| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 05 2009 : 09:52:24 AM
My husband is a wheat farmer in the extreme part of eastern Washington. We farm 2700 acres of wheat, barely, lentils, and peas. He does this all with the assistance of one hired hand and part-time help from his father and myself.
My husband has often commented about how much he misses the days of old when the women cooked and brought meals to the field and everyone took a couple of hours off to sup together. Since I have five kids and a job of my own, he has never expected that of me. So, this year, I surprised him by taking time off from my normal job to be the real-deal old-fashioned farm wife for harvest. I will drive truck part-time, go on parts runs, flag the combines, cook all of the meals, make the crew lunches, and on Sundays (only) I will even take hot meals of fried chicken or pulled pork sandwiches, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, pie and iced tea or cold lemonade to the field where my five children and I will set up "dinner" for the whole crew. Since I won't be able to work outside of the farm I thought I would blog about my farm wife experiences for anyone interested in the trails and tribulations of life on a northwest wheat farm.
We started last night by flagging three combines out to our pea field and first off I missed the most fantastic pictures. My husband cut into the field as the lead combine with the other two following suit, and then they all stopped to step out on the deck of the combine. On deck number 1 was my husband and 11 year old son, on deck 2 was my hired man and my 4-yr old son, and directly behind them on deck 3 was my father-in-law and my daughter all standing colorfully in a row. They were all staring at the job ahead of them with excitement and unity, clapping and overjoyed that we were finally in the field. I WILL remember my camera today and post some photos of our harvest for anyone who is interested.
Amy
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alee |
Posted - Sep 02 2009 : 2:25:13 PM
Thanks for showing us the harvest through this Post/Blog! It has been so fun reading about it! Have fun at Dworshack! I really liked going up there when I lived in Moscow!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Sep 02 2009 : 10:04:17 AM
Well, we are almost done. Barring any breakdowns, we will be going camping at Dworshack this week-end, but I am not holding my breath. The kids are back in school. I am feeling mommy/author mode kicking in. Once harvest is done, the tables will turn and Wave will be the one supporting me by taking kids and making lunches. In the end I would summarize it all as one of the worst "production" harvests we have had, but one of the best "family" harvests. I am going to end this blog on the forum now in favor or getting back to my new book, but I hope that the enteries - limited as they were - allowed all of you a little peak into Pacific Northwest harvests. Thank you for all of your support and BIG THANKS to Kathy and Jon for being a part of the experience with us.
Until fall work...
Amy
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 08:28:32 AM
No, we are certain that harvest will never end, but what memories we have had this year! Summer's birthday in the field went well. No candles though. Grandma put a stop to that one before I could even ponder it. I guess she has seen a few field fires in her life. After that, we had to get back to work and move combines to the next field. Dad slowed that one down by stabbing the tire of the header cart with a spike in the pea header. He was so mad we had to slow him down as he was attempting to ram the header onto the cart. Ahhh, mid-harvest. I don't think we are all as patient as we were a few weeks ago.
Today it is raining again. We commented over the radio while dodging cars and farm trucks that are no longer driving casually as we moved along the highway about the weird weather. No rain in Seattle this summer and 104 degrees. Here, in the drylands, we have rain, rain, rain. It is okay today though - at least for me. We bought concert tickets about 10 months ago with friends with no idea that we would still be in harvest. Wave has been crazy with worry about having to leave the field for a concert. That is just not what we do. Harvest comes first and foremost. With the rain Wave would not be in the field anyway, so maybe - just maybe- he will be able to relax enough to be with us in mind, body and spirit. We shall see...
The grandparents are stepping in to take all of the kids. My mom will take "the twins" to a POW WOW, Wave's mom will take the older two somewhere, and Wave's step-father and sister will take "the it" Jack. Everyone gets to enjoy some special time together. They are too excited - I guess we better get excited as well with all of these people putting their time aside to help us. After that, I will be getting them ready to go back to school while multi-tasking with farming and prepping for upcoming book signings in September. The pace never slows, but today that seems okay. So much to look forward to with school starting....
Have a great week-end...
Amy |
| simplyflowers |
Posted - Aug 27 2009 : 06:28:37 AM
Has harvest ended Amy?? Your pictures are great! Hope you're having a farmfabulous day! :)
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 26 2009 : 8:55:14 PM
Well girls, I managed to finally screw up harvest! I was doing fine while the five kids were away, but once they got back I have been making mistakes like you would not believe. I sold peas I was not supposed to. I forgot the oil to change the oil in the combines. I even forgot to bring the crew their cold drinks today. I guess even us farm wives can get overloaded.
