Harvest and threshing, step by step

1. When to cut

Grain grows for ten months, and then it has to come off the field in a few days.

1. Walk the field — From mid-July walk the field every day. In three places pull an ear, rub it between your palms and look at the grain.
2. Dough stage — For sickle and scythe the grain bends like wax under a fingernail, at 25–35 % moisture. Start when it's like that across the whole field, not just on the sunny edge.
3. Full ripeness for a combine — A combine needs hard grain at 14–16 % moisture. It rarely comes out for less than 3,000–5,000 m² (about 1 acre), so arrange it before sowing.
4. Mornings, on a dry day — Cut on a dry day. In the morning, while there's dew, the ears shed less under sickle and scythe; the combine starts once the dew has dried.

Why: Cut too early and the grain shrivels. Cut too late and the ears shed, the sparrows feed and a storm flattens the rest. That's why the harvest needs a plan: what you cut with, who helps, where it dries and where it's threshed.

• On a bigger field start a day or two earlier, because the harvest takes several days.
• Don't cut after rain until the ears and straw are dry.

2. Sickle and scythe

The sickle is the slowest tool, but the safest for a small field, slopes and lodged grain.

1. Handful and cut — Your left hand, in a thick leather glove, grasps a handful below the ears. Slip the sickle in low and draw it towards you, 10–20 cm (4–8 in) above the ground.
2. Sheaf and band — Lay the handfuls together into a sheaf and tie it with a straw band below the ears. A sheaf is 20–30 cm across and weighs 4–8 kg.
3. Cradle scythe — Mow towards the standing grain, so the swath leans against the uncut crop. The ears don't tangle and are easier to tie.
4. Helper and whetstone — Behind the mower comes a helper who ties the sheaves. Hone the scythe every 10–15 minutes: it dulls faster in grain than in grass.

Why: One person cuts roughly 1,000–1,500 m² a day with a sickle and 3,000–5,000 m² with a cradle scythe. The cradle holds the straw upright and lays it in a tidy swath, ears all one way.

• A sickle cuts towards you: keep it sharp and check your tetanus protection (in the US a booster every 10 years).
• Nobody within 3 m (10 ft) of the mower, especially children. In August heat cut from dawn to 11 am and after 5 pm, with water every half hour.

3. Stooks · Locked

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4. Threshing and safety · Locked

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5. Winnowing and cleaning · Locked

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6. Straw and stubble · Locked

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