Mike and I came back to the farm Friday night after supper to find the farmers harvesting June's field. The next day they moved into the fields of the "original homestead" by noon -- and were finished and gone by 4:30. We hadn't expected them until October so were glad to be here. As you can see, it was not a day to consider dusting.
Harvest used to be such an exciting time. Gone are the days when harvest involved a crew of men who came to the house at noon for the big meal prepared by the farmer's wife and her helpers. This year's harvest operation involved four men -- possibly five -- all of them driving combine or truck. They didn't come to the house, and I never saw them break for lunch. They probably ate/snacked as they worked.
In the old days, harvest was a time of bustling activity as farmers worked their fields simultaneously. Now all land in this "community" is leased by one farmer who finishes each field quickly and moves on.
Well, you know all this. I just have to remind you that in my lifetime, farming has changed drastically. And every year I think of Grandma Ina who was impressed when a new piece of horse-drawn equipment enabled a field to be harvested in two and a half days that once had taken a crew of men two weeks. Mike watched boxing last night, so I went to bed at 9:15 to listen to old-time radio programs until I fell asleep. (That didn't take long.) As I laid on the bed, I could watch the lights on the combines as they worked the fields adjoining ours to the northwest. It seemed something out of this world.
This year all of our farm property was in garbanzo beans. Next year: Wheat.
4 comments:
Thanks for the pictures of the process. Even back in my days, let alone two generations behind that, harvesting was vastly different. Eating was a welcome delight to rest for a little while, then back to work. Now, it is around the fields a few times, then on to the next field, and done in a week. I liked the old days better.
A lot could be said for the old way. We always remember the positive. And -- I think as much as we are able we should share those old memories because it's our heritage -- everybody's heritage.
It's rather like the logging show at the fair. No one does the old logging skills anymore, and in general, those who compete in the current events are just professional competitors. So much is mechanized in the woods, too. Ah, the times they are a changin'. But as I think about it, farmers (and woodsworkers) are probably much safer these days.
Hi Chris! Yes, we have lost the old skill sets for these old-time occupations. Perhaps we don't even remember how it was done. It's just inevitable. I agree that much has been done to make these occupations safer, but I wonder if they still rank among the dangerous.
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