Amy |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 26 2009 : 08:30:05 AM
I can tell we are midway into harvest. I am exhausted and I no longer have that, "let's get up and get this done" attitude. It is 8:30 and I am still sitting here with my coffee watching the news about Edward Kennedy and nary a lunch has been made for the crew. I keep thinking about our upcoming annual vacation to the beach after harvest and roasting sausages over an open fire on the beach. I even went so far as to make homemade clam chowder just to be able to inhale the smell of North Shores. Ahhh, we shall see how today goes. Tomorrow is our daughter's birthday and Wave will not be here. She will be nine and is making her own strawberry cake. Grandma is coming over in the morning to surprise her while I run to town to get her birthday present that I have not had a chance to get and then we shall have a small party. Maybe I should make the guys shut the combines down for an hour and we should have cake in the field. Hmmm, candles in the field. Maybe not a good idea....
amy |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 25 2009 : 1:43:14 PM
Kathy - thanks! And Jon - WOW! I think I will have to have the one of me and Wave. Thanks for posting them.
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| Alee |
Posted - Aug 25 2009 : 12:23:34 PM
That is awesome, Amy! You did a great job!!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| nut4fabric |
Posted - Aug 25 2009 : 12:09:57 PM
Amy as much as I would like to take credit for the lunch we served you made it all, I only helped set it up. Sure was fun!! Hope you like these shots, Jon has sent you a link to the full bunch.
Hugs, Kathy |
| nut4fabric |
Posted - Aug 25 2009 : 12:07:48 PM
Here are a few of the field lunch - the last image is Amy and her husband Wave.
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| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 25 2009 : 07:19:35 AM
Thank you Kathy! I made a comment to Kathy about having t a word with the farm wife up the road making 10 lunches a day and trying to show me up, well, guess what? Wave came home that night and said he was so impressed because he had never seen anyone do anything like what we had done. Keep in mind that my husband asked me to "set up an old-fashioned dinner in the field just like he had when he was little." Well, I recalled my grandmothers stories of setting up a table and chairs in the field and having a hot dinner. Apparently I was wrong. That was back in the days when they actually cooked dinner in the field - like the old cookies! Wave said he didn't understand what I meant when I said, "you guys ride around while Kathy and I set up." He was like "Set up what?" He told me that night that when "he was little" the women just brought out box of sandwiches and chips and canned pop and threw those at the guys while they sat on a combine wheel or crouched in the stubble and gobbled those done before getting back on the combine.
10 lunches a day! HA! Look what Kathy and I did.
Kathy, would Jon be willing to put a picture up on this site of our day in the field?
Many thanks!
Amy |
| nut4fabric |
Posted - Aug 24 2009 : 09:34:51 AM
Let me tell you You have not lived until you have eaten Amys fried chicken and potato salad in the middle of a just harvested wheat field under a god given blue sky!!!!!! Thank you Amy and Wave for a most fantastic day, we enjoyed every minute of it and wish we could be there every Sunday to help with dinner in the field, seriously we would drive out every Sunday to be part of this. Not enough credit is given in this country to the farmers and their wives!!!!!
Huge hugs, Kathy (and Jon) |
| Alee |
Posted - Aug 23 2009 : 7:31:46 PM
That is awesome, Amy!! Oh I can't wait to see the photos!!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 23 2009 : 5:27:27 PM
Alee and Grace~
Thank you so much. As for the gabbing, nut4fabric and I would have made you proud today! Kathy (nut4fabric) and her husband Jon came over from Moses Lake today to assist with my first Sunday dinner in the field - and it was even better than I had imagined. MJ's farm girls (and their husbands) are the best!!!! I made fried chicken, potato salad, green salad, canned pickled beets, fresh rolls, zucchini bread, and iced tea. I forgot the dessert! So, in true farm girl fashion Kathy brought brownies and saved the day! We all rode out to the field together and while Kathy and I set up the table and chairs and placed the meal on the tailgate of the truck (thanks Kathy for that suggestion) Jon went out into the field with the farmers and photographed the event. Jon, by the way, is a professional photographer. He is amazing!!! You should all check out his work. They came out to photograph farming in action. As for the gabbing, while Jon worked with the farmers after dinner, Kathy and I stayed at the table in the field under the warm sun, cooled by a slight afternoon breeze and chatted about our lives and families for almost an hour. It was a fantastic day and the meal was a great success all together. When the farmers went back to work, they were all smiling - something I have not seen all week. If this is what Mj's farm has done -bring farm guys and gals together in order to get the job done with a smile and a full belly, then I want to holler out a big thanks to MJ herself!
Until the next day...
Amy
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| katmom |
Posted - Aug 22 2009 : 10:40:40 AM
Amy, just know in your heart that if all of us MJF girls lived next door,,,we would be right over to help you out, but since we don't live next door, we are helping you in our minds & hearts, and after all is done we'd throw out a blanket under a shade tree & sip down some ice cold sweet tea. Oh & gab of cource! lol!
hugz
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom.
"I've never met a sewing machine I didn't like!"
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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| Alee |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 7:41:47 PM
Amy- You are doing an amazing job! You sure are juggling a lot on your plate!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 7:10:59 PM
Well, I'm just beat. Too many parts runs, a new split rail fence that I created by slamming a header into it, too many beverage runs, and lots of broken down equipment. And, I am a little sick of my neighbors interrupting my crew attempting to get a hold of me about serious issues with their banter about the upcoming football season! And they say we women can talk. YEEK! I tell ya! It must be mid-harvest for my mood is turing as red as a harvest moon...
I look forward to Sunday. A real dinner in the field...
