Harvest time

So when I started this blog my intention was to try and educate people about farming & not just talk about myself (thus the blog name) & show a side of our lives that not a lot of people see or understand.

Well-turns out I'm hilarious & my stalkers enjoyed reading about my antics & concerts that sometimes I forget to blog about B-rad & the farm...

But this is post is about farming (& ok, a little about me...{what do you WANT from me, people?!}).  Harvest has started & its not gone as smoothly as they like.  It always seems that something goes wrong & needs to be worked on which delays the whole process.  

  On Sunday I went to Jake's birthday party & on the way home around 4:00 I called B-rad to see where they were so I could ride around w/ him for a bit.  I hadn't seen him much the past week & all I had to do at home was make supper & I do anything I can to avoid that...

When I got to the field our nephew, Cole, was running the grain cart.  He's 14, people.... 

This is his 2nd season helping & he still has a lot to learn.  I told B-rad, "No WAY would I want Cole's job!"  

 Normally I walk to the end of the row he's combining & wait for him to get to the end to pick me up...well I noticed he had stopped & I could also see the tank was super full.  

 I walked down to the combine to find he was in the back of the machine because the cobs were breaking apart & staying in the grain tank instead of getting thrown out the back.  (Obviously all we want are the kernels...we don't want any cobs or other 'trash' getting in there.)

They unload 'on the go' a lot & ya'll I don't know how they do it.  What I don't capture in this video is that B-rad is watching about 50 million things at once... he's watching the grain unload, he's watching his monitors & he's watching in front of us because he's still got to be lined up w/ the rows of corn because he's continuing to bring it into the machine AND he has to make sure he doesn't hit any holes to freak me out.  

And our 14 year old nephew is behind the wheel of that huge, 260 horsepower tractor...

Like I said - not for me, no thanks...

 The whole time I was with him he didn't get much done.  (At one point he said, 'I wasn't having any trouble until you showed up...') He kept having to stop & get out & check things over & make adjustments because the cobs were still breaking.  The a/c doesn't work so it was pretty warm in there.  B-rad & his brother were climbing all over the machine so I took that opportunity to get out of the warm cab because it was so nice on Sunday that is was cooler outside than it was inside.  I also got a picture of the corn that spills onto the top of the cab.  Totally normal - when the tank gets full & he goes down a hill gravity takes over & the corn spills.  Sometimes it comes down over the front of the cab & looks like rain.  

 Poor B-rad was so frustrated while I was there.  Hell, I was annoyed that he had to keep stopping & I didn't even have to do anything so I know he was getting pissed.  Normally when I ride w/ him we talk or sing but he was in no talking or singing mood.   I finally told him, "when we get to the end of the field I'm gonna go home."  I got no argument from him... :)

They kept getting up inside the grain tank to check & see if there was any trash in it.  As I stood there I noticed that fun sticker of a stick man falling...  It says 'do not attempt to enter grain tank in this area'  UHM-look where they both are...the grain tank...

They finally got that problem lined out but as it goes they've had other problems since.  On Wednesday night they got to the field & an inside tire on the combine was flat.  Like so flat it came off the rim so they had to fix that before they could start.  

It's always something, people...