Outside and About........

I crossed the street to check on the corn field to see how things were doing.  The corn is very tall this year and that farmer has planted a different variety of corn this year.   I noticed the difference as the stalks, each one, has only one ear on them.  Usually the corn puts out two ears.  I suspect the variety was bred to put out one big ear rather than two of them with various sizes.

I also was looking for wild morning glories  that usually grow in the corn.  I didn't see any even though it was late afternoon when they would still be out and blooming. The chemicals this year could have kept them from growing. The corn is so lush that I couldn't take a photo down one row to show the perspective of the row receding.  It looks like the corn really could use a few more weeks to get a bigger ear.

Chemicals used on corn apparently are geared towards taking out the larger competitive weeds as the smaller ground weeds look healthy.  I was amazed at the height of the corn as it had a normal growing season this year with good rains making it be its normal size.  The past two years this corn was thin, short and dried out by now. 

I had used up most of my rain barrel water and as you can see here it is filled to the brim again.  I like using the rain water for all the outside plants and then bring in water for the indoor houseplants.  The water is so clear as it has been continually filled this summer.  I actually have a trough that I slide under the eave to divert the water away once the barrel gets to be filled.  If the barrel overflows from an excessive rain it will send water into the soil next to the house and it eventually seeps into the basement.

My moss rose has not done well this year.  It seems to have had too much rain as this is the only flower that I have had that was good enough to try and photograph.  As I write this I think I will put it on the shelf under the grill along with the cactus to see if I can get it to do better.  Usually when moss rose sits in the direct sun it is a very happy plant. It is shaded early morning and late afternoon.

 While I was out and about I noticed an apple tree that had more apples than I thought would be there.  They are smaller and do have a few dents but I think I should be able to pick apples from this tree.  I will need a step ladder as it is a big old apple tree. I will share more pictures later as to how many apples that I have.  I wasn't expecting apples on it and of all the times I was out there I never walked over to the west side of the tree.  I guess I  need to look at things more closely. It requires to look up higher and standing in the alley to see them. The other tree has a large amount on the one side of the tree also.

I will finish with the river birch that is growing larger each year.  I trim the limbs up and they still keep hanging down to hit me in the face.  The other birch does that too so I am letting it just hang down this year.  I can walk through a tunnel of leaves once I get inside the branches.

We are having sunshine today and it is so welcomed. We have had cloudy, gloomy days the past week and seeing the bright sun is refreshing. I will have a lot of grass to mow coming up at the beginning of the week.  I hope to get some rest today and that it will be a quiet day.  Thanks to you all for stopping in and checking on my greener than green blog today.