Wheat Fields As Far As I Could See

We were staying on the Olson Family Farm, but they are more than just farmers.  Ryan works for the railroad and Kelli is a nurse. Farming is what they love to do, so, like our fore-fathers, I think of the Olsons as "gentleman farmers."  On our first full day at their house, Cousin Ryan treated us to a glimpse of what that looks like.

Ryan was off while we were visiting, and he took advantage of the time by planting a field. And we were more than willing to watch!  But I guess you need a little back story.  This year, Kansas has been having a pretty severe drought.  The Olsons have a small cow-calf operation for cattle, in addition to the milk goats, sheep, and chickens.  For them, the drought means the wheat harvest was bad, so they will need to buy hay to feed their stock over the winter.  To off-set some of what they will need to buy, Ryan was planting a second crop of sudan, a type of sorghum.  

Through a connection at the local agriculture co-op, Ryan was able to borrow a no-till drill.  This uses very sharp disks to cut channels in the field, and drops seeds at the same time.  It was super cool to see in operation.

Oh, and if you are a farmer reading this, and my facts are off, please forgive me, I'm just a city mouse learning along with my kids!

Fancy contraption!

Roger!

There is something so beautiful about this.

Rob teaching the kids how the drill works.

While we were in the field, we took advantage of the situation to teach the kids about the food they eat.  First, Rob showed them how the crops get planted.  They already know how plants grow, with sun, water and nutrients from the soil.  Then we showed them how to take a take a piece of wheat, get the kernels out, and eat them.  We talked about how the wheat is ground into flour, which is in so much of what we eat.  I think my kids took a lot away from the conversation, and they have a genuine appreciation for the hard working farmers who make the food we eat so easily possible.

Wheat.

I learned just as much as the kids.

Separating the wheat from the chaff.

My attempt at more artsy pictures, for your benefit.

Ryan looooved eating the wheat. Gluten all the way for this guy.

Poor Cousin Ryan had a few hours ahead of him with the drill, so we let him get back to work.  But first, our Ryan stuffed his pockets with wheat, "in case I need a snack later."