Ironweed Is Blooming

Tall purple wildflower in autumn

Every autumn, here in Kentucky, I saw a tall purple wildflower but I didn't know its name

Then I read somewhere that Joe Pye weed is a tall, fall-blooming wildflower, common in Kentucky, and that it adds color to the landscape this time of the year. I was sure I had learned the identity of my purple flowers, so I began referring to them as "Joe Pye weed."

My tall purple wildlfowers are blooming all over this part of the county right now. It has been a good year for them. I stopped along the road a few days ago and took some photos.

When I got home, I decided to look up a little information about Joe Pye weed -- and that's when I discovered that this flower is actually ironweed. Boy, do I feel silly. "Ah orta node." (I'm lapsing into dialect to draw attention away from my red face.)

I should have known because a similar-but-shorter flower grows in Nebraska marshes and lowlands. Now that I've heard the name, I've made the association.

In Kentucky, we have tall ironweed (Vernonia altissima) that can reach 10 feet in height. The Nebraska flower is prairie ironweed, (Vernonia fasciculata Michx.,) typically 2 to 4 feet tall. The flowers of prairie and tall ironweed are quite similar.

It's not surprising that the 30 varieties of Vernonia found in the U.S. are all members of the aster family. Given the spiky flowers and the late-summer blooming schedule, it makes perfect sense.

One day last week. I was riding with friends through the countryside to the little settlement of Kirkmansville. In a field along the road, I saw an impressive stand of a wildflower that I didn't recognize. They had big pinkish-purple blooms. Now that I've seen photos of Joe Pye weed, I think that might be what they were. However, I'm going to get a positive ID before I start calling them by name!

Indelible Image

Frozen in time

I remember a slim young woman at a subway (U-bahn) station in Berlin, Germany. She was one of several dozen strangers who were standing along the tracks, waiting for the train. When it rolled into the station, she ran lightly through the doors of one of the cars. How fresh and free she looked.

Little Keely was clutching one of my hands, and I had a folded umbrella stroller in my other hand. Baby Isaac was in a carrier on my chest, and my bag of necessaries was over my shoulder. Laden as I was, I admired the nimble, easy way the young woman moved and the swirl of her skirt as she turned. "I used to be like that," I thought. "I'll be like that again," (I was indulging in a moment of fantasy.)

By now, the girl in my mind is about the age I was when I saw her. I'm sure time has changed her, but in my mind's eye, she's still young, slender, and very quick and graceful. I've thought of her many times.

A Smoking Tobacco Barn

Firing begins.

Our neighbor's barn is full of tobacco, and now he's firing (fire-curing) the tobacco.

Inside the barn, sawdust is smoldering in trenches or a pit on the barn floor. A pile of sawdust stands ready between the barn and the highway. Hardwood slabs are usually burned along with the sawdust. If you are curious about the process, the University of Kentucky document, Harvesting, Curing, and Preparing Dark-Fired Tobacco for Market (pdf), is a good summary of the science of fire-curing.

Tonight the wind is carrying the smoke our way. We have some windows open this evening, and we can smell the smoke in the house. I don't enjoy the odor, so I closed the windows on the side that the breeze was coming through, and that helped.

Tobacco firing doesn't last too long. In a few weeks, this will be over. Before then, the wind will switch again and the smoke will blow somewhere else.

Related post: New Tobacco Barn
On the web: Image of the smoke-filled interior of a tobacco barn:1

Corn for Silage

Tractor and silage chopper

A neighbor is chopping his field of tall corn for silage this week. Yesterday evening, he had made a few rounds with his tractor and chopper before parking for the night. I suppose he was checking out his machinery to see if it was all working correctly.

Today when I passed by, harvest was proceeding full steam ahead. The farmer was driving his tractor down the rows of corn, pulling the chopper and a big metal wagon. Chopped cornstalks were arching out of the chopper's long spout, in a steady stream into the wagon. Another tractor was taking a full wagon to be emptied.

I am curious where this silage is being stored. I doubt if it's going into a pit silo because we usually get a lot of winter rain in Kentucky. A pit silo would quickly become a pond. I don't think this farmer has any upright silos, so the silage is probably going to a bunker silo or perhaps just a silage pile on the ground or on a concrete slab.

It's not too common around here to chop corn for silage, unless you are a Mennonite farmer. They like the tall, cylindrical silos made of interlocking concrete staves that were popular fifty years ago or more. They often buy old, unused silos of this sort from local "English" farmers to reconstruct on their own farms.

Wherever the chopped corn plants are ensiled, it's vital to pack it thoroughly to eliminate air pockets and to cover it tightly right away. Air in the silage increases the growth of mold and and slows the fermentation that changes the green chop into silage. Making silage is a lot like making sauerkraut on a very large scale -- the crock must be tightly packed and the lid put in place.
__________
Stave silo image from the NPS

Six Things

About me

I was recently tagged by Angie of 5 Kids, My Husband, and Me. I'm supposed to tell six things about myself, so here goes:

• My favorite quick breakfast is toasted homemade rolls with peanut butter.
• Most rooms in my house are painted in shades of ivory. Will I continue this trend when I repaint the bathroom? Only time will tell.
• I wear the same pair of earrings most of the time, and most of my work wardrobe is built around black slacks.
• I prefer two-lane highways and backroads, paved or unpaved.
• I would love to take the next few months off from my job!
• I am a lifelong cat-lover, even though both our kitties are terribly disobedient and disrespectful.

I'm supposed to tag six other bloggers, but I don't usually have much luck with that. Instead, anyone is welcome to do the meme and let us know the link in the comments here. Thanks.