15 Sep Four times the fun

Grafton, North Dakota—Didn’t think I would leave for the year without saying goodbye, did you? I wouldn’t dream of it! To say things have been chaotic around the Osowski household is an understatement (Disclaimer: I would be lying if I said we all didn’t enjoy the chaos, even just a little bit).

As I said in my previous posts, we got home on a Thursday and began harvesting barley on Saturday. Barley lasted for a good, solid week and then we segued right into wheat again. The wheat we cut in the area did about 55 to 60 bushels per acre. Once finished with wheat, we had a weekend grace period and then started into edible beans, where we remain today and will be for the duration of September and into October before we move into soybeans and a little corn to wrap up the harvest season. We were split up for a while, me being north of Grafton working on Farmer A while Dad would be east of Grafton working on Farmer B, but yesterday afternoon we combined forces and plan to take Walsh County by storm from here on out. Brandon has returned to high school to finish up his senior year so it’s just me and Dad running the show till the final bell rings and then Brandon comes out to get a piece of the action for a few hours. You can take the kid out of harvest but you can’t take the harvest out of the kid!

Growing up a harvester’s daughter, it makes complete sense to me why harvest is in my blood and clearly has no intention of leaving. However, being a part of the AAWH program has shown me that whether you grew up on harvest or just had the opportunity to work for a crew for one summer, harvest gets into your heart and is there to stay. Being in a wheat field is my favorite place to be in the summertime. I get asked all the time if I ever wish I could stay home, go to the lake on the weekends, live a “normal” summer. The thing is, this IS normal! Doing anything else would make me feel like I’m missing out.

I would like to throw a huge thank you to all you readers out there. You are the heart and soul of this program and I know I speak for all correspondents when I say your feedback and responses to posts are our biggest motivation. Special thanks goes to New Holland Agriculture and High Plains Journal for bringing this project to life. Being a part of this program has given me even more passion for harvest (if that was possible) in the sense that I not only get to live the harvest, but I get to now share our story with all of you.

Until next year, happy harvest!

Quote of the Day – “I don’t know if you’re getting a lot done, but you’re sure making a lot of noise!” (Grandpa Hiladore yelled this at me while I was doing some work in the shop…too funny!)

Stuff Harvesters Like – Standing around in a circle on the end of the field and realizing you are all wearing an AAWH T-shirt from three different years.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. You can contact Steph at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.