RicelandMeadows

Speltz 2011

July 15, 2011

 

     Today, I got our speltz all combined. It was a lighter crop than expected. The spring rains washed some out and drowned a bit more. The good thing is though, I have enough. There will be plenty to feed the horses through another year. We will hang our hopes on the 2012 crop.

 

     I guess in this case, amber waves of grain are waving bye-bye! I had some planted on a neighbors field too. I went to check on them and couldn’t even find them. The field is a wet field anyway and after this spring those drowned too. The good news in all of this, is that the hay seeding ,that grows with the ripening grain, looks great! The rains kicked that crop into high gear.

 

     I have enough straw  here at home too. The spent grain stalks provide soft warm bedding for my animals. There will be plenty to keep them comfortable all winter long. God is good … all the time!

 

     Our old Allis-Chalmers combine worked perfectly. I will clean it all up, grease and oil it and put it away until next year. She is an old lady who does her job well. It is a shame that nobody makes a combine for us small farmers. Many of the new ones have cutter heads that are over 30 feet wide. The cost is over $200,000.00 for one…man isn’t that crazy?! I guess the good part is that you can get a different head and do your corn too … Big Deal 😮

 

     I am among a dying breed. I like the self-sufficiency of being small. I can do most things myself. Grain harvest for now is still a one man job. I do see perhaps a threshing machine in our future. Many old relics still exist,  are in good shape and do a great job. They take more manpower though, but I have lots of family … fair warning gang. I guess I could switch up a couple of decades and get a newer  ( say 1970 or so)  smaller, self-propelled model, but what fun is there in that?

 

     There is a bit more green stuff in my grain this year than I would like. It is mostly pieces of timothy. The new hay gets mixed in and makes the grain want to “heat”. I will have to keep an eye on it, ventilate it or stick old dried boards into it to dry the grain. These methods help dry the grain, without it getting moldy, as it cures the last little bit.

 

     It was a beautiful day. It was a little hot, but a nice breeze blew all afternoon. The skies were a lovely blue with just a few fluffy cotton candy clouds to break up the blue. The grain went steadily through the machine and I was able to find peace in that place where there is always good. It was nice to be enjoying a great day, in a free country, with a full belly on land we own. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

 

     The only thing that would have made it more fun, would have been to use the horses to pull the combine. I will do that next year. The power cart is ready, the horses are ready I guess I was the weak link. I was afraid I would break down or not get finished. I worried for nothing … as usual.

 

     The garden harvest is next, followed by our corn harvest. I will shock some to be run through our husker/shredder later this fall and winter. I will pick most of it to dry in wooden cribs. The haying season is coming to a close for us, unless we make a small amount of rich ,second cutting for the gestating ewes over winter. Now, the grain harvest is complete for this year. Our spring set us back, but everything is working out … makes a guy stand back and be humbled… I can tell you, that I sure am!