So, How is Harvest Going?

Yes, how is harvest 2018 coming along? Well...

We were inundated with rain this Fall, and man, it's taking a long time to dry up the fields. The lakes/puddles you are looking at are actually the road we should be taking to get to the corn fields. 

Driving through muddy fields really messes with harvest progress! We have been working on chopping corn silage and filling our bunk and bags with breakfast, lunch and dinner for our cattle. You can learn about the process if you click on this link to A BIG Bag Lunch. 

How do we fill these 150 foot long bags of  food for our bovine beauties? Check it out here at Food Preservation. 

Yipee! Corn silage is now finished and it is being devoured!

So what's next?

This will be my view within the next few days. I'll be driving the combine down thousands of rows of corn, just like these. But first... there is a grain/corn storage bin that needs to get some TLC, but that's a story for another day. Coming soon-

Thankful For Harvest

With this being Thanksgiving week, it seems like a perfect time to review harvest. We completed corn combining a few weeks back. Farmer John said it was the best year we ever had- cooperative weather and a big yield!

Last year I did all the corn combining. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was gratifying and even relaxing. This Fall, I only drove the combine one day. Grandpa Roy's health improved since last year, and as I have said many times, "You can't keep a good man down." With help from Farmer John or Michael, and occasionally even the loader tractor bucket, Grandpa was helped into the cab of the combine, and down the field road he went with one mission in mind- combing corn. "Git 'er done!" Beside the fact that everyone feels better when busy and productive, I think Grandpa Roy was jealous that I got to drive the new combine that we purchased last Fall, and he hadn't.

 Each time the combine fills with corn, the corn is then transferred to one of three wagons that are used to transport the corn back to the storage bins. Grandma, Sara, and I kept a watchful eye on the wagons as they unloaded. No, it was not a three-person job, only one of us at a time, but this duty was taken on by whoever was not at their off-the-farm-job, or not busy doing other farm chores.

The corn leaves the wagon and goes through a screener which sifts out debris before the corn heads up the auger to the bin which dries and stores the corn. The corn is dried (using propane heat) so that it does not mold. Since we had a fairly warm, dry Fall, we did not have to run the drier as long as usual. This is good news as it saves money! We have two bins which hold 22,000 bushels of corn. Each one is filled to the brim.

We now have enough corn stored to last us until next Fall, to be used as feed for our cattle. You can learn about that here. 

After the combing is finished, John baled the corn stalks which the combine leaves behind in the field. The corn stalk bales are used for bedding.

And lastly, Farmer John and Grandpa Roy prepare the soil, by working up the ground, so it is one step closer to being ready for Spring planting, when we start all over again!

Nature's Facelift And A Giveaway

My favorite season of the year is Fall.

Thanks to Megan Z. for this photo taken on the St. Croix River.

I love the Fall colors. I think Fall is God's way of giving the landscape a bit of a facelift before our Minnesota Winter sets in. You see, if you are not from a Winter Wonderland like Minnesota, you may not know that before the snow covers and illuminates the landscape, that said landscape is brown and downright dreary! That's when God pops the Fall color image back into your head and you say, "Yes, but wasn't it a gorgeous Fall!"

Love this tree on the front yard of my childhood home.

I've been doing a bit of facelift work too. Although not nearly as grand as the Fall landscape, I am still proud of some facelift changes at My Barnyard View. Perhaps you noticed the new photo at the header of this blog. Daughter Sara captured this image as we were finishing up hay chopping right before a rain shower that left us with a double rainbow. 

You may have also noticed the new "buttons" on the right side of my posts.

I have added Instagram, and

 my channel on YouTube showing all my videos.

I also recently added a "My Barnyard View" Facebook page. 

(That's another facelift.) 

 I invite you to click on the 

 on the right side of this post, and "like" my newest addition 

to the Barnyard family.

Following My Barnyard View is as easy 

as a click of a button!

and facelifts!

In honor of all the new changes at My Barnyard View, 

let's celebrate with a giveaway! 

 Enter to win the start of your dairy herd. I promise you will not have to clean-up after her, but if you feed her she will help you save for upcoming holiday gifts, or perhaps pay for another addition to your herd!

a Rafflecopter giveaway