10.20.20 Beet Harvest Traditions

Every year we go to beet harvest. Every year looks a bit different. Sometimes there are more people sometimes there are less. I miss those that are not there- my grandparents and some old friends, and I hope that those that are new can feel the goodness that is family farming. 

After harvest for the day Greg led the kids in picking up beets. They also scouted out the machine like good kids they left no part or height unchecked. I remember loving to climb on equipment when I was a kid too. 

This is why I love beet harvest I loved my grandparents. I loved how they made me feel important, loved, capable, and part of what was going on. I loved being with them. The attention and the camaraderie. 

It's hard for Greg to leave our town and his work but usually just once a year I can convince him to go to harvest. This year I theorized it was our annual hat off to my grandfather who would love that we were there. He would also have been pleased we picked up beets. This was a must in years past everyone would walk behind a slow moving truck cleaning the dropped beets. Times and harvest has changed, equipment has improved and labor is much more hired. 

Yet for a few minutes the kids enjoyed beautiful cool beet dirt, picked up beets, and enjoyed the challenge of tossing them into very tall trucks. Sometimes they made it and sometimes they did no. We were together in the gorgeous warm autumn air just relishing some freedom and maybe genetic instinct. 

I am constantly astounded to see the older half of my family. They are getting to adult size and are large people. They are funny, they love each other and are interesting. They don't as a rule like pictures but they trust and value each other and their individual strengths. This day Anna and Harold were driving truck. Reed had been with my dad, and Addie had ridden with Uncle Kevin. I took a turn with Uncle Kevin too. It was amazing and fast. 

Even the littlest boy got some dirt time. Another generation starting out on the dirt of Corn Farms. 6 generation of beet growers have worked for over 100 years growing sugar beets. So much has changed in that time, even in my lifetime. Yet the desire to be together, the need to forgive, the desire to improve, and the personality to enjoy working a lot has not changed. 

Anna driving truck, Livy & Millie rode with her. When she left for the morning she took Bruce who was up and ready when she was. 

After Harold drove this truck he forgot or didn't know how to close the tail gate. Kevin spotted it from the tractor. All got out to pitch the spilled beets back in the truck. A lesson learned. A taste of old times working together. 
 

Annual picnics at Owyhee Dam, harvest, Christmas and a box of chocolates for Valentines, those are traditions my grandfather enjoyed and made special. I'm so thankful my own father and mother have worked so hard to carry on and change those traditions to accommodate the larger numbers and the different needs of the group. Family is a tricky play, yet it is so important. 

At the end of the day while waiting for kids to return to the field I was blessed to visit with a man whom I worked with when I was a farm hand. He is much the same and yet wiser and maybe a bit slower. I admired his big heart when I was a teenager and appreciated his confidence in my farming skills. I still admire his loving heart and his ability and desire to work. Self-assurance comes from working.

Another man from my past showed up and I went to say hi. I knew this man from first grade on being a friend of his daughter. He pointed out all the good we enjoy in this rural valley. How thankful I am for lifelong friends and opportunities to continue to learn from them as I continue to grow up. It was a perfect day one that filled my heart until next year's harvest. Life is good!