Harvest Shots

Finally some long awaited harvest shots.

The Combine- What we use to cut down the wheat and take the wheat berries from the heads.

Upclose of the combine header

Unloading the wheat into the grain cart, which will take the wheat to the trucks that we take the grain to the elevator.

Eve helping Tyler drive the tractor which pulls the grain cart.

Eve in the field

Family Picture minus Daphne in the tractor cab.  Unfortunately Daphne is too young to be in the dust of the field.

God has really blessed us this year with a safe and bountiful harvest.  And I think we are finally recovering from all the hard work and long days of harvest.

Harvest Time

Harvest Time is Here in Kansas.  Lots of Posts about it to come!

Farm Friday - Crop Inspecting

Harvest time here is quickly approaching, but every year right before harvest, Tyler gets to work inspecting fields for the Kansas Crop Improvement Association.  He started doing it in 2002 after a friend in town no long had the time to do it.  This year Tyler will insect over 4,000 acres of certified wheat that will be used for seed, as well as some fields of native grasses.  But before I get ahead of myself, I will talk a little about the wheat seed.

There are hundreds of different varieties of wheat grown.  Different areas of the world plant different varieties since some have qualities that help to produce better yields for their area.  Plus new varieties are constantly being created by crossing certain varieties.  Companies like Monsanto and Syngenta are working to develop these new varieties and the process takes over 10 years.  The seed that comes directly from the companies is called foundation.  After it is planted and harvested, it is called registered seed and after that is planted and harvested, it is called certified.  The acres Tyler inspects is certified, so the farmer planted registered seed and is harvesting it as certified seed.  Tyler's job is to inspect the field for two main problems.  The first is varietal purity which means he is checking that the wheat is maintaining its specific qualities and has not been planted with another variety.  Secondly he is checking to make sure there are no noxious weeds, like bindweed, being grown in the field, since not all the weed seed may come out when the seed is cleaned after harvest.  Tyler walks through the whole field, end to end, and in different directions to get a thorough look at the field.  The biggest field he has inspected this year has been 320 acres, which is a square 1/2 mile.

Here is a good picture of what the wheat looked like at the beginning of the week.  The wheat has to loose its green and turn to gold before it is ready to be harvested.  The super hot weather we have been having is helping to turn the wheat and Tyler is talking about trying to cut a sample tomorrow to see if it is dry enough to cut.  Harvest is coming soon.

Book Review - Climbing Kansas Mountains

After seeing our post about taking Eve to the top of the grain elevator, our librarian Jean suggested we check out Climbing Kansas Mountains by George Shannon.  It's a charming book about a boy whose father takes him on a trip through town so they can climb up to the top of the grain elevator.  The illustrations are beautiful and we loved how the book took time to use pictures to help further the story.  It helped to show some of the charm and beauty of a small Kansas town, as well as being an accurate agriculture book.  Eve enjoyed the book and sharing her elevator experience with the boy.  We recommend this book.

Birthday Weekend

We are still recovering from an exciting birthday weekend.  It's hard to believe that my little girl is already 3, but it promises to be a fun age.  Her birthday was Sat. and it was the day of the much anticipated princess party with her little girlfriends.  She got up early and after a pancake breakfast she went with Tyler to a friend's yard sale so I could start to set up.  The party was after lunch and four of her friends came and enjoyed cupcakes cones with her.  By the time everyone left, she was too excited to take a nap, so the two of us played for a while and it was great to just enjoy time with her.  We ended the day by going and seeing Tyler's cousin's dance recital, which included more of the girls from town that she knows.  She said it was a fun day.  Here is a fun picture of our 3 yr old and our 3 month old.

Then on Sunday after church, we had a family get-together to celebrate her birthday.  She was most excited to get a water table from Tyler's parents that she had gone weeks before and helped to pick it out.

She got to blow out the candles on a princess cake made to celebrate both our birthdays, since mine was the next day.

