Fall arrival… and its ‘just surface mud’

Unloading at sunset

Wow. It appears in this crazy, busy season of harvest I dropped the ball on this blog. As they say, something’s got to give. I do apologize for my unintended absence and the shortage of farm tales.

In Canuckland fall arrived quickly. Shortly after my last post in August I scented fall in the air; that special blend of crisp, cold, hint of fall leaf and chilled earth. Then the first days of October it snowed! Heavy, wet snow with quarter-sized snow flakes that merrily tumbled and rolled down from the heavens. (See photo on Facebook or Instagram)

Finally! A photo of myself, proof I was there, ha. Thanks Mom

Meanwhile, back home in SD, it wouldn’t stop raining. A little rain here and a couple of inches there. Enough rain that I didn’t head south (snowbird style and it really was warmer in SD) until the middle of October. Insert shock and awe. A killing frost (early) knocked out my tomatoes in mid-September; there went the salsa, bummer. I even got my garden cleared of all the remnants of plant life before I left. Hubs lucked out, he wasn’t stuck doing it. Although he did help. Scooter ‘helped’ by dragging the sweet corn stalks out in the far reaches of the lawn; at least he was helping me get steps in.

Friendly visitor for the day

 And the combining! I got my fill of combining and then some. However, a dry season in Canuckland does not prepare you for a wet season in SD. Or wolves, okay wolf, that pop out of the corn field adjacent like a jack in the box. I had been thinking of stopping for a wee minute to walk around the combine for quick look over and stretch my legs. And then again, I think I’ll stay in the cab. I was stalked until I finished the field as the wolf popped out every couple of rounds to check the cutting job, supervise, that kind of thing you know and maybe snag a spare ground squirrel for snack. (See Facebook or Instagram for a video as well.)

Keeping pace

 We’ve gotten a great jag of acres done in the week and a half we’ve had of good weather. Although I’ll admit I am tired of the mud or as Dad likes to say ‘it’s just surface mud, you’ll be fine.’ Meanwhile I can feel the heavy weight of the combine as it slowly sinks or how the back wheels get that weird, uncontrolled feeling of sliding around as I slide sideways down a tiny hill. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo as I floated my way across ‘surface mud’ and water. We’re good though, no worries. I haven’t buried it yet and my chances of low ground to do so are rapidly decreasing as we move into high ground. My tires may be completely covered in mud and leave a trail telling of my whereabouts (or where I had been), very Hansel and Gretel style, if you ignore that I don’t need to go back. 

Evening office view

If you find me in the field a la where’s waldo give me a wave, I usually feel the force shift and look up and wave back. 😊 Perhaps this week, you’ll see a buddy riding with. Farm dog Scooter has filled out his application for a ride-along and is ready to go to work!

May your harvest be going well, no rain in sight and have coffee in hand (I’ll be indulging in a pumpkin latte when/if I get to town).

60-80lb pumpkins. What to do with them?

Busy harvest days of summer

Scooter testing for harvest readiness with the 'crunch test'

The week has flown by! Like a kite on a string that’s taking you for the ride. Zooming along at a speedy 3.5 miles per hour but still. Or maybe it was the tune of crackling POP’s that filled with the air on Tuesday as canned beets and pickles sealed.

Harvesting canola

The canola swaths steadily feed into the hungry combine and the rich, black grain fills the tank. Hubs stays out of trouble trucking the grain from field to bin. I was only on the combine for a hot minute this week. Sad.

Hazy, dusty days at work

The ‘normal’ duties called to me. Not like a siren, more like ‘drag yourself to the gym because you ‘have’ to but really you’d rather be on the couch and watch tv while eating junk food.’ It’s beautiful weather outside, the sun is shining (or trying to through the thick smoky haze lately) and there’s a nice breeze. All that makes me feel like the first days of school again where I’d rather be outside than inside.

This dog is always ready to ride

Someone has to do the bookwork, perhaps file a few papers to make it look like something got done, rifle through the mail and buy the groceries. Food is good and eating that food is even better. Evens out the hangry side effects of long days in the field. Uff da.

Hubs sprayed a desiccation blend on the edible beans to even out the drying and prepare them for undercutting. This week he’ll begin the undercutting of the beans (and swathed) and hopefully close to the week’s end I’ll be back in the combine harvesting edibles. Wahoo!

