Harvest of Friends

The Real American Occupation.... Farming

Sorry about that little hiatus.... all of a sudden life got B.u.s.y for me. 

Blue-eyed Farmer finished harvest last Friday, cutting those last 10 acres of beans off the 80.  On Thursday, we enjoyed several hours with our Pastor Aaron and the children.  Miss Melanie had to work at her big-girl job. :(

 Here are a few photos of our fun together:

The Two Blue-eyed Farmers, Big and Little, talking about corn.

Pastor Aaron getting last minute instructions before driving the 75.

Little Blue-eyes, resting, after all the hard work of riding in the combine.

Blue-eyed Farmer, Pastor Aaron and Princess ME, waving for the camera.

We are very blessed with the harvest God has given us.  The prices are up (unusual for harvest time) and the yields were more than "enough."  We had few breakdowns and even now have the combine monitor fixed for next year.  The combine has had a "bath" and is ready for it's long nap.  The trucks are stored away in the shed we rent at the neighbors and all the other implements are situated "just right" for the winter months.  

We are ready to finish up some Autumn projects and get snuggled in for the winter.

More soon.... until then... CALGONE... take me away~~~

Hugs
K~

** "If you want work well done, select a busy (wo)man - the other kind has no time."  ~Elbert Hubbard

Reaping the Harvest

You know we are havesting corn now... and are close to be done!  God willing...

Other ways I "harvest" is to watch for and take advantage of good deals I find listed in various blogs.  Today I "harvested" a coupon for a Free bottle of Advil and a Christmas gift for Ds2 that I got on a great sale. 

Yes, I've started my Christmas shopping already.  With our far-away kids coming home for a family wedding in mid-December, I need to be ready by the end of November.  That is not that far off!

I also "harvested" in my pantry this morning.  It's been a mess since summer and I keep stocking up on good sales and dumping the bags "anywhere."  (Bad Kay!)  Today I took 30 mins. and organized my canned goods shelves.  I found I'm set with canned veggies and beans and soups and tomato juice, but I need some tomato sauce and sugar.  I found a good sale at my local grocery on my brand of unbleached flour last week, so I should be set there.  Holiday baking is just around the corner too.

How are you harvesting today?

Hugs
Kay

And the Corn Rolls In....

Just a quick stop to tell you all we're still combining corn and Thank You Father God, it's going well!  We moved to the last field on Jim's farm and Monday will go to Our other Farm (The 80) for the week.  Then we'll be down to a small field by our Vegetarian/Disney-loving Neighbors and the field east of our place.  The end is getting closer!

And we're glad, since Doug at the elevator said they will be dumping corn on the ground starting mid-week.  That takes so much longer, especially since most farmers will be done cutting beans after the weekend.  

The weather has been perfect, so everyone is getting alot done.  And you know once it turns bad, it'll probably stay that way.

I've been helping Farmer-dear move to this field and rode along in the grain truck a few times this morning.  Made a quick lunch of grilled meatloaf and cheese sandwiches (they were just 'ok'), chips, carrots or cole slaw and a pop for him.

Ds2 came out and fixed the electric fence around the corn stalks that the deer went through.  Stupid deer.  And my wonderful son push mowed the ditches for me.  

While I have been in the fields this week, I took some short videos of the Blue-eyed Farmer combining and unloading.   I hope to get inside the combine with him next week and take some from that angle.   I'll get them looped together and fixed and post it ASAP.  (Right now my ISP is having major issues, so I'll have to work some later at night to get it uploaded when the traffic is not so heavy.)

Now I'm off to hang out another load of work clothes, start the dishwasher, and paint that wicker chair (FINALLY!) or pot up some herbs.

Have a great weekend!!
Hugs,

K~

Harvesting: Soybeans, Corn and Potatoes (Oh My!)

 Blue-eyed Farmer unloading corn into the '63.  

He is so glad we bought the grain cart last year.

We are harvesting as you know.... and Praise God!  The soybeans are off (except for 10 acres that have to finish drying down and can't be cut until the corn is down alongside them.)

