December 13, 2010

A Harvest Update For Monday Morning

Our harvest is still ongoing. We are onto the wheat which is our final grain crop. We are pretty excited as hopefully we will finish in a week or so which will be just in time for Christmas.  Yay!

There has been a bit of a mishap recently though.  One of our header drivers hit a rock that was hiding in the crop.  This has resulted in the front bit of the header becoming bent.  The front bit if the header is called the header front (sometimes farming is not rocket science). Now our header front is crooked.  This is Not Good.  The front is the bit of the header that actually cuts the crop.  Having a bent header front is a similar situation to a header having its wingy bits out.  Basically it means the header can't be used until it is fixed.

Here is a photo of the bent front at our workshop.  It is kind of hard to see but the bottom line (above the yellow trailer) is not straight at all.  Fortunately we have been able to get someone who will come and bend it back again.

Header Front, Bent

As I have already shown you all lots of photos of headers, I thought it was about time to show everyone the actual crop.  In this photo you can see the heads of wheat.  These are the bits that contain the grains of wheat.

Heads of Wheat

Here are the grains of wheat.

Grains of Wheat
This wheat is a special type.  It has the correct level of protein to be made into noodles.  It is called noodle wheat (like I said, not always rocket science).   It will be exported into Asia.

You can see in the photo below where our headers have been in comparison to where they haven't.

Paddock, Left Side Still In Crop, Right Side Harvested


So there you go.  A quick update on our harvest to brighten up everyones Monday morning!

8 comments:

Not A Ballerina said...

I know I'm a total city girl but I love your explanations! It never occurred to me that Asian countries might use Aussie wheat to make noodles. Somehow I find that extremely cool. Well done you guys!!!!

Fussy Eater's Mum said...

I love that the Darlings describe crops by what they make. "That's the butter crop." (Canola, as in canola spread.) "That's the beer crop. (Barley, malt barley to be exact.)"That's the cake crop. (Good old wheat.)

Donna said...

Just found your blog and am excited that another farmers wife is blogging about life on the Australian farm. Great to see pics of your harvest in the west - we're in the east! Keep up the great work and I look forward to checking in! Donna (www.donna-thefarmeswife.blogspot.com)

A Farmer's Wife said...

Not A Ballerina - I am glad you like my explanations. I could use more technical terms (I do know them...) but it all gets confusing. Keeping things simple has served me well many times over the years.

Fussy Eater's Mum - Don't you love it when the kids say "We are growing beer"?

Donna - Thanks so much for your comment, I will have a peak at your blog. I would imagine things are pretty wet where you are.

Emma said...

Hello! I am so envious of you... my childhood dream was to marry a farmer! Looking forward to getting to know you and the farmchildren! Emma

kate of here we are together said...

Your blog makes my little farmboy jump up and down so full of joy.
I,too,am glad for your "simple" explanations, i am not much of a farm girl yet!

Maryam said...

Thanks for the explanations, and I'm glad your header is fixable. Hope it doesn't cost too much. Have a lovely day on the farm :)

A Farmer's Wife said...

Emma - Hi. Thanks for visiting. I am envious of you because you saw Oprah!

Kate - Thanks again for your comment. I am glad your farmboy likes it so much.

Maryam - Header fixed and on active duty again. Yay!