Harvest in Pictures Day 6

We are still plugging away at the wheat.  It was a busy day yesterday and a late night for the guys combining.  I was busy working in our garden and doing my own harvest.  My son & I were able to get all the potatoes dug (36 hills!) and all the sweet corn picked, husked, cooked & froze.  He is such a great helper!  I've included a few photos of that as well.

I was finally able to find some time and do a "ride along" with my husband and get video of what it's like to combine.  A little "simulation" of sorts!  

Combining wheat at sunset

Loading up the bins

Hard Red Spring Wheat from the bin

Harvesting potatoes

Sweet Corn out of the garden

Harvest in Pictures Day 5

Yesterday we were able to finish up with the barley.  Such a relief to have that crop done!  We moved on to the wheat and we'll be working on the wheat for a few days.

Enjoy!

The kids enjoy combine time

Off loading grain into the sunset

Combines at night-the on off in the distance is our neighbours

Harvest in Pictures Day 4

Yesterday was a very busy day at Crooked Lake Farm.  We continued to work on combining the barley, moving to our last field.  The guys had a good day getting close to 100 acres off!
I was busy with my freezer beef business in Edmonton yesterday.  It was such a busy and long day for all that everyone was treated to pizza last night!  My phone (which I take the majority of the field photos with) died last night too as I was about to take some combining shots at dusk, so here's what I was able to capture of our day...Enjoy!

Grain storage set-up

Augering grain from the field into storage

The family enjoying supper together

A beautiful end to a beautiful day

Harvest in Pictures Day 3

Yesterday was a MUCH less eventful day than the previous!  We were able to get a loaner grain truck from a friend which was very helpful.  I continued to plunk away at baling straw, while the guys combined barley.  It looks like we will be on barley for two more days and on to the wheat if the weather holds.  I guess time & Mother Nature will tell.  Enjoy!

View from the combine

Dueling combines

Offloading grain

Barley lying in a swath ready to combine

Hawk taking off from a straw bale. They follow & hunt mice.

Harvest in Pictures Day 2

Yesterday started like any ordinary day on the farm.  The guys went off to combine, I continued my quest to bale straw.  It was a warm, beautiful day with a light breeze; perfect weather for harvest.  I finished baling for the day and took supper to the field.  We had a picnic and enjoyed the nice evening weather.  The guys decided to keep working, in hopes to get the barley field they were working on done.  I was waiting for the Little One to finish eating while the Big One went for one last round in the combine, when I saw a big cloud of smoke come from the field.  Our one grain truck had caught fire in the field!  The next hour was a blur as I raced around trying to find water, fire extinguishers, neighbors, something to help get the fire under control until the fire department could arrive.  Fortunately, no one was injured and surprising no crops were lost.
As promised, here are the photos from day 2:

My baling companion

My view from the cab while baling

The baling unit

A perfect night for combining

The truck fire

A Harvest in Pictures Series

I have had greater than expected visits to my blog and last night I was thinking, what can I do to keep the blog interesting during this hectic time of year for us.  All while trying to share with you, what I feel is the best part of farming--harvest time.  After a bit of brain storming, my love of photography, and a clip on our local news about the 365 Project I decided to share the harvest on our farm in pictures.  I will post a new series of pictures everyday, beginning today, until harvest is done.  Enjoy!

Our son loves shuttling people around in the farm-mobile

Combining the oat crop

Our resident Scarecrow

An early morning grain load leaving the farm

We are Finally on The World Wide Web

It seems these days if you are anyone, you have a web page; more so, if you are business.  When I started the freezer beef business, almost a year ago, I didn't want to spend much money.  I thought my business cards and brochures would be good enough.  After a few trips to the Farmer's Market in Edmonton, it became very apparent: a website was in my very near future.

I'm a DIY'er.  If I think I can do it, I'll try.  Usually I succeed, sometimes I fail, but I try to do-it-myself. After a few attempts at doing my own website through various sites that are out there, and a severe case of writers block, my husband convinced me to hire it out.  I'm so happy I did.  The results were fantastic, although I had to provide 100% of the material, the designer prompted me and walked me through the process.  I'm ecstatic with the results and want to share.

So come "visit" us at: www.crookedlakefarm.com

Y'all come back now, ya hear!