Thursday, November 8, 2018
We are still waiting for the soil to firm up, and the soybeans to dry down in order to finish #harvest18. We need about 2 or 3 hours of work to go back to the Commer and Freddie farms and cut those soybeans that were replanted in mid-July. Recent rains have put water among and around those patches of standing soybeans, and now we may need it to freeze the ground before we will be able to harvest them. We are so very eager to get that task behind us, and get the S680 combine and the grain cart cleaned up. There have been slight sprinkles of rain today, not even enough to measure in our gauge, but a day like today is not conducive to dry down of the beans or the field. There is even a slight possibility of some flurries of snow coming tonight! So, we will wait longer until the window of opportunity opens for the harvest of the last of the soybean crop.
John is performing some repairs in our shop, with a rebuilt knife for the MacDon header, and a thorough servicing of the JD 970R mower. Brandon has been busy with delivering some corn to GPC. He has a heavy schedule of deliveries the last half of the month and also during December. It’ll be good to get some soybeans out of here, so that we can pull some out of storage and verify their condition. I have been occupied with financial and bookkeeping concerns, preparing for the fiscal year end. There is a lot to juggle and figure out. Ross has been diligent with his analysis of the markets, and has sold some corn, soybeans, and wheat… not only for the grain in our bins, but also for the 2019 crop!
We are seeing the beautiful fall leaves cascade to the ground. We are past the peak days of fall color, and a few of the trees around here are already bare. You have to catch those few spectacular days of brilliant colors or you’ll miss them. Fall color seemed to come later this year than usual, but the beauty was not diminished.
When you are lucky enough to have a sunny day during the fall, it enhances the colors of the leaves!
This “burning bush” in our yard was really special this year.
The sky sometimes gives you a spectacular view on November evenings.
Even on a cloudy day, we try to appreciate the natural beauty here at the farm
We have had some conservation work done after harvest. If we can receive only gentle rains during the next couple months, it will help establish the planted grasses, and make the work more appealing and permanent.
This reconstructed ditch at the Harry farm is now beginning to show the baby fescue emerging to protect its banks.
So, we continue our waiting game for the final hours of #harvest18, but there is always something here to keep us busy while we wait.
