Tag: harvest

Now What?

The 2012 harvest season has ended for us. The guys are wrapping up the tillage, and should be done some time this afternoon. Many of our friends and family ask us, “Now what?” Some may assume that we kick back and take it easy until spring work starts again. While the most physical part of the work is finished for this crop year, we are not done with our work.

Jonathan and our youngest daughter, Laura, will be headed for a 16 day missions trip to Tanzania next week. They will be working at the Kikatiti school – a place that our church has sponsored for many years. They will be bringing many used eyeglasses with them, and some of the team will be matching vision needs with the glasses we bring. Others on the team will be doing some maintenance work. Laura and a few other women will be teaching girls how to use the sewing machine the was purchased for the school. They will work on the basics of sewing, with the hopes of teaching them how to make things to sell. After they finish their work at the school, they will be going on a safari. How cool! I am very excited for them, yet a tad nervous about keeping things going here by myself.

In the winter, we still have pig chores to attend to, and a lot of paperwork. It is also the time of year when we take a serious look at what varieties of seeds we want to grow next year. We have a yield monitor in the combine, and we’ll print out the yield maps to see what varieties we want to plant again and what varieties we will drop.  We store all of our crops in grain bins, and will be selling throughout the fall and into next year. We work with our buyers to arrange hauling dates that work well with both of our schedules – although sometimes it would be nice if the weather would cooperate on the cold winter days!

Both Jonathan and I will be attending meetings this winter. They are sort of like our continuing education classes. So far, we have the Minnesota Farm Bureau Annual meeting, and three organic conferences on the schedule. I will also have a few meetings for various other committees I am on. I love winter meetings, and networking with other farmers. The education components can really help set the tone for the coming crop season as well. It doesn’t matter what kind of farming you do, it is always helpful to see what is the latest and greatest thing.

Winter is also when I get to have fun in the kitchen. I have been collecting recipes from blogs over the past year, and am excited to have the time to try ones I haven’t gotten to yet.  When the kids all went to college, I warned Jonathan that I may be trying out all kinds of new recipes. He is pretty game to try what I come up with, fortunately!

One of the first recipes sent to me by my good friend is one I have posted above my stove. I see it every day, and have been patiently waiting until I have the time to whip up a batch. This is one that will require an event to bring them to, otherwise I will want to eat them all!

This blog is written in a combination of Swedish and English. The writers culinary passions are rivaled by her photography. This blog is a treat for both the eyes and the taste buds! The first recipe I want to try is her Perfect Expresso Chocolate Cupcakes.  Call Me Cupcake

Another blog that I thought was fun, and had a yummy looking recipe for Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream Frosting, is the Brown Eyed Baker. (Notice a theme here?) Her blogging style is one I enjoy reading.  Brown Eyed Baker

On the savory side of things, since we cannot live on cupcakes alone, is a Gratin recipe from Dairy Carrie. This is another blog that has a writing style that I really like, along with some great recipes and awesome information about her dairy farm.

I love, love, love reading cookbooks. I read them like some people read novels. I picked this one up on a shopping trip with my girls, and can’t wait to try out many yummy looking recipes.  This should keep me busy for the winter!

Okay, I’ve given you three blogs and one book to find. I would love to hear about your favorite blogs and cookbooks!

Another Fun Filled Summer in Photos

The house is pretty quiet this week. The laundry piles are smaller, and the milk lasts a little longer. It is official. Jonathan and I are empty nesters!

This summer was pretty busy, which is how we prefer our summers to be. I’d like to share some of the fun with you in the photos below.

Most of the family was able to surprise my brother and his family at a Twins game in the beginning of July. Bruce had the honor of raising the Twins Territory flag. It was pretty cool.

The family – 14 out of a possible 19 made it!

The game: Twins won, with the help of a couple home runs at the hands of Trevor Plouffe.

A week later, Christina left for a five week stay in Costa Rica as a part of her Spanish studies. She missed out on our intense 48 hours of fun at Lake Ethel.

Jonathan likes to work hard, and play hard.

After we returned from the lake, Jonathan and Laura attended a national youth gathering for a week. They had a great trip, but were very happy to be back home again. Pretty much as soon as they returned, it was time to harvest wheat.

I took my turn in the combine for a little while.

Jonathan harvested most of the wheat, while I helped Laura get her projects ready for the county fair. Laura did the work, but I was her adviser.

The vanity Laura refinished, which is now displayed in my entry.

Laura competed in her final horse show at this years fair. She enjoys participating in the trail class the most. I think she’s pretty good at it.

Laura also brought three Boer goats to the county fair. This year’s fair was filled with a little drama. During the goat show, a severe thunderstorm rolled through and we all needed to take shelter. A few days later, another storm rolled through and we were once again waiting it out in the horse barn. 

Laura in the show ring.

For the first time in my life, I was in the ring during the State Fair line up. Can you spot my shoes?  I won’t quit my day job…


In between the county fair and the state fair, I worked at Farm Fest. Farm Fest is a three day agricultural event where vendors bring their equipment, software, expertise, or whatever they have that serves the agriculture community to southwest Minnesota. I help to sell pork chops on a stick in the Farm Bureau tent. I totally forgot to take photos this year, so you’ll have to close your eyes and imagine a delicious pork chop being handed to you by a local FFA member or Farm Bureau volunteer.  After a good day of recovery, I always look forward to the next year!

