Fall begins

The fields are turning shades of brown and tan, and the cooler temperatures are setting in. A few fields around here have already been harvested I am sure most of you know this, but I didn't - so I will explain.

There are three types of corn- seed corn, sweet corn, and field corn. Sweet corn is picked when it is ripe and ready to eat fresh. You see it in the grocery stores and farmers markets. Seed corn is corn that is planted specifically for next year's crop preparation. They "detassel" most of the fields to ensure they are pollenated correctly. And field corn is what most of the state is made out of. It takes less care and maintenance than sweet corn because critters don't really like it, and if you tried to eat it you would be sorely dissappointed. It goes to things like Ethanol production, corn syrup and corn starch, and probably a million other things (just read the back of your food labels sometime...) They let it grow and ripen and then overripen and then dry out. When it is harvested the stalks are so dry the are a pale tan. Soybeans (what most farmers rotate with corn) are also dried before they are harvested.

Therefore, in the spring the fields are black with turned dirt for the harvest, the summer brings out a lush green as the fields grow, and then you can see fall first in the fields, as they turn color much like leafy trees do - ripening and drying at different times. Beautiful shades of reds and golds make the landscape into a beautiful patchwork. I thought that once this "drying out period" happened, it would be less enjoyable to look at the scenery, but instead I think it is probably more beautiful. You can't really go anywhere without being reminded of the season as a result.

I know the farmers are gearing up for harvest because I overheard two men saying "those roads are going to be treacherous until mid-November, now that harvest is beginning..." (I'm thinking, have you SEEN Seattle rush hour?). It's also evidenced by the fact that we have not had a real visit with our farmer friends for a few weeks; the "stop in's" lasting only a few minutes here and there. Yesterday I talked with the wife of a local farmer. She mentioned that if the rain will hold off, they will start harvesting this week, and be finished by Halloween. Between now and then she doesn't expect to see him much, because just like planting, they work day and night to complete the harvest.

Yesterday they cleared the field right in front of us. They had three huge combines going and took it all down in an afternoon. It looks so bare and is a constant reminder that cooler weather is on the way. There are still hints of green in a few of the other surrounding fields, and I have joked that I might just call up the people who farm them and ask if they would put off harvest for a few more weeks...just so I can continue to admire the landscape. It sounds reasonable to me.

(I took the top picture from the roof of our house a few days ago. The second picture was from early August, when the temperatures were hot and the fields were tall and green. The last one is of the combine running through the field in front of our house, harvesting soybeans.)