Monday was my birthday, but since Tyler had spent most of the weekend celebrating with us and not getting lots of work done, he spent the day inspecting fields and we expected him to come home late.  June is a busy time and I learned years ago that my birthday is not really a reason for a shortened workday.  Plus I would rather him choose Eve's birthday over mine.  So we didn't expect to really celebrate my birthday, but was so pleasantly surprised when my dear friend Brittany invited us to there house and had some homemade ice cream and brownies for me and the girls.  With my family so far away, it was nice to have a close friend to remember and make it special.  And it is always fun to get to share my birthday time with Eve.  Plus I get to remember my birthday when I brought her home from the hospital.

Farm Friday - Long Hours

Growing up I remember in the stories about farmers. They always seem to wake-up with the rooster crowing at the crack of dawn and get to work on the many activities of the day and would work all day until sundown.  But I guess I always thought that was an exaggeration. My dad worked a regular 40hr a week job and would sometimes have to put in extra hours, but not often.  He would come home at 5:30 to eat dinner with us and enjoy the rest of the night with us.  So that was the schedule I had hoped my husband would have too, but that is definitely not the schedule Tyler keeps. 

    A normal day for Tyler starts at, well around dawn.  This time of year it is around six o'clock, but in the winter time it gets pushed back some.  I wanted to try and get a picture of him leaving this morning, but with having to feed the baby at five, I was still sleeping at 6:30 when he left.  He diligently comes in every morning and gives me a kiss goodbye before he leaves, even though some days I don't even wake-up to notice.  I have yet to become the great farm wife who gets up early enough to make breakfast, so most mornings he eats cereal or his favorite, poptarts.  He stays at the farm and does his work throughout the day until he is finished.  Right now they are so busy, that he does not come home until after seven, closer to eight, nine o'clock.  It makes for a very long day for both of us and the girls and I eat dinner without him on most nights, but we let Eve stay up just late enough to see him before she is off to bed.  And when he comes home there is some work that still needs to be done.  He has to maintain records of their activities and the financial activities of the farm, which take up more time almost everyday.  With such a busy daily schedule, you would hope the weekend would be a time to rest and recooperate, but not the case with farming.  The cattle still need to be tended to and there is still more work to get done Tyler works every Saturday too just like any other day of the week.  During harvest and planting times he even works on some Sundays too, although we try hard to make that the Lord's day and a day of rest and most Sundays he deserves a long nap.

    So, as you can see, a farmer, and I believe most farmers, work extremely long, hard hours.  It can be trying on us all because he is sacrificing his time for the farm, but in a way so are we to have him gone from us all the time.  It was quite a transition for me when we got married to not have him come home from work when I was getting done and to be a newlywed in a new town with many lonely nights.  But I have learned to accept the hours because I know it is necessary for him to get to do the thing he loves, which is to have our farm and be able to support our family with it.  It's the sacrifice many farmers and their families take on to not only enjoy the farm but its lifestyle.

Old Settlers Day 3

So Saturday was the last day of Old Settlers and now that I am finally blogging about it on Wed, it feels like it happened a long time ago.  We started the day working to set up our Farm Bureau Hot Dog Feed, Ag Activities and book reading.  We have had the pleasure of getting to know Dr. Dan Yunk, who is the the CEO of the Kansas Farm Bureau, as well as a children's book author and he was willing to take the time to come to Ness and read and sign his books.  They are a series called Kailey's Ag Adventure, when Kailey visits her Grandmother and learns all about different part of agriculture.  The first is about milk coming from a cow, the second about soil, the third about taking care of animals and the forth that is set to be released in August is all about wheat.  Eve really enjoys them and I will blog more about them in the future.  Along with the book reading, Tyler had contacted the Midwest Dairy Assoc. and they lent us their milking cow, and the local elevator helped us get tubs full of different grains grown in KS from the kids to dig around in.  It was fun to see the kids have a good time with the cow and the grain and for lots of people to learn about the books. 

Here's some kids learning about where milk comes from and one of the kids milking the cow.

We also got to feed the riders who were just getting back from the poker run. 

Later in the day we went to Tyler's class reunion and it was nice to see his classmates, although no one wanted to pose for a picture.  We came back home and tried to go to the demolition derby, (it was going to be my mom's and my first time) but there was so many people there we would not have gotten a seat.  So instead we went downtown and used the last of Eve's ride tickets.

And finished our time off with a funnel cake.