During the county fair and Farm Fest weeks, we had a visitor! Our former exchange student, who we now refer to as our German daughter, spent two weeks with us. It was great to catch up in person!

Viktoria at Alexander Ramsey Park in Redwood Falls. A beautiful park that we went to a few times while she stayed with us for a year.

While I was running around like a crazy woman, Jonathan was home being a great husband and dad. When he gets hungry for cookies, he just whips up a batch. They typically don’t last very long.


This brings us to the Minnesota State Fair. I love the fair! Laura went up with other 4-H members from our county for the 4 days of the Livestock encampment. Christina and I went up to watch the goat show, and then we walked around a tiny bit. We saved most of our fun for when we planned to go back the following week. 
Laura earned a purple ribbon in showmanship! She was pretty amazed, since this goat had been super jumpy at our county fair. He calmed down quite a bit once he entered the show ring.

We always check out the Agriculture/Horticulture building to see if Jonathan won any ribbons for his seed samples. He did! This year he received blue ribbons on both of his wheat varieties that were submitted.

Before we left, Christina and I had to find my new favorite treat. I am lactose intolerant, and ice cream really affects me, even when taking Lactaid. It was super hot, so this frozen banana on a stick was just the thing.

After our second visit to the fair, it was time to finish packing. All three girls moved to college last weekend.

Part of what we moved. I am so blessed that all three girls are in the same town. Two at one college, the youngest four blocks away at another.

We are now in the patiently waiting for soybean and corn harvest mode. There is still plenty that needs to get done before we are ready. Jonathan is loading up wheat that was sold, and will be sweeping out the grain bins when they are empty.  He will be making sure that the combine and trucks are clean so we do not have any wheat in our soybeans. I will be working on getting our house ready for family to stay. Once the soybeans are ready, I’ll be running the combine while Jonathan hauls the loads in the semi.  We plan on fitting in a few dates here and there as well.  So far this empty nest thing is looking pretty good!

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!

 

 

2011 Harvest – Oh What a Relief!

This year was my first year as full time combine driver. I learned how to harvest wheat, barley and field peas, and oats and field peas in the late summer, but Jonathan did most of that harvesting.  When it was “go time” for soybeans, we got the combine all ready, and headed out to the first field.

Jonathan started by taking off the buffer strips – areas of soybeans next to non-organic fields that need to be hauled into town for sale, usually 25-50 feet wide. I jumped in to learn how to operate the soybean head, and how to avoid things like rocks and tile intakes. While Jonathan was driving, we smelled smoke. Not good. Turns out that a small rock got wedged into the cylinder, causing sparks, which ignited the dry material inside the combine. We drove it to the neighbors and poured water on it for a long time, not knowing exactly where the problem had started. Once we determined its location, we concentrated water on that area until we didn’t see any smoke. Jonathan went out to harvest some beans to flush the water and wet beans out. He would need to handle those separately.   Once he got going again, I went out to start combining on my own. When I got to the side of the field he was on, I noticed that the smoke was once again pouring out of the combine, a little worse this time. Jon drove it home while I went ahead in the pickup and hooked up hoses. We opened everything up, and poured water on the area for a long time. We then let it sit overnight. What a way to start harvest!

Once the mechanic took a look at the combine and determined that no real damage was done, we once again went out to start soybean harvest. Things were pretty uneventful after that. I cleaned out the rock trap regularly, which is a very dusty job, but I wasn’t about to take a chance on another fire!

I had mentioned to Jonathan before harvest started that it would be nice if he could take my place about every four hours so I could stretch…and potty.  Confession time…I refuse to “take care of business” out in the field. Yep, I’m one of those ladies. (I also think looking good while working on the farm isn’t bad.) I have heard that a satellite can read a license plate. My behind is quite a bit bigger than that. I’m not taking any chances! I don’t like camping, either. Camping, to me, is staying at a Super 8. I have stayed at campgrounds in cabins with central shower houses and bathrooms, but it isn’t my first choice of places to stay. If it means spending time with family that I don’t normally get to see, I will put on a brave face and deal with it for a weekend.

Jonathan was usually pretty good about taking my place for my “breaks”, especially if I gave him enough warning. It worked well, I thought. Until the last day of harvest. We had about 5-5 1/2 hours of work left in our final corn field, and I really wanted to be the one to finish it. I brought my coffee with me that morning to make sure I could get an earlier start.  Everything was going quickly until the last three rounds.  There were cottontail rabbits and pheasants that couldn’t figure out that leaving the rows I was in would be smart.

By the last round, I really had to go. But there were four bunnies, and four pheasants running in front of the combine.  Running back and forth between the eight rows that were left in the field. I was just crawling along, growing more miserable by the second. It seemed like the longest round of my life!  Finally we were done! I just had to unload the combine, jump into the pickup, and hurry home.  I called Jonathan to tell him the good news that we were done, and he told me to be careful of the pickup door. What?! I was in a super big hurry! What if the door fell off and I couldn’t drive it home? Panic had set in. There were about 10 men working just across the tree line from where I was. There was no way I was going to be stuck out here! Thankfully, the door didn’t fall off, and I was able to make it home in time. Whew!

The 2011 harvest season was a huge learning opportunity for me. I really enjoyed my time in the combine, and it made me appreciate what the guys have gone through every year.  Mostly, I appreciate the patience Jonathan has had for me and for making this an enjoyable experience. And now that we have the crop safely in the bins I can say…oh what a relief!