The Blue-eyed Farmer is cutting corn now.  It's a much less stressful job.  The corn head does not need to be as close to the ground as the bean head and there is little worry of a rock going through the combine.  That is NOT a good thing to have happen.  Rocks and fast-moving parts just don't mix.

Unfortunately with harvest comes a few repairs.  Over 2 days earlier this week, Farmer-dear welded on 3 different combines.  No, we are not BIG farmers like that.  Our neighbors/relatives had some break-downs and called for help.  Which was a good thing, as our combine had a few "issues" also, that they helped diagnose and repair.

For 2 days he ran without a monitor inside the cab, to keep track of overloading and such.  It was combining "old school," listening for odd noises and watching for the outflow and the grain inflow.  He was blessed to find a local circuit board manufacturer who was willing to work on it.  We picked it up this morning, so I'm hoping it is all working as it should.

Then yesterday it was the feeder chain working itself looser than it should be.

As he said, "If it's not one thing, it's another..." 

While the last of the beans were being combined, Ds2 helped me start digging our potatoes.  We finished yesterday.  From 3 long rows and 2 short rows, we got these:

Photo dedicated to Kristen of Going Country and her love of potatoes.

I'll be boxing them up and storing them in the storm shelter where it's cool and dark.

Ds2 also pulled the onion crop.  A lot of them started to re-sprout, so I'll be chopping and freezing them in the next few days.  My farmer's wife-mentor told me that you should dig them in late July.  Now I know.

I also harvested The sweet potato.  As in ONE, small sweet potato.  They obviously did NOT like where I planted them this year, as opposed to last year.  Last year Farmer-dear brought me up a dump of pond soil, all gooey with manure.  "yum-yum"... for sweet potatoes anyway.

Next comes harvesting the last of the basil, potting up the thyme and rooting some rosemary and drying some Swiss Chard.

But first, I'm off to ride in the the combine and grain truck.  I hope to get some photos from the combine cab and maybe a video.  And then I'll get to those veggies.

Stay well and enjoy the Harvest, Puffins.  Just remember to give the right-of-way to the combines and grain trucks/trailers you meet. 

 The '75 Orange (left) and the '63 Red International Grain Trucks.  I ride along in the '63.

Hugs,

K~

** "It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn."  ~ B.C. Forbes

Green, Lavander, Yellow and Wheat, with a Dash of Red-head

My "projects" are done.  :oD   I'll take photos and share them soon.  

And speaking of color... I went a little more Red this time around when updating the ole "Do."  A certain Farmer says he can't see much difference.  Maybe he's color-blind?  I guess he was expecting a Red-headed Stranger in the kitchen last night?   Next time, Baby. 

Be watching the Recipe Blog for "Braised Short Ribs."  If they taste anything like they smell right now, I'll have the recipe up very soon!  

The combine rolls on and on through the beans.  God is blessing us greatly with low moisture on the beans and no break-downs, so far.  The Blue-eyed Farmer took the week off from the factory and it's been so nice to have him here in the morning to do devotions with and eat breakfast and lunch together.  I'll be at our church's Women's Retreat this weekend, so I hope the radiator for the '75 grain truck is ready Soon!  It'll make his life easier.  (He's running with just the '63 and the grain cart now.)

That's the news from the Prairie Farm today.  What's life like in your neck of the woods this week?  Drop me a comment.  

Hugs,
Kay~

** "Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." ~~George Eliot

Lavender, Green and Harvest

I can't say anything more, but working on something Lavender and Green and Chocolate.  It's a surprise and I'll post photos next week.

And I worked on something Wheat and Brown today.  Fun!!

I love surprises!  

In the mean time, enjoy a photo or two from past years showing what the Blue-eyed Farmer is doing this week.  I love having him home in the morning to do our morning devotions together.  It doesn't happen often enough.

 (Note how dingy and ugly this truck cab is and stay tuned for a photo of the improved cab soon.)

Hugs!

Kay~

** "For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.  For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."  ~Edwin Way Teale

Menu Monday and Harvest is beginning

Happy Monday Puffins!

