See that blob of red in the middle of the state of Kansas? We farm really close to that red blob. That's an area of extreme drought.
All the color on the map - from yellow to burgundy - means that much of the state desperately needs rain. We certainly do.
So in this pictorial 21st-of-the-month wheat crop update, moisture - or the lack thereof - is the overriding concern.
The wheat isn't very tall. Dry conditions contribute to that.
In a Facebook memory that came up on my news feed last week, I saw that in 2017, the wheat had already headed. (Click HERE for that post.) We aren't that far yet as we work our way toward our summer 2022 harvest.
But the wheat has jointed. The bearded head of the wheat is in the wheat stalk and will emerge soon.
This chart on wheat development is from Oklahoma State University.
While moisture is the current limiting factor for
this year’s harvest, the outlook is more nuanced than measuring the dust
or raindrops in the gauge. According to Kansas Crop Progress and
Condition report on April 17, issued by USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS), the winter wheat crop's topsoil moisture supplies rated 33 percent very short, 30 percent short, 36 percent adequate and 1 percent slurpus. Subsoil rated 32 percent very short, 34 percent short, 34 percent adequate and 0 percent surplus.
The field crop report rated the winter wheat crop as 11 percent very poor, 20 percent poor, 36 percent fair, 30 percent good and 3 percent excellent. Winter wheat jointed was 34 percent, behind 47 percent last year and 44 percent for the five-year average.
A few areas got a little rain overnight on April 22 into April 23. We got less than 0.10 of an inch.
Here's what it looked like during my first photo session on the 21st of a month - this one from back in October. For that whole blog post, click HERE.
October 2021
There is a chance for rain later this week. Let's hope this round doesn't miss us!
I took this photo yesterday as a hay truck rumbled down a dusty dirt road toward another field. The photo itself is unremarkable. At that time, the skies were overcast, and the photo was shot through a dirty windshield with a cloud of dust stirred up on roads that haven't seen a rain for quite some time. It's not one of those photos that will end up enlarged in 16-by-20-inch format on my living room wall.
But it does represent the end of an era. The hay truck was on its way to one last hay field to collect our final alfalfa harvest. And, for Randy, it signaled the end of a way of life for the past 50-plus years.
In reality, Randy has been working in hay fields much of his life - and, yes, that's longer than 50 years. Even before he was the farmer responsible, he helped as his family put up hay each summer. As is true with most "vintage" farmers, there are plenty of stories in the memory banks about bucking hay bales onto trailers and maneuvering them into hay lofts.
But it was also a hay field where he began his "adult" farming journey. As a high school sophomore, Randy's Great-Uncle Glenn gave him the opportunity to put up hay on his ground. Randy got a share of the hay.
Undated photo, but probably the mid-'90s. Randy with Uncle Glenn during wheat harvest as we harvested his crop.
It was the start
of Randy's own farming journey, independent of his dad. Last June, I wrote a blog post about it. (You can click HERE for the whole blog post.)
Back
in the day, he used the alfalfa field as an FFA project, so we had some
photos and descriptions of the experience (along with some really
snazzy photos of Randy modeling clothes from the 1970s, including his
letter jacket paired with plaid pants.)
Click on these images to enlarge them and read the text written by Randy for the FFA report.
As a senior, Randy won a crop production award in the South Central area of FFA. He still has the plaque on our office wall.
Sometimes, he has trucked the hay himself to various buyers. (You can read about that HERE and HERE.) However, this time a trucker with Sebes Hay out of Larned came to collect the final truckloads of the hay we harvested last summer.
We fed some of the bales last summer, but with the Millers taking over the day-to-day care and feeding of the cattle this winter, we sold 10 loads of hay to Sebes for $150 a ton.
Randy operated the loader tractor as the truck driver gave him hand signals for placing the bales.
The process has always reminded me of a giant Jenga game - but there are more consequences with the pieces falling over when you're talking 1,500-pound bales!
No hay bales tumbled off, however. Thankfully, both of these guys were experienced in the fine art of bale stacking.
This is not the end. We still have our wheat harvest this summer and a farm sale scheduled for August. But there still were a few heartstrings tugged as we completed yet another task and the truck rumbled away.
I love a good-quality spiral ham for a holiday family meal. Most of the time, beef dominates our dinner table, since I have a freezer full of it, so it's nice to serve something out of the ordinary on a holiday menu.
But as much as I love ham - and the leftovers - I decided to go a different route for our small Easter dinner this year.
Since our only guests were my parents, I opted to have a ham and cheese quiche as our main dish. It's usually something I make with my ham leftovers.
This year, I went directly to quiche for the main dish. Instead of leftover ham, I went with a package of cubed ham to jump start the recipe. It was super quick and
easy, especially since I already had a pie crust in in the freezer.
With spring and Easter on the mind, I still wanted the side dishes to have that springtime look and feel. This Spring Pea Salad went together quickly and was a delicious accompaniment to the festivities. I also did steamed carrots topped with Parmesan cheese and a fresh fruit salad. I had some homemade crescent rolls in the freezer. It made for a colorful and festive Easter plate!
But for this go-around, I opted for the creamy version often found at buffets or church potlucks. Sign me up for anything with sharp cheddar cheese!
To make this salad even simpler, you can use high-quality packaged bacon bits instead of crisping it up yourself. While the original recipe called for red onion, I used green onions for a milder "bite."
For dessert, it was a family favorite - Lemonade Dessert. (After looking at my 2010 photo, I realize I need to take a new photo. But I promise: The recipe is a favorite among all my kids and granddaughters.)
While Easter is past, this salad would be a wonderful side dish for your next church potluck, BBQ or family gathering.
