Keep your nose to the ground...

I keep trying to remind myself to just keep my nose down and focus on the task at hand. Harvest is here and it has come on stronger this year than any before....literally we went from nothing here to full in a matter of 2 days. This intense rush of product left me no choice but to work on Sunday.

During harvest there a few key components of the process that could cripple us. Empty trailers is one. We have 30 sets of trailers that the almonds are hauled in from the field to our place to be processed. If a truck arrives with a full load it will need to drop the full load and pick up an empty to take back to the field....if we run out of empties because they are all full then the trucks wait. When the trucks wait...then the fields and farmers wait...

Saturday we were not able to empty enough trailers for the farmers that were harvesting so there was no choice but to work Sunday.

Hunter and I jumped into the car around 6:30 and met up with a few of the finest people at Monte Vista Farming to get some trailers emptied. Hunter insisted on being the supervisor and drove around in the golf cart waving at people all morning. It was fun to have him with me...

These next few months are going to be full of almonds...and more work than I could ever realistically do. So I have to shut up, keep my nose to the ground and get done as much as I can. The good part is that moment I walk through the door I see Hunter's beaming smile and I am instantly recharged and ready to just be with him.

People need to work harder...me too. We all need to strap in, stop complaining and put our heads down to get the work done. There is always something that needs to be done.

Lunch

Step by Step

Just a few months ago I was worried he would not walk...all the other boys his age are walking...is what I kept thinking....

God is GOOD. He is teaching me that he is in control and that is about HIS timing.

Now, Hunter is running, playing, falling and getting back up again!!

Riding Alone

What a Big Boy!! No tears!!

Squash Man

My little man loves his veggies! This is one of the last squash from our garden...it was HUGE. Hunter could not even hold it by himself. Having a garden has encouraged me to explore cooking and all of the options I have to cook squash a million different ways...it has been fun.

I still have cucumber coming off the vine every week...and we all know how much Wade loves his cucumber!

This is the first garden that I have ever planted and it brought so many fun moments into our lives. I like the healthy fresh food, I love cooking it all up in fun, new ways and more than anything I am ecstatic to know that Hunter is learning about agriculture...it is a HUGE part of my life and sharing a bit of that with him gives me hope that he too will have a place in his heart for agriculture.

So Many Emotions...

I was reading a post from a blog I follow and he posted this picture and asked what it made you feel when you saw it.

I feel so many things...

Angry that this is the reality of the world

Curious if I could be that strong?

Sad to see the hate, how sad her heart must of been knowing they hated her without knowing her.

These Caucasian women are so ugly.

I bet they call themselves Christian.

What can I do today to follow through with the movement for equality she started?

What can I do to protect Hunter from being hated or hating based on skin color?

I love this woman. I want to walk beside her.


How does this picture make you feel?

Shake, Rattle and Roll

It is that time...time to shake, rattle and roll...Almond Harvest is happening across the valley of California. The Nonpareil variety is the type you see above. It has a softer shell and it is the most common and most expensive variety of almond eaten in America. The almond has three parts, the hull, the shell and the meat or almond nut. As you can see the hull is split open naturally and ready to come off the tree. The farmers have one goal in mind at this stage of harvest...

that one goal is that as they shake loose all the almonds from the tree and that they all fall nicely to the ground. They do not want any to stick to the tree and not shake loose....it is like leaving money on the tree.

Once all of the almonds are shaken from the tree they will stay on the ground for around a week. They will dry out to around 5% moisture before they will be ready to have the hull and shell removed.

I was able to get a bit of mud on my boots today out in the field. I LOVE being out there...not only does it not happen that often, but every time I am in the field I learn more that makes me better at what I do in the plant. Just as in every task of life the more you know about what you are doing, the better you are...Happy Harvesting...