This is Farmer Tim’s bean field to our west yesterday.
And in a few hours the field is harvested.
My Amazon order arrived – such good reading ahead. Remember now, I’m not reading to learn anything, I’m just reading for entertainment.
Reader photos
Soybean Harvest, 10-3-24
Mary, are you familiar with Thrift Books on!ine? They sell new and used books. The used books are priced according to condition and are very reasonable. All genres are available.Shipping is reasonable and free with specific quantities. You can also earn free books. I have even seen Country Threads books there.
Barbara – yes, I’ve bought several there – I sometimes forget to look and at others the price for new plus shipping is actually more than Amazon with free shipping with Prime. Do you have Prime? I pay once a year and never pay any other shipping – I get nearly everything except produce and fresh items from Amazon. My mailman must hate me.
I enjoyed hearing about farm equipment and techniques. We live in a small town in the midst of farmland, but I know nothing about farming.
It sounds like we will have good weekend weather for our county-wide fall festival, the Spoon River Drive. For two weekends, there will be crafts, antiques, and yummy food. My husband will demonstrate weaving rag rugs in the historical museum booth. There will also be baling of miniature straw bales, corn shelling and rope making.
Thanks, Mary
Jeanie – Connie, Becky and I are going to Heritage Fest today at the local Heritage Park. I actually hope I don’t find anything I really have to buy at the antique show/sale. Ha!
Thank you for all the information on harvest time with the big farmer’s machines. I suspected they were very computerized, The price – WOW – hard to comprehend!
If you have done anything for a length of time it becomes part of your being. Totally understand Rick’s position. I’m not teaching anymore, but, once in awhile my playground voice comes out, which gets not only the attention of the intended recipient, but all around me (family) that turn to look at me as if to say “Where did that come from?” I’m petite and usually the quiet one. 🙂
Have a productive day and weekend!
Jan
Harvesting corn & soybeans going on here too, it sure has been good weather for them this year.
Harvest is happening here too. I was behind one of those huge machines yesterday and he was moving along at a good clip and no way to pass him. I just took it in stride and he had the right away–state law in IA. He turned off on a gravel rd and boom back up to 55 mph the last 2 miles for me to go.
Always interested in what people are reading. Mary, do you have a library? Local library ordered a book by author Sally Hepworth after I inquired after reading your post a while back. I am reading it now. Light reading but just what the dr. ordered after I just finished a John Grisham book. “The Good Sister” is the title by SH.
Fran Dixon – yes, I’ve read the Good Sister and it was good. I’ve read all of her books my library has so I ordered the remaining two from Amazon. Yes, light reading but enjoyable and that’s why I read. I don’t mind purchasing my books – I don’t spend one other penny on entertainment other than tv. Yes, combines are huge and it’s that time of year – farmers deserve our cooperation.
I just saw on the news Caitlin won rookie of the year! awesome! Well deserved and Mary, I know you are happy!
Lynette – yes, I’m so happy she won – only one vote against her. What do you want to bet that was Sheryl Swopes’ vote and it was for Angel Reese. Angel needs to move on to the world of modeling because she like to pose and show off
Yippee😀. Good for her; she deserves it😀😀
Patti and Mary- I appreciate the finishing quilting thoughts. The groups I volunteer with are elderly ladies who wish to tie and socialize while finishing the quilts that we assemble. It’s not my preferred method but for the number of tops we make, it has worked for 15+ years with comments back saying some are still around. Each week 6 to 8 quilts are completed for dialysis or cancer centers, veteran homes, refugee apartments set up, or a woman’s shelter. So in a month a good stack gets delivered to those or another agency because the couple delivering them do not drive distances and prefer local. The other group I help cutting squares and donate to also ties as there is no one who has a machine nor ability to quilt the layers so they are very content to tie and visit together. I’ve machine quilted the baby quilts I donate to them but the whole idea is for this group to continue service to others so sitting and tieing is a way to keep them connected and useful since limitations have diminished their abilities. I struggle with the tieing some days and my hand quilting is not as good as it use to be. I’m thankful for a sturdy brother straight stitch machine that I keep set up for just machine quilting now but I will have to take it down for holidays as I need the space for my tree.
I am betting a lot of quilts done by quilters as service quilts no matter how they are done will be sent out to Helene victims. They will be needed.
