Farming: Getting to Use Big Equipment & Play in the Dirt



Winter wheat looks like a large lawn or golf course

 Spring, it's in the air and the scent of the freshly tilled earth is like no other smell. It's one of my very favorite smells, even as a child I have loved the smell of dirt (so guess I really was destined to be a farmer's wife! =).

In honor of Earth Day (April 22) and because soil is a farmer's most important resource, we  like to think of themselves as the original environmentalists. Here is a YouTube video from a grad student that is so heartfelt and has good points of interest, that I wanted to share the video and the source that I got it from.

Feeding America, Day 20 & 21 of Harvest 2011

Family written in drift wood

The life of a farmer is centered around our crops and their cycles.  When it is time to plant, tend the crops and harvest, that time frame takes precedent over everything as the crops and Mother Nature wait for no one.   It is just the way of life for farmers, and yes, sometimes it’s hard especially when there is a fun family event or a family emergency arises.  There have been a couple of times in my farming life that I’ve sat in the hospital waiting room by myself when our daughter or another family member were hospitalized because my sweet farmer had to leave (Joe was at  my side and did not leave until the crisis had passed, they were in the recovery room & were okay) as he had to get the crop in the ground.   So this past Labor Day week-end found us waiting on the ripening of the spring wheat and Farmer Joe was able to head out of town with the rest of my family for a lake get away at a house we rented.  While he was only able to stay just a little over a day before having to head back to take his seat on the combine, he did get to help celebrate middle grand-angel, Natalie’s 3^rd birthday.  Am I complaining?  No, for us and the rest of America’s farmers, it is a fact of life, but one we cherish.    If you have never seen the YouTube video titled, “So God made a farmer” and narrated by Paul Harvey, it is worth a view to see what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/embed/QuzhwkaNC40?rel=0

Natalie all smiles

As for how harvest is going?  Well a quick update, Farmer Joe had a minor breakdown yesterday (Monday) and had to head to another combine dealer about an hour away to get a part so he would be ready to go on Tuesday.  This harvest has plagued us with breakdowns and flat tires on the semi trucks as well as Farmer Jay had two flat tires on his combine from running over antlers.  The deer and elk like to graze (grrrrr) in farm fields.   Farmer Jay finished the spring wheat at the Tammany farm and is now harvesting garbanzo beans.  Farmer Joe is still working on finishing the spring wheat before he starts on garbanzo beans at the Genesee farm. 

Semi trucks in line at the warehouse waiting to be unloaded

Tracks of past activity.  A newly harvested wheat field

As for this farm wife, I’m gearing up and getting ready for our 3^rd Dinner on the Farm that will start this Saturday.  I will be blogging about that too and hope you will stay tuned to read about it as well.

The menu for the farm dinner

As always, thanks for stopping by and email me at idahofarmwife@gmail.com if you have questions. All my best, Gayle.

Waiting for Harvest

Good Morning everyone!  All is quiet on the home front for now....

A view of my lavender and the wheat field that starts just
inches from where our yard stops and the fields start

Farmers understand the art of patience…. as everything we do depends on the weather, and we all know - you can't hurry it up or make it do what you want.  The late cold spring delayed the planting of the crops and the cool summer weather has meant that harvesting the crops is also late by about 2 weeks.  So here it is the 1^st of August and not a combine in the field.  We are hoping to move our combines down to the Tammany farm which is 37 miles away from our main farm here in Genesee.  In normal years we would be about ½ way through harvest down there and gearing up to move up to Genesee to begin harvesting the home place around August 10.  But this year we are hoping to begin on Monday, August 8^th.  But as Farmer Joe says, a late harvest usually means better crops, so he is patiently waiting for the crops to ripen.  So the combines are out of the machine sheds, have had a good checking over and are ready to go once the crops ripen.  Before the combines roll out, I wanted to take a few pictures,  so last night I took out my trusty 1950’s bike with its fat tires that makes navigating the wash-boardy gravel roads easier and rode the ¾ of a mile over to the farm shop.



The crops are starting to ripen, here you can see the parts of the
field are starting to turn golden, but lots of green can be seen



Here is Farmer Jay's combine parked by the shop

A view from underneath the "header", the tines shown help gather
up the wheat as it is cut  by the row of shears on the bottom of the header

Farmer Joe's combine in the forefront and Farmer Jay's combine in the back

One of the Anderson farm semi trucks parked by the farm shop and
waiting to be called into action once harvest can begin

Another view of Farmer Joe's combine by the barn and
shown in front of the garbanzo field. This field will be ready
for harvest mid to late September

So as I peddled home, I stopped to take a picture of our house from the road (below). This is our neighbor's field and again you can see the gold and green colors of the wheat.   I love harvest, but I know once it begins the days fly by in a flurry of activity and before I know it, Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  On our farm, once harvest begins, we will harvest wheat in August, then the garbanzo bean harvest is on its heals and harvested in September.  In October is when the Fall seeding takes place and usually takes the entire month.  Then once all the equipment is put away, it seems like it is almost time for Thanksgiving.... whew!

Our house in the middle of the wheat fields

When I looked the opposite way, here is the entrance to the church that we attend and were married in, where our daughters were baptized,  where oldest daughter Jen was married and where  the youngest daughter  Kaitlyn hopes to be married as well.  As you can see this beautiful church has very special ties to our family. 

My bike parked at the entrance of our beloved church

Genesee Valley Lutheran Church, a very photographed
church with it's picturesque setting

As always, glad you stopped by and if you have questions or comments, feel free to email me at idahofarmwife@gmail.com or leave a comment.  Stay tuned as I'll be posting more pictures of harvest once it arrives.  All my best, Gayle