Small Helper

Our nephew really likes to help Uncle Bill during Harvest but with already being in sports, he doesn't make it down here much anymore.  Luckily he got here Sat. because we got done combining Sun. around noon!  It doesn't usually happen, but field work (ripping) was done soon after - on Mon. night! 

Now Bill and Bryan are getting the quad trac ready for putting on anhydrous.  The soil temp. has to be consistently 50 degrees or below so it will be a while.  In the meantime, all the equipment has to be cleaned and put away.  

We're still having great Fall weather and actually need rain.  It's been almost a month since we've had any.  The corn crop in our area, with our nice 1" rains this summer, is very plentiful.  Yesterday several area elevators were closed so farmers were bringing theirs to our elevator causing a very long line. Some towns are dumping corn in the streets!  They say that hasn't been done for 15 years.  

Bradgate, IA - the pile is lots bigger since this was taken

 

Bad Day Continued

If you read yesterday's post, this is a continuation of that - my bad day this harvest season.

So after Bill rescued me from the cemetery predicament, he went on his way back up north to his field, and I made it over to mine - whew.  And had a good day ripping.  

Later I moved to another field and that was going well until just before dark.  I was going around the edge of the field which used to be REALLY stressful for me but now it's ok.  Bill likes for us to do a good job in the corners and back up and rip as close as we can to get rid of as many weeds as possible.  Sometimes this is easier than others depending on whether or not there are still fences around the field, a pile of rocks in the corner, etc.  Why we still have fences that used to be there to keep the cattle in I don't know.  Bill says that I can take them out any time I want to work on that.

In the last corner - after going all around a big field with several corners and other issues - there were weeds and appeared to be no fence in the corner!  So I backed up really far, put the ripper down and took off.  I got a little ways forward and all of a sudden it started pulling hard which seemed strange - something had to be wrong.  I looked back and saw a big mess IN the middle of the ripper!  Got out and OMG, there was a huge metal gate stuck in the middle of the ripper along with a lot of dirt and weeds!  Where did that come from?!  So I raised the ripper to see if it would just drop it but no such luck - it was in there bad (along with a lot of dirt that the gate had eventually drug with it).

So I called Bill to come help - again.  While I waited for him to get there I pulled as many weeds out of the way as I could and cut a little wire, etc.  (I have my own wire cutters in the tractor for this very reason!)  It got dark.  It took him quite a while to cut enough wire to get this thing loose.  And turns out it was not one gate but TWO!!  OMG!

But Bill couldn't be mad because they had left these gates, laying flat, there for several years once they weren't needed anymore.  And weeds grew up in and around them.  

He was nice and finished going along the last edge with fence for me, and I think I quit for the night at that point.  Soon after, I got an e mail that there was no meeting - but it would be soon.  Whew - what a day but all turned out ok.  As Tim has said before, as long as nobody got hurt it's ok.  I was amazed and thankful that not even any equipment was bent or headstones knocked over or anything!  My "lucky" day!

  

Happy Halloween!!!

Where did October go???

We got completely done with harvest yesterday.  Just in time before the weather turned colder.  We had 50's yesterday and today it's sunny but with a high of only about 38. 

Tim has been traveling back and forth to West Bend to get tanks of anhydrous this week.  He brought them to the fields for Bill to apply them.  That took about three days.  I thought I was done ripping the corn fields and the bean field end rows Wed. night, but Bill called yesterday morning and needed me to do some more here at our house which didn't take long.  The only thing left now is getting the equipment power washed and put away before the snow flies.  The guys hate that job and always hope for a non-windy, slightly warmer day to get that done.

anhydrous rig

We're tired and getting caught up on sleep, laundry, mail, bill paying, etc.    

Harvest Time Activities

Friday was a busy day around here.  A water pump belt broke on my tractor so I ran to West Bend for a new belt and Bill put that on, and I got that 75 acre field done that night.  One of the semis had a problem that they were able to take care of too.  We have about a week of combining left Bill says and the weather looks good.

As I was ripping the field, I got to see this pretty little tree at the farm house there.  The leaves here have probably been at their peak this past week.  Many have lost their leaves already.

 


Peggy had picked up the twins (our niece & nephew) Thurs. so Matthew was riding with everybody and had lunch with us.   Bill's sister and niece, Ryanne, came Fri. night.  We were finally able to give birthday gifts to all 3 kids.

We had guys here at our machine shed putting new doors up.  I did a blog post last winter about the doors on our new shed having a delamination problem right away.  We've been on the list to get new ones for a long time since they had installed many doors with this problem.  They replaced one on Fri. and will do the other one tomorrow.  It'll be good to get this done.

