July 4, 2015

      “To see Old Glory fan the breeze”

     The colors flew.  Otherwise, things went on the same.  Top priority wen t to getting ready for harvest.

      Earlier in the week, the grain bin got a little attention.  It needed it.

 

     The moisture got into the floor auger channel.  I wonder if wheat sprouts are as tasty as bean sprouts.  I didn’t try it.

 

       Tile spade, hoe, and putty knife got most of it.  A vacuuming will finish the deal when it has had time to dry out a little.

 

     The wheat slowly progresses towards ripeness.  The “blow ridge” is pretty much dried out.  The rest of the field remains green.

     The wheat itself has three levels of straw length and head development.  The tallest stalks have mostly empty heads, victims of the May freeze, maybe. 

     The mid-level stalks seem normal.  But beneath the top two levels is a third level of still-green heads.  The lower level heads may delay harvest if they have grain in them.  Will it be a good yield?  It’s difficult to say.  Neighborly says we will know when we hear the grain hitting the combine grain bin.

     On this Fourth, Old Glory wasn’t the only colorful thing.  The rose bush showed its appreciation of the wet spring and finally some warm weather.

      I divided my time between harvest preparation and the summer fallow.  Eight tenths of rain earlier this week revived some weeds that should have died from the last operation.  So back to it I went.

     The old combine sickle needed new teeth.  The clever machine makes quick work of the job, if the machine operator doesn’t run out of gas. 

     One run through knocks off the old sections by sheering the rivets off.  That was enough for one day.  The sheered-off rivets have to be punched out of the sickle bar.

      Then back to the machine which puts a taylor-made head on the new rivets holding the new sections.  Twenty-five new sections were enough for one day. 

 

     It’s a morning job.  When the shade disappears, it’s time to find a less-strenuous task.  There are plenty such tasks.  For one, the yard needs a lot of mowing.  So off I go.