It's a Menu Monday here at the Prairie Farmhouse and with Harvest breathing down my neck (HEY!  that tickles!),  I need to plan and be ready for whatever!  That means suppers that can wait (and wait and wait and WAIT!) or be rewarmed and food for lunches, hot and field and cold; as the Blue-eyed Farmer is planning to take time off from his "other" job and just get the grain out of the fields.  I think all the trouble some areas had getting crops harvested and then trouble finding elevators that would take their grain, has him a little anxious.

So lets start with breakfasts as he might want some.... or actually I think he needs to eat it, when he's working so hard and such long hours.

And he's a toast or cereal kind of guy.  Cold cereal even.  blech~  He also likes oats.  I can't call it oatmeal as it's barely cooked.  He boils water, dumps in the oats, stirs it for about a minute and it's "done" and this is NOT instant oatmeal!  Maybe he's part horse??

So as long as I have milk and bread and some fresh cereal on hand, we're good to go in the mornings. (Oatmeal is a staple in my pantry.)

Lunches:  Leftovers if I heat them up for him and if he's going to be around the place.  If it's a hot field meal, it has to be "quick eating" because he doesn't like to stop too long.  Nothing that requires a knife to cut up and preferable nothing "sloppy."  So we'll go with pizza, hot sandwiches (burgers, brats, hot ham & cheese, chicken bacon toasted subs) and the occasional meat loaf cups and mashed potatoes (small glass baking dish holds them nicely for traveling).  I'll make up some cookies, bars and puddings for desserts, get more fruit and that should get us through.  If he's taking a cooler, he'll be fine with either our dried beef or some summer sausage sandwiches (buns work best), some chips (get the more whole grain kind) carrot & celery sticks and those desserts and fruit mentioned above.  I like to make lunches a bit more substantial than when's non-harvest as he doesn't like to stop for "break" in the afternoon when everything is working.  Occasionally he'll get a soda from the coop and I do have candy bars here I could surprise him with for a treat.

Suppers:  Now it gets tricky.  I never quite know when he'll be coming in.  I have to plan a main dish that can be done around 7:30 ("Dark" these days) and yet still hold until upwards of 10 p.m.  If it's going well and he's on level ground, or if we need to bring everything home and shed it, it gets later.

We don't like to eat too heavy and yet it's been a long time since he ate lunch or a snack.  So I plan smaller pre-portioned meals.  Those mini-meat loaves for example.  It tricks your mind into thinking you are eating a big portion and even if you take a second one, it's still not alot.  Just use your muffin tins to bake a recipe of meat loaf.

Other ideas are Sloppy Joes, Single portions of Cheesey Pasta Bake, Soup and grilled cheese, leftover homemade pizza (don't try to time the dough getting done and then baking it on harvest evenings... it only creates anxiety for the cook!), frozen processed foods.  I know.. I know...  But when Popcorn Chicken or Pizza Rolls will cook in 15-20 mins, that is long enough for him to shower and read the mail and it doesn't get too late.  Other ideas are our usual Breakfast for Supper -- pancakes or eggs/bacon/toast or Frittata or Hashbrown Casserole; Tator Tot Casserole if it's going to be an earlier night (it's kinda rich for late night suppers); baked ham or sausage rings and scalloped potatoes (this can be a hot lunch if the ham is cubed up, but  NOT mixed in with the potatoes.... we don't like that at all!)

All of the supper meals will get some kind of veggie or salad addition.  Again, depends on how late it is and how heavy we want to eat.  Probably no desserts and little breads at that time of night.

I realize this is not my typical Menu listing, but I have to be flexible this time of year.  I can tell you that tonight will be some kind of pasta dish as I have ground beef, romaine lettuce for salads and garlic bread that all need to be used up, now!  Tomorrow's forecast is for rain, so I hope to get some baking done and cooking up some ground beef and chicken and it all frozen & ready. 

