New Week

What a week it was!!  Fall harvest is in full swing. Cutting soybeans then planting wheat right behind. It would be nice to have somebody else to help Dean. Getting "new" machinery with more technology has left Dad Suderman driving truck and grain cart. 


Last week was full of break downs and fixing. A couple weeks ago the combine had a small fire. After the small flames were gone, it was still smoldering. Alana and Derek were with Dean. I ended up calling, not knowing what was going on, and Dean had been trying to locate the fire for about half an hour (with a potty break for Alana, too). I went to the field and could smell the smoke.


Friday after supper at home, Dean was cutting beans behind the yard and took 2 riders with him again. While I was giving April a bath, the farmers came in. Dean looked pretty solemn....the windshield broke (shattered) in the combine!!  Alana had been sleeping on the floor. Nobody was hurt, not even a scratch! Praise the Lord!! 


I am praying this week is without incident! I told Dean the other day I don't remember any year having this many breakdowns! 


On a plus note, I am starting to have more energy now that I am in the second trimester. I still have to learn to pace myself. Friday I did a bunch of cleaning which felt good, but had no energy and an emotional Saturday from being so tired. Makes for a stressful household with farming trouble and tired (low patience) mommy trying to hold it together at home. I am grateful when Derek wants to go with daddy...whatever he is doing. 

Fall Harvest is Upon us!

Fall Harvest is here! 2010 corn is being picked earlier than people remember. It is still August and most people are in full swing. Fall Harvest is a lot different than wheat harvest. Wheat harvest is usually over in about a week, depending on the weather, of course. Fall Harvest involves getting 3 crops in from the field: corn has to be picked (not cut which is tempting for us Kansas folk to say!), milo aka grain sorghum has to be cut, although we don't have a lot of that around here anymore, and soybeans, mostly double crop planted into the wheat stubble after it was cut.

We officially started last week. Dean tried some of our corn and decided to do some work on the corn head. Different combine, so different corn head and it needed some work. Notice I said different, not new, which is why it needed work. Saturday was spent picking corn for somebody else before trying another one of our fields and coming home  about 9 p.m.

Today, corn had to be hauled into town in the big red truck. Then the grain cart had to be emptied from the field and hauled away. A neighbor wanted some, so he had to take the truck to weigh it first before delivering it to their farm. Grandma Suderman and I made dinner to take out to the field. We had tater tot casserole, rolls, carrots and celery, and fresh peach cobbler. Yum!! We couldn't find much shade to eat in. April and I ate in the back of the van. The back door stayed open to provide the only shade we had for 4 other adults, Alana, and Derek. 

Alana and Derek wanted to ride in the combine of course! That is the fun part for them...and mom as I get a break from three kids! April fell asleep on the way home and took a long nap! So, this tired mommy-to-be got a nap, too, until I got a call that Alana was ready to come home. Derek stayed out to help daddy.

It is 6:00 and we are doing an easy "lunch" of pizza and pop! We still have to take it out, but hopefully can find some shade now.

Vacation

It is 1 week  till school starts. In the past, we have taken a little vacation after school starts, but this year that won't work...at least not during the week. Our big girl is going to Kindergarten! With life on the farm, it is going to be tight to fit in going somewhere. Dean has hay down that needs to be baled. Rain would be nice, though, too! The corn, milo, and beans are needing it.


We have discussed doing little things here and there that we have talked about with the kids. Alana would like to go fishing, or swimming at the lake. It is too hot in Kansas for a trip to the zoo, which would be fun. After school shopping with Alana at the mall, I told Dean we could just go there and ride the escalator! They also have other toys to ride. We would like to stay at a hotel at least so it seems like a getaway! The kids want to go see Uncle Mark and Tammy in Topeka. They usually come this way and we usually have farm business so we can't go that way.


We will have to see what works out yet. We can always do weekend fun things, too, after school starts. When talking to Alana about school starting, she says we haven't gone on vacation yet!

House Rules!

