The post Fun Fact Friday – Barley Harvest! appeared first on Carolyn CAREs.
]]>We combine our barley with our “soybean head” while the barley is still standing tall in the field. Part of the reason is that we also have field peas mixed in. For more on growing barley and field peas together, click here.
Other farmers swath their barley first, let it dry on the ground, then combine it using a “pick up head”.
Yesterday, I read a blog about barley harvest where they swath the barley first. The photos on Griggs Dakota are awesome. You need to go check out the photos, and learn another way of harvesting barley.
Thanks for stopping by!
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]]>The post Seeding Wheat appeared first on Carolyn CAREs.
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After the insides are vacuumed, we need to drop the trap door at the top of every seed tube. There are 60 seed tubes on our drill. I know that, because I count them every time I drop them.
After the seed is emptied, I make sure each meter trap door is adjusted correctly for the type of seed we are using. Wheat seed is set with the narrowest opening, field peas have the medium opening. If I don’t get the openings set correctly, we’ll either lose a lot of seed, or won’t get the seed planted at the rate we want. In this photo, you can sort of see the little lever I’m grabbing to drop the seed. That same lever is the one that sets the width of the opening.
Once the tubes have been emptied, and the levers are on the correct notch, we are ready to refill. The drill is brought out to the field, switched from transport mode to field mode, then we are ready to load it up with seed.
More farmers are now using a mini-bulk system. Each mini-bulk bag holds the equivalent of 40 bags of seed, which saves on labor and paper bag costs…and for me, this year, chiropractor costs. The bags are hoisted up by the forklift, and dumped into a seed tender wagon. The seed tender has an auger system that is powered by the tractor’s hydraulic system.
After the seed tender has the right amount of seed in it, we pull it to the field with the tractor. Not a job I’m particularly fond of, but sometimes you just have to put on your big girl panties and do it. I hate transporting equipment on the tar roads, mostly due to the impatience of other drivers. If everyone slows down, and gives farm equipment plenty of room, all will be happier.
There are times when we still use small bags, depending on how much of that particular variety we are going to plant. For those situations, we drive the pickup – which has been loaded with the seed – out to the field. The end gate is about the same height as the walking platform on the back of the drill, so carrying bags from pickup to drill isn’t too difficult.
After we get the drill full of seed, Jonathan can start seeding.This brings up a question that I asked when I was still a new farm wife. Why is it called seeding wheat? When we use the grain drill, we use the term ‘seeding’. When we use the corn planter, we use the term ‘planting’. Soybeans can either be seeded with the grain drill (we call it solid seeding the soybeans), or planted with the corn planter. We plant our soybeans with the corn planter, because that is what works best for us. Just like everything else, different farms have different things that work for them.
Some of the photos above were taken at night, and some in the morning. If we were close to finishing a field, Jonathan would push it a little so we could get done with that field. There were a few nights of little sleep, but we got it all in before we received a nice rain. As of Mother’s Day, we can see the first wheat fields starting to show a green haze. One of my favorite things in spring is seeing the seeds pop, and the fields slowly turn green. (The photo below is barley, but the wheat field looks very similar…the barley was across the road from the house, so it was the easiest to photograph.)
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]]>Enjoy the ride!
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]]>The post Pictorial Tour of Our Barley & Field Pea Season appeared first on Carolyn CAREs.
]]>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!
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]]>The post Things I’ve Learned appeared first on Carolyn CAREs.
]]>Even though it is a stressful time of year, learning to balance the farm wife part of my life with the mom and housewife part, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I may not have the fastest pit times in the neighborhood, but I’m working on it!
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