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soybeans Archives - Carolyn CAREs

Tag: soybeans

First Week in October

“In harvest time, harvest folk, servants and all
Should make, all together, good cheer in the hall
Once ended the harvest, let none be beguiled
Please such as did help thee, man, woman and child.”
–   Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry

Late September begins harvest on our farm. We typically start harvesting soybeans first, then move to corn when the soybeans are all in the bin. This year, we got started a little later than usual, due to the late spring and cool summer.

A few years ago, I started running the combine. This year, we have a new to us combine, so I needed to get used to new controls. Jonathan was also really patient with me when I was sick in bed on Monday, and baked for Cottonwood’s Central Park Market on Wednesday. I did run the combine for awhile on Tuesday, which made me feel a whole lot better.

We combine our soybeans at an angle to prevent dirt from building up on the platform. We don’t roll our soybean ground to make it flat, since we cultivate the beans a couple of times during the season. The cultivating created ridges, which can sometimes cause dirt to get scooped up when we combine straight down the rows. Since we use AutoSteer technology in our combine as well, we are able to program it to follow the angle we want.

Harvesting Soybeans
Harvesting Soybeans

Wednesday evening, the predicted rain began to fall, and put to a halt our harvesting for this week. The guys worked quickly to move all of the equipment into sheds to keep the harvested soybeans dry.

Bringing the Soybeans In
Bringing the Soybeans In

This was the first evening thunderstorm that I can remember this year. Most of the storms we did get came during the day. I have always wanted to try taking photos of lightning, so I quick looked up a basic how-to for my type of camera, and started shooting. Now, I can’t wait for the next round of lightning!

My First Lightning Capture
My First Lightning Capture

The weather has been rainy and drizzly the past few days, and it looks like that pattern will hold until Sunday. It has been nice to be able to catch up on a few things in the house, and get a bit more rest at night.

Have a great week!

 

Pictorial Tour of Our Barley & Field Pea Season

It has been way too long since my last post! It has been an unusually busy spring here, but even in all the busyness, I stopped to take photos of the fields as the crops grow. This year, I am focusing on our barley and field pea crop.

There is no restriction on early planting dates for either barley or peas, and the fields were ready so they went in first.  We started by preparing the soil with the field cultivator. It does not dig very deep, but it smooths out the seed bed while taking out the first flush of weeds. Below you can see the field cultivator behind me.

 

We planted the peas first, on March 17.  After they were planted, Jonathan set the GPS guidance system to move over 3 inches so we could plant the barley next to the peas. The barley comes in bags, making it easier to fill the grain drill if two people throw bags.  Each bag weighs 48 pounds. In this photo, you can see how we line the bags up along the walking platform to make it easy to keep track of how many we put in. It also makes it easier to pull the strings off the tops and dump them into the drill.  Jonathan was sweet enough to pose for a photo.

 

Once the seed is in the ground, all we can do is pray for rain and good growing conditions.  When the seeds germinate, and a little green tint appears in the field, we all get excited.  Spring is such an exciting time with all the new growth appearing. It makes everything look and feel so fresh!

 

Here is a little pea plant next to some barley. At this stage, the barley looks like grass.

 

As the season progresses, we check the fields for weeds and other things that may hurt the quality of the seed.  We continue to pray for timely rains, while praying that hail does not damage the crops. I hold my breath every time a thunderstorm rolls through!

The next two photos were taken on the same day.  The first one shows how the barley and peas grow next to each other. The second one shows how the color is changing in the field.

 

When the barley starts to turn from green to gold, Jonathan starts scouting the fields to see if he can get an estimation on a harvest date. He breaks open a pea pod or two, and chews on the peas. When they are green, they taste a lot like sweet peas. After they mature, they get too starchy to be tasty to me.  Jonathan does the same with the barley. He shells out the barley to see how easily it breaks away from the stem, and chews on a few shelled pieces to see how chewy they are. Both were pretty green at this point, but Jonathan was very excited to see a pea pod with six peas in it.

 

Saturday, June 30th, the barley and peas were ready for harvest. This would be the earliest that Jonathan has ever harvested a crop. He started by harvesting the perimeter of the field, which is what we call a buffer strip. This buffer cannot be sold as organic, since it is too close to a non-organic field.  It is handled separately from the time it gets harvested until it is sold.  After Jonathan harvested the buffer, I took over the combine for awhile.  We were able to finish harvest on July 3rd.

Two views from the combine – looking at the barley and peas at the point of entry and at the discharge.

 

This year had an interesting little twist. We were able to plant our barley and peas early, then harvest them early.  For the first time ever, we are double-cropping. That means we can grow another crop in the same field after the first crop has been harvested.  Our cousin, Charlie, noticed that we were still cultivating our soybeans during harvest.  He offered the use of his tractor, and his son, to disc the field before we brought out the field cultivator. Sid did an awesome job, and saved us a lot of time. This morning, Jonathan was up early to start digging the field to get it ready for planting soybeans. I took over after breakfast so Jonathan could get the planter going.

Jonathan finished planting soybeans a little after 9:00 this evening. He never imagined that he would be planting a second crop on Independence Day!  Now, we are back to the point of praying for rain, and watching carefully for the seeds to emerge.

Hope you enjoyed the Pictorial Tour!