June Is A Special Month

Across the Fence #501

The month of June is when spring ends and summer begins. Where better to experience June than in the country, living on the land.

Author Scott Schultz wrote, “To truly know the land, a person must walk through Wisconsin pastures in the wetness of a cool June morning and allow Earth’s life to soak through shoes and jeans.” 

I love that statement. I know many of us have experienced the feeling of our shoes and jeans being wet with the morning dew as we walk through the fields. I remember heading for the pasture in the morning to get the cows. We always let the cows out in the pastures during the summer. They usually came when we called them, but sometimes we had to go and herd them to the barn, especially when they were in a new, lush pasture. As we walked the well-used cow paths, the tall grass would brush against us and leave our jeans soaked, but the warm, June days would quickly dry them out.

June is when the gardens start to come alive and provide us food. It’s also when rhubarb emerges and provides those delicious stalks that become pies, bars, jam, cakes, and sauce, to name a few uses. I love everything rhubarb. This year our rhubarb plants have been as prolific as zucchini and cucumbers. We’re into our second crop and have much more than we can use. We’ve given armloads away to anyone who wanted some. June is that time of year when people, who never lock their cars, keep them locked or they may return to their car and find large bags of rhubarb sitting on the back seat. We love rhubarb, but you can only eat so much. 

June is when the land comes alive again and blossoms into more shades of green than you’d find in any Crayola box of crayons. Thick foliage fills the woods, creating great shelter and hiding places for animals and birds to build their nests and start their new families. If you’re lucky, you may encounter a doe and her young fawns.

I only got one chance for a photo before they headed into the woods.

June is also when the pesky bugs return. When I was young, June bugs were always numerous around our farm. We’d sit outside in the evening and thousands of them would be swarming around the yard light. Sometimes there were so many on the ground, you’d hear them crunching under your feet as you walked to the barn. I’ve seen very few of them lately. They deposit their eggs in the ground. The young larvae bury themselves in the soil in the fall and stay there for two years, when they emerge in late May or early June as adult beetles. This year when we were planting flowers in the cemetery, I dug up two full-grown June bugs. I guess they were ready to emerge after their two-year nap. Those are the only ones I’ve seen this year. They’re good size beetles so it’s hard to miss them.

June is also a great time for small bugs, especially the tiny gnats. This is “gnat” a good time to be outside without my old “bug hat” on. They’re so bad again this year they’d drive a teetotaler to drink! Before I go outside, I grab my bottle of Absorbine Jr. and use the applicator to dab the liquid on the brim of my hat. Then I’m ready to do battle with the pesky gnats. As long as I wear my bug hat I have a chance of winning the battle. I’ve tried sitting on our back deck without my hat and in a matter of minutes I retreat into the house to grab my bug hat. If you’re having gnat problems, it’s worth a try and Absorbine Jr. isn’t harmful to you. Farmers have used it for years to relieve muscle aches and pains. They probably discovered it kept the bugs away when they used it. The irritating bugs are not going to keep me from being outside and enjoying the summer.

June is also the smell of new-mown hay. They cut the field across from our house last week and the sweet smell brought back memories of hot, humid days on the hay wagon, loading bales as they came up the chute of the hay baler. Then lifting those bales again as we piled them in the hot haymow. We emerged after each load, covered with chaff, clinging to our sweat-drenched skin and headed for the windmill to get a drink of cold water direct from the well. There’s nothing that compares to that cold water. Now people drink bottled water that costs up to a dollar and a half or more per bottle. If someone had come to me back then and said, “I’ve got a great investment opportunity for you. We’re going to put water in plastic bottles and sell it for $1.49 per bottle. Do you want in?” I’d have said, “Are you nuts? Nobody would pay that much for bottled water that we can get for free from the well.” Little did I know!

June, the month of rebirth, when the land becomes alive again with new growth, new life, flourishing rhubarb, and wonderful days. We also get to experience pesky gnats, mosquitoes, and June bugs, while we walk through the dew-soaked grass in the early morning hours. 

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