When we first arrived, the thresher was being powered by this old steam tractor with really long belts.  It was very cool to see.

But, the steam engine wasn’t able to move the belt fast enough to make the thresher work correctly.

They cleaned out the machine a couple of times.

Eventually, they hooked up this 1930’s gas powered Huber tractor.

Our wait while they were fixing the thresher made Sally really tired. She relaxed with Stephen and eventually napped on my shoulder.  She was really sound asleep despite the noise from the threshing.  She was even snoring.

After sitting on the wagon for about an hour and a half, we headed into the barn for an awesome Amish style meal.  We were served family style.  The menu consisted of chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, pie and ice cream.  The meal was prepared by the Amish women and used many ingredients from the farm.  Our day continued with workshops.  I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you about them.

Trevor was all set up when we arrived.  He had his sign out and cold water available as we checked in and received a schedule.

First up was a tractor ride out to the fields.  We past bee hives, pastured Berkshire hogs, and soon arrived at the field of oats that was ready to be processed.

Joel was uncovering the reaper-binder and starting telling us about the process.  Trevor was asking lots of questions on our behalf.  It was quite informative.

Soon the equipment was up and running.  The reaping part of the machine is what cuts down the grain.  In this case, feed oats were being processed.  The binder uses twine to tie the cut stalks into sheaves.

We had nice seats in the wagons while we watched the horses go by a few times.

Once the sheaves are dropped out of the reaper-binder, they are stacked by hand into shocks to dry.

I’ll be back tomorrow with what happens next.