Rain!

We received over an inch of rain yesterday.  What a blessing!  It was a nice, soaking rain, too.  The wheat ought to be happy today.

Park the combine

Harvest 2015 is officially over!  Quentin finished the last little bit this morning, right before the rain started.  (Rain!)  This must be a record.  Two years ago, they harvested on and after Thanksgiving Day.  Here we are the day before Halloween and already finished.  Yeah!

Now the combine goes back to being a jungle gym/resting place for the kids.

Ready to roll

ALL the guys were ready to get the combine out today, but the beans were a little too wet to cut.  The misty weather we had yesterday must have seeped in to the beans.  Hopefully, they will go tomorrow as we are expecting rain on Friday.

 

Tires look good Dad.  Let's go!

Check the fields



The last of the beans are getting close.  I'm not sure they will go today, though.  It's supposed to be cloudy and damp.  We'll see what the afternoon brings, but I expect the combine to stay parked until tomorrow.

 

Should we go check the fields, Dad?  I think those beans are almost ready to harvest.

Turnips, anyone?

Our cover crops are starting to grow.  They are trying to take advantage of the small amounts of moisture we've received.  Quentin is hoping by adding turnips and radishes to the mix, he can break up hard pans in the soil.  We had to try a bite, and they aren't bad eating either!

 

Hay rides

Waiting to get back to the harvest...we decided to have a little fun.  Quentin was volunteered (by me!) to provide hayrack rides at our church's Hallelujah night Saturday.  He got the Model B out and put a couple big bales on the trailer to make sure it could pull a big load.

 

Rain report

I know some of you down south are probably drowning in water by now, but not too much rain to report here, I'm afraid.  We received about 0.1" Friday morning and 0.3" Friday evening.  The wheat is going to need more than that!  More chances in the forecast next weekend so we'll pray that we get a soaker then.

TBT: Dozer

I found this picture (1980, I think) of Clayton on his bulldozer.  It caught my eye because I think this is the same dozer sitting out under our pear tree!  It doesn't move much anymore, but still works when we need it.

 

The guys finished up harvesting everything that was ready yesterday.  That only leaves part of Austin Frank's and a field of after-wheat beans yet to cut.  I think it might be next week before those are ready to go.  We are expecting rain tonight-tomorrow.  That would be such a blessing!  Quentin dusted in the last field of wheat yesterday in anticipation of some rain.  He didn't want to wait too long to get it in the ground.  Hopefully, the wheat they planted earlier will go ahead and come up with a nice rain, too.

Broke down!

Oh no! The header had a minor (we hope) breakdown yesterday.  The men are splicing the cutter bar back together this morning and will hopefully be cutting again soon.  They have a little bit left on the home place and will likely try to cut some rounds on Austin Frank's today also.  There are some parts of the field which are ready and other parts that are still a little green.  The weather is warm and windy so the beans are drying fast.

Cutting again

The men are back in the field today.  There are a couple fields that seem dry enough to go.  They started on the "home place" on Chambers' around lunchtime.  Hopefully, they'll be able to finish up on that this afternoon.  There is another small field that looks ready near the house (Claude's) so they may move back here and do that tomorrow.

 

Harvest break

The men finished up on Street's yesterday afternoon and even cut a small field for a neighbor last night.  That leaves only the beans on Chambers' and a small field of Paul's on Claude's, about 3 days worth of harvest left if all goes well.  None of those fields are ready quite yet so they will have another small break.  Quentin is working on finalizing seed orders for next year so it is nice to have a couple days look at data, meet with the sales reps and hammer out the details.  In the meantime, we continue to pray for rain.  The ponds, pastures and wheat ground could use a good soaking!

Filling up the trucks

The men are harvesting again today.  They finished up the field north of Paul and Helen's last night.  There was a good breeze, and they were able to keep at it longer than a normal evening.  Today, they moved on to a large field on Steeby's.  If they finish up with that, there are fields that look close to ready on Osterloh's and down on Street's at Rose.  The next couple days are expected to be warm and sunny so they will be keeping busy!

Soybean harvest

Quentin is back in the combine today.  He was able to finish up Kenneth's and is working on the small field west of our house.  After that, they will need to do some scouting to see if there are more beans ready.

Planting wheat

The men are trying to get some wheat in the ground before the moisture is gone.  They planted Steeby's yesterday afternoon and will plant Marilyn's this morning.  The wheat ground on Rose Marie's needs worked again and some more moisture before we plant there, I'm afraid. 

 

After wheat beans

The after wheat beans are still green.  They are hurting a bit from the dry weather, but are trying to fill pods.  Hopefully, the last rain came in time for them to use it.  It is our first year to try after wheat beans on Rose Marie's, although Paul had a few last year that did well.

 

Dry pastures

We received 0.6" of rain last night!  It was very welcome.  Even the cows have been waiting on the rain.  The pastures are very dry, and Paul has started to feed some hay to supplement.  They would love some nice green, tender shoots to munch on, I'm sure.

Pond check

Kenneth had a pond redone in the pasture south of our house.  No rain to fill it up yet!  They did run in to a small spring, which has filled the bottom a little bit.  The men planted wheat on top of the dam, but at last check it hadn't come up.  Like everything else, it could use a rain.  There is a chance of rain tonight, but they are not expecting much out of the system.  This time, we are praying the weatherman is WRONG and we get a good soaker.

 

Too wet!

Quentin ran in to some wet beans on Kenneth's so he shut the combine back down.  He did get a large portion of the field harvested, but has no plans to get the combine out today.  It needs a few more drying days first.

Chipping away

Quentin continues to slowly chip away at the soybeans as they dry down.  Today, he was able to get back in the field.  He is harvesting Kenneth's beans south of the creek right now.  After that, we'll have to scout around and see if any other fields are ready.

6 years old!

Another milestone at the farm.  Isaac turned 6 on Friday.  With no harvest or rain, we were able to relax and enjoy some family time this weekend to celebrate!

Still no rain in the forecast, but we are praying!

Back to the field?

Wow, some of the late beans are drying fast!  Quentin thinks they'll be back to harvesting next week.  Without much rain on the horizon, we may be done with harvest in record time.