Speaking of chicken... just one more little tip I discovered this past week.  I picked up  my annual organic chicken order of 6 birds.  I know... that's not many but the Farmer still is not a fowl-eating fan.  And I still have 2 birds in the freezer from last year.  (Eek!  Gotta get those cooked up, pronto!) As I was saying, I had 6 fresh chickens to deal with.  One was left whole for roasting for maybe Christmas Day (with a ham).  The other 5 I cut up.  The drumsticks and wings all went together into a couple of bags for cooked chicken.  I'll do that sometime when I have a day to mess with it.  The "odds and ends" like backs, necks, etc. went into the "Stock" bag and again, I'll make stock on a cold raining day when I have time to monitor it.  The thighs and breasts are what we like best for eating as "fried chicken."  But I hate thawing out even one-chicken's worth of those pieces all stuck together.  Sometimes I want chicken and Mr. Farmer does not.  So this  year I decided after I de-boned the breasts and halved each one and removed the tenders; I would flash-freeze the pieces and then bag them up.  It worked GREAT!  I maybe, should have put parchment paper down on the baking sheets, but it didn't take too long to warm up the bottoms enough to unstick the pieces.  All the tenders went into one bag for possible Chicken Strips.  I bagged up the thighes and breast pieces seperately for if I just want dark meat or want to use the white.  I think this will be a better way for me to actually make chicken for us, no waiting for a chuck to thaw.  (Why does waiting for a "chunk" of beef or pork not bother me??)

So Puffins, do you cut up your own whole chickens?  Do you buy organic ones?  What are your go-to meals when life is C~r~a~z~y?  Comment below, cuz I can always use new ideas.  And stay tuned.  Plum Kuchen recipes soon.

Hugs!
Kay~

** "Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Wordless Wednesday & Harvest update

We finished Harvest 2009 this evening. Thank you Father, for the bountiful harvest, with which You blessed us!

Hugs,
Kay~

** "Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
ALL Is Safely Gathered In, ere the winter storms begin."

Stay tuned....

I have a post started and I do miss all of you.


We have been TRYING to get the corn out of the fields.


It keeps raining!





We keep having break-downs.




And we have cows/calves that need to be brought home from the pasture.





And I have been working more hours.






And cooking more.



And trying to get my Fall housecleaning done.


And the leaves fell all over the lawn.



I'm just a bundle of excuses, aren't I?

I will return... maybe sooner than I hope.

Hugs!
K~

Another Trip Around the Sun

I just took a look back in the archives. We started harvest in 2008 on Sept. 25. We would have started this year on Sept 26, if it hadn't have rained on the 25th. And here we thought we were sooo late in getting started this year. We're right on schedule! Interesting....

And another interesting fact, I had my first bout of the crud last year this very same week! Given that fact, I guess I have to call this stuff, "Bad Allergies", rather than a bad cold.

I spent the weekend, digging up all the potatoes; weeding all the weeds from the flower bed and berm (photo soon) and coughing.

What were you doing a year ago?

Hugs
Kay

** “As a matter of fact, you know I am rather sorry you should see the garden now,
because, alas! it is not looking at its best. Oh, it doesn't compare to what it was last year.”
~~Ruth Draper

Fall!

1. I'm still alive, but a bit congested in head and chest. My typical way of handling a cold is to have it settle down in my chest and hack/cough/bark for a while.

My dear Blue-eyed Farmer got before the crack of dawn and was kind enough to let me sleep. He reset the alarm so I would actually wake up for work. That was so nice. I guess I'll keep him. **grin**


2. The Wild Yeasties were Not captured in this first try, so I plan to buy a loaf of sour dough bread at the store today and leave a slice or two near my next batch.

I had such high hopes with the first one seeing all the bubbles right away. This time I'll try the pineapple juice route. Maybe the pastureized apple juice I used, didn't allow the yeast to live?

3. I forgot to mention that I have actually been down in the sewing room, working on more Brenda's Roses blocks. I had a siggie block to make for a friend (that will be sent off today) and worked for another hour on sewing triangles to center squares. I wish there was an easier way to do find the centers without finger pressing each piece. I'm over half done with that part and the rest will just be HST and block assembly.

I'd love to go down there now, but fuzzy cold-infected brains do not mix well with sewing machines, irons and rotary cutters.

4. Blue-eyed Farmer and ds2 worked more on getting the combine prepped for harvest. The rain we had yesterday and the cool weather now (46° this morning!!), should push the beans along.

