Finding my harvest groove again

Hubs in the green machine coming my way

First off, there’s nothing more exciting on a Monday morning while savoring that first cup of excellent coffee than watching the tree guy demolish the dying, brittle poplar trees in your front yard. Even the farm pup got excited, peeking around the curtain with his nose pressed to the glass and standing enthralled with all the action. My week is off to a great start.

Tree guy changing up the landscape for us

Clearly at some point we’ll be talking harvest… why not lead with that? I don’t have a good reason, do you? The pup just yawned when I asked him so let’s get to it. As you’ll see in the photos to follow I finally swathed out some time to operate the combine, in 35 foot increments, of course. I decided a break from canning was in order (and the kitchen was really hot) so I might have brought some food as bribery, and a distraction, so I could combine. Hubs was more than happy to move over to the pup seat while I surveyed my new (and temporary kingdom) from the captain’s chair.

Of course combining on the pancake flat of the Canuckland prairies isn’t too much of a challenge but I’ll admit some of the fun leaks out when you’re also running on gps. In my photo, I’ve got a little hand on the wheel but that was more for proof that I was here. You might note the little wheel on the top right of the wheel. That little bugger is following instructions from the gps and turning the wheel without me. Although I must caution you, absolutely do not forget to move your fingers out of the way (if not off the wheel entirely) as the wheel turns because the ez-steer will give a nice nip of a pinch to your fingers. You might even find yourself unexpectedly speaking a few words of a different language. I give this caution out of professional experience.

Back in the combine again

Even if all I really had to do was turn the combine around at the end of each swath or unload on the go, it was great being back in the saddle again. I still say my red combine back home has a quieter cab. A frustration that day was the moisture sensor didn’t want to stay calibrated. We’ve tried a few different things but it’s looking like it might come down to replacing the wiring harness. And that would be so much fun. Here’s to hoping it will calibrate and stay calibrated (it tells you what the moisture levels are in the crop).

This week I’ll be back combining, in between canning. With any luck, I’ll get to help start on the canola. Hopefully I won’t find a beaver hut and plug the feeder house. (A beaver hut is a large pile of swathed canola, instead of an even row, that tends to plug the ‘mouth’ of the combine.) My first year combining canola, I managed to do that a handful of times. Let me just say, your reflexes get sharp and fast, when that happens (a lightning fast hand snaps out and flicks off switches, turning off the head and idling the engine down).

Farm pup watching the combine in the distance

After I combined towards the end of the evening, I went back and got the gator and my farm pup. He wasn’t too thrilled about being left behind. He does LOVE a combine ride. The trick is to get him IN the cab. Now that he’s about fully grown, it’s more of a challenge to heave him up the ladder. This evening though, I only took him for a ride out to the wheat field.

Unimpressed with the garden haul

May your Monday morning be positive, caffeinated and productive.

P.S. I now have an Instagram account, a Facebook page and a couple of pins on Pintrest. Please like, follow and share to your heart’s content. (Of course, all roads lead back to here.)