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Last week I started out the day by getting the old farm truck stuck in the mud, right in the middle of the field. It’s been that kind of year.
Photo: Leeann Minogue
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This year it’s all about the tracks. On our farm, when we realized we needed a grain cart to get through this year’s harvest, there was no point buying one with tires. It wouldn’t have made it into the field.
Photo: Leeann Minogue
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This late harvest has really put our moisture testing skills to the test.
Photo: Leeann Minogue
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This isn’t the most majestic moose lurking around near the durum field — just the one that agreed to stand still the longest and turned up while the light was still good.
Photo: Leeann Minogue
This is the third issue in a row where I’ve written the Editor’s Column thinking, “I’m sure all of the readers will be finished harvest by the time they get this issue in the mail.” And I’m starting to think it might not be true.
This morning an article from the CBC popped up on my phone with the headline: “2019 harvest slowest since at least 1980.” They aren’t kidding. This harvest is a true test of patience and perseverance.
This is the point where I should make a list with a headline like, “Seven steps to coping with a stressful harvest.” Or maybe “Five ways to know when you need a break.” But this is hitting a little too close to home for a simple list. Out in the cold at the end of October, plowing through muddy fields to bring in load after load of sprouted wheat that nobody is going to want to buy is getting old, fast. There are no easy “steps,” and we all definitely need a break.
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But even at this late date, with poor-quality crop in the field, it’s not all downside. Today there were five moose standing by the edge of the back road I was driving down to get to the field. I swear one of them was posing. Our 12-year-old experienced the responsibility of running the grain cart in the field on the weekend. A friend volunteered to come and take over the cart on Monday, when the 12-year-old has to go back to school. And there were photos on Twitter of dozens of other families doing exactly the same thing.
Here’s hoping that harvest is finally over when we’re working on the December issue.