Amy |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 17 2009 : 8:15:27 PM
Dear Diary,
I'm exhausted....We are back at it today and for me that started with a 7:00am run to the parts store and Wave saying, "Do I have any more shirts, Amy?" Umm, no I guess I didn't get to those last night. Off I went to the store for bearings, bushings, nuts, levers, bolts, greek stuff I have no idea about. I got back here at 9:30 if that tells you anything. I have no idea what in the world I am talking about, and let me tell you ladies, the gentlemen at the parts store just love that. I finally talked with one man who was helpful - not sexist or sympathetic - just "what do you need and how fast can I get it for you." He is my hero today. I raced home to put the lunches together amid other requests from my son, a phone call from a reporter, and the squawk of the radio call "30, do you copy?" NO, I DON'T. Okay, the husband calling isn't that bad, but I did end up getting the wrong part and then leaving the broken part at the store. Oops on that one! I did run into an old friend at the parts counter, so that was nice, and Jack conned me into a toy header cart that he just had to have - and after as long as we waited, I caved in.
After that, I spent a lot of the day doing a major overhaul on the house before moving combines and racing back home to continue to clean my house when all of a sudden - I was called out on another parts run. UGGH! And, let me tell you, it is not just over the hill, past the cemetery, and around the corner by the red barn on the left - it is at least 40 minutes to anywhere from here. So I ran, Jack in tow begging for a new header to put on the header cart (which I told him he did not own at the last store when he insisted on the cart) and raced the parts counter before it closed. After a half hour telling Jack no and talking with another old friend who was trying to help decipher a parts book that swore this was the part Wave needed, I raced back only to learn that it was not right and got the comment, "I (my husband and the farmer himself) will go to the parts counter tomorrow and get the right one - because I am broke down again anyway." Strike two for Amy today.
The only saving grace ladies: I did have time to cook dinner and wash Wave's shirts for tomorrow. My house now smells like my great-grandmothers home, scented by cajun pork chops and gravy, corn and sour dough bread. I am off now to fold those shirts I washed and maybe, just maybe, sit down for a few minutes of quiet time before someone yells, "30, do you copy?"
Until tomorrow...
Amy
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 11 2009 : 3:02:26 PM
Today is slow, but we are back in the field. I am exhausted. I have canned the apricots that Wave helped me harvest while his combine sat idle, picked raspberries, tended to the garden, harvested my own peas, and spent some much needed time with the children. Today, I had to make a parts run for our very old swather. It just won't start. I suggested that maybe it just died after so many years and that we should stop shocking its heart back into service, but the farmers don't agree with me, so here they go again. They will shock it back awake this afternoon and force it round and round the field like an old work horse. Poor old thing! We are expecting more rain tomorrow and the following days. From my canning diary I can tell you that for the past three or four years, harvest has ended on Aug. 24 and 25th. I can tell you that it will not happen this year. Our daughter's birthday is the 27th. We might have to plan a dinner/party in the field for her, because we certainly won't be going to Silverwood!
Here is the photo of the old swather and my very frustrated father-in-law. Some of you know him. He's the guy who makes and sells Spoonfoolery through MJ's Store. I think he would rather be fiddling with the silverware rather than the Hesston.
Best Regards,
Amy
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| Alee |
Posted - Aug 09 2009 : 12:24:16 PM
Wow! That is awesome!!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| kpaints |
Posted - Aug 09 2009 : 09:29:43 AM
Thanks, for the pic! It is just super to see the harvest in progress! At the top of the page when you download the pics into Photobucket you can change the size if you like. It took me forever to figure that out. I don't mind them big so do as you like. I should make some zuccini bread, that sounds so yummy right now!
Find your joy and live it. http://cheneybaglady.blogspot.com/http://www.kpaints.etsy.com http://www.thevintagebaglady.etsy.com FG #377 |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 09 2009 : 08:04:57 AM
Wow, that was easy! I thought the caption would move too, but it didn't so I will tell you this is my son showing off his Daddy and his combine to his friend. Can you tell which kid has been around too much loud equipment? Maybe some earplugs are in order!
Baking lots of Zucchini bread for lunches today. We are hoping to be back in the field by tomorrow afternoon. I hope so for Wave's sake! My motto: when a farmer should be in the field, a farmer should be in the field! Simple, but farm wives know that it is in that simplicity that peace and sanity are brought to your home. We got over an inch and a half of rain overnight on Thursday. Generally, that is a rarity around here, but not the first time this year, so our soil is pretty weak. Our road has flooded out numerous times in the same area and I have never seen that happen since I moved here. Can't complain about the water this year, so the farmers will have to find something else to worry about. Kids all come home today as well. Peace and quiet will be gone....
The picture if pretty big, but if you want me to post more, I will.
Best,
Amy |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 09 2009 : 07:57:59 AM
Okay, trying the photos. Thanks Julia. We shall see how this turns out...
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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| Alee |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 09:10:54 AM
Glad you found the camera!!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| Amy Warwick |
Posted - Aug 08 2009 : 09:02:54 AM
Julia,
Many thanks. I will try that.
Amy |
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