Harvesting Gold

New wheat has been harvested!

Back in early March these little shoots of winter wheat (and one lonely robin sitting at the tippy top of a naked tree branch) announced that spring was right around the corner.

By May the wheat made the field look like a sea of green.

One day in June the tips of the wheat started to yellow. The color change was so discreet I almost didn't see it happen.

And now that it's July this combine harvests those tiny little wheat berries from their golden stems.

Nothing goes to waste. The piles of cut stalks get baled up into nice dry straw that has billions of uses.

The planter follows directly behind the baler to plant beans that will amend the soil.

And the wheat is hauled to the elevator where it is turned into real gold.