June

After the rollercoaster ride of spring, everything has leveled out in June. Most of the earth soaking rains and storms come to a halt, the weather turns hot, and the first fruits of the year are becoming ready for harvest. The gardens are growing good with fresh squash coming in first, soon to be followed by cucumbers and tomatoes. Early corn is starting to tassel and the wheat is brown and ready to cut. By the end of the month it will be gone and replaced with soybeans. Almost immediately the little green plants pop up into a field of yellow-brown straw. Pastures are full and thick and hay is cut now to feed the livestock through the coming winter, leaving enough pasture behind to keep the animals fed throughout the rest of summer and fall. With luck and the right weather, the farmers can get a second cutting later in the year. It seems odd to me, to be harvesting so early in the year, actually just as the growing season gets started. Most people associate harvest with the fall, but the bounty is plentiful and will provide for us now and later on also. It’s fascinating to watch it all come together, at the right time. It’s most evident in the woods and fields as the deer start to fawn. Woods and weed fields have thickened up to provide plenty of food and cover, just at the right time for the fawning process. Throughout the month the little ones appear and if you watch closely, you can learn a bunch about the rut from the year before. Back dating 200 days or so will give an idea when the does were bred. Some people say the moon will determine that but I’m not totally convinced yet. Are the fawns being born slowly throughout the month? Or does it seem they appear all at once? Is it 1, 2, or 3 fawns per doe? Determining that can give you an idea of the timing and intensity of the rut and the overall health of the deer herd. Bucks are out in the soybeans mostly gathered together. It’s a good time to take inventory and find the ones that stand out from the rest. A good buck will really show his stuff in June, he has such a jump start on the inferior ones with 2 more months growing to do. I think it’s important to observe and understand what goes on naturally throughout the year, the natural order of things. If you give a good look at how things occur, and why, it can give you a better understanding of things in the fall. I believe that statement is hard to understand for some folks that don’t live in a rural setting. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to sell all the gadgets and gimmicks that are suppose to make it happen your way regardless of what’s going on in the woods. I think the saying goes, “To everything there is a season” and if I could add something to that, I’d say, “For everything there is a reason”. It’s been a good month, a lot of things going on, with 66 days until bow season.