A June Picnic

Despite the really dry winter,our wheat looked really great. This a picture off the East patch of the North place. Yea, it really gets confusing because different generations of Pete's family call some of the fields different names. I think there should be little signs on the fields.

Ryan loved helping his daddy this year! He rode on the combine for most of the day and was a great helper. Ryan's favorite thing to do right now is have a picnic.

He was REALLY excited to eat out in the field under the red truck. (yes, this is the truck that I don't really like at all, its big and hard to drive when it has alot of wheat on it)

Our  "CHEF" (Pete's mom)

Steak sandwich... yum!! Yes, I kept track of my points for Weight Watchers and I lost one pound that week. I think my exercise points cancelled out this sandwich really easily. The farm kitchen is also stocked with LOTS of fresh fruits, veggies, salad, salty chips when u need them and some chocolate in the drawer in the freezer for those times when its just plain necessary.

One of my favorite times of day in the field is dusk. It cools down and is really peaceful. It was hard to get a good picture of the combine going at night, I'll try again next year!

A typical harvest day ( if there is such a thing)

This Pete's favorite part, not sure if its because of the air conditioning or because he likes the way it sounds.

Several people have asked how harvest works here's a simple explanation as best as I understand it anyways. The wheat has to be dry to cut it. Every year its at a different time and it all depends on the weather. Pete cuts a small sample and the co-op lets us know if its dry enough. The preferable number is 13.5 and so sometimes that means late afternoon starts. So when we finally get going and the combine bin is full it goes into the wheat truck.

This is the best truck! Its actually fun to drive. Pete's grandpa bought this truck along time ago.

Sometimes we use the grain cart when the trucks are full or it takes a long time at the co-op. It also helps the combine not to stop. Pete's brother Trenton and his wife Christi were able to help this year so the combine unloaded into it the cart and then the cart into the wheat truck. Their help was such a HUGE Blessing!! We really enjoyed working with them!

Once the truck gets to the co-op its weighed before the wheat is dumped. They probe with that long silver thing which figures out the moisture number and how much weeds are in it. ( this sometimes takes a long time depending on the year, I have read lots of books at the co-op over the years)

Christi learned how to drive a standard and the blue truck this harvest!! She did SO AWESOME!!

Then after we wait in line, we get to dump the truck.

The guys asked if they were on candid camera.

Then we wait in line again for the truck to be weighed again. Sometimes this is where the custom cutters in big semis cut in line. It's supposed to be every other one but some them act like they didn't know the etiquette. It wasn't that bad this year. There have been times where a co-op worker has to come outside and direct traffic if it gets to bad. After the truck is weighed, they bring out a ticket with info on the moisture levels, test weight and dockage amounts. This info helps determine how much wheat is made per acre on the fields.

Then we go back out to the field and repeat the process for 6 to 7 days.

We had a great run of no rain so the cutting was continuous!!

Lily had a blast on the combine this year, she talked about it constantly too! We still have canola to cut since its not dry yet. That will be fun since we have never planted it before! Have I ever told you about riding on the back of a planter making sure the seeds get into the ground?? well thats another blog for another time..