July Part 2

Wow have we been busy bees this month-I've tried to narrow it down a little for posting but I'm going to have to start getting to this a little more often when things are going and growing this fast. We are officially into wheat harvest as of last Saturday, which for us is incredibly late but we won't complain about the all the free moisture we've been receiving either :) Here are some pictures of wheat harvest for us-this is not one of our main crops, we use wheat mostly for dry land spots and rotation for moisture control but I still love the color of dried wheat, it truly is gold in the field.

Dry wheat right before it was cut and the front and rear view of the combine moving right along

 

Filling the truck to take the wheat to town

This is the inside of the combine, the view
 from the cab right after they emptied

Getting filled up again

 Along with trying to get the wheat out of the field we are also trying to keep the corn watered. Right now the corn is pollinating so it is very important to keep the plants from being too stressed so they produce well. The mid-summer heat wave we are in has kept the temperatures well above 90 and the heat index over 100 degrees so water is extremely important right now. The corn plants are starting to grow ears and are now well over nine feet tall!  We are also trying to ridge the remaining soybeans that are looking better and bigger too.

Beans out the back window being ridged and across the field

Jenna helping carry socks

New ears!

Jordan showing how tall the corn is now

Look at those tassels-that is where the pollen is in the corn plant

We also hid inside from the heat for a day to celebrate Jenna's birthday, can you tell she is very into Tangled right now :)

And this is what happens when we are busy in the field, busy with homework, yard work and housework (the pile of clean clothes we lovingly call Mt. Laundry-we aren't proud of it but it happens so all we can do is laugh) 

 Dinner from the garden-we love summer at our house-fresh summer squash with fresh basil, green beans and cucumbers and farm grown beef we just got back from the butcher. It truly does not get much better than this-unless we fix steak instead!!!

Well I am off to another round of homework to keep up with my classes and maybe finish folding more clothes :) Hope the summer is treating you all well and the heat isn't too unbearable!

July 2011!

Well another three weeks has passed and this family has been very busy keeping up with all the summer work and also the activities! Chris has been very busy getting the corn and beans prepared to be able to irrigate, and now that we are just about there, we've had some very timely rain to get a few more days worth of pipe laid. The wheat is finishing up nicely. Here's a picture of what it looked like Saturday the 3rd.

the same field from 3 weeks ago

some of the wheat berries we shelled out to check moisture

(these are the part of the plant that is ground up to make flour)

close up-getting dryer but still a little green-another week or 10 days until harvest

We also went to the cornfield to update growth and show what the field looks like after it has been ridged. This is the same corn form three weeks ago as well-noticably taller thanks to some great sunny hot weather and a few rainshowers along the way.

corn ready for water

 From the top-last chance I will get to take this picture.

Amazing how much it looks like our very own fireworks this way!!

 Chris in the corn-just for a height comparison-looks about 4 feet tall now-he is 6 feet tall.

I also got to take an up close look at the alfalfa-its ready to be cut again and the neighbors just happened to have some cut that day.

Just about ready-doesn't it just look gorgeous!

The neighbors just cut this earlier that day

Up close to the alfalfa plant and its bright purple flowers.

We were also very blessed to have my Aunt and cousin volunteer to take our children to Sioux Falls, SD for the weekend to visit my Uncle and his family (for those who haven't made this trip-it is eight hours by car!). It was strange-our kids have never been away from home that long without us but I am very happy to report they did well and are already ready to go back again!! We were able to spend some time with both sides of our family over the weekend and for that we are truly thankful and very much blessed to live our life in the heartland!!

Happy Independence Day!!

We are off to another busy week, the guys got the combine ready for wheat harvest today and more pipe will be strung tomorrow. Never a dull moment here!!