June Farming and Gardening with the Weather 

Weather history indicates that cold waves will cross the Mississippi around the dates  listed below.  The fronts reach Western states 24 to 48 hours prior to their arrival in the Midwest; they pass through the East 24 to 48 hours later Major storms are most likely to occur on the days between June 5 - 8, June 13 - 16, and June 24 - 28.

June 2: The June 2nd high-pressure ridge is typically mild, bringing a light freeze at upper elevations and in the North, but sparing almost every field and garden south of Minneapolis. Full moon on June 1st, however, brings an increased chance for storms.
 --The power of the Strawberry Rains is usually weakening by now, and relatively stable early-summer weather makes this week a favorable time for putting in the last of the field and garden seeds.

June 6: Thunderstorms are common between the arrival of this front and the next. The normal rise in average temperatures that spawns the storms across the nation also contributes to a surge in pasture growth. And if your fields and garden have been seeded late in May, this weather window often provides the moisture to initiate sprouting.
--Fertilize asparagus and rhubarb as their seasons end. Side-dress the corn, cut summer cabbage and broccoli. Gather up all the starchy peas, and compost the vines.
--Pick summer blueberries as they darken this month. But don’t forget the wild mulberry and black raspberry crops. If you have a pie-cherry tree, then you have a way to tell when the wild crops are ready:  you can go pick mulberries and raspberries when the cherries ripen. Or, if you have strawberries, wait until you eat three-fourths of your first crop, then go out to the byways for the free fruits.

June 10: The days between this front and the next are dry more often than not, and the sun usually shines more between the 10th and 26th than during any other period in May and June. Often, the second week of June brings a heat wave, and that means extra attention to cleanliness in the barn and yard will pay off with fewer flies.
--Across the country’s midsection, harvest beans and squash, pie cherries and black raspberries while the moon waxes, filling them with juice.  

June 15: Sun and heat usually follow the June 15th front, and the percentage of good field days rises. Between the 15th and the 19th, average temperatures climb their final degrees throughout the nation, reaching their summer peak near solstice
--In the lawn, chinch bugs hatch; be sure to water heavily to counteract their damage. In your trees, look for tent caterpillars. Hunt the bean leaf beetles that could be chewing holes in your bean leaves. Spray for potato leafhoppers, which are hopping in the alfalfa (and the potatoes). Corn borers are eating corn. Rose chafers and two-spotted spider mites are active in your rose bushes. Cucumber beetles are destroying cucumber and melon vines.  Japanese beetles are attacking almost everything.

June 23: Cooler conditions in the 70s or even the 60s are most likely to occur in the North on the 23rd and 24th, as this front arrives, but then the afternoons usually warm to the 80s or 90s throughout the continental United States. The 25th and 26th are some of the sunniest and driest days in American weather history.  
--Take advantage of the weather to detassel corn, to bring in the winter wheat, to complete the first cut of alfalfa and to start the second cut.

June 29: Summer’s milder days usually come to an end as the last front of June passes through your garden. The Corn Tassel Rains, a period of precipitation that foreshadows the advent of summer’s Dog Days, often begin with July and sometimes continue through the 13th. This month’s second full moon increases the chances for the rains to begin a little early. Along the Gulf Coast, hurricanes often form.
--If you are planting double-crop soybeans or any other second crop such as buckwheat after the winter wheat has been cut, try to do that before the Corn Tassel Rains in the South, after them in the North.

July Farming and Gardening with the Weather

Weather history indicates that cold waves will cross the Mississippi around the dates listed below.  The fronts reach Western states 24 to 48 hours prior to their arrival in the Midwest; they pass through the East 24 to 48 hours later Tornadoes, floods or prolonged periods of soggy pasture are most likely to occur within the following windows:  July 3 - 7 and July 21 - 22. The period between July 23rd and August 5th, on the other hand, is usually one of the most uneventful in the entire meteorological year. The lazy barometric landscape of the month is related to Dog-Day conditions, and average temperatures remain stable at their highest of the year until the approach of August. Hurricanes sometimes come ashore during middle and late summer, bringing heavy rains to the South and East. Rains are heaviest when hurricane lows meet the cold waves listed below.

July 6:  Like the final front of June, the July 6th weather system is associated with the rain and heat. Thunderstorms and overcast skies precede this front, often spoiling Independence Day fireworks, sometimes bringing hail. Some of the wettest days of the month come between the 2nd and the 13th, and the 10th of the month begins a two-week period during which cool nighttime temperatures are rare. July 7th through the 9th are some of the worst Dog Days of the year, all three bringing at least a ten percent chance for heat above 100 degrees along the 40th parallel.
--Select varieties for midsummer planting which are able to grow well even as the days shorten. For frost-sensitive vegetables like beans, try to use varieties that ripen quickly. Onions as well as late plantings of the fleetest sweet corn and squash can be sown, too. Put in turnips and beets for autumn harvest. Seed another row of collards and kale for winter.

July 14: The day preceding this front is often to be the coolest and wettest of July. However, once the July 14th weather system passes through, conditions are more likely to be dry than wet, and heat intensifies. Temperatures are in the 80s and 90s most of the time, and highs above 100 are more likely to occur after the passage of this front than on almost any other days of the year.
--Watch for brown spots in the lawn, signs of the sod webworm. Give plenty of water to the infected area, and treat with pyrethrums. And don’t cut the lawn too short (or graze the pasture too short) while the summer is at its peak; let it rest a little longer than you would in June.
 
July 21: The day before this front arrives is the last day on which temperatures have a better than ten percent chance of reaching 100 in the country’s midsection. The weak moon on the 22nd should contribute to atmospheric stagnation and the buildup of heat. Once the July 21st high arrives, showers often put an end to midsummer drought, and cooler temperatures make the 22nd and 23rd some of the most pleasant days of the month. The 23rd (or the morning after the front moves through) brings lows in the 50s more often than any night in July in the northern half of the country. Although moderate nights do not stay for long, the July 21st front could be considered one of the first meteorological signs of deterioration in the power of summer. It is also a turning point in hurricane season, after which chances increase for more violent storms
--Continue to monitor the feed schedule of the animals that you’ll show in August and September, fine tuning the amount of grain in their rations in order to add quality to their coats and overall condition.
--Late July, when the day's length has lost more than half an hour from its longest span, is time for does and ewes to show first signs of estrus cycling in much of the country.

July 28: An afternoon in the 70s sometime follows this late-July cool wave along the 40th Parallel, and this year’s full moon on the 30th is likely to increase chances for cooler weather. Evening lows in the 50s, unusual only two weeks ago, sometimes occur. Even though statistics promise cooler weather, however, the Dog Days are not finished, and their power continues to hold for at least another two weeks.   
--Depending on your location, you may now be able to seed pastures with legumes and small grains in order to extend the quality of your grazing season well into the fall. Then make plans to seed or re-seed in September for spring pasture.
 --At the very end of July, when the Summer Triangle of stars moves overhead just before bedtime, normal average temperatures start to fall in every state of the Union. That means that frost season is only three weeks away along the Canadian border, six to eight weeks away in the lower Midwest, and ten to twenty weeks away in the South.