Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Time to Harvest

While riding my bike through the rice fields to work one morning, I noticed that one of the fields had been cleared. I thought "aha" it`s now getting into fall so it`s time to start the harvest. Around mid-September, the rice has matured to a golden brown and is ready to be reaped. After the fields have been cleared, the rice is then put into sheaves which bundles of the crop. Once the sheaves have been left in the field to dry, they are then stacked and burnt. Since I live in an area surrounded by rice fields, it is very interesting to monitor the progress of the harvest. I see the farmers out there working from early morning til late in the evening clearing their fields. Every farmer around here has a white truck to use to transport the crop. After the harvest has finished, most of the neighbourhoods will have festivals to thank the gods for this year`s bounty.

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Rice fields behind my apartment. Notice the white farm trucks.

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Ready to be cleared
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In progress
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Newly made sheaves. Don`t they look like little teepees?
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Drying in the late summer sun

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