I'm thinking of easy meals I can make for those evenings. Not huge meals because who wants that after 9 p.m., but something nutritous. Small well-balanced portions.
Mini meatloaf, individual scalloped potatoes, easy lasagna, individual frittata cups are a few of the recipes on my list.

5. With the turning of the season comes the end of the garden work for me. It is not entirely over just yet but it's time to start putting it to bed for winter.

I have a huge job of weeding to do first. Farmer-dear wants to just mow off my flower bed and I won't let him. Yes, it is a horrible mess and full of waist high weeds. Something had to give this year and that was it. (stupid horr0r-moans)
I am going to pull all those weeds and hope he has time to help me move the mulch to that bed.

There is a gate to be painted. And maybe some barn doors.

The Swiss Chard will be need to be cut and froze or dried.

My tomatoes are still going strong. I'll just enjoy picking them and eating them until they freeze

Potatoes are getting dug little by little. And the sweet potatoes will be dug at first frost.

Several herbs need to be potted up to be brought inside for the winter.

And the new day lilies need to be planted outside for next year.

Thankfully most of these jobs can be done in small increments of time so shouldn't interfer with harvest and some necessary Fall house-cleaning.


How will you be getting ready for the colder months? What jobs are on your To Do list?

Hugs
K~

** "Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."
-- William Cullen Bryan

In my Kitchen today....

Any guesses what I'm doing today?

I have a draft entru waiting for me to edit and post. Hopefully this week. After I sing the "Ode to Sweet Corn." ;o)


".... Sweet corn: the best thing in life. I grew up in a house about a hundred feet from a cornfield, and every evening we'd put the water on to boil, then pick the corn and husk it as we walked rapidly toward the house and chuck it in and dish up the chicken and say a prayer and out came the corn, on went the butter and salt, eight minutes flat from stalk to mouth, and when you ate sweet corn, life had nothing better to offer. You'd been to the top. That's how it'll be in heaven, I'm sure. But I'm not sure we'll have chicken.

We praise you Lord for this good good life
And praise for the day we were born
And the gifts you have given including this heaven-Ly fresh sweet corn. "

**Garrison Keillor May, 2007


Hugs
Kay~

Howdy Neighbor!

Had to share this... it made me smile!




Hope all your crops are on the climb on this first day of June!

Hugs
Kay~

**"Happy fields of summer, softly billowed over
With the feathery red-top and the rosy clover, --
Happy little children seek your shady places,
Lark-songs in their bosoms, sunshine on their faces!"
- Lucy Larcom, Happy Fields of Summer

First day of Soybean Harvest (& I haven't died yet.)

What I'm reading now:

Bread Alone: A Novel

By Judith Ryan Hendricks

I know that's foremost on your minds, right?
Nope, I'm still alive. A bit "barky" and "wheezie" but I think I'm going to make it. I don't feel like running any marathons just yet, but I was able to go out and help my Farmer yesterday afternoon get started on cutting soybeans.

So for the men in my readership (or anyone who enjoys big farm equipment); here is a photoblog of the first day of soybean combining:

Just getting started, after we took a sample to the elevator for moisture test. It's around 11 (which is good, they start docking payment at 13.5).


On the way back around the first pass.

Here he comes.


Notice that intense concentration focused on the reel.

Too focused to turn & wave?

And there he goes.

______________

And these 2 I was just playing with the settings on iPhoto.

(See.... complete concentration.)
Sorry about the weird reflection on this one.


Obviously I've been reading wayyyy too much of the Pioneer Woman's blog. And enjoying her photos and how she "tweaks" them. (http://thepioneerwoman.com/ )
It was a pleasant diversion. **mmmmm~~ Cowboys**

______________

I have to work at the magazine today. I'm not dying nearly as much as I was mid-week, but phone conversations will be interesting, now that I'm coughing and barking. Lots and lots of hot tea and peppermint tic-tacs. (did you know those will work better & quicker than a cough drop?)
Tonight more bean harvesting and maybe I can get that last coat of paint on the kitchen.
Or maybe it'll just be nap-time.

Have a Fantastic Friday!

Hugs!
Kay~

"....the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God."
~Ray Stannard Baker