Harvest Started

We started harvest on Wednesday!  Moved over to the Walters field Tuesday afternoon and cut a little swath to make sure the combines worked then hit the ball on Wednesday and today.  The yields are good, the crew is good, the weather is good.....all is good!

 I am 55 years old and I can safely say, that I remember at least 50 first days of harvest.  It's just as exciting at 55 as it was when I was 5!  There's just something about that first day....the sound of the machines, the smell of the cut straw and chaff, the crunch of the thrashed grain when you chew it to see if it will be dry enough to keep harvesting, the dust and the dirt.....just everything about the day is wonderfully satisfying.  It is after all, the culmination of two years of work.

Here are a few images of the first day of our 2016 wheat harvest.

Moving down the road to the Walter's field.

This is Reynald's machine.  New to us this year, is a second combine, which will be featured in later posts.

There's a combine in there somewhere!

It was a pretty day, with the clouds, a blue sky, amber waves of grain and a big green combine!

This is our support staff.  On the far left is the tonner, then the fire truck, Raymond the fuel truck and Gigi, the gas Gator, towing the air compressor.  Everyone is put to use every day, EXCEPT the fire truck!  We hope that never gets used!!

Reynald in the combine, about to unload in to the grain cart with Alicia driving the tractor.

Alicia filling my truck, Starbucks, with grain.

The end of the auger swivels forward and back, with a  hydraulic cylinder, so that she can get the front and back of the truck full.  This isn't as easy as she makes it look!

Sometimes you have to wait for a train when you are either coming or going to the grain storage elevator.  

Thunder storms predicted for tomorrow.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that they don't materialzize.  Rain and thunder and lightening would not be appreciated at this point in time.

Day before harvest

With Alicia home to help with harvest, I am a little more bold about tackling big projects, before the really big project starts!  For several years I have intended to paint the bathroom on the main floor and the laundry room.  I have never been satisfied with the paint color in those two rooms.

When Alicia is around, all you have to do is mention that this or that project needs to be done, and next thing you know, it's done!  Yesterday she tackled the bathroom, today we are finishing up the laundry room.  This afternoon we are planning to move harvest equipment to the field where we will start cutting.  We'll cut a swath to see if the wheat is a ripe as it looks, and hopefully be running full steam ahead by tomorrow.  Stay tuned!!!!

Main floor bath, prepped and painted!

Alicia doing the trim work in the laundry room.

Fruit harvest

Alicia arrived on the farm this past Sunday.  Once her feet hit the ground, she set to work.  Monday morning we picked lots of different kinds of fruit.  The rest of the pie cherries, currants, goose berries and raspberries!  We found a home for the three boxes of pie cherries, and the rest of the produce we processed and popped either in to the freezer or in to jam jars!

Raspberries are heavy feeders.  Last fall I put a fairly heavy dose of chicken manure near and around the canes and this summer I have been dumping the water to the plants.

We've had a bountiful harvest as a result!

Our red currant bush always produces much more than we can use.  

This isn't even a heavily loaded branch, compared to some.

This gooseberry variety is sweet enough to eat out of hand.  We froze enough for one pie, gave some away, and the rest we are eating each time we buzz past the bush!

Can you see the sharp thorns on the branches?  Gooseberries make you pay a heavy price for harvest.

Three more boxes of pie cherries.  We cut a deal with Lynnie.....we'll pick if you take them and pit them.  She went for that deal which made all parties involved, very happy!

Finally, this pie cherry tree is picked clean of it's fruit.  

One day this winter, at a Spokane Fly Fishers meeting in Spokane, I met this very nice fellow named Jim.  He learned, through our conversation, that I am a farmer.  He asked if we would mind if he came out during harvest, to shoot some photos of our operation.  I said, "of course, that would be fine".  One day this week, Jim and his friend Gary, came out to scout the territory.  It was a beautiful day, and while they didn't ever intend to shoot harvest (because that's not happening yet!) they did find plenty to engage their cameras!

This is Gary.  He's a retired National Park Ranger, who has taken up photography now that he has time for hobbies.

Baxter always has to get in on the action!

Jim, also retired, is doing his best to perfect the art of photography.  

It was a beautiful day to be out and about.  Everyone was pleased, humans, chickens and dogs!

Harvest is foremost in our minds these days.  We've had a bit of a reprieve due to cooler weather the last two weeks.  We are getting close, very, very close, to being ready to go.  Today, we are expecting to start on Tuesday, July 19th.  That's the plan today.  It could change by tomorrow, or even tonight, but for now, that's the plan!

Yard and Garden update

A few days ago I took a few photos of the yard and garden.  I've kind of neglected everything due to farming and entertaining.  This week I'm hoping to get flowers deadheaded and weeds pulled in the garden and flower beds before harvest starts, which could happen the end of this week!

More flower photos to follow!!!!

Love these fuchsia in these old buckets.  

A close up.  So pretty

Love this pot of succulents with the Graham Thomas rose.

This petunia is called "Starry Night".  

Also love this petunia.  It's so bright and happy.

These dwarf shasta daisies practically glow in the evening light.  

It's like a sea of daisies.

Proof that the yard needs to be weeded.  This meadow salsify plant has been hiding long enough to finally be spotted by the watchful gardeners eye.  

These daisies are among my favorite plants.

Purple cone flowers.  These guys go to seed like mad if you don't dead head them.

Easter Lily that I planted last year after Easter.  Rewarding us with a beautiful bloom this summer.

The garden, though woefully behind, is finally beginning to find it's legs and growing.

The corn wasn't knee high by the 4th of July but it's growing!

A few peppers are set on.  

The potato patch is starting to close the rows.

Garlic is almost ready to harvest....probably after the wheat harvest.

Here's something that needs to be attended to this week.  Purslane, a terribly invasive weed that will happily multiply and take over in a moments notice.

The bee garden continues to bloom.  Most of the poppies are finished and now the gloriosa daisies are in full bloom.  The sunflowers are also blooming and a few other fun things.  The bees continue to be happy, happy, happy!

Another gloriosa daisy that I love.

Sunflowers!

Poppies and sweet peas.  

Coneflowers in the bee garden.

This burgundy coreopsis is so interesting.  

Poppies and a dwarf shasta daisy.

Still lots of color in the bee garden.

Lavender surrounding the propane tank.  

Coming back from the bee garden, there was a standoff between Sir Charles and Baxter!

Finally this scene embodies the verses from America......oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.......