What I'm Loving Wednesday Harvest Style

I'm loving that I got home in time to capture some shots of corn harvest at my parents' house tonight. 

I'm loving that my nephew G was in the jump seat of the combine and when he saw me coming across the field, he struck a silly pose.

I'm loving that G invited me into the cab to ride with them! 

I'm loving that my dad let G "drive" the combine and that the responsibility made his "gut hurt" as G put it. It's a big deal to steer the big green machine through the field!

"Papaw said there's no driving age for the combine."

"Keep it between the rows."

The same field, just headed away from the sun!

I'm loving this shot. Not sure why, but I do.

I'm loving this shot of all the green machines in a row!

I'm not loving that the hot, dry summer took its toll on our fields. Someone asked my how were we affected and I think my dad explained it best tonight. 

He said that he normally had to unload the corn from the combine after one round through the field (up and back once) - in one really good year, he couldn't even go that long. This year he was easily making two rounds before unloading. 

Disappointing, yes.  Disheartening, yes.  The end of the world, no.

The beautiful part of farming is that every year we have a chance to raise a crop again. The ultimate do-over.

Linking up to this kind of love!

What I'm Loving Wednesday Tired Style

I'm loving that harvest has started in my neck of the woods! It's still early in the season, but I did catch Dad unloading the last of the corn in his first field last week.

Unfortunately, the crop has been affected by the drought that many of us experienced this summer so harvest will probably be much quicker this year. However, we are thankful that there IS a crop out there. Many farmers can't say the same this year.

I'm loving that I have the next four days off of work! I have a silly habit of hoarding my vacation time until the end of the year (our year end is 9/30) and then having to take several days off so as not to lose them. Luckily, I work for corn & soybean farmers and they are a bit busy right now (see above) so our office slows down a bit this time of year.

I'm loving that I spent my first day of vacation with my two nieces and one nephew as a stand-in babysitter. We built a cool sheet tent behind my big red couch. Why? Because my nephew asked me to.

We had a good time, even with my youngest niece deciding to "paint" herself with her own poo (sorry for the oversharing but I had to) during her afternoon nap.

I'm loving that my baby sister asked me what I got done today. I told her that I watched a 19-month-old, 23-month-old and a 4-year-old. That's what I got done today! That and some browsing on Pinterest...

I'm loving that Starbucks has decided to load their free drink rewards coupon (that will come after 12 drinks, not 15) right to my card instead of sending me a postcard. I swear that I don't always get them!

However, I'm quite sad that they are taking away the free syrups. I may have to start re-considering my signature drink OR try to re-create it at home like I did this morning...

I'm loving that I spent last Friday night with a handful of ladies - both farm gals and not - touring some wonderful farms in Johnson County, Indiana - including Keegan Poe's farm in Franklin. He talked to us about how he raises his cattle, how he sells freezer beef, pork & lamb direct to consumers, and we visited the pasture to meet his herd, including this gal (or fellow, I'm not sure).

We finished the farm tours at Mallow Run Winery in Bargersville and learned that unlike the corn and soybeans, Indiana wine grapes endured and even flourished in this summer's drought. After the tour of the vineyards and the wine-making barn (not sure what to call it), we even got to taste! Yum.

I may or may not have taken 4 bottles (the box fits 4 bottles!) home with me and wishing I bought a couple others.

I'm loving linking up to What I'm Loving Wednesday over at this kind of love.

INCREDIBLE Sweet Corn...Let the Freezing Begin

Last week my family gathered at the farm to freeze the first sweet corn of the season.

I took way too many photos (check out my Wordless Wednesday post from last week) and am having trouble editing them to just one post. So, I've decided to stretch it out into several posts over the week.

It all starts with the corn! A co-worker asked me what variety of sweet corn my dad planted this year and she rattled off three or four varieties. After seeing the blank look on my face, she shook her head and said "Never mind."

Truth be told, I hadn't seen an actual ear of corn off the stalk yet and hadn't asked what variety of sweet corn Dad planted this year. I just knew it was sweet corn and it was going to be GOOD!

Once on the farm with camera in hand, I went out to the field with Dad and asked what variety we were he was picking. I found out it was Incredible, a yellow corn. After a quick search on Purdue's web site, I found out that Incredible is a sugar-enhanced variety. According to the web site, "Sugar-enhanced (se) sweet corn has a higher sugar content and is more tender than standard sweet corn."

From the photo above, you may be wondering why the corn in front is shorter than the corn in the background. The reason is that the corn in the front is sweet corn and the corn in the back is field corn (or dent corn) which stays in the field until it's dried down in the fall and is used for livestock feed and processing (starch, alcohol and sugars).

Unlike most folks who plant a few rows of sweet corn in their gardens by hand, my dad uses a bit bigger piece of equipment - like a 12-row planter pulled by a very big tractor! This year, he planted five rows of sweet corn along the two short sides of the field closest to the house. He also has patches in a couple of other fields planted a bit later so we can enjoy sweet corn throughout the summer.

So, how does you know when the sweet corn is ready? Dad said that he looks at the size of the ears and squeezes the ear to see if it's firm. He also admitted that he "spot shucks" a couple of ears right on the stalk to make sure it looks ready to go!

This year the ears were slightly smaller than normal - probably because of the tremendous amount of rain we got early in the season and the lack of rain we've gotten in the last several weeks.

Note the 5-gallon bucket in his hand below. These buckets are staples around our farm. In my lifetime, I've seen them used for everything from gathering sweet corn from the field to transporting baby pigs. They are an essential tool on the farm!

Dad picked six buckets of corn for our first evening of freezing.

Tomorrow, the shucking begins! Stay tuned.