Cleanup on Aisle 6: The Farm Report 10-29-2022

Fall Housecleaning is an old time tradition. We're doing that here at Oakdale Farm too. Among other reasons for the need is this. The Harvest. The guys are down there harvesting soy beans today. That cloud of dust is what happens when the dry soy plants hit the combine! Everything except the beans gets shredded and powdered.  The beans go up into the hopper on the combine, the rest gets blown back out where it came from - mostly. 

Harvest time is always dusty. The picture isn't 'cloudy' or out of focus. Everybody in the whole world is combining something right now. The whole countryside is a smog-like haze of harvest dust. Even putting the beans off the combine into the grain cart is dusty. Plus, we haven't had much for rain and the Earth is dry.

My good neighbor, Jeff and his crew were getting their machines ready to go at it the other morning. Annie thought they needed looking after, so she assigned herself a perch in my front lawn and sat there and watched them. She occassionally barked to let them know they were being watched and were OK, but to my immense pleasure she never once offered to run across the road to help. She didn't even go outside the fenced area.

Here's another 'Aisle 6' that needs major attention. The tomatoes on the tarp garden just out did themselves this year. I've got a ton of tomato juice/sauce/paste to show for it, too. But....

I started in with a groan. It is lots more fun planting than it is cleaning up. If I don't clean up NOW though, it won't be any fun planting again in the spring, either. One foot in front of the other one. Little by little. Rome wasn't built in a day. You fill in your favorite old adage. I'm gettin' 'er done. It is amazing how greasy slick those tomato mummies are though!

Did anybody say you can't grow sweet potatoes this far North? Well if you heard them say it, you can look 'em straight in the eye and say, "Phoooey!" This one is a Beauregard. It is one of my favorite varieties.

These ones are Centennials. They're OK, but they get long and leggy. That other stuff around them is what frostbit sweet potato vines look like after a very sudden 16F we had overnight recently.

This is what I mean about the Centennials. Oh, and next year, I'll use those little 'biodegradable' bags again but when I plant out I'm going to cut the sides so the plant roots have a better chance to escape. The catalog said these bags would dissolve. They probably will - sometime before the next century....

I'm not too much for cucumbers. I like pickles, but how many of those can one old guy eat? I found this pile of cukes laying on the ground after I pulled out the wire cage they were growing on. Who knew!?
 

Time to clean up the Irish potato crop, too. I was disappointed in my crop this year because I didn't get nearly as many to put in the cellar as I usually do. Then I remembered we are in a serious drought and I gave away nearly one whole row this summer to family, friends and anybody who came calling. That's really the reason I keep such big gardens. That and I think it is fun.

I do have some nice spuds for winter though. There's nothing like home grown veggies.

How to clean them? Make a machine for it, of course! Here is a little video of my 'Cement Mixer - Spud Washer' in action. I had left over rubber chicken plucker fingers from when I built my Whizbang Chicken plucker. I made a belt out of an old plastic drum with the fingers in it. I can put this inside a cement mixer, add water and potatoes, and let 'er rip! Works a charm, as they say.

I really like the little ones. They're good fried and diced and ... any way you want 'em. But they're a pain to wash and clean up. "What," you might ask, "would a guy do to solve the problem, in a case like that?" Man and machines go together.

Annie decided we needed to get to the bottom of my Nearing Frame hardwood fruit tree cutting rooter. It is named after Guy Nearing, the inventor/creator. It isn't anything really except, in my case, a bottomless 5-gallon bucket sunk into the ground.

Annie just knew there were mice or something good down there.

The deeper she got, the more committed she was to the project. I want to move it anyway, so I let her do the heavy work for me. She and I were both pleased!

The Chicago Fig loved its life in the greenhouse sitting on a wicking mat this summer. It is supposed to be 'hardy' - as in it can survive - as far north as Chicago. Well, I'm in a tougher climate than Chicago, but I'm hoping that with a little winter protection it will make it. Why not try?

The wine grape project didn't make it out of the starting gate - or would that be starting box? - this summer. They did root and look lively. I think I'll pot them up this winter and maybe offer them to the Iowa State Master Gardeners for their spring fund raiser. Maybe....

Horseradish! Oh my goodness. Do I ever have a crop of horseradish!!! This one plant made two jars of the best horseradish you have ever had. And there are dozens and dozens more plants out there to be dug. One of my neighbors said we might have to be careful the toilet paper doesn't catch fire, but it is really good!

Wood cutting season is at hand, too. I have the best neighbors a man could ever ask for. Chris and Mark sent over this load for me. They had a storm disaster, and thought I could use the remains for heat. Yes, please!

Well, I promised you I'd show you how I winnow my wheat. Winnowing, for those of you who might not know the word - and who might also want to know what that means - is the process of blowing the left over straw and dirt and anything else that doesn't look like wheat out of the...wheat.

This picture explains it, except for one very important part. That part is impossible to photograph. Wind! We had 30 MPH winds one weekend recently. The temps were tolerable, and the time was right. How to do it? Easy. You just find the wind, then sift handfuls of the straw/chaff over the big brown tub. The chaff blows away, and the heavier grains fall into the tub. Bingo!

It takes several passes back and forth. It ain't a perfect science.

I use a screen to help get the filtering done near the end. 

Hard Durham Spring Wheat ready for the mill and the oven!

I think I'll get around 45 to 50 pounds of wheat from my summer's project. I think that is pretty good!

One bushel of wheat is 60 pounds. I planted a 3-pound package of seeds. Pretty good return on investment as far as I'm concerned. This isn't the final cleaned crop. My last step will be to use a pan full of water. The grain will sink, the dust and chaff will float off. After several rinses, I put the grain out on a clean towel and let it blow dry. Store in a cool dark place. Eat more bread.

Happy Halloween! All is well at Oakdale Farm.