Long Pulls

Cloudy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon-- rain coming in tonight. The temperature started at 50F but rose to 63F by the day's end.


Today was the big money market (maybe the last), so I gave Gizzie and the boss a hand filling up the market boxes. Before too long the foreman called me over and the picking day began.

We started off by marching through the corn rows in the lower field-- we filled 4 sacks. We dropped off the corn and loaded up on boxes and shears at the store-- then the foreman found out I knew how to drive the tractor.

Much to my surprise he seemed relieved-- I think the long lonely days harrowing drove him to hate the machine. I'd always assumed he'd be angry, thinking that I was stepping on his toes or taking over his job. Instead he put me behind the wheel and gave me some tips on working the diesel clutch-- Newport hopped aboard and I drove the three of us up to the forest fields. We filled 8 big boxes with the last of the green peppers and 3 buckets of green string beans. At one point a bow hunter came up to scope out the woods for the deer season (starting soon). He waved over to us and went about his business. We piled the catch into the tractor and I drove us back for lunch.


After lunch we rolled uphill and hit the potatoes. Before going to market the boss said we'd need 20 buckets full-- so we set to work. It took all afternoon to inch our way through the remaining yukon golds, satinas and kennebunk-- but we managed to get the full 20 buckets. There are a few rows left-- maybe next week we'll finally get around to emptying the field.

It was almost closing time when we came down off the hill. We stacked up the potato buckets behind the back awning and packed away the day's haul into the cooler. Here's a little foreshadowing:

The demon machine is back. The foreman called me and Newport down-- we climbed all over the machine checking all the chains and inner workings (tomorrow I'll take internal pictures and explain the entire mechanization). But, this is the feed corn harvester-- it's attached to the tractor and then another wagon is attached behind it. It's driven through the corn rows, it sucks up the corn stalks whole, peels out the ears, then shucks/grinds off the kernels and finally spits them out into the back wagon. Looks like the foreman will pilot the whole apparatus from the tractor, while Newport and I take turns managing the kernel flow and the stalk/ear chaff exhaust chute. The boss got this monstrosity for free last year-- it's from the 1940s and runs exactly as you'd expect: loudly, rusty and brokenly. We have a lot of prep work before go time: all the hundreds of chains need oiling, the grease boxes/joints need filling, the engine oil needs to be drained and replaced-- then the innards need a slow inspection/tests/repairs. The foreman seems to think we'll tackle everything this week. I like big machines, so this is all pretty exciting. But Newport and I stared into the grinding plates and shook our heads (you'll see what I mean tomorrow)-- it'd be hell  to get any part of you chewed up in this thing.

After walking over the machine and familiarizing ourselves with its workings the foreman called it a day. Homeward bound.

Take it easy.