Bill's brother arrived Fri. night so he has been doing my job since yesterday so yesterday I got to babysit our great nieces and took them to Community Orchard in Ft. Dodge - great fun!  I'll have several more pictures of our day in my next post.  

 www.CindyKCreations.com
 

Pretty Southern Indiana

I've been back to visit in Indiana the past few days.  We've been able to visit some relatives we haven't seen for a while.  Glenn, Rob, Ross, Reed, Mom and I met Uncle Neal & Aunt Jan for supper one night.  We met Uncle Dale & Aunt Dana and two of my cousins for lunch another day. 

We had not seen most of my dad's relatives since he died seven years ago so we went down to southern Indiana and had lunch with several of them and got to visit  two of my cousins and five of my aunts and uncles.  Unfortunately, I didn't take the picture before Uncle Wayne and my cousin Paul had left.  Uncle Rich and Aunt Lois are the ones I've talked about here who used to grow melons and tomatoes to sell in the Knox County area which is well known for having great cantaloups.

cousin Cheryl, Aunt Vera, Aunt Sharon, Mom, Aunt Lois, Uncle Rich

It was a perfect Fall day to travel south from Carmel to the Freelandville and Vincennes area.   We stopped at an Amish store which is always fun.  The further south we went, we started seeing lots of combines working in the fields - working in both corn and beans.  

I think these farmers (above) are the family that now live where my grandparents did.  They farm lots of acres.  The house and buildings sure look different.  A new machine shed is in the place of two of the old barns.

We were able to visit at Uncle Wayne & Aunt Vera's house.  I love their old brick house that's back off the road down a long lane.  Uncle Wayne and Aunt Vera farmed together all of their lives until just a few years ago.  They're very happy that I'm doing the same with Bill in Iowa.  It's fun to talk farming with Uncle Wayne.  Wish he could come to Iowa.

We also visited long time friends, the Walters (they read my blog - hi!) and Dad's cousin, Liz in Freelandville where dad was from.  The Walters have a nice house with big yard and an amazing view.  Liz is busy right now feeding the crew that is harvesting her ground.  She takes them hot sandwiches for tailgate lunches and goes back out with cookies for them at 2:00.

Mom and I even got to stop at Gray Brothers Cafeteria on the way home.  It's a favorite restaurant of people all over.  We used to make a special trip there a couple of times a year.  Grandma & Grandpa Randall really liked it too.

It was a really nice day and I was teary a lot of the time.  Lots of memories of times there and knowing that I won't be back much with living so far away now.

We Are Done

As of today, we are officially done with harvest.  Bill & Tim got done with anhydrous today, and I ripped the last field.  We got done combining Thurs. evening just before the elevator closed.  I was right behind the combine ripping that field when Bill's brother Jim got here so he took over.  Then he ripped the bean field end rows over the weekend.  Now all of the equipment has to be power washed and put away before the snow starts although we did have an inch one day last week.

We had a fairly warm but windy day yesterday so I got busy and took out window screens and scrubbed them and our outdoor chairs and things to get them put away clean.  Also cut off iris leaves and some other perennials.  I'd like to get a few windows washed but supposedly rain is coming in the next couple of days so maybe it's a good thing I haven't gotten to them yet. 

the anhydrous rig - long!

corn peeking above the top of the combine

our last harvest meal made for us by Aunt Bette Jo

the snow we had already last week

Harvest News

With snow in the forecast for Tues., all the farmers around here quickly switched from combining corn back to beans.  The corn can hold up better than the beans if snowed on so trying to get the beans done.

I got caught up with the ripping today.  My goal was to be done by 6:00 so I could get home to watch Sunday Night Football tonight.  It's the Colts vs. the Broncos.  In case you don't know, the long time Colts quarterback, Peyton Manning, now plays for the Broncos.  Should be an exciting game!!  Mom tells me that all the Indy area hotels are booked and fountains were being dyed blue downtown.  One of my friends said "everyone" had on their blue Colts shirts today.  I did too here in Iowa but I was the only one here! 

Today I finished Tim's field and then moved to a 40 acre field.  I got both done right at 6:00!  Then had to drive the tractor to Tim's house, grab our pickup and go to another field where Bill had started combining beans to wait for Tim to get there with the tractor and grain cart.  Then I dropped him off at our bin site where a semi was that he needed to take to Bill's mom's bean field where Bill will go after he finishes the other field.  Farming involves lots of moving!  I got home about 6:45.  Bill plans to combine as long as he can depending on the moisture tonight or until trucks are full.

It got very windy this evening which made 50 degrees feel cold.  

Yesterday I had my great niece riding with me all day.  She loved it and learned a lot!

Good News - Bad News

The good news is that we got done with combining Wed. evening.  Just have the last field to finish ripping.  The last day was a beautiful Fall day that was sunny and 77.  The next day was to be 55 and windy and the same for a few days.  This is the third harvest in a row that we've gotten to do it all in nice, warm, dry weather with almost no rain.  This year we just had a couple of short delays after sprinkles.  We've still only had about 2" since sometime in the spring.  We sure need rain.