I need to come up with some house rules. I should have done this at the beginning of the summer. I thought about it then, but life on the farm with 3 small children has kept me from it again. I have found that I am good at coming up with ideas, it's the following through that is difficult.

I wish this were something Dean and I could do together, but again, farming is busy right now. He swathed down a lot of hay and it needs baled before it rains. We need some rain, though,too.

Another priority is a chore chart. I don't know how much new stuff I can introduce to the kids without overwhelming them. I want to do a daily schedule with chores included on that. I found a hanging card scheduler at Target for $1 that I want to use. That is my priority (one of them) for this week! Then I hope to post a picture of it. Oh my, now I put it in writing for anybody to read. Will anybody hold me accountable to it?? That would mean I really have to do it!

Maybe that is what I need, a little more accountability. Getting our household better organized and less chaotic should be enough motivation, shouldn't it?? Obviously not since it hasn't gotten done yet!

This post doesn't have much to do with farming, but this blog is about raising a family on a farm, so it fits. It is my blog and I can write what I want to! :-) Any comments or suggestions of what has worked for you would be welcomed.

Sundays on the Farm

Ok, I know today is Monday, but I didn't have a chance to post yesterday. Sundays on our farm are the one day we are all actually together...good or bad. Dean works 6 days a week either in the field or doing maintenance on machinery. He does not have a 9-5 job which has its pros and cons. During the down times on the farm, we have quite a bit of flexibility and more time to do things during the week if we need to get away and do something like shopping or sight-seeing when places aren't as busy!

We attend church as a family every Sunday, unless somebody is sick, then the well ones go. Dean does not farm on Sunday. I think there has been one time he worked on Sunday since we have been married. We often take a drive to do a "crop tour" at some point in the afternoon or evening. This helps Dean see different fields to know if the weeds are dying or the crops are coming up after being planted. We need to figure out the best time for this since at least one of the kids usually falls asleep! If we go after dinner, they may be awake and done with a nap before we get home, which means we don't get to relax! We want a nap or relaxing time, but the kids don't, like usual! Most of the time, we have to take turns if we really want some rest or sleep!

That is a simple overview of our Sundays on the Farm.

My thoughts on creating this blog

I created this blog a while ago and just now getting around to making a post. I want this blog to give people a glimpse of life on the farm...with 3 small children. Farm life can be busy enough, but add a 5, 3, and 1 year old and it can be...close to impossible some days! Ok, maybe not that bad, but some long days when your husband is gone about all day and the kids acting up, it can seem that way!

My husband, Dean, is a farmer. He plants and harvests corn, soybeans, milo, and wheat. He does no-till farming which means he does not plow the ground, but he sprays the weeds. Leaving the stubble and stalks helps the ground retain moisture and doesn't blow all the topsoil away on a windy Kansas day. (That is my simple understanding and explanation of no-till) I am still learning about farming and will never know it all! I have told my husband he is really smart because he has to know so much to farm. He needs to know (or at least make his best possible guess) the best times to plant, how much fertilizer, chemicals to spray, and of course the best time to sell! (that is anybody's guess!) He has told me I could be his marketing person. He doesn't always listen when I give my advice. I don't understand all of the marketing strategies like calls, puts, options, etc. So much to know! We also have cattle we get as calves, "work", brand, keep and feed for a few months then send out to pasture before deciding to sell or send to the feed yard.

The first time we sold cattle after we were married was the first time I had seen a check for over $100,000.00!!! Wow! Farmers are rich. NO! That has to pay off the loan that bought the cattle and hope there is some leftover. There is so much to learn about farming. One thing is that we will always have debt. We owe for land we have purchased to farm. We cannot really figure out a monthly budget because we don't know what our income will be. There is always the issue of buying "new" (different) machinery and fixing what we have. Luckily, Dean can do a lot of the repairs himself.

Even typing this blog has taken time with the "help" I've had. I hope to keep up with this blog and let you in on "the good life, down on the farm." I will accept any encouragement from other farm wives and/or mothers! I am always trying to organize life better. I have ideas, but implementing them is hard amongst just keeping the peace and sanity around here!