Spring Pea Salad
Adapted from Mom on Timeout
16ounces frozen peas 4ouncessharp cheddar cheese,cubed 1/2small red onion,diced (I used green onions for milder taste) 1/4poundbacon, cooked and finely chopped
Remove peas from freezer and place in a colander and allow to slightly thaw while preparing the dressing.
In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Add the peas, bacon, cheddar cheese, and red onion and fold/stir to combine. Chill the salad for at least one hour before serving. The salad can be made up to 3 days in advance.
Note: You may substitute packaged real bacon bits to make this salad go together even more quickly.
God's fingerprints are scattered across all His creation. They seem particularly abundant in springtime, as the world awakes from its winter nap.
This week, I read a devotional from the United Methodist Church, giving me new ways of looking at the natural spring wonders all around me. It seemed particularly apt this Holy Week. As I read it, I was thinking of photos in my collection that I could gather to illustrate God's creation.
But even as I was writing this on Tuesday, the news was full of warnings. There was "catastrophic" fire danger forecast because of high winds and low humidity. The sky outside was again full of dirt. Later in the day, our area was on a line for potential severe weather, including large hail and possible tornadoes. (The severe weather missed us, but, unfortunately, so did the rain.)
This came just after a beautiful day when the wind was light, the sun was shining and the winter sweatshirt could get tossed aside.
And I realized that's kind of like the rolling emotions of Holy Week.
I was playing the piano for the actual processional, but I got a "before" photo!
We'd all love the "Hosanna!" of Palm Sunday to last all week,
wouldn't we?
Cute kids, palm branches, big smiles? It's easy to feel the
exuberance of the day.
Even the tree outside the church seemed to be shouting "Hosanna!" on Palm Sunday.
It would be easier to just skip the hard stuff, right? That's human nature, after all.
But in the midst of this celebration, I've also been practicing the piano solos I will play for the community Good Friday service, which our church is hosting this year. The haunting minor chords of "What Wondrous Love Is This?" and the mournful melody of "Go to Dark Gethsemane" have quietly drowned out the exuberance of "Hosanna! Loud Hosannas!" which I played for prelude last week.
Not much seems "good" about Good Friday or Maundy Thursday, does it? Those are the days when Christ is betrayed and the dark shadows fall over
the earth as the Son of God hangs from a cross, taking on my sins and
those of the world.
We know that it is our sins that nailed His hands and feet to the cross. It is we who are responsible for Jesus' suffering.
And
yet, we also know the "rest of the story." We know that on Easter
Sunday, we will celebrate a much brighter day, a day when Jesus
fulfills the prophecy of old, and an angel proclaims:
The only way to see the beauty of a stained glass window is if light shines through it.
"Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen from the dead."
Matthew 28: 5-6
And because we know the rest of the story, we can look forward to Easter Sunday, even on the dark days of this Holy Week.
And, so even in the midst of my contemplation of Christ's sacrifice, I can return to the devotional about being an Easter people.
I can see it in the robins. The robin, a very common bird in the U.S., has a red breast and a legend to
explain it. It's said that a gray robin flew to Christ's crown of
thorns to draw out a thorn, and when it did, a drop of Christ's blood
fell on its breast, leaving a stain forevermore.
I can see it in the bees that spread the pollen and make flowers grow. The honey these creatures
create is a biblical symbol of God's favor. The Torah agrees, for it
describes God's promised land again and again as "flowing with milk and
honey."
I can see the promise in flowers.
Long considered a symbol of hope and new life, the daffodil
is one of the blooms most often connected to the Resurrection.
Tradition says that giving a gift of daffodils will ensure happiness for
the receiver.
Tulips can also represent our Easter story. In the fall, the bulb is buried in the soil. But, come spring, the flower overcomes the darkness and bursts forth with new life.
The flowering shrub known as the forsythia can also be called the Easter tree: When its spidery branches are
moving with the wind, they seem to be arms waving in praise of the
season.
According to tradition, forsythia means anticipation—an
appropriate companion word for Resurrection.
The traditions that developed around these spring symbols helped explain
the concept that God in the flesh took on death and came back to tell
us there is life on the other side. The Council at Nicaea in 325 AD gave the Church a revised creed. The
last line reads:
"We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life
of the world to come."
As Easter people, we don't have to look further than spring for an exclamation point to that affirmation.
Even as I've been practicing the piano solos for Good Friday, I've also been playing my prelude for Easter Sunday morning, "Christ Arose!" It's probably my favorite Easter hymn, beating out "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today."
Perhaps it's because it starts with the message, "Low in the grave He lay" and ends with the soaring, "He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!" (Too often, pastors don't choose that song. My family know that if it doesn't get sung at the Easter morning worship service, they'll be hearing it in the car on the way home. From the time I was a little girl at Byers Methodist Church, it's been a centerpiece to Easter for me. I was thrilled to see Pastor Kim chose it for this Easter Sunday!)
As we continue to walk our way toward that "Hallelujah!" I pray for eyes to be open to see God's fingerprints in my life and the world around me.
(The symbol information is from a UMC.org devotional written by Mark
Price is Minister of Spiritual Formation and Facilities Manager
at Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tennessee).
***
This Easter will be the first to celebrate in person in TWO years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And just like finding hope in the midst of darkness, one of my friends, Linda, organized a way to share the Easter message in a non-traditional way through YouTube back in 2020. I was one of those who provided a video during that time. I combined a vocal solo with some of my photography. I've shared the link below, if you're interested. I'm singing this song for the Good Friday service this week, this time, accompanied by Linda and in person. Thanks be to God!
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