Harvest in Pictures Day 10

Yesterday we woke up to a thick frost.  We had to take our main combine to town to get fixed, so we are down to our old pull-type John Deere combine.  We've nicknamed it "Ol' Faithful".  Hopefully it remains that way--faithful!

We were able to get a good start on the canola.  I even hauled a few loads from the field to the bins.  I don't help haul the barley or wheat because I have bad allergies to both of the grains.

Here are some photos of our day yesterday, enjoy!

Frosty morning

Close up of canola in swath

Swathed canola field

Ol' Faithful

The farmers "black gold," canola, going into the auger

A fun shot looking up the auger

Harvest in Pictures Day 9

Yesterday was a cold and dreary day here at the farm.  The guys went to start combining the canola, when the combine decided to break down.  Needless to say, not much harvesting was done yesterday.

With the looming threat of a frost overnight, I was able to finish harvesting the rest of our garden and apple trees.

Yesterday was also the day to move our cows to the next pasture.  We rotational graze our cattle herd during the summer.  Depending on the size of the paddock and how the grass looks, they get moved anywhere from 3 days to 10 days. With all the rain that we were blessed with this spring and summer combined with the lingering warm temperatures, our grass is still green and growing still, albeit slowly now.

Here are some photos from around the farm yesterday, enjoy!

Trying to figure out what is wrong with the combine

Checking out the apple harvest

Helping mom move cows

The pasture they came off of

Checking out the ducks on a small slough while driving to check cows

Harvest in Pictures Day 8

Yesterday we were able to finish the wheat!  It's a great relief to be done with the small grains.  They are more susceptible to grade downgrades when the weather changes.  We just have canola left, and if the weather holds, we should be able to finish that in a few days.

Here are the pictures from yesterday, enjoy!

Fuelling up for the day

Swathed wheat going into the combine

Thrashed wheat going into the grain tank of the combine

Getting a ride with daddy

Swathing the standing wheat

Standing wheat--a small strip missed by the swather

Harvest in Pictures Day 7

We continue to plug away at the wheat.  We only have 30 acres left and the weather is still looking good for today at least!

Yesterday was my first day of yoga for the year (Yes, this farm wife needs to de-stress sometimes!) so most of my morning was spent running around town doing errands.  With the guys busy in the field, I've been the sole cow-looker-after person.  Over the weekend I turned our dry herd out into our neighbours acreage to help them "mow" part of it.  The grass must have really been greener on the other side, because when the cows go out there, they were very rambunctious and broke their waterer.  So I had to go and put a portable trough out for them, and we were filling it with the garden hose three to four times a day, which is a lot of work.  So yesterday, I fixed the problem by installing a float for a garden hose onto their trough.  Now as they drink, the trough gets refilled instantly!  My "helper" had a lot of fun splashing in the water while mom was fixing (I've included that photo too!).

Here are a few pictures I captured from yesterday, enjoy!

My help while I fixed the trough

Still combining wheat

Straw is chopped from the combine to work into the soil to help build more soil

On my drive home--I think fall is near!

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