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| Melon Harvester: Does Squash and Cucumbers, Too |
Harvest is in full swing. We have a crew in the sunflowers, the almond orchards, squash, watermelon,
walnuts and rice (the pecans come later)...each group is racing the weather...and we have way too many crops still needing to be harvested. It's a love/hate relationship: I love the Fall and cooler weather. I watch the skies and I listen to weather reports and report back to the husband and my boys. The men are in the field for seventeen to twenty hours...yep you read that right...only small cat naps till the crops are in or the rain starts...which ever happens first. I finish cooking at the school around 1:00 p.m. and head home to start a
BIG hearty dinner. The men come in between 5 and 6 and sit down for dinner. When they leave each takes a small ice chest with sandwiches, fruit, cheese, cookies, a jug of water, iced tea and a thermos of coffee....I'll go out to the fields around eleven and replenish everything...then head home to bed and start the whole process again tomorrow. I used to cook the crew a big breakfast of ham, sausage, eggs and pancakes; but now I must be at the school by 6 a.m. and I have to do my regular farm chores between 4:30 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. The men do come in for coffee and either muffins, coffee cake and or beignets...I just don't have time for the sit-down country breakfast and we all miss it. They are on their own for lunch too. I have meatloaf, tuna or egg salad sandwiches on homemade bread waiting for them in the refrigerator at home. I always have fruit, macaroni or potato salad, cheeses, cake, pie, or cobbler and plenty of iced tea and lemonade. I'm tired and they're tired but thanks to careful planning we are very well fed.
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| Butternut Squash |
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| English Walnut Ready To Knock |
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| Windrowed and Waiting on The Harvester |
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| Rice....And My Shadow! |
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Three in One Crop Fields:
Far North West: Watermelon
South West: Tomatoes
East: Rice...lots of Rice |
12 comments:
What a schedule you have! My husband grew up on a small family owned farm in South/Central Illinois and he has always maintained that food is too cheap and that farmers don't really get paid what they are worth! Consumers go to the market and pick up a tomato or watermelon and have no face to put with it of the person who worked such long hours to make it possible for them. I, for one, say thank you to you...please pass it on to your crew!
The butternut is a feast for my eyes! I've grown some in the backyard for a few years, but not this year - and I will miss having a supply of it in the garage to get me through the winter.
It is hard enough to do all the things you do even without your outside job. I am amazed at your fortitude. God bless you!
You all are getting the big job done! I bet the guys are glad to have your cooking help.
You are one busy and organized lady! I grew up on a working farm and remember how much my grandfather would eat...especially breakfast and lunch!
Keep up the good work and keep those guys well fed!
I am curious about the melon harvester. They look quite broken. What are they harvested for?
Becky: We grow seed. The melons, squash, cukes etc. are grown and then run through that havestor and the seeds then go to a washer and dryer and are then picked up by seed companies. We grow both OP's and Hybrids. Companies like Burpee, Johnny's Select and Baker Creek don't grow all of their seed, they contract with farms/ranches like ours to grow for them. We plant hundreds of acres, but in small "patches". The melons in the top picture are OP Moon and Stars and that field had 70 acres, but we may have 500 total acres of the Moon and Stars and we may have contracted with 4 or 5 different companies.
Wow, I never knew there was so much waste in growing seed.
OMG Lynda, I thought I was busy.
I thought soap and stuff was hard, keeping it all balanced....
Becky: I used to think it was wasteful, too. But if you think about it, the flesh and rind are worked back into the soil and over-wintered and broken down...not much different than composting. We have some folks that come out and get the leftovers for animal feed...and with the hybrids I sell the male produce...we only harvest the females. Some years I make pretty good money sellin the males...this year our crops were late, so I lost my customer base...oh well, there's always next year.
That is quite an operation and your support of the team in the field is great. Good job!
What busy days your are working your way through Lynda! You are all going to be ready for a good rest, once your harvesting is done.
Lynda, such interesting photos. Thank you! And hurray for farmers! And their farms. :)
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