Off Like a Herd of Turtles: Wheat Harvest 2015

Caution: Harvest complications ahead!

Harvest 2015 finally started on the County Line Saturday afternoon after another visit from the mechanic. I made a trip for parts on Saturday afternoon, and Randy made another one Sunday morning.

And I think we are finally off like a herd of turtles. Maybe I should say we're off like a mischief of mice. (That's what one online source calls a "herd" of mice. The mice or packrats definitely caused mischief in the combine wiring.)

But, actually, the guys got a good amount cut yesterday afternoon. Jake had the combine apart by the time Randy got back. Once I delivered the noon meal (which was closer to 1), it only took them 10 minutes to get everything back together.

My eternal optimist says that we're 1/10th done with harvest. I guess that's one way to look at it.

"Rain makes grain," as the guys at the coffee shop say. And while this crop is not going to be a bumper crop for us, the May rains definitely helped fill the wheat heads. After a dry fall, winter and early spring, the May rains were a God-send toward making respectable yields.

As we were waiting for the fields to dry out from last week's rains, it seemed like harvest was late. But, in reality, it's about average for the past few years:

2010:  June 18
2011:  June 10
2012:  May 26 (an anomaly and the earlier harvest, by far, we've ever had)
2013:  June 21
2014:  June 17
2015:  June 20

Here's hoping for a breakdown-free day today!

Two by Two: You'll Want S'More

Kind of like Noah's Ark, I package cookies two-by-two to get ready for wheat harvest. A few weeks ago, I made (and doubled) my basic drop cookie recipe. Then, I divided the dough into four parts and threw in different add-ins for variety. (Click on the link to see some of our favorite combinations!)

I packaged them two-by-two and put them in snack bags in the freezer. Then, I can pull out the cookies I need each day for special evening meal deliveries.

But when I saw a bar cookie recipe for Peanut Butter S'Mores Bars, I decided to add to my arsenal of freezer goodies.

The familiar summertime taste of marshmallows and chocolate is bolstered by peanut butter in the dough, as well as peanut butter chips nestled in the oozy, marshmallowy goodness.

For more ideas for harvest treats or meals, you can use the search engine on Kim's County Line, found in the upper left of the blog. Type in "cookies," "bar cookies," "salads," "main dish," "Mexican," "beef," etc. I only publish the recipes that we've tried and given good reviews! (But you don't have to be a farm family to enjoy some of these tried-and-true favorites!)

Peanut Butter S'mores Bars

Adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet - your preference)
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 3/4 cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10- by 15-inch pan with baking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Cream well. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

Add dry ingredients, just until blended. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips and marshmallows.

Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until light golden brown. (Ovens vary. I just got a new oven and things take longer to bake. With my old oven, 20 minutes would have been too long, so know your oven.) They will seem a little gooey, but they set up when cooled.

Measuring Up

Marking milestones is part of our family tradition. In our dining room, a handmade wooden growth chart recorded Jill's and Brent's height each birthday. Kinley's measurements have now been duly recorded for posterity, and Brooke will join the brood come September, when she turns 1.

We don't have a growth chart available in the corn field across the road. But my trusty human measuring stick provides a benchmark for the ever-changing 2015 corn crop.

I spent last Wednesday through Saturday at the Great Plains UMC annual conference in Wichita. I couldn't believe the difference when I returned to the County Line. The combination of sunshine and rainfall seemed to kick the corn into high gear. Above is the photo from June 15.

Just a week before (June 7), the corn didn't cover nearly as much of my lovely model.

And here he is, back on June 1. That quite a difference in half a month, don't you think?

The corn crop is getting regular doses of rain and sunshine, which seems to be a good prescription for growth. Pretty soon, maybe that line from the musical "Oklahoma!" will come to pass: "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye. And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky." It seems to have a good start anyway!

False Advertising

Randy was a false advertiser. He was wearing an old Kansas Wheat shirt, but that's not what he was planting.

June 6, 2015

Instead, he was planting silage. (For the record, he doesn't have a Kansas silage shirt.) After being sidelined with wet conditions for most of May, silage planting was on the agenda on June 6.

Just like the marker on the planter, we're attempting to carry on a straight course to get everything done before harvest.

