Wheat Harvest... A Look Back

We had an amazing wheat harvest this year.  One of the best harvests that many can remember.  Take a ride along in the combine with this video and check out pictures of the crew that helps us out. 

Some amazing thoughts shared by my cousin about this year's harvest.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Wheat Harvest is Finished!

Wheat harvest lasted 19 days start to finish here on our farm this year. I stated the other day that it is stressful, exhausting and rewarding all at the same time. The person I was speaking with didn’t quite understand. The lack of understanding made me take a step back and think for a little bit. The Farmer and I both grew up on farms, so did our parents, and our grandparents. Since I started this blog, we have noticed that there are a lot of things that we know that we take for granted and we think everyone else should know (it is like we were born knowing these thing-I don’t remember anyone telling me). My boys even know most of this-either from the constant questions we get at this age or from just being with us during harvest. Here are some thoughts I have looking back on wheat harvest and why it is stressful, exhausting and rewarding.


 1. We planted the wheat last fall. We had a lot of time and money invested in the crop by the time we get to harvest. Wheat harvest is one of our paydays. We don’t get a paycheck every month. We have to wait until the crops are ready to harvest or the cattle are ready to sale, which is often months apart.

 2. While rain is welcome this time of year, it also makes everyone very nervous. A hail storm can destroy an entire wheat field in minutes knocking the kernels and straw to the ground where it can’t be harvested.

3. Each time is rains, the test weight (and quality) of the grain goes down. This is the weight of each kernel meaning we sell less pounds of total grain to the processor.

4. We start cutting wheat as soon as the dew dries off the fields. The first week of harvest we were cutting by 9:00 am and stopping around 10:00 pm. That makes for some very tired (and sometimes grumpy) farmers . There were other chores that needed to be done as well as harvest. And soybean planting and childcare scheduling, etc.

5. 19 days of harvest meant 19 lunches and snacks packed in a cooler and taken to the field. I can wait a few days before I eat another ham sandwich.

6. My boys have been so happy to spend some time with mom since harvest is over. They are starting to think about working on 4-H projects and have a list of craft supplies form Hobby Lobby. 

7. This harvest was one of the best our area has seen in years. We have endured a 500 year flood, late freezes (that tried to kill the wheat) and droughts over the last 5 years and this good crop is making everyone feel a bit better about what we do for a living and a bit more optimistic.

8. 19 days of harvest means there is 19 days of mail and office work that did not get done by me. The babysitters will still be coming so I can get caught back up in the office. Hooray for 4-H girls that like to help my boys do chores, help them get ready for the fair and play with them!

9. I am excited that I will get to have a normal conversation with The Farmer. This time of year makes it hard to just chit chat. We both had a lot to focus on and we only talked when something needed to be discussed.

 10. The Farmer finished planting soybeans at 2:00 am just before a much needed inch of rain fell. In this part of the state, we plant soybeans in the wheat stubble after the wheat is cut. The soybean seeds were all put into good moisture to sprout thanks to the layer of straw that was left on the ground by the combine for mulch.

 I hope this helps you understand why I seem so stressed out during wheat harvest and why I don’t like to talk on the phone with my friends. I think I will be taking a nap after lunch for the next week just to let by body and mind rest. I wonder if the boys will allow that. LOL The boys and I have been checking cows and have noticed that we have another pasture with pinkeye problems, so it looks like we will be getting up super early next week to treat the calves eyes.

Follow me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AKansasFarmMom. One of these days I will figure out how to put a link on the side bar to my page. I will try to put up daily updates on the farm activities.

 Have a great weekend everyone- A Kansas Farm Mom

W4DW- Overnight Lasagna

The end of wheat harvest is in sight (2 MORE FIELDS!!), but I am still super busy trying to finish my combine driver duties, running the boys to swimming lessons, 4-H activities and getting a new babysitter settled into our chaotic routine.  Another sweetheart of a Farm Mom from Northeast Kansas shared this recipe with me last week.  She was quick to say that it is not a fast recipe, but it is one she uses when she knows she will busy the next day.  I love those kind of recipes!  I try to do a lot of prep work in my kitchen before busy days of working cattle or when the kids have full days of activities scheduled.  I hope you enjoy this recipe and I am going to have to try it when I get this wheat cutting finished.

