THRESHING DAY!!

The threshing machine was owned by my dad and two uncles. They did the threshing for themselves and for other farmers. (I really don't know how they decided which home to thresh first, but you knew what home they would harvest next in line).

The woman of the house where they were threshing the oats, would be the one to prepare, serve the meal for all the workers (which happen to be a lot of men). The neighbor ladies always came to help with preparation of the dinner. This meant that their children would also come. As children, we viewed this day as a HUGE picnic! The men were big eaters as they really burned the calories while working. Most of the families in those days had a LOT of children, so there were a lot of children to feed as well. Then they would repeat this until all the farmers had their crops threshed. Each farmer would go and help the other farmer thresh their oats.

Each lady tried to fix the best meal ever and each seemed to succeed in their endeavors. There were a variety of meats cooked (fried chicken & roasts), slaw and other salads, many vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy, home made biscuits, all kinds of pies & cakes. The table was laden with delicious food. The table had lots of leaves to it and still the men had to eat in shifts. There were as many children and women cooking and preparing the dinner and washing the dishes between shifts as there were men eating. I can't imagine the work that went into the preparation of the dinner. After the men went out to the field the ladies and children got to eat. There were always lots of food, so this wasn't a problem.

Prior to threshing day, the men had to cut their oats with a binder that made oat bundles. Then they had to go out and pick up the bundles by hand and put them into shocks. This consisted of standing the bundles up against each other and putting caps on each shock (made out of bundles by spreading the bundles to protect the grain from the rain). This process also helped the grain to dry. On threshing day they would get the bundles into the barnyard and put them through the threshing machine. This seperated the oats from the straw and chaff.

Harvesting oats today consists of a combine that does this in one step. Quite a lot easier.

During the hot summer months when the men worked in the field. We would prepare a snack/drink and take it out to the field about 10 o'clock. (This was usually my job). They would have dinner (noon) and then supper at night. I know that nobody calls it supper anymore and now it is lunch instead of dinner at noon. Vocabulary changes with time. For instance, when someone called you gay, it meant that you were a happy person.

We visited friends out in Portland, Oregon and ate at the same table that the threshers ate at long ago. The table didn't have the leaves in, but it served at least 12 men at a time when the leaves were all in. So that table had legs and did travel!!!!!

Wisdom for the day--Galations 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.