one of our most solemn national holidays.
The Flags which have flown over the graves of veterans since Memorial Day will be collected and burned in a solemn service in many communities.
Garlic
This will be a good weather week to
plant garlic for next year. Garlic is an easy crop to grow, it is not very demanding. Try to plant a hardneck variety; the spring scapes are really good.
Try not to plant garlic cloves purchased from the supermarket. They tend to be softneck varieties which were grown in California and stored and shipped thousands of miles. Softneck varieties do not produce a scape.
For planting purposes, it is better to use locally grown garlic.
Turtles
Pictured is a young snapping turtle rescued from a busy parking lot. Snappers hatch ninety days after the adult female, leaves the water and travels to a nesting site on land and lays her eggs. She then returns to the water never again to visit the nest. Egg laying usually happens in May and June; so the hatch usually happens somewhere close to Halloween.
Snapping turtles, while common, are an important animal in the ecology of wetlands, swamps and ponds. To read more about these amazing animals, click
Snapping Turtle.
Corn Harvest
By many accounts, the corn harvest in much of the northwestern PA region is one of the best anyone can remember. So much corn is being harvested that storage facilities are literally busting at the seams. Strangely, the price per bushel corn is at a record high. According to the owner of Platt's Mill in Spartansburg, the crop is one of the best he has ever seen. Scott Morton has been the owner operator of the feed mill for decades; his father once owned and operated the mill, and before that, his father. The price per bushel, according to Morton is between $5.60 and $6, a price he calls “obscene”.
Europe and Russia had terrible growing season and there was hardly a harvest in those countries; those countries are buying US grown corn. China has also bee buying a lot of US corn. Market speculators are in a frenzy also driving the cost per bushel, upwards.
Compounding the upward price spiral is the demand for ethanol and poor crop production in several US mid west and western states.
The meaning – well, corn supplies could be lower than ever in the US which means higher prices for many consumer products. Corn is used in a zillion different products besides being a staple in food; corn is used in pharmaceuticals to automobile parts, cosmetics and glue, beer and whiskey.
Marcellus and the Elections
Thankfully, elections are over. What the candidates made the electorate suffer through was inexcusable. In Pennsylvania, a state with no tax on gas drilling, it will likely remain the same under Republican control despite a serious deficit problem.
Outgoing Dem Gov. Rendell imposed a moratorium on drilling on State Parks after the state's political leaders (?) were unable to reach a compromise.
While the gas deposits offer an economic boost to many, there are
problems which should not and can not be ignored. Secret chemicals are used and, one company, Halliburton, is being sued by the EPA for more information regarding the
toxic fracking process.Penn State University has opened a new research center, which can be found here. It is well worth the look.
Enjoy the Indian Summer weather an be sure to honor and thank a veteran .
Good Blogs
One Woman Over Sixty - this is a great blog by Kathleen Richardson. She is also a good writer at Helium.
Marcellus Money - take a look at whose on the payroll.
Penn Future - well worth the thought and consideration
