Harvest Time

I have never worked on a farm, I have never lived on a farm, yet farming is something that fascinates me. I find the art of providing food through working the ground very admirable. Thankfully I have been able to experience bits and pieces of what it is like to be a farmer. Growing up, my uncle would spend time with me on the farm, patiently allowing me to follow him and watch him. I would learn in this way until his three wheeler needed some attention, at which point I would make sure that it was working alright by racing it around the yard.

One of my favorite times on the farm was harvest time. It is a time where everything that you have done over the past year comes together. All the planning, all the hours on a tractor, all the hours fixing the tractor, all the seed and fertilizer, all the time spent waiting; all the work comes together when the field turns a golden hue.

To farmers this golden hue means that it is time to pull on the combines and prepare for endless hours of riding up and down the fields. To me as a kid it meant that I would get to eat pizza from a restaurant, drink all the soda I wanted and I wouldn't even have to wait an hour before going swimming in pools of grain. It was a glorious time.

I am reminded of this as I ride past fields of rice that, to my surprise, have turned that familiar golden hue. Having seen how harvesting works in Canada I was curious to see how they harvest rice here in Korea. I was fortunate enough to see a field being harvested the other day as I was out riding, so I stopped to have a look.

I parked the bike and walked over to where one of the harvesters was resting and said hello. She said hello and a whole lot more that I did not understand but she was smiling so I took that as a welcome to sit down. She seemed a little bit curious as to why a foreigner would want to watch but I assume she thought I was harmless as she didn't raise a fuss. I took it in for the better part of an hour until the combine stopped working and it was time to move on.

The fields here are unbelievably small compared to back home but their combines are built to match. Here are a few pictures taken by my phone from where I was sitting at watching: