We've had an unusual late summer and early autumn. The weather is perfectly normal; but what's notable are the things missing.
The biggest missing thing is wild plums.
This part of Idaho has wild plums up the whazoo. In years past, they've been so thick, they've weighed down branches and carpeted the ground.
But this year? Nothing. Literally nothing. Zip, zilch, zero, nada. Of the hundreds of thousands of wild plum trees in the region, apparently not a single one yielded fruit. Lots of people were commenting on it.
Another thing missing this year, believe it or not, is blackberries. With wild blackberry bushes everywhere, normally there is tons of fruit.
This year? Absolutely nothing. And I mean nothing. The bushes all look healthy, but they bore not a single berry.
Another thing missing: Rose hips. Wild roses are a thorny staple around here, and they've always produced abundant rose hips.
Unlike the plums or the blackberries, there are some rose hips on some of the rose bushes, but they're small, scarce, and anemic, even though the rose bushes themselves seem healthy.
Another thing missing: Honey locust seed pods. We have a honey locust tree in our yard (when I photographed this, the leaves had almost all dropped).
Normally this trees drops hundreds of big honkin' seed pods. This year? Hardly any, maybe one percent of the amount we normally get.
Another thing missing: Mushrooms. Last year we had loads and loads of mushrooms popping up everywhere.
This year? Nothing. I've seen precisely zero mushrooms around us. Last year we had tons, especially after a hike in the mountains. (To be fair, there might be mushrooms along the hiking path; we haven't been there this year.)
The one thing that hasn't been impacted this year is apples, both wild and domestic. We have thousands of wild apple trees, and they've been producing heavily (no doubt to the relief of the wildlife, considering the dearth of other fruit). Our own trees produced a bumper crop.
As for everything else, I have no idea why we're having such a shortage of routine things. To the best of my knowledge, this year hasn't been wetter or drier or hotter or colder than normal.
Go figure.
I watch ‘Boss of the Swamp’ on YT and he has been complaining about the same issues and experimenting with his homestead gardens in upstate New York and Vermont. This year he did the majority of his planting in his greenhouse and showed the differences between the plants that received rainwater outside and those that were watered with well water. A huge difference. He also show some native trees that were bearing leaves and berries last year that were dead this year. He has some interesting thoughts on cloud seeding experiments being carried out but government agencies and the unintended consequences that are occurring as a result. You might be interest in checking him out.
ReplyDeleteMy blackberry bush here in Alabama did not produce one flower, hence no blackberries.
ReplyDeleteIt's the sun cycle we are in and the fact that our magnetic field of the earth is diminished. Youtube site "SuspiciousObservers." Sounds weird, but Ben is a solar astrophysicist and gives a 3-minute update every day in the morning. Fascinating stuff and the TRUTH. We are all in for some very rough years ahead. Blessings from Kansas. Mama J
ReplyDeleteWe have been drought dry this year in Middle Tennessee. My apple and pear tress started great and then completely dried up, dropped their fruit and began looking dead. But now--they are in blossom. It seems they are very mixed up.
ReplyDelete😂 Yep! Poor babies 🌳
DeleteI live in the ID panhandle and we had a super cold deep freeze in January - I wonder if this could have damaged the tips of the plants and resulted in lack of fruit?
ReplyDeleteWe had that plus a really hard late winter/early spring freeze that took out my bush cherries. Those bushes are very temp hardy but really felt that late freeze. Had maybe 30 cherries on a total of 5 huge bushes, when it should have been in the hundreds.
DeleteThe mild winter punctuated by a harsh cold snap (down to -30F across the border here in Montana) probably didn't help.
ReplyDeleteAs for the larger picture: When man is in rebellion to God, then nature will be in rebellion to man. Could ''they'' (insert conspiracy here) be the agents of this? Perhaps, but God allowed it.
Don't forget that prophecies are not inevitable; rather prophecies are contingent on our choices. How many times does it say in Revelation that ''they repented not''?
Don't trust in men. Learn Hebrew. Read the Word of God. Then do what God said. Not what men say that God said.
Most of the species you wrote about are pollinated by insects such as bees and flies. If the plants were in bloom when the air temperatures were cool the pollinators may not have been active. For example bees need a minimum of 50 degrees F and even then it won't be many.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing.
Deletelate frost or freeze will cause that.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought: was the honey bee activity normal this past spring/summer?
ReplyDeleteMy apple tree produced a minimal amount of apples. Dropped fruit AND leaves in July and then in September produced more apple blossoms. Indiana here. We’re not in drought until August. Please explain.
ReplyDeleteOf all things, the snakefest at our .house here in Alabama never materialized! Nary a one! Where did they go? I heard some men talking about not having seen any snakes this year either. Loggers. And if anyone sees snakes it's them!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the dreaded lubbers that eat everything in sight barely made an appearance either! They usually hatch in May and get big fast. I had decided to wait until fall to garden, but braved putting in some seeds in July, which all thrived ( with a lot of watering).
We're finally getting a little moisture. I doubt we've had 1/2 inch of rain from the beginning of August until about a week ago, but we're getting gentle rains now.
After 3 very dry months, it seems prudent to set that as a goal for water storage. Is there ever an end to prepping goals and revisions? Probably not. Trying to figure out what is essential for people, pets, plants, and lately, wildlife. Because thirsty animals are coming too close looking for water so I'm starting to put watering stations out farther where they won't disturb gardening as much. My tomatoes were't done, but something came in and decimated a lot of green ones. And the strawberry plants. Anything green and or juicy.
I'm thinking of getting some blue buckets to put out for next time. I wonder if draught messed up reproduction and survival with young animals.