Kathy – I understand the ladies wanting to socialize. And while they’re chatting they’re tying a quilt – it happens at my church, too.
kathy, it sounds like your groups are doing a good thing and they are socializing at the same time. we all do what we can do. i applaud your group for what you get done. no shame at all in tying. you are doing good things. keep up the good work. patti in florida
We just returned from a road trip and I was watching a lot of soybean fields come down along the way. Very dusty down here in Southern IL. Mr. Tim’s didn’t look too dusty though. Have a great day!
Hi Mary, l have done a number of tied quilts for use at women’s refuges when quick quilts are needed and made one for my son at the same time. It lasted well at a tv comforter, then went off to a dog shelter! I used furnishing fabrics in the quilt, maybe that made it last.But l love hand quilting best.Hayfever is causing fluid to build up around my eyes,need to see doctor for treatment l think. Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
mary, there was no way for me to respond to your comment about tying quilts. i would never tell someone else what to do, but i will always express my opinions. i don’t tie quilts because i don’t think they will hold up. i base this on the fact that my daughter fell in love with a comforter when she was very very young. it was tied with red ribbons. it was not in my budget but we bought it and she still has it. of course, the ribbons fell out. fortunately it was quilted between the squares so it didn’t fall apart. but the red ribbons really made the comforter. if i am going to put forth the time and effort and expense of making a quilt, i want it to last for as long as possible. my granddaughter still has her baby quilt that i made her in early 1993.
there are so many groups that do so much but can only tie the quilts. i always remember it is the thought and the effort that counts and expresses their love. some people have no other way to do it. i personally find tying a quilt to be so boring and tedious. but others may feel that way about machine quilting, i have a friend that hates machine quilting. it’s only a quilt if it’s hand quilted, ha!
the issue with the farming equipment really shows how much money our farmers put out to produce the crops for us. it is also reflected in the strike by the port workers who are against automation. automation has become a fact of life. we can rail against it or we can go with the flow and learn to live with it. my dad insisted i learn to be a typist and a super good one at that so that i’d always be able to get a job. but, guess what, along came personal computers and people did their own typing and pecking or whatever. no more jobs for typists. good thing i learned other things, i think that is going to happen more and more.
we have sewing machines now and you better believe when they were first invented that women used them as soon as they could afford one. i bought a really old quilt online because it was machine quilted back in the early 1900s. i used it to show my students when i taught. innovation is all around us.
my brain is going nuts thinking about more ways to use some of these precut pieces i have – squares, all different sizes of rectangles, etc. i really don’t think i’ll live to be 387 years old. must find easier and quicker ways to use up fabric. the other day i used green rectangles (2.5 x 4.5) to make binding for the hopschotch quilt. will be interesting to see if i get a reaction from whoever ends up binding it.
to bed with me. off to angels around noon or so. happy quilting, patti in florida
Patti – I so appreciate your comment about the quilting vs tying. As I told another reader, this happens at my church, too. Funny thing, they’ve never asked me to join their group – haha! I get it – I don’t belong to any “groups” except my once a month book club. I’m not a good socializer.
Can you imagine the faces of this sweet little group the first time I bring them a potato chip quilt? It will be a few grunts and huffs and puffs but once I or a gentleman that helps us marks it, then they’ll see there is something besides just squares to tie. Both groups use only crochet cotton to tie and I have a thrift store that gives me as many as I want for them when it’s needed.
I wish I knew more about farming. Is that equipment used to harvest different crops? Same back end, different front end? The thing that cuts wheat is different than the thing that chops corn and a different thing that harvest soybeans. Does all those crops go through the same process in the body of the tractor like machine then is shot into the truck to be taken to elevator or some type of storage facility? Am I making sense? Or is all that equipment specialized to harvest only soybeans. Another million dollar piece of equipment specialized to harvest corn, etc.
Jo – that’s pretty much it – the combine does the work, spits out the stalks all ground up and the beans come out the chute into the grain carts which load into the trucks and off it goes to town or to bin storage. Yes, the million dollar combine with one head does all the work and the extra $250,000 head does the other crop. This is an observer’s take on the whole process. Next comes corn. What would we all do without the farmers? I just feel lucky to be in the neighborhood to watch it all.
