Jenny Bashutski – Bashutski Harvesting
There hasn’t been much to report since my last post. The kids and I made it home and jumped right into the school routine. It wasn’t graceful or very welcomed, but we’ve survived the first few weeks of school and are perhaps, finally, getting over the on-the-road-harvest-hangover!
Three days after we left the crew in Montana, they finished up and took a couple of days to clean up the equipment. The equipment needs a thorough cleaning for crossing the international border back into Canada. Usually, the entry process goes fairly smooth and quick, but that’s not guaranteed! So the guys moved everything up to Plentywood, just 16 miles south of the border. From that point, we can make the final trip home and border crossing easier. Our employees we had in the US couldn’t come to Canada to work, so we said goodbye to them. With the help of family, we got all the trucks and equipment home. It was stressful knowing we had no employees for Canada. That’s not for the lack of trying.😉 In hindsight, it’s been a blessing not having to pay out wages or feed a crew that isn’t working.
It was dry here all summer, but the same evening we got everything home, it started to rain and really hasn’t stopped. We’ve had rain, mist, fog, and snow almost every day for the past two weeks and the forecast doesn’t look favorable for the next two weeks.
We had 3-4 inches of snow last week. It has since melted. Other places north of us and in Northern Alberta have had 5-6 inches (maybe more). This is terrible because the weight of the snow has laid down any crops that were standing, some even broke off completely, like the late spring snow did to the crops in Western Kansas last year. The crops that were swathed will be in better shape, but the swaths hold the snow longer after it melts in the rest of the field. Either way, this causes more grain loss and poorer quality grain for the farmers.
Of course, cool fall temperatures don’t dry the crop very quickly either. Those who own dryers will be drying a lot and those who don’t, will be hoping someone can dry it for them or waiting it out for better weather later this fall or possibly next spring. We are not a stranger to this option. We have done a few spring harvests for clients, but it makes it hard for the farmer who needs to plant his crop in the spring. It’s also hard on the harvester because most of us are relying on that income in the fall. Come spring, we are prepping the equipment to head south and may need to be headed south for wheat harvest by the time it dries up enough to be in the field here. We have harvested here at the end of November, so we aren’t giving up just yet!
I feel like it’s worth noting that on September 11, we celebrated five years since Mike’s brain surgery! He doesn’t like to be in the limelight with that, but it was totally worth celebrating with the kids and cake, of course. We were busy moving equipment home on the 11th, but a few days later I finally had time to make him a cake to celebrate. Yes, five years ago he had surgery smack dab in the middle of fall harvest. Life doesn’t stop just because we are travelling and working away from home.
I tried a new baked oatmeal recipe for breakfast the first week of school. It was a hit with my family.
I made a few tweaks to it as I didn’t have all the ingredients but it turned out just fine.
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Jenny Bashutski via livelytable.com
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 C. rolled oats
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, optional
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 ½ C milk of choice
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp butter or coconut oil
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 6 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 C pecan halves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Lightly grease a square 8x8 pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, flaxseed, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
- In a smaller bowl, whisk together butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Pour into dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.
- Bake oatmeal mixture for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prep topping. Bring butter, brown sugar and maple syrup to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in pecans.
- Once oatmeal has baked 10 minutes, remove from oven and top with pecan mixture. Return to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve warm or let cool to room temperature before covering and refrigerating.
- *I used white corn syrup (karo) and added ¼-½ tsp maple flavoring to get maple syrup and also used pecan pieces that I had on hand, just add enough to make it thick with a little bit of syrup juice.
1. Be ready to go at the drop of a hat...sometimes without a lunchbox.
2. Has removed the word impossible from her vocabulary!
3. Can hold a baby, take care of a toddler and drive a tractor or combine all at the same time.
4. Must be able to cook for a crew - large or small.
5. Must be able to read minds.
6. Must be able to banter with a parts man until he realizes you DO know what you're talking about.
7. Must be the entertainment director for those rainy days.
8. Be a wife, mom, friend, helper, cook, problem solver, taxi driver or extra crew hand at all times.
9. Can handle the call that makes you react, "You need what? When?" Dropping everything you're doing to make it happen.
10. At the end of the day say, "I really do love this life".