So what is for dinner this Wednesday?  Well, June is also National Dairy Month!!  What better way to celebrate our dairy farmer friends than with a yummy lasagna.  I love my dairy farmer friends, but that is definitely one job I don’t want.  They work 365 days a year.  They have to milk the cows at least 2 times a day and a day trip somewhere usually only lasts a few hours.  Think about all that hard work they put into your milk products while you enjoy this make ahead lasagna recipe.

Overnight Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 t. salt
1 jar (32 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
dash pepper
2 t. oregano
1/4 t. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 carton (15 ounces) cottage cheese
2 t. parsley flakes
1 lb. (16 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pkg. (12 ounces) lasagna noodles, uncooked

Brown beef, onions and salt. Drain off fat.

In a large bowl, combine spaghetti sauce, water, pepper, oregano and sugar.

In another bowl, combine egg, cottage cheese, parsley, 8 ounces of mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Cover bottom of 9x13 pan with sauce. Layer noodles, cheese mixture, ground beef and sauce.

Repeat layers.

Sprinkle remaining Parmesan and mozzarella on top.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake, covered with foil, at 375 for 45 min.

Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. 

Serves 8 to 10.

A Kansas Farm Mom

Wheat Harvest Continues On

Well, another week of wheat harvest is in the books.  We are a little almost 90% complete!  YAY!!!  We have more wheat planted than normal, which is making for a long harvest, but the great news is that the yields are excellent!

I have been leaving the house at 8:00 am every morning and getting back from the wheat field around 10:00 pm. My body is starting to act a bit tired.  My parents have been keeping the boys.  They bring them to the farm every night to do their chores and work with their calves and lambs.  My mom asked me the other day if I was appreciative of them taking the boys, and I replied NO!  If the boys were home, the Farmer would let me go home earlier to put them to bed.  LOL

Our high school babysitters all had camps this week, so it was camp grandma again.  The Farmer’s parents took 2 days off to host a group called the Master Farmers and Master Homemakers of Kansas.  When my mother in law agreed to host and coordinate tours for them, she never dreamed we would be in the middle of wheat harvest!  It sounds like they had a good time and we survived without them.

The Farmer has been trying to plant soybeans in the wheat stubble after we cut the wheat.  The rain we got last weekend gave us enough moisture that we are pretty sure the soybeans will come up and grow.  It was hard for him to make much progress with his dad and I disappearing throughout the week. 

This has been one of those weekends when it is hard to be a farmer and a mom.  I know I should be in the combine cutting wheat, but I have a 4-H member that loves geology and this weekend was the Kansas State 4-H Geology Field Trip.  We have went the last 2 years and weren’t about to miss this weekend.  I felt guilty leaving the guys behind to cut wheat, but sometimes I have to be mom, too.  I would have felt worse if I hadn’t went to look at the ground for 2 days with some great kids.

I never took a geology class in college and really don’t know that much, but I have learned so much being the driver.  Geology is one of those projects that not a lot of kids take.  In fact, I had the only 4-H member in the county in the geology for 2 years.  Last year he told me that it was no fun to win Grand Champion, because there was no one to compete against or to learn with.  Wow!  He doesn’t care if he wins and gets a trophy!  I was amazed.  This year I volunteered to be the county 4-H geology leader.  We have 15-20 in the project this year and we traveled with 3 of his friends and 2 of their moms to look for rocks, fossils and minerals. 

We live in an area that is mainly limestone and shale…pretty boring geology wise unless you want to find fossils.  I am amazed every year, by the different minerals and rocks we can find in our own state.  We found some really neat rocks to polish and a shark’s tooth!

One of my farm mom friends and I were talking this week.  Her daughter had made some amazing decorated cupcakes for the county fair.  I commented that they looked great and hoped they froze and thawed out well.  She responded that she didn’t want to go through the process again.  I thought she meant that it was not a fun process, but no it had taken all day to make them due to her farmer huband’s needs interrupting the day.  She had been to the field 3 times, the John Deere dealer once and was headed out the door to move the irrigator so he could plant under it.  We laughed that we would be totally bored if we had a 9 to 5 job.  We also wonder what all you mom’s whose kids aren’t in 4-H do with your time over the summer.  Have a great week everyone!  Sorry there aren’t any pictures, but I am way behind on my work from being gone and we must go move the combine and go to swimming lessons.  I am also hoping the new babysitter that comes today, works out well!!!