Our soybean crop
ready for harvesting

Farmers Larry and Carol

I meet Carol today.  She was one half of the team that harvested our soybean crop.  Her husband, Larry, drove the combine and she drove the truck that delivered the soybeans to the grain elevator.

Larry harvesting the corn.
His Combine cuts and picks up the bean plant and
separates the beans from the pod and plant.
The beans are collected in the hopper and the
rest of the plant is ground up and poured
back onto the field through the back
of the Combine.

Once the Combine is full, Larry empties the beans into the truck driven by Carol.
With the empty Combine, Larry goes back to harvesting soybeans while
Carol drives to the grain elevator and then returns for the next load.   

While I didn't get to talk to Larry, I introduced myself to Carol while she was sitting in the truck waiting for her next load of soybeans.  We talked about dogs and our daughters but we mainly talked flowers.  I wanted to know what plants were on the porch of her mother's house.  I pass by that house all the time and notice the flowers on her porch every time I go by.  They are tall yet droopy and the are flowering all of the time.  I covet those plants.  We had asked Larry what they were but he had no idea.  You would think a farmer would know these things.  So I took this opportunity to ask Carol.

There are two large pots of these flowers on the front porch of a white farmhouse on Woburn Road.
They make a striking picture against the white of the farmhouse.

The plants are Dragon Wing Begonias which was good news.  I have had good luck in the past with begonias.  Carol says they should be available at IGA next spring and I just need to be careful not to over water them.  I can't wait until next spring to see if I can be as successful growing these plants as she is.  According to Carol, who was quoting her mother's gardening philosophy, all I can do is try.