Harvest is a crazy time of year for farmers. We work all year to grow a crop that is healthy and happy, and we have a very short window to get all that crop off of the fields. Which means long hours, everyday of the week, no matter what. So I got to thinking today, how if you were to walk into our house, how you would know it was harvest time. So here are the top 10 ways you will know it’s harvest at our house…
1. You will notice the frozen lasagnas are slowly disappearing out of our freezer, by slowly I mean, we eat a lot of frozen meals during harvest. It’s fast and easy, and can be thrown in the oven while you run out to check on harvesters or catch up on e-mails or calls.
2. You may see seeds on the ground in our laundry room. During harvest I can always tell what crop we are combining by examining the lint trap. Clover seed, grass seed, cabbage seed, are all on the ground in front of our dryer currently.
3. You will not find socks. I don’t know where socks go during harvest, but they completely disappear. You will however find socks on the list of things to buy on Amazon, lots of socks!
4. You will see laundry everywhere, sock-less laundry, but laundry just the same. My best advice for finding jeans or another specific item during the midst of harvest laundry. First, check the folded clothes basket. Second, check the unfolded clothes basket. Third, check the dryer. And lastly if you still haven’t had any luck, grab your jeans from yesterday, they are going to be just as dirty in the first hour anyway.
5. You will not hear intelligent conversation. Unless it has to deal with yields, moisture levels, planting plans, and field rotations. It’s all we have room for in our tired brains.
6. Don’t be shocked to see us leave at all times of the night and early morning. Like I said we work all hours, all days…did I mention we are tired?
7. You will see farmers tans. It’s not just a saying, these white legs and tan arms of mine resemble a ying yang symbol most of summer.
8. You will see Hoot napping in our pick-up while we move combines down the road. Yes, if we can, we synchronize nap times with long road moves from field to field.
9. You will see Hoot with us a lot. He’s been quite the trooper, combine riding, checking fields, starting irrigation, this farm boy has had no lack of field time!
10. Mostly though I hope you will see a hard working family. A family that everyday works together to make it through, tired, haggard, and impatient at times…but together.
The crazy part is that after all is said and done this year, the weather will cool down and leaves will start to turn, we will look back and contemplate all the decisions made for the year, and I know without a doubt we will look forward to harvest next year. It will hit the very next spring, forgetting the messy house and laundry, frozen meals and exhaustion and get excited for that time of the year when when all your hard work and hopefully mother nature have worked together well enough to get a good crop out of the soil. Because, in the end, this is the life we love, this is the life we have chosen and that’s farming.
NuttyGrass 
Very well said! You represented accurately what it is like for most of the farming families in the Valley. Thank you for expressing it so well!
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Ahhhh, what a final statement… Hoot, watching Mom or Dad leave in a combine!
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