I know I did not have a lot of time to blog. So I am going to catch everyone up on how the harvest went for us. As you all have read we started working early for pre pile. After we completed 3 days of pre pile and cleaning of the pilers to get ready for the main harvest.
We had 2 weeks off to relax , we spent with the pups and the kitty because we knew we had to leave them for long periods of time. Did some laundry and just prepared ourselves for 12 hours days for how ever long we go.
Oct 1st is finally here the main harvest kicks off at midnight, Of course we were not working that shift because we are now on days. 7 am rolled around pretty quick . Todd needs coffee I need OJ, then take the puppies out. Kiss them and the cat and off to work we go. Luckily we are less then 1 mile from the piling station so our ride is very short the truck doesn't even have time to warm up.
The first three days of the harvest were super busy. Every grower that grew ran the first three days. I am the operator of the piler and it was non stop trucks. I barley had anytime to take a drink. My hands are always doing something. Todd being the Foreman the first three days were busy for him going between both piler's cleaning under the boom with the loader so the dirty beets did not get in the pile of clean beets, making sure the pilers are running their best and checking on all his crew.
After the first 3 days it died down some, it was still busy tho. We had a few minor set backs that shut down both pilers for maybe a max of 1 hours. Nothing major at all this is looking to be a short season. I really enjoy my job when the trucks are backed up and I just keeping the trucks moving quick and steady. So when the last few days came along and all but 4 growers were done harvesting it became really slow. A few trucks here and a few trucks there the piler would only run tops 8 hours a day on a 12 hour shift. Todds job got easier because we were not moving the piler back as often so the cleaning was not needed every 10 minutes like the beginning. The employees had their grove and were just ready for this season to be over, just pushing through the lack of sleep and energy. Nothing broke down, we were some smooth operators. The last few days we had a all female piler of course that was my piler, and a all male piler of course it seemed like all the trucks were coming to #1 with all the girls.
It turned out to be a record season this is our last day Oct 9th. We worked 9 days straight no time off, no major break downs, and no issues with employee's. On the last day Todd shut down the second piler early the had to do a final deep clean and that crew got to go home. Of course since the night shift shut down the previous night for lack of trucks and a storm that came through( when it is lighting weather in the distance or close you must shut down til the storm passes or the rest of the shift if the storm is bad) we had to run the whole day rather then half of the day like we thought we would the previous day. Lunch time rolled around and Todd being the awesome boss he was, got us pizza for lunch. The girls have been talking about pizza the whole season so when we finally got some that gave us that extra boost to finish the season strong..
7pm rolls around and we are dancing and chanting 1 hour left 1 hour left....wooo hooo. For the next hour I had truck come steady which made that last hour go very fast before I knew it night shift was here. They came and relieved us and we all screamed WE MADE IT THROUGH THE SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!! Met up in the scale house to clock out said our good byes. Said that we hope we all come back next year and work together.
Here are a few tips that we would like to give about what we figured out work and what didn't work so well...
Chap stick make sure you bring it my first day my lips were so chapped i could barley talk.
Food I bought stuff to microwave because I thought I would have more time to go to the scale house and make it. Boy was I wrong Todd had sandwiches that worked way better,lunch meat,PBJ,tuna fish ect. Also with food we put a tote in the back of the truck and a cooler in the bed of the truck. We put all the dry foods, snacks, chips, candy, etc in the tote. This way was easy for us because we did not have to think about what we wanted before we left the house and then get to work and not really want that you could have something else if everything was in the truck. The cooler was for all our sodas, lunch meats, and snacks that needed the be cold. We froze bottles of water every night to act as the ice since we were not close to a gas station to get ice in the AM.
Clothes please make sure you have clothes that you do not mind getting dirty. The company provides you a hard hat, safety glasses, safety vest and they also have respirators for when it gets windy, and believe me it does you are in a open area the winds can get bad. We bought cold weather gear but we did not end up needing it. It was a surprise to us that this season was mild, granted we did have a few days in the am the called for long johns but, other then that both Todd and I wore a t-shirt under a long sleeve shirt with either a jacket or a hoodie. We wore multiple layers so that through out the day you could shed the layer depending on the weather. Foot wear they suggest no steel toes and I am not sure why but I saw people with regular sneakers I wore duck boots and Todd wore hiking shoes and we had no problems. (just do not kick a beet toes first it hurts like HELL!!! I know from experience lol) The weather can change in an instant so we always kept extra clothes in the truck for emergencies.
Make sure you have everything you need before the harvest starts, food, clothes etc because once it starts you will not want to go shopping after working 12 hours. Also we were 10 miles from any town to go shopping so not that easy.
Keep some medication in the truck for aches and pains. Half way through the shift a headache might come and having that will make for a better second half if you didn't have it.
No matter how tired you get or how much you would like to be done, Keep up the good attitude and keep good energy. We danced in between trucks, sang, and just kept each other in good spirits. The truck drivers will also notice your energy and if we can all help each other get through the season safety and as quick as possible it make for happy growers, driver and employees.
All in all we had a BLAST!!! I was hard at sometimes because we worked everyday straight no time off. People got cranky but we worked together and made it together. We will def be coming back for many more years to come. It is tough work working out in the elements and with lack of sleep and energy but what kept me going was thinking about all the $$$$ we are making. We work our buts off in the winter so we can do whatever we want in the summer.
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