This has been a good year for crops. The rain came down when it was desperately needed, as did the sun and the heat. The sloughs and creeks that had dried-up the previous year have been replenished, shining blue once again amid the yellow of the canola crops in bloom. The hay fields are lined with bales and the grain crops are ready. It’s that time of year again: harvest time across the prairies!
It's time to get out the coolers and the cardboard boxes and get organized for portable meals in the field; time to throw the lawn chairs in the back of the half-ton and get ready for meals on wheels.
It's that time of the year when farm families will eat off the plates on their knees and talk about how the grain is running while they watch the skies and check on the latest weather forecast.
Gone are the days when women just trucked or ran grain tests and delivered the food. These days, they’re just as likely to be running combines and swathers as they are to be preparing and delivering harvest meals.
Many partners are just home from an off-farm job, picking up kids from grandma's place, and heading to the field with the food box. A time to catch up with the combiners and truckers, stash the empty box in the truck and take their turn behind the wheel.
Lunch kits and thermoses did the job at lunch, but come evening, everyone is ready for a meal. Beef on a bun, potato salad, hamburgers, a pot of stew. Something sweet and delicious for dessert. And coffee in the big thermos for the long night ahead.
The meal in the field is an important part of the harvest tradition. It’s time to reconnect face-to-face with those working towards the same end. A moment to chat, unwind and enjoy the company. The kids can fill Mom and Dad in on school, beg to ride with the truckers and run through the swaths.
When the meal is finished, and the plates are back in the food box, the combine operators and the truckers can close their eyes and relax their shoulders for a few moments before the evening’s work begins.
Many a Thanksgiving meal has been spent in the field beside the combines. What can be better? A bountiful harvest with family.
Have a wonderful, plentiful harvest.