Overall we had a good time.  Since I did not grow-up in this town it's hard because I am not waiting for this time to come to reconnect with people who have moved away, but I appreciate how important that is for others.  Tyler was planting for most of the time, but along with my mom and the girls, we had a fun time and will anticipate it coming in five more years.

Old Settlers Day 2

Friday was the second day of Old Settlers and it was even hotter than the first.  We headed downtown around 11am to see the Pony Express come through and deliver special Old Settlers mail.  Eve was excited to see all the horses again.  Then there was a free BBQ lunch which was very tasty, but we didn't stay long afterwards because it was already getting so hot, plus we needed to start getting Eve ready for the fashion show.

The theme for this fashion show was Fashion by Remote and featured people modeling clothes from many different decades.  Eve was in a pioneer thrashing scene and worn a denim jumper with a gingham blouse and boots.  She was excited to go, but when I left her backstage I could tell she was nervous.  She was lucky to be in the scene with Tyler's cousins, Tim and Trevor, and Trevor's fiancee Amber.  They all walked out together and she was a little apprehensive, until she saw me waving in front and then waved back and announced onstage that she saw her mom.  She had a good time and asked when she will do another show again.

Here she is with Tyler's Mom Jan in a 60s prom dress she was modeling.

Later that day, we went back downtown to enjoy some free ice cream and visiting with some friends.  Eve had a great time going on more of the carnival rides with her friends and dancing around to the music.  It was a hot fun day.

Old Settlers : Day 1

Instead of Farm Friday, the next three days will be featuring some of the highlights of our county Old Settlers Reunion.  This event has taken place every five years in our county since 1880 and it is a big event.  Our small town of about 1500 people balloons to between three to five thousand over the three days with activities and reunions taking place all day long.

     Thursday was the first official day and the parade is the first big event of the reunion.  Most of the businesses and clubs in the county have floats and there are lots of antique cars and tractors.  We are lucky enough to live a block away from the parade route, but Tyler still went 2 hrs early to make sure we had good seats for us and our friends.  The parade was about an hour and a half long and the kids gathered lots of candy and some fun swag, like a slinky.

The parade started with the color guard and then the American Legion Riders.  The motorcycles turned on their engines right across the street and we all were woke up and ready to go.

This excavator was one of the fun highlights.  It would turn 360 degrees and the man would go and get to a good spot and throw the candy at the kids.  They just couldn't believe how it was moving.

Eve was a first excited to see Willie the Wildcat (Kansas State's mascot) but was tired and didn't really want to get too close to him.

Later we went downtown and enjoyed some fun activities.  We went on a horse and carriage ride through down and Eve met a Frontier Man and enjoyed looking through his tepee. 

The sun was very hot, so we spent the rest of the afternoon and dinnertime at the house before heading back downtown to see the High School's Rock Band.  Eve and Daphne both had a good time dancing to the music.  Daphne was even wiggling when we put her down and Eve was happy to see some friends.  She rode on a few carnival rides and it was time to come home, although we couldn't really escape the reunion.  Since we only live a few blocks away, even with the windows closed we could here the band playing fun oldies until midnight.

Today we are looking forward to some more fun times.  The Pony Express will be stopping by, a free BBQ lunch, some more bands and street dancing are some of the highlights, but we are most excited about the Fashion Show.  Eve is going to be in a pioneer scene and she is so excited.  We can't wait to see her on the stage, so come check back tomorrow for lots of pictures from that.

First Swim

We were blessed to have some great visits over the weekend, my brother Gregg, his wife Tiffany, and my mom who is still here.  The weather was beautiful and it seemed like a perfect time to take Daphne for her first backyard swim.  We tried to heat the water so it would be not so cold, but it still shocked her sooo much and since it was close to naptime, she fell asleep crying.  So after a good nap and some time for the sun to heat the water we tried again.

We got the same result for a little while, but then she got used to it and actually started to enjoy herself.  She swam for about 20 minutes until her sister gave her a hug that smothered her too much and made her cry and she was done.  It was a great first time and I hope she will become my water bug.

Farm Friday - Planting Milo

It's planting time here in Kansas for fall crops.  Some people plant corn, some soybeans, and some, like us, plant milo.  Milo is the common name for grain sorghum.  Its used for feed for cattle and pigs, although I have heard stories down at the elevator of families eating it like popcorn many years ago.  Tyler has spent the last few days planing our acres.  I have to admit that in order to right this blog, I had to learn about how we plant our milo.  It is one of those things that I always kinda knew how it was done but not exactly how and I enjoy that I am learning new farm things too in this blog.

