Well, maybe not exactly sheaves. Maybe only a few stems left around the field edge from the actual harvest. The farmer who owns the field north of the farmhouse also farms a couple acres that belong to us. I share photos of the entire field all the time. Only a wide, two acre strip parallel to and adjoining our yard belongs to us. Nonetheless, the entire field was planted in wheat this year, and after turning a beautiful golden color, became the epitome of amber waves of grain under a gentle breeze.
Over the past couple of weeks, the wheat was cut and separated leaving the hay behind that was recently baled. We were sad to see it go because it really was beautiful. On my morning walkabout with Tag, Handsome and The Girls yesterday, I noticed some of the wheat along the edges hadn't been harvested. I pulled the stems in front of me and brought them inside.
I've always fantasized that I may have been a pioneer woman if there's such a thing as a past life. Along those lines, I wondered what it must have been like to plant and grow your own wheat. Once ripe and ready to harvest, there would have been hours of cutting, threshing (likely by hand), and then grinding into flour to use for baking. I contemplated these things as I gently rolled the seed heads between my fingers and thumb to extract the wheat seed...separating the wheat from the chaff. It was a satisfying endeavor, but not nearly enough to even make a dinner roll, let alone an entire loaf of bread.
This evening launches my 50th class reunion weekend with a mixer just down the road from our venue tomorrow night. This morning, Handsome and I will run errands to pick up the printed material I ordered for tomorrow, as well as a few other things we need (to save us another trip to town later), and then we'll come back home.
I'm hoping I have some time to take another walk along more of the edge of our field to collect any other wheat stragglers, and see if I might be able to collect enough to grind and use. Whatever I collect will have to sit until Sunday before I can process it. We have to be dressed and ready to go back to town for the mixer by 6 pm, and I surely don't want to be late.
I can't wait to share photographs from the reunion, as well as the product of my efforts related to the wheat. I figure, if nothing else, I may plant my own little wheat patch next spring! You won't want to miss upcoming posts, for sure!
