Images from Europe: The Mosel River

One of our earliest impressions of Germany was the Mosel River Valley. This scenic river flows from France, along the border between Germany and Luxembourg, and across the western side of Germany until it joins the Rhine River at Koblenz. This image was taken from the Cochem Castle above the city of Cochem, and is typical of the landscape along the 100 miles of river that we covered during our travels. The valley is dotted with quaint villages and majestic castles, but the most prominent feature is the abundance of vineyards on the steep slopes along the bluffs. The region is well known for the quality of its wines, and we found the local Riesling to be especially tasty. Although the region is a popular tourist destination, we found it quiet and relaxing in most of the spots we visited, and we could easily imagine spending more time exploring the towns along the river in more detail.

Corn in the backyard, 2015 -- Harvest?

Few things are monitored as closely on this blog as the crops that grow in the field behind our house, so I was surprised to see harvesting in that field weeks before I expected it. Although the corn was maturing nicely despite an abundance of rain early in the season, no variety I'm aware of would produce kernels that would be mature and dry enough for selling the grain "as is" after less than 16 weeks. Instead, we've been treated to a show unlike any other we've seen in the backyard over the past 8 years -- harvesting for silage!

August 21

What at first glance appears to be a regular combine that separates the grain from the rest of the plant, is a harvester more like a lawn mower than a combine, since the entire plant is cut down, chopped up, and loaded into the wagon traveling next to the harvester. That plant matter, which is still very green and moist, is stored in big plastic bags to be consumed by cattle later this winter. This field is now managed by a family that has several cows to feed, so about two-thirds of the plants were harvested as silage now, while the remainder of the field will wait for a few more weeks to eventually have grain harvested from those plants.

The view to the west on August 22

August 16

Since I hadn't posted photos of the crop on the 15th week, I've included these photos taken the Sunday before the silage harvest. More stalk drying is evident, and the kernels on the ears are peeking out from between the husks on some of the larger ears. The video below was shot after the silage harvest left a few ears untouched, which gave us a chance to examine the kernels up close.

As I noted in the video, these ears indicate the the harvest could be pretty good on the remainder of the field in a few weeks. The second video below gives a better view of how much corn is left in the field.

We'll continue to watch the rest of the corn until harvest, but since the view from the backyard won't change much, don't expect the typical reports. Thanks for visiting!

Corn in the backyard, 2015 -- weeks 12, 13, & 14

July 26

During the week before July 26, we received about 7% more heating degree days than normal, and the ears continued to fill out. Rain, which was plentiful earlier in the season, was more rare this week which probably contributed to the stalk drying evident in the top photo.

August 2

The week before August 2 was warmer yet, registering 210 heating degree days compared to the normal 177, which is almost 19% more. Rain was very spotty around the area, and it appeared that Farmer Wagenbach's field missed any measurable precipitation this week. Stalk drying continued at a normal pace as the ears continued to increase in size.

August 9

We received our first measurable rainfall in over two weeks on August 9 including a steady shower while I was taking these photos. Temperatures continued above normal, recording 187 heating degree days compared to the historical average of 173. Stalk drying is even evident in the close-up photo, as well as husk drying on the ears.

The cloudiness count is up to nine Sunday mornings this season in which the sun didn't cast a shadow during our photo session versus five in which shadows were visible.

Corn in the backyard, 2015 -- weeks 10 & 11

July 12

The tenth week of growth added another 6 inches to the stalk height bringing the average height of most of the corn to about 112 inches. Growing degree days were over 15% below the historical average, but the ears continued to grow while most them had not yet experienced pollination.

We had plenty of rain the week before these pictures were taken, including over two inches in a couple of downpours on Saturday. This image shows that even the stalks in the wettest part of the field are developing ears, and you can see the standing water still present on Sunday morning.

July 19

Although the plants added a few more inches to reach 116 inches tall this week, the real news is now at the ears. Many ears have grown nicely and dark silks were evident on the majority of the plants. Although temperatures were warmer than normal (217 heating degree days compared to the historical average of 182), they were evidently not too hot to deter pollination, nor was the rain too consistent to interfere either. Despite the challenges this growing season has provided, it appears the corn is progressing at a normal pace.

For those keeping score, we've had seven Sunday mornings in which the clouds hid the sun during our photo session, and four sunny sessions.