     The planter implement is attached to the back of our tractor.   There are eight boxes to hold the seed for the eight rows it plants at each time.  We plant 30,000 seeds/acre which is two and a half pounds/acres.  That's an amazing 12,600 seeds/pound.  There are two disks in the front that cut a slot in the ground that the seed will drop into.  Our seed is planted using no tillage which means the seed is planted directing in the previous crops stubble.  Plates spin and drop the seed at a determined rate.  Then two closing wheels follow and close up the slot so that the seed is planted around an inch deep.  We plant at a speed of about twelve acres/hour but it takes longer, as the planter boxes have to be reloaded with the seed.

   While the planter is planting the seed, it is also applying liquid fertilizer.  The liquid fertilizer is applied two inches to the one side of the seed.  We use a mixture of nitrogen and phosphorus which feed the seeds and helps them grow.  This makes our milo not organic because all fertilizers, like miracle grow are not considered organic.

    So now we have to wait around 105 days until it is time to harvest our milo.

Project 52: Our First Datenight

Tyler and I are so excited to try out Project 52: Date Nights started by Simply Modern Mom's blog.  It is a project where you try to have at least an hour long date every week.  The idea of having a consistent time we could spend together really excited me because we do not go out or plan anything very often.  Living in a small town makes it even harder because we don't have any cafes or lots of restaurants or things we could really go to easily.  All those things are over an hour away and that's hard to arrange with two girls and everything involved with them.  So having an hour date, most of them planned at home, really appeals to us and was something we decided to sign-up for and try.  Please take the time to check it out. 
        So, last Sat. was our first date and this month is Tyler's turn to plan them out.  He had planned for us to sit down and play scrabble because he knows I love games and normally he is not interested.  Plus he joked I am a bad speller and could use some help.  But since he didn't know that we only have the scrabble letters and not the board, we had to make a last minute change.  He decided instead to teach me how to play chess.
        Date time rolled around and Daphne was hot and had been sleeping all day, so she got to join us for our date. I guess we broke that rule, but Tyler did follow the make a date-like atmosphere and showered.  But since we didn't have our a/c on yet, it was so hot and at one point we were eating popsicles and he was shirtless.  Maybe it was a red-neck date-like atmosphere.   And we learned some things from our first date. Lesson 1: It is nice to take time and to learn something from each other.  I had never really played chess because I always thought it was a slow game (and boy was I right), but I appreciated Tyler wanting to teach me something and expand my horizons.  Lesson 2: Pick more of an interacting game than a thinking game.  We spent more time thinking and watching the other person thinking than spending the time interacting.  But all and all, we enjoyed the time, with each other, with no computer or tv or anything getting in the way.  I am looking forward to tomorrow, our next date, which will be early because we are having my brother, Sister-in-law, and Mom here over the weekend.

Farm Friday - Wide Open Spaces

When I met my husband Tyler I had never been to Kansas, never even to really anything close.  I would listen to the Dixie Chicks song "Wide Open Spaces" and dream about what Kansas would be like when I finally got to see it and I was definitely way off.  Farms in the area of PA where I am from are a few hundred acres and out here they are more than a few thousand acres. Out here you can see for miles and miles, without trees, or hills, or houses to impede your views.  I just did not really know how vast this area really is.  I tried to do my best to capture the vastness in pictures, but it is so hard to really understand that you can stand in one spot and look around and see miles in any direction.  The picture above is what you can see when you turn down the road to the farm.  Just drive for approximately seven miles and you will be there.

This is a picture looking back towards town.  You can see the highway on the right and in the middle you can see the grain elevator.  The grain elevator is actually seven miles away in this picture and you have no trouble seeing it.

I snapped this picture a little further down the road.  On the left hand side you can see a grain elevator on the horizon.  That elevator is about six miles west and seven miles north from where I took this picture.  The grain elevator you can see on the right (slightly behind the tree) is approx. three miles east and seven miles north.  The distance between the two elevators is over nine miles and yet from here I can see them both and fit them both in one normal size picture (just a little cropped).  Tyler even says that sometimes on a very clear day, you can even see the grain elevator that's almost twenty miles north.

