Thursday 2 August 2012

The Harvest comes home

A trailer load of straw passes a Michelin star restaurant in Le Petit Pressigny.


For much of the last half of July there was a frenzy of activity around all the villages here. The hot dry weather had finally arrived and the farmers mobilised to get the wheat harvest in. A seemingly endless stream of trucks and tractors pulling grain trailers lumbered down the narrow roads making deliveries from the fields to the silos. A pall of reddish dust hung in the air as the harvesters roared on through the night.

Harvested fields just outside Preuilly-sur-Claise.

Spilt grain lies in the gutter in Le Petit Pressigny.

Briefly idle, grain trucks parked in Le Petit Pressigny.
Finally, at the very end of July the weather broke again, and the activity was reduced to sporadic bursts when it seemed it could be trusted not to rain for more than a few hours. Much of the wheat crop was off, and now the straw was being raked up and baled.

Grain mountains at Le Petit Pressigny silos.
Our friends Tim and Gaynor got a these terrific shots of a harvester working opposite their house in Le Petit Pressigny.

Susan

3 comments:

GaynorB said...

So that's what all the noise was...

We were wondering whether the grain would spoil piled up outside and what the ultimate use would be?

Susan said...

Gaynor: I think they must be worried the grain is either too hot or a bit too damp to put in the silos. It can sweat in the silo and that can cause fungal growth and sprouting. I don't know much about managing grain storage - that's just my best guess.

Susan said...

Gaynor: I assume it's for flour if it is high enough quality, otherwise, stockfeed.

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