Mary and Jo from Wyoming, ask farmer Tim what a new John Deere combine costs….I’m thinking jay said they are about 2 million now and then you get to add the heads you need for more $$$$$! Then you get $4.00 for corn and $10 (if you’re lucky) for soybeans! Uh! 🙄 whine whine 🤪.
Mary, I’ll bet you could have a ride in the green machine! You would be amazed! There are monitors that tell the farm what the yield is, the moisture, and in that computer it maps the field yield. Then the farmer goes to the elevator and they will print out your field yield and you can order your fertilizer application to be applied according to where your yield was suffering because of lack of fertilizer. It is amazing! Sorry to preach….😉
Joy – my price was not up to date, was it? Farmers deserve more credit along with prices that make farming actually profitable. And I have ridden in a combine – you’re riding inside a huge computer! And you aren’t whining or preaching – you’re informing our friends on either coast what farming is really like in North Iowa – and if you’re a farmer, you’ll always feel like a farmer even if you aren’t actually in the field. Rick is still a farmer.
Thanks for the education! I love learning some ins and outs of occupations.
I had no idea the harvesters analyzed so much of the crop.
My little tractor mows, has a plow, snow auger, backhoe, front end loader, disk. PTO and 3 point hitch. It’s not a harvester.
Mary, yes the big machine is a huge computer with all little monitors every where front to back! And then to explain myself, that huge computer stores all that data of the field yield on a tiny little disc compared to camera disc and maybe now it’s like a jump drive that they take to the elevator to have it printed. I loved to ride in the combine and watch that monitor as it is just fascinating. Back in the day when I was younger and the combine not so computerish, I ran the combine and my youngest son would ride with me. So many good memories! We would watch the bunnies trying to get out of the way going back and forth in the rows of corn. I never!! Rode over a bunny tho. Just so you know, I couldn’t!
Those look like a good crop of beans. Ours are a bit thinner in this area. Got all of the corn picked and just started on beans yesterday. Doesn’t take long for the equipment now days to get them out of the field. We’ll hopefully be done with harvest in a few weeks.
Cindy, I see you said that you picked corn, do you store the corn in the round metal corn cribs with the metal roof on top? We did this for many years, and hired someone to come and shell the corn and haul it to the elevator or to the grain bin on the farm, later after our kids all grew up, we combined and now we hire this done. Farming has changed so much, hasn’t it. The modern machinery is amazing, costly, but still amazing.
Mary,
Amazing the huge farm implements! We have 26 acres of soybeans on our property up north and I will be happy when they’re off. Probably another week.
Got my new chickens this afternoon and got them home and in the new hutch. Am separating the older hens from the new ones for a few days. There were 12 hens instead of 10 so now I have 21. It was too dark to get a photo but I will tomorrow.
The quilts were beautiful on yesterday’s blog. I really liked the pennant on top of Nancy’s quilt. And I’ve always wanted to make a chandelier quilt, in Christmas fabrics. have a Good Friday.
If you’re looking for a baseball team to support, the Detroit Tigers play Saturday!
Sunflower – OK! I’ll watch the Detroit Tigers – do you have a favorite player?
Mary,
Yes, but alas, my favorite player was Al Kaline and he retired in the 70’s!! I’ve loved baseball for decades. Funny story about him, though. In the early 80’s, Al was an announcer for the Tigers. We had seats near home plate one game at Old Tiger Stadium and the aisle going down to the seats was near the walkway/cage structure that the announcers used to go up to the booth. There was an elevator that the announcers rode up to the walkway but then the public could see them walking above and through the wire cage. Anyway, we were very near the elevator and the door opened and there stood Al Kaline. I absolutely froze and just stared at him in awe. I waved…I couldn’t even say hello! He said hello and moved on quickly. My husband teased me for a very long time about having a crush on him, and I guess I did! I have several things with his autograph and one of his earliest baseball cards.
As far as players today, I like Riley Green so watch for him!
One more comment about tractors, the last few my brothers bought for their farm also have GPS. My brother said he programs it and the tractor makes the rows straight when planting!! He said it’s the first time in 40+ years of farming that his corn rows were perfectly straight! The tractor has space for a car seat because both of my brothers have had their grandsons with them during planting! Starting them young.