Fall Harvest Season – A Tale of Two Farm Wives
Linsey’s Story
A little recap of who I am I’m Linsey Prunty, a Black Hills kid, a 2013 South Dakota State University grad with an Interior Design degree, and now a Minnesota transplant that teaches dance a few times a week. I met my husband, Paul, in 2011 and we got married in 2014. Little did I know, I was in for a ride when I met him. I never knew much about farming, now it is a part of our everyday life. Paul has a degree in Animal Science Business and is the next generation of his family’s farrow to finish hog farm outside of Ward, SD; they also plant and harvest corn and soybeans. It is a pretty self sustaining farm where what we plant, we harvest and then we turn it into our pigs food right here on our farm and what they expel gets spread on our fields. We breed, birth, feed, grow, and take to market all of our own pigs as well. Like I said, we are pretty self sustaining here.
What else since my last feature? Well, you met our new puppy, Duke, who we lost a year later to blastomycosis. We now get to introduce you to Boji (for Lake Okoboji, our favorite off farm place), he is a 9 year old yellow lab who is food motivated and loved the transition to the farm minus running so hard he is trying to recover from a partial ACL tear. We also get to introduce you to Sawyer Sonny, our 3 (almost 4) year old daughter. It took us nearly 4 years of heartache and infertility struggles to get that little girl, but we feel super blessed to have her sass around even though we are in the thick of attitudes, learning how to manage our big feelings, and trying more than chicken nuggets and pizza. She’s full of curiosity, loves tractor rides, and talking…lots of talking. In my last feature I had said I had a business I ran through my home, in 2017 I opened a brick and mortar downtown and it thrived. In the early fall of 2022 we closed the business for me to become a domestic engineer, or as most call it, a stay at home mom. Little did we know farm life would send us for a loop with one person stepping away that same year and Paul stepping up in big ways; he was absolutely made for this though. This has been his dream since he was a little boy, even the business card that was on the farm fridge since elementary school saying “Paul Prunty. Prunty Farms. I’m the Boss” could have clued you on what his future was to hold. In September of 2024, we finally made that big leap to the farm and his parents to town. We are the 4th generation of Prunty’s to live on this place and the 3rd generation to farm it. That’s over 100 years of Pruntys on this very dirt, which is just wild to me, but we find it to be a blessing that it has sustained itself through so much; there was so much hard work and perseverance to make it a success and the willingness in each generation to continue the legacy.
So, what do farm wives do during Harvest? My role on the farm hasn’t changed too much since moving here, but I am sure my time will come for more change (and Paul will become desperate-ha!). I told Paul to let me adjust to farm life and find our new normal before I learn a tractor or important task of being in charge of something. We currently have one full time farm hand and in the fall we’ve brought on 3 others to make things run a little smoother. I am so incredibly thankful for those who take time out of their already busy lives and family time to help us out because otherwise Paul is run thin and we have no family time ourselves. We have done harvest and planting with just Paul and my father in law and mother in law; it is a lot.
Sawyer was calling Paul “new dad” when he finally was wrapping up one year, while funny, it was kind of heartbreaking to know he wasn’t a constant in our house because he wasn’t around much; these are the sacrifices those in the agriculture world have to make though. Thankfully, with this help, my in-laws can transition into the life they so deserve, the semi-retire and we can see more of Paul in the daylight. I do find myself being a go-fer when I am in town taking my daughter to preschool every other day. Town for us is about 17 miles away one way, which is an adjustment, but you make the most of it by picking up parts or pig supplies, dropping things off, hitting the grocery store, and running all the errands you can get done.
I do also keep busy with sitting on 4 different boards; an arts nonprofit, a community nonprofit, a city board, and the University of Minnesota Extension committee. I was never involved in 4-H or agriculture before meeting Paul so being a part of the Extension committee has introduced me to more than just our corner of agriculture and community involvement. Since we moved here last September, there was so much chaos I didn’t really get to make the meals like I had in the past. This year, we have a nearly finished kitchen renovation and everything has almost found its place so I can start making meals. You could say my love language is feeding people. Since we are on the farm and we have new people helping us out, I am taking it on myself to make sure everyone has full, warm bellies. In the past, popping in for a meal hasn’t been an option for us and I would spend week after week just preparing frozen meals. Now, we can make hot meals and I can just drop them of to the guys in the field or they can stop and grab it on one of their many trips back to dump. We are pretty fortunate here to dry and grind all our own feed for the pigs, so there are less gas stations snack stops and more home cooked meals and snacks in the office.
