 Well, there's no doubt about it ... there are no
leaves left now. This field appears to be ready for harvest.
Remember, last week the seeds were still a little too wet to
harvest. Let's look at our row.
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 These
plants in our row are completely dry. It was dry and warm over the
weekend so the plants dried rapidly. Last week the stems were still
a little green, but not so now.
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 Our
first plant is in the middle of this picture (You can see the
plastic tag at the plant base). I couldn't separate the plants
without breaking them, so I had to take the picture like this. These
plants are ready to be harvested.
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 Our
second plant is in the middle of the picture and it's ready to be
cut. This plant is loaded with pods. In fact, I counted just one
branch and it contained more than 40 pods. I'll count all the pods
in the next few days before we harvest the field.
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 These
seeds are dry enough to be harvested. I bit a couple seeds and they
cracked apart. I'm guessing they are about 12 to 15 % moisture. That
means the field can be harvested and the seed moisture is low enough
that the seed can be stored without any problems. Now, we have to
find a combine to harvest this field! What do you think will happen
if we don't cut soon? In some cases before the field can be
harvested, the pods will split apart and the seeds will fall onto
the ground and they won't be able to be harvested. This is called
seed shattering. farmers don't like to see that happen because that
means they are losing money.
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