Top 5 Blog Posts by Page Views

It's been awhile since we've reported which of the posts on this blog are most popular, and since a trend has established itself over the last four years, it's time for an update. Listed below are the five posts that have been viewed most as recorded by the statistics feature built into Blogger. Although I often have reasons to doubt the data, it's the best record I have to date. In order of popularity, I present the top five blog posts.

1. Radon Mitigation System Installation

When we first reported the most popular posts in May of 2011, this post was only a few months old but still managed to rank #7 against many posts that had been around much longer. This post has been consistently popular since its publication and continues to rank near the top regardless of the time scale: views in the last month, week, or day. Comments left on the post indicate there are other do-it-yourselfers that have referred to my story, which is gratifying, but makes me wonder how they found my page?

Since Google refers more viewers to this blog than any other source, I've assumed most of the visits to this post came from Google searches on radon systems. I think that may be a faulty assumption. My search for "radon mitigation system installation" revealed that my blog post didn't show up in the first 62 pages of results, at which point Google refused to show me any more of the alleged 102,000 results for my search. Evidently some other sources are directing folks here, and at a pretty consistent rate since 2011.

2. Gutter Hanger Testing

This post is a perennial favorite as well, indicating to me that the need for clear answers on gutter hangers has not abated since 2009. This post was at the top of the list when we first reported ratings in 2011, but by the spring of 2013 it had surrendered the top spot to the radon system installation post. While now running far behind the #1 post, this post still has a comfortable lead over the third place post.

3. Freeport McMoRan Morenci Copper Mine

I suspect this post gets most of its views from folks looking for information on the company that runs the mine, but I still hold out some hope that there are a few people out there that appreciate my personal perspective of my tour of the mine in 2010. This post actually passed the gutter hanger post in popularity in early 2012, but conceded the first place position by fall of that year, and was passed by the radon installation post a few months after that.

4. Corn Growth Chart

I think it's appropriate that at least one of my corn posts is popular enough to be in the top five, since it seems every time I meet someone that has visited this blog they mentioned my corn growth posts. This post shows up on the second page of Google search results for "corn growth chart," and even appears near the top of the image search for the same term. If you put the phrase in quotes, it's Google's top result! I suspect that may have driven a lot of the visits over the last six years, but a scarcity of views recently may allow other posts to accumulate views more quickly and knock this one out of the top five.

5. Williamsburg in the Fall: Buildings

Of all our posts on Colonial Williamsburg (36 so far), this one from 2009 has most consistently held a spot in the top 10, although three other CW posts have visited the top ten as well. A Google search for "Williamsburg buildings" (quotes included) finds this post on the seventh page of results, but changing the search terms to "Colonial Williamsburg buildings" moves it up to the third page. Although this post is not far behind the #4 post, its views per day rate is almost identical, which means I don't expect it to move into the #4 slot very soon.

It's probably not surprising that all five of these posts are at least four years old. An older post has more opportunity to attract views, and has an advantage over newer posts on total views count. For that reason I decided to calculate views per day rates for the top ten posts, and others that were close to the top ten, but posted recently enough that their popularity over time has not yet been fully realized. Interestingly enough, the #8 and #6 posts for total page views rank in the top five for views per day.

Honorable Mention:  An Experiment in Greenwich

This post ranks #4 in views per day, but since it's less than three years old, it still only ranks #8 for total views. While writing this post, I finally realized why tripadvisor.es (Spanish version of TripAdvisor) referred so many visitors to my blog. On this page: http://www.tripadvisor.es/ShowTopic-g186338-i17-k6300068-Como_llegar_a_Greenwich_para_visitar_el_meridiano-London_England.html the fourth responder included a link to my post on Greenwich, and by doing so, helped boost the ratings of the post. I'm glad at least one person linked to this post, since it's one of my favorites.

Honorable Mention:  Basement Bathroom Project

Although this post gets the fifth most views per day of all my posts, I'm at a loss to explain why. Having lived through the project, the post brings back lots of fond memories, but the pictures only show the ugly stages of the project before the pretty, finished pictures were taken. Nonetheless, it's views per day rate continues to be strong enough that it should move into the top five for total views if its pace continues.

I'll try to remember to report these ratings again before another four years passes, especially if we have a change in the top five posts. In the meantime, you can elevate your favorite post in the standings by visiting it several times each day. Imagine the satisfaction you'll feel! I'll keep trying to post something at least moderately clever, and you keep refreshing your browser, and together we'll shake up the ratings!