Adjusting the spacing

He and his dad are finishing the canola today as I write this (again, I’m stuck with the normal duties of life and I should probably meal prep for the week if I’m going to be on the combine); with maybe a bit left for tomorrow.

Final adjustments on row spacing

Everyone is happy with the yields with the caveat of better than expected, considering the drought and the inconsistent, spotty rain showers.

With this crazy drought we’re on the fast track for harvest to be done here before I go south snow bird-style for harvest in SD. It just boggles my mind. We’re very thankful to have average to good yields and we know that our heavenly Father has been watching over us.

With the lack of rain, the lawn grass has died but I still have to mow because of the weeds that are somehow cropping up. Sigh. However, the garden is the only green spot on the yard (thanks to daily evening watering) as the trees think its fall and are turning the brilliant hues of autumn. And it’s way too early to begin raking leaves… so I think I’ll use the lawn mower to shred them to bits.

May your week be full of happy days of harvest, summer festivals and iced coffee.

Ready to undercut the edibles

Harvest August style

Panorama of my office view

Monday, we meet again. It’s been too soon. Really. Didn’t we meet last week? And agree to meet up a looong time from now? The week has flown by, the hours mysteriously vanished and my butt is flatter than a box. Not in a good way. It comes with the dubious honor of spending so much quality time in the combine cab, reigning from the throne. If one can reign over a field harvest in progress, that is.

In upbeat news, the wheat harvest has been completed with few mishaps and a better-than-expected yields (considering the drought). 

Onwards to canola! At least with canola, it’s swathed, cut to lay in giant strips across the field and this aids in the drying process and helps reduce pod shatter (loss of the grain). And bonus, since it’s swathed it means that driving in a straight line is easy and also unnecessary. I just have to follow the swath. (Because I still don’t drive a straight, beautiful line for a perfect, clean cut edge in the wheat field. You have to take in the sights, the same sights every round but still.)

What makes harvest in August so different? Well, for one, its August. My farming life before meant August was the month you finished hauling and shoveling out the grain bins. It’s a slightly different experience, harvesting in the high heat of August. This past week has been filled with heat extremes, little wind and a heavy haze from forest fires out west.

Supervisor is happy with the job so far

 Needless to say, my cab is dialed to arctic temps. I and the farm dog prefer it. All that glass you know really warms up the cab quickly. Scooter prefers the vast expanse of the floor and he takes up all of it.

Somehow there’s still room for my tote of water bottles, including one for the dog and his water bowl. Hubs will usually bring kibble for the dog but since its so hot Scooter ignores his food till the cooler evenings.

Unloading on the go while attempting to drive straight and not miss any wheat is always a question. Will I get all the wheat or will I get sucked into focusing on how close the tractor tires are to my 

header?

Then I look at my auger and see that its farther over the grain cart than it should be and a quick glance ahead shows that, yup, I definitely will have some swerves to even out going back on the next round. And maybe I don’t need to be within about a foot of the grain cart tractor tires. Sometimes it feels like magnets. The grain cart edges closer and the combine drifts over and then I and the grain cart driver both realize it at the same time and we gently drift apart.

Almost time to walk home :)

And the fun aspect of working close to home? Is that I can catch a ride to work in the semi (it’s been way too hot high 90’s F, 30’s C; to walk to work, especially with the farm dog) and at the end of the day I can walk home. What’s a mile or two when you’ve driven many but haven’t actually walked anywhere all day? The bugs I didn’t count on though. You can’t see them from the cab as they don’t hit the windshield like a car on the interstate. And those little black gnats swoop in from nowhere and hover over my head like my own personal text bubble. One that bites.

Power walking ensues. In cowboy boots. And there may have been some muttering.  Scooter was not impressed. It’s not too bad really and it was a good opportunity to break them in well. Then the next day it hits me that maybe they weren’t the best choice of footwear or else perhaps a slower walk would have been advisable. Scooter was just fine. His only side effect was a deep sleep from the exercise. 

May your week be summery (but not too hot), preferably near a beach and an iced latte nearby (pumpkin latte season is coming soon!). 

Future pumpkin puree (and pumpkin latte) right here! This could get up to 100lbs, I hope not!