Radi Sugar Beet Harvest

This week Kelly was able to participate in one of the most touching things I have ever seen in my life.

Last month, just as the wheat harvest was ending, a local farmer died of cancer. He was only 36 years old and left behind a wife and three daughters.

The pre-pile for sugar beets starts several weeks before the actual sugar beet harvest. The farmers harvest several rows of beets around each field and bring them to the plant (the actual sugar beet harvest starts October 1). Each farmer has only 4-5 trucks to bring the beets to the plant and 1 lifter to get the beets from the ground to the truck. The pre-pile usually takes 3-4 days, depending on the weather. The entire Radi harvest was done in a matter of hours.

Below are some pictures that Kelly was able to take with his cell phone during the harvest and 2 links to local articles that have all the details and some pictures of the harvest. Grab a tissue, click on the link and be prepared to have a good cry.

http://www.crookstontimes.com/features/x191999923/Friends-family-and-farmers-rally-to-harvest-Radi-beets-in-a-few-hours

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/291900/

FOOD!

Most people who know me know that I love to eat. I mean LOVE to eat. Gooey, greasy, fatty foods. I don't care for veggies or fruit and have to force myself to eat them. I am always planning the next meal. If we go on a road trip I have to know when, where and how often we will be eating. If Kelly and I share a pizza I will eat half. Easy!

Now on the other hand, one thing that I don't like is getting my picture taken. There are very few pictures of me that I actually like and almost none that I love. The funny thing about these two things is that one of the few pictures I do like of me is of me, you guessed it, eating.

These pictures were taken by my sister when we were shooting a wedding together. She needed a model (and I use that term loosely) to help set up some shots. I was in the middle of eating and, of course, was not about to put down my food.

WHAT?! No Apple Orchards?

I was shocked when I found out that we do not have apple orchards up here. Something about the growing season being too short or something. I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the fall without my apple orchard and hay ride fix.

So, here is what we do in the Red River Valley in the fall. We visit the Polk County Museum and the Sugar Beet Museum. I didn't get my bag of apples but I did get a ride on a trailer pulled by a tractor (kind of like a hay ride) to watch a demonstration of beet harvesting. It actually was pretty cool.

Me, Kelly and the kids on the "Beet Harvest Demo Ride". No, Ada does not have allergies or anything. She was just being Ada.

At the Sugar Beet Museum they also had a threshing show. They had an old steam tractor that ran the thresher to demonstrate how they did it many years ago. I did not get any pictures of that but Emily was kind enough to give us a little demonstration of her own.

11 Years Of Bliss

Eleven years ago today I married my best friend. Marrying him was the first best decision I ever made. I would not change one day of the last 11 years. Good, bad, or just plain boring, everyday has made us the couple, parents and people that we are today. I love this man so much and I am so thankful that God gave him the patience to wait for me.

Happy Aniversary Sweet Baby!!

When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Farmer

Living in Crookston we have experienced so many things that we didn't back in the cities. One of those experiences is farming. Sure we have driven by many corn fields. We've seen cows and horses and all that stuff. But to live in a farming community is very different.

Growing up I lived on a hobby farm. We had sheep, 2 goats and a bunch of chickens. I did my share of milking the goats (ok, maybe only once or twice) and helped pluck chickens after my dad cut their heads off. Kelly on the other hand was all city boy. He was raised in the suburbs, mostly in apartments.

In Crookston when it is harvest time everyone knows it. The streets are full of beet trucks taking loads to the sugar beet plant. The fields that were once filled with rows of green are now full of combines and tractors. The motel empties of the construction workers and is now full of guys coming from all over to help the farmers with the harvest.

Kelly was lucky enough to get a job with a local farmer. First to drive a truck for the pre-pile (the first step in harvesting beets) and now to drive a plow and help with their soy bean harvest. He will also be driving a truck for the official beet harvest that starts the first of October. The farmer that he is working for has over 3,000 acres of land and has wheat, sugar beats and soy beans. It is so neat to get to experience this life that is totally different from anything we have ever done.

Kelly in his big red tractor while plowing

Em on her way out to take a ride

Ada heading out for her turn in the tractor