The fast-growing crop is now coming up, just a week later.

June 15, 2015

Randy planted 35 acres of silage, which we'll later have custom harvested for winter cattle feed. He planted the seeds in two different locations, but both are relatively close to the trench silo. That makes it easier (and cheaper) to have the feed hauled to the silo next September or October. 

Rainy Days and Mondays

The wheat heads are bending in their harvest pose. But harvest is likely several days away after another 1.95 inches of rain fell since Friday (1 inch Friday, 0.60" on Saturday and 0.35" on Sunday).

Our combine is in the shop right now anyway, since the guys discovered that mice or packrats had chewed through a lot of wiring over the winter. They are supposed to bring it back tonight or tomorrow morning.

I went out this morning to see if I could find dewdrops on the ripe wheat heads to illustrate the soggy conditions. But the sun and a slight breeze had already dried the ripe heads. The breeze sure didn't blow the mosquitoes away!

If you look closely, you can see plenty of raindrops collected on the downed wheat. With additional rain, there are even more pockets of wheat "lying down on the job." I may not have gotten the photo I intended to capture this morning, but my tennis shoes, socks and pants were soaked after my morning foray into the fields.

Like diamonds, the dew dotted the day lilies, which bloomed while I was in Wichita at the Great Plains UMC annual conference. 

It was a nice "Welcome home!" Every time they bloom, I think of Katherine, who moved into this house as a young bride and planted those lilies years ago. I've been enjoying them for 30 years now. We plant seeds in life. We may never realize the way they blossom far into the future.

Shine On

A Time to Think

Let God's promises shine on your problems.
 –Corrie ten Boom, author
From a Guideposts email devotional

I'm leaving this morning to go to Wichita for the Great Plains Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Beginning mid-morning and continuing through Saturday at noon, laity and clergy representatives from all UM Churches in Kansas and Nebraska will gather to worship, learn, conduct business and debate tough issues. I'm Stafford UMC's lay delegate to conference, and I've spent the last few weeks reading a 115-page workbook and pondering a bunch of supplemental materials.

Though the theme for this annual conference is "Through many, One," some of the issues we'll debate have the potential to be as destructive and divisive as a thunderstorm when it unleashes its fury on top of us.

Still, I hope to find beauty, too, in the worship services and in my interactions with others, and yes, even in listening to passionate people work through issues to find solutions pleasing to God.

Taken Tuesday, June 9

I leave behind wheat fields quickly transitioning toward harvest under a hot summer sun and blustery southern winds.

Taken Sunday, June 7, but the flash made the green show up more.

And  I pray the conference, too, will ultimately harvest a spirit of cooperation through the Son and the winds of the Holy Spirit. 

This video is more for me than any readers I have today. I may need to hear the rush of wind through the wheat stalks and listen to the birds singing while I'm in the big city. Home is my happy place.

I'm taking a hiatus from the blog while I'm in Wichita. See you next week, when we'll likely start harvest, if the weather cooperates.

On a Roll

We're on a roll. Better late than never.

I'm at the end of my cliches, but we are just at the beginning of the 2015 hay season. Because of the wet May, we are later getting started than usual.

Late last week, Randy & Jake swathed hay at a few fields. (We are still waiting on the new swather, by the way.) We don't put down all the hay at once, since we don't want all the alfalfa to be ready to bale at the same time.

 

Sunday morning, Randy raked two windrows together. Raking helps dry out the alfalfa by letting air get to the bottom of the windrow. It also rakes two windrows together, speeding up baling since it requires fewer trips down the field. Fewer trips also mean less fuel used - always another good thing!

 

On Sunday evening, as the sun was setting, Randy baled the first round bales of 2015, giving him his first opportunity to use the new baler.

We were glad to avoid the rain and storms that others in Kansas got Sunday night. The setting sun bounced light off thunderheads to the east and the north.

A monitor inside the tractor cab lets Randy know when he has enough hay for a bale. Then, he stops the tractor and waits as the baler surrounds the bale with net wrap.

It's as easy as 1 ...

2 ...

3! 

(I thought later I should have shot a video instead of still shots. Next time, I promise!) There will be plenty of other opportunities during the next few days and months.