It’s odd to hear the crunch of dry leaves underfoot in the northern forest while green leaves are still on the trees. But with drought deepening in the northern half of Wisconsin, crunching leaves underfoot are heard all the way to the Lake Superior coastline. By the start of September, the counties of far-northern Wisconsin were engulfed in extreme drought conditions.
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From the Fields | Jason Maloney
From the Fields: Jason Maloney
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Cattle on short pasture crowd around hay. With dry conditions, many grass-fed-meat operations were supplementing with hay in late August.
Hay is moved off a northern-Wisconsin field west of Ashland. Almost all northern fields with adequate moisture had been harvested for a third time by September.
Corn is chopped on a northern-Wisconsin field. Corn in most northern fields was at the dough stage in late August.
Fireweed signals the waning of summer along Bodin Road between Washburn and Bayfield, Wisconsin.
A log in a clearing on the forest floor shows bear activity. With few late wild berries due to the drought, some bears are foraging for grubs in rotting logs to gain weight to live through the coming winter.
One of the final wild roses of summer shows in late-August sunshine.
A farm stand holds produce grown by a farm family. Across the state such stands circulate money locally while providing healthy food for families.
Sunflowers to brighten homes and perennial plants to brighten yards are offered for sale at a farm stand.
Beans yellow under dry August skies near the intersection of Marinette County Road W and Road B near Harmony, Wisconsin.
Corn stalks in late August show damage from weeks of dry summer weather along Marinette County Road D near Peshtigo, Wisconsin.
Customers mingle with farmers the last Saturday of August at the Ashland Farmers Market. Many farm markets across Wisconsin remain open into October.
Lush Roma tomatoes from a northern-Wisconsin field await processing. Some will be dried, some canned and some eaten fresh with sweet corn.
Roma tomato wedges are arrayed on a food dehydrator. When completely dry the tomatoes will last for years in sealed containers stored in cool, dark storages areas.
A sign between cedar trees marks the location where immigrants from Finland settled to farm between Washburn and Bayfield, Wisconsin, on the Bayfield Peninsula. Remnants of the farms include some overgrown apple trees, memories and loving descendants. Visit townofbayviewwi.gov for more information.
A plaque shows the names of immigrants from Finland who settled and built farms on logged land between Washburn and Bayfield, Wisconsin, called the Finn Settlement. The settlement is unusual because it has been commemorated with a sign, while thousands of others across Wisconsin have been forgotten.
Apples ripen in an orchard within the Bayfield Fruit Loop near Bayfield, Wisconsin. The crop promises to be bountiful. Visit bayfield.org/things-to-do/farms-orchards/ for more information.
Mountain ash berries hang ripe in a tree on the outskirts of Bayfield, Wisconsin. The berries are favorites of migrating birds, especially cedar waxwings.
A sign for a farm stand lures customers near Bayfield, Wisconsin.
A display in a farm store near Bayfield, Wisconsin, contains organic flour milled in Wisconsin from Wisconsin-grown grain.
A wide variety of signs direct customers to some of the orchards and farms in the Bayfield Fruit Loop near Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Dark grapes ripen as September begins, in a vineyard along Betzold Road near Bayfield, Wisconsin.
A sign lures customers to one of the orchards in the Bayfield Fruit Loop.
A wild cucumber shows spines in late August along Wisconsin’s Lake Superior shore. The native plant is also called balsam apple or Echinocystis lobata. It’s found along stream beds, swamps and moist areas.
Black-eyed Susans mix with droopy-petaled cone flowers as August melts into September along Lake Superior’s south shore.
A seeded baguette from the Red Shed, an artisanal solar-powered micro bakery along Star Route Road near Bayfield, Wisconsin, tempts customers. Visit Facebook.com and search for 'Red Shed sourdough bakery' for more information.
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