The bad news is that another one of our landladies passed away.  This is the lady where the big tree branch fell where I mow.  She was really looking forward to seeing her field being harvested.  She got to see all of the equipment show up and get started but had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital that day.  Her funeral is Mon.  She was 95.

Here are some pictures from Wed.  

I drove this for a while in the morning.  I'm still in training with this job.

The corn trash left on the ground.

Bill combining the last rows in the last field.

Bill and Pam dumping the last corn into the semi.

Everything is parked and ready to be moved to Tim's yard.

Another year's harvest done just at sunset on a record early date - Oct. 3rd.

      

One More Field

We're combing our last field today and tomorrow.  Today the weather is going to be beautiful with a high around 80.  Tomorrow high of 50.  Good timing Mother Nature!

This morning I'm going to be doing Pam's job for a little while - driving the tractor with grain cart alongside the combine (husband in combine!).  Wish me luck!  Hope I don't have any stories to tell about that tomorrow!

Still Combining

Bill tells me tonight that we have right at 200 acres of corn left to combine and then we'll be done with that.  Jim was home for a long weekend and did my ripping job so today I made lunch for everybody.  We had grilled pork chops, green beans, sweet potato casserole (Jim's favorite), rolls, peaches and pecan pie.  He's going home tomorrow so I'll be back to ripping but plan to put lunch in the crock pot in the morning.  I'm sending the leftover sweet potato casserole home with him.  Tomorrow Lacey gets to come out and ride with Aunt Cindy after school.   

The weather has been beautiful - still no rain.  We're supposed to have two more real nice days and then it's going to be highs in the 40's and lows in the low 30's.  Brrrr.    The trees here have been at their peak color and have been the prettiest I've seen them in the five years I've lived here.  I noticed that this year, even the asparagus plants in the ditches all over have turned a bright yellow and so have lots of weeds along the road.  They say that this has been an exceptional year for pumpkins and gourds so the drought must be good for something.

I'm just going to post several pictures of the trees and harvest.

The trail is pretty right now - it's just down the road from our house.

The park in town where our Farmers' Market is. 

Our town's main street - some big, pretty trees.

Asparagus' fall color - Bill says some years it turns yellow and some it just dies.

Jim doing the ripping.  The trees around the house in the distance are colorful.

Matthew going from riding with Pam in the tractor & cart back to the combine with Uncle Bill.

The trees in front of our house. 

 

Look What Happened!

Remember this spring when I was saying that it's kind of scary to cut the grass at one of the farms under the HUGE trees that are in the yard and especially around the one that is mostly rotten?!?  Look what has happened!!  Another one of the branches has fallen, narrowly missing the house!

Bill says this is a cottonwood tree and that they never completely die.

Tim and Bill have farmed for this lady for many years.  She is in her 90's and is just here at home part time now.  Most of the time she and her daughter are at her daughter's house in the Des Moines area.  They are here now and hope to be around when the beans and corn are combined from her fields. 

 

Random Pictures on a Pretty Fall Day

The trees are turning.

Beans are done so back to corn today after lunch.

Bill using a leaf blower to clean out the combine before switching from beans to corn.  See video below.

School kids on a field trip having a snack on the picnic table after a tour of the dairy.

Two semis brought part of the new machine shed early this morning.

Perfect timing with the beans around our house just out of the way as of Mon.

Back in Business

We are back in business with a rented combine as of last night.  Bill spent this morning trying to get it running right.  After I made 3 trips to West Bend for parts, he thinks he can run now without problems.

The John Deere dealer says they'll probably have our combine fixed by Mon.  (it broke down this past Mon.)  It turns out the problem is something that was not done right at the factory when the combine was made and just now showed up.

So this week Bill took out a fence and other odd jobs.  I got stuff around the house caught up and went to Ft. Dodge yesterday to get things on the Walmart list and shop in general.  

Bill had a problem with our brand new skid loader when taking out fence.  It needs parts and we won't have them until first of the week!  Luckily they still have the old one and got it going.  It's definitely been a screwed up Fall.  Lots of people are having combine and other equipment problems - way more than normal.    

Aunt Bette Jo's dad passed away Wed. morning so they have family on their way for the visitation tonight and funeral in the morning.  Her dad was 91 and had farmed all his life.  He worked ground this spring and had ridden with his son in the combine this past Sun.  We met Joe back when we first started visiting Glenn & family in Rolfe.  Joe was always an usher at church.  I made them some oatmeal raisin cookies  which are Tim's favorite and will be helping their church ladies with the funeral dinner tomorrow. 

I've been taking some pictures today and may get them posted tonight.  I'm going out to cut our grass now.  Again, it just needs it in spots.
Some pictures from today:

This is the piece that was needed to make this combine work right (a wedge kit).  The first one was too small so we got a bigger one.

Lots of tools needed and are kept close.

The rented combine.  Hooking up the hoses that connect the bean head to the combine.

Had to also change an air filter.