It continues to amaze me how far I can see as I drive through Kansas and how you can leave one town and not get to another for over miles and miles.  The vastness of the prairie is something you almost need to see to believe. 

Firehouse Visit

Living in a small town definitly has its perks and today we got to enjoy one of them.  I have spent the past three days working on year end accounting stuff at the elevator, and the girls have been stuck inside due to bad weather.  So tonight with a little clearing of the weather, we decided we all needed some fresh air and went for a walk.  While out walking, we went past our town's firehouse and saw that they were cleaning and had all the trucks parked outside.  Of course we wanted to get closer and see the trucks, although Eve was very afraid the siren was going to go off and she hates loud noises.  The firefighter and his wife who were there were so friendly and took time to stop and tell us about the trucks and some of the equipment.  They even gave her a play fireman's hat, a waterbottle and a coloring book to take home like they do when they give tours to the kindergarteners.  Eve was really happy they thought of her and put the hat on right away, and everyone laughed when she put it on backwards.

    It was so considerate of them to take the time, even if it was only 15 minutes, to show us around and give Eve her stuff.  I find it one of the perks of a small town.  People are very inclined to share their time and talents with others.

Farm Friday - Doctoring Cattle

As parents, we are responsible for the health and well-being of our two children.  On our farm, we are responsible for the lives of over 500 animals who also rely on us for some of the same needs.  Food, water, safety, and their health are needs that we meet for our animals everyday they are under our care.  We take these responsibilities very seriously.  Today's Farm Friday is focused on how we take care of our sick animals.  We do use anti-biotics on our animals when it is necessary.  We feel it is better to treat our animals than to let them suffer from a treatable condition and the meat from the animal is still safe to eat.  We eat it too. 

So the first step is to identify the sick animal.  Some of the symptoms we look for are excessive slobbering and/or snot, limping, bloating, excessive panting, or if the cattle are lethargic.  If any of the cattle show these symptoms, they are separated from the rest of the herd and brought into the corals for closer examination.  There are some symptoms, like a lump in their jaw, that we know right away we can not treat and will require a trip to the veterinarian.  If they do not have any of these symptoms than we continue with our evaluation by taking a rectal temp (sorry no picture of that, haha).  A regular temp. is between 100 - 102.5 degrees and if it is higher than that, than an infection is present.  Some of the common ailments our cattle have are conjunctivitis (Pink Eye), Bovine Respiratory Disease, or Bovine Virus Diarrhea.  These conditions are treatable with anti-biotics that we use as directed by our veterinarian.  We only ever give the amount as prescribed by our vet to insure the animal is getting proper care.

Once we determine that medication is needed, the animals are brought through cattle panels into a squeeze shoot.  This helps to keep the animal contained so we can do the procedures on it and neither us nor the animal is harmed.  The animal gets the anti-biotics through a shot.  Some also receive a vitamin injection (like when we take vitamins) to help them receive extra nutrition to help fight off the infection.  None of our cattle ever receive steroids.  Most only need medication for a few days and are able to get healthy and regain the herd. 
Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments section and we will try to get you an answer.  Have a great Friday.

We Love our Library

We are very happy to take place in my friend Christianne's "Love My Library" blog party on her blog Little Page Turners.  Her blog is a great resource for fun activities you can do with your kids that center on a book.  I have done many of them with my girls and hope that you take the time to check it out.  And we would not miss a chance to give a shout-out to our local library that we love going to at least once a week.

Here is our library!

We have two great librarians, Miss Jean and Miss Nancy.  They are always so welcoming, even to Eve's stuffed friends, and they never forget to give Eve some smarties after she checks out her books.

For a small town library there is a great selection of children's books and they are always getting new ones too.

We always make sure to come on the 2nd and 4th Thursday morning for story time.  We have been going since it started when Eve was 15 months old and have maybe only missed twice.  Eve has a great time and even takes our out of town family with her if they are visiting. 

Here are some of the kids enjoying a song at story time.

We enjoy our time at the library, and can definitely say WE LOVE OUR LIBRARY!