Paul and Sawyer
This year I also tried to garden…might save that one for when I’m a little older and less to do off the farm. When it wasn’t raining, it was so hot and visa versa. There were times I was gone for a weekend, taking Sawyer to dance camp, going to visit family, play dates, swim lessons, vacations, appointments; I never had the time to weed the garden. My mother-in-law had a large, beautiful garden here, and I let it turn into a giant weed patch. Paul reminds me (or maybe bends the truth a little to make me feel better) that his mother didn’t have a large garden when the kids were younger. So, we’ll try that again. She also left me a large flower garden in our backyard, I also didn’t do well with that. I think this first year was an experimental one and I learned what I could manage and what was probably not my best brown thumb choices. So while I hoped to be canning and utilizing that in harvest meals, didn’t happen. However, we did try tapping all our maple trees this year and we did a pretty great job with that and can now utilize that on anything that calls for a good maple syrup. I have found out that my role as a farm wife is a pretty vital one, even though I don’t run a machine, to continue to make the farm and house function. Scheduling, housework, laundry, taxi-ing, cooking meals and dealing snacks, corresponding to emails, running here there and everywhere for things, making appearances when Paul is in the field so people know we are still alive and well.
Finding friends who you can relate with when the days are long is also so helpful and you hold them close. When it is harvest time, that’s all is on the farmers brain, sleep is a close second. The less of a load a farmer needs to take on at the time the more they can focus on getting the crop out and to hibernate a little in the winter. I’ve also learned that when the crop is put in or taken out, that’s not the end… Nope, it comes with so much more to complete that part of the season and when it is all finally stored away starts my favorite time of the year…winter!
Wanda’s Story
Like Linsey, I never grew up on a farm and I learned about farming from the bottom–the very bottom. We share some commonalities during the harvest season. It truly is a very busy season where our days start in the early morning and go until late at night. In fact, one night last week, I walked into the house after midnight. We try not to make staying out that late a habit, but it happens.
One thing that is different between Linsey and me are our roles on the farm. Every farm family is different in how their farms are operated. While I am not in the pig barns, I do help with spring and fall crop farming. And I have graduated to combine operator, which I love! Linsey helps support her family’s farm in a different way. But one thing we know is farm wives are important to our farms.
I love fall!
I love the fall weather – especially early fall — it is my favorite season. The temperatures are mild and the humidity is now a memory. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of fall doesn’t go past sitting in the combine. While others are carving and placing pumpkins near their front doorsteps, relishing pumpkin lattes from Starbucks, enjoying the season change by watching leaves turn yellow and orange, purchasing fresh apples from a local apple orchard to make apple crisp or simply visiting a fall craft show, I am harvesting corn.
As someone married to a farmer, I know this is the sacrifice I made and I did so willingly. Yes, I am envious of those that can truly enjoy this time of year. But I also know as a farmer, I am given the privilege of raising and growing food, and I truly am appreciative and humbled that God allows me to do that.
In addition to being in the combine, I find bits and pieces of time to pay bills, pick up parts for the farm and anything else that is needed. Does housework fall into this schedule. Let’s just say minimal. It’s just the way it is.
Another difficulty I have as the combine operator is meal time. Prior to fall I prepared a lot of great freezer meals. Anything that is easy to reheat such as chili, pulled pork, grilled hot dogs, brats and pork patties. But because I am in the combine, the meals don’t automatically come out of the freezer and deliver themselves. And if I quit combining to make meals, the farm work stops. It’s like an assembly line – if no corn is harvested by the combine, no corn is delivered to the corn dryer or corn bin. And the people who are performing those jobs have to stop also. In fact, there are a number of things most people don’t realize about harvest.
Most of our farms are in close proximity of our home so there are times that we just stop and go grab something from the garage refrigerator. Thank goodness for microwaves! Years ago, my wonderful mother-in-law prepared us a harvest lunch delivered in ice cream pails. Did I say she makes the best harvest meals? Unfortunately, she is no longer able to do that. And we all miss her harvest meals!
And, lastly, something unique (although I thought every area did this) in our area is the number of ag-related businesses who deliver us a meal in the field. They literally drive out to the field we are in and deliver. As a farmer, this is just plain awesomeness! Sometimes it’s a sack lunch, sometimes it’s a hot meal prepared by a local restaurant and sometimes we may have a grilled pork chop on-a-stick. No matter what it is, we are so appreciative for harvest meals.
So how do I survive the fall harvest? Because we are both working so closely together we spend a lot of time together. We go on “parts run” dates or just stay home to catch our breath. We make the best of it.
Both Linsey and I know we are making sacrifices during the fall harvest season, but we also feel blessed for our husbands, our families and the life we live. Feeding America is a farmer’s life goal and besides that. I give free combine rides!
If you are a farmer, I would love to hear from you in the comment section. Do you feel the same or do you have other thoughts? How do you juggle your roles?
