Moving through with the Mr. and Miss Farmhand Competition had been one that was now ready to complete the competition and one that was getting ready to enter its final stages, particularly as the fall weather arrived. The Brown family had already begun harvesting their apples around their farm and the areas that they had for their main operation, and now as school was picking up and a slight chill was coming present in the night air, it was time to begin harvesting everything that had been planted to finish the competition.
"You and Samson have do this sort of stuff every day?" Sarah asked she and Malice followed the two American Quarter Horses from WSA to the Brown Farm.
"Yeah, but I'd think you knew that already," Abby answered as she looked back over her shoulder, "the big thing will be the balancing out the work with homework."
Sarah and Malice both gave a small whimper at that. They didn't have too much in the way of homework as Juniors, but there was some that was present and this part of the competition would mean an added commitment. The Spring elements hadn't been too bad in that regard, but then between adverse weather that delayed a lot of the work that would be part of competition in the spring to early summer and the fact that the school year was starting to get into the timeframe when there wasn't as much in the way of new assignments at the time. Now that they were getting to the fall season, though, with school starting there was new assignments coming in and continued work on it. Eventually they figured it was a fair trade off.
"I suppose we never gave it that much thought," Sarah admitted.
"I gathered that," Abby gave them a playful smile as they walked along.
"What about those that didn't have to go to school?" Malice asked, "Couldn't they have come in during the day?"
Samson nodded, as did Abby. Malice gave a small huff at that.
"But wouldn't that mean they'd have more time to get the work done?" Malice asked.
"They would," Samson nodded.
"But given the competitions rules, time is also a factor," Abby added, "in this, much of the harvesting part of the competition will include some measure on how long it takes. It represents the timing that we often have to make sure that EVERYTHING is harvested before we start getting frosts and winter weather. Quality of the work may also count... but time is a factor too. In a sense... you need both to win."
"I'm glad I'm not a judge in this," Malice commented, "all that made my head spin. You started all this with "being the first to finish isn't as important as doing the job well" and now you're saying that we're being put against a clock. It's like a sea of contradictions."
"Heh," Abby laughed, "one gets to it over time. While we raised horses, cattle, and chickens before the initial outbreak... and thus the transition to growing apples and wheat and so on was big... a lot of the work is pretty repetitive and easy to get used to. And in many ways, that is how a lot of farming work goes. The job needs to be done right... but there is always a clock to race against. With the horses and cattle, we had to make sure that the cows were brought to an area where they'd be close to water and food sources when it came time for the calves to be born and so on. It is a proverbial clock. Harvesting the wheat or apples are on a similar principle... just a different method of timing from raising livestock."
There were a few laughs as they made their way toward the farm.
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The arrival on the farm showed that there were a few that had gathered already. Abby and Samson found Martin and Josephine Brown going over a few notes with stop watches dangling from their wrists. They set the school bags just inside the front door and the made their way back to the area where Martin and Josephine were waiting. Sara and Malice moved to talk with some of the other competitors that were there while Abby and Samson moved to talk with their parents.
"So... how'd it go during the day?" Samson asked.
"It went fairly well," Martin brown answered and glanced between his daughter and the sections of the farm that had been set aside for the competition, "most of those that didn't have school and could get out of "work" did come in. And it worked out fairly well... the one guy who managed to throw his back out trying to impress one of the Animalians in the contest did manage to finish... not very fast, but he did manage to finish."
Samson nodded, remembering one of the funnier moments from the start of the competition. The guy had tried to impress a Horse Animalian by tossing a haybale, and while he did throw it, he managed to tweak some muscles in his back in the process. Samson was glad that he was able to finish and compete through the contest. For while there was plenty to joke about with regard to what happened, that didn't mean he wanted anyone to get hurt.
"And we have enough ladders and reaping equipment that the competitors should be able to do fairly well with the size of the areas we've set aside for them," Josephine said with some confidence, "though as the groups finish, we'll need to be able to mark down things accurately."
Samson and Abby both nodded, though Josephine kept a close focus on them.
"And remember, just because Sarah and Malice are friends of yours does not mean they get bonus points, remember that," Josephine spoke.
"Right," Abby answered with a nod.
"And we'll cover the same route we did for the late spring and early summer prep with regard to the spraying and planting," Martin spoke, "You and Samson will cover those handling the apple trees. Josephine and I will handle the wheat. Okay?"
"Okay," Samson and Abby both nodded.
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And the work in harvesting then went from there. Martin and Josephine gave a few demonstrations to those that were there for the wheat on how it could be harvested by hand and how to use the tools. Abby and Samson, as well as Martin and Josephine then had each competitor select a large metal tub that they would place what they harvested in. It was something that would be part of the rules, and since this part of the contest had everyone there, the actual work began when Martin blew on a whistle.
From there the work began. Samantha and Sammy made their way forward in a sort of assembly line with one cutting the wheat while the other followed to move the wheat to the bin to carry it. The fireman, working on his own, worked slowly and steadily, cutting down one row and then picking up what he'd just cut. After that he moved on to the next row. The methods were all something that promised a means getting the work done, and from what Josephine and Martin could monitor without too much being left on the ground.
Abby and Samson watched as the others went about with the work on the sections of the trees needed for harvesting the apples. They had ladders set aside for those that were too short to reach the top apples and kept a close eye on those going about the work. It was a bit different from the part their parents monitored, and mostly set up by the fact that the previous winter had gone on longer than expected and that Lyre and Animalia had little in the way of a real spring. That had aversely affected the apple crop, and Samson and Abby had both noticed that on the trees that were there for the Brown farm's main business had fewer apples than count at the previous fall. This had meant that there were also fewer apples among the trees in the sections for the Mr. and Miss Farmhand Competition.
But those working with the sections set for growing apples did stay focused and did work hard. For their joking and questions on the quality and speed of the work, Malice and Sarah did a very good job in working together. Those that were on their own as an individual competitor, though were doing relatively well. Both Abby and Samson could notice that everyone had figured out how to softly place the apples in their respective bins. Eventually the groups all finished and presented Martin, Josephine, Abby, and Samson finished with their work. The last to finish was a Dog Animalian who had been on his own and had to use a ladder to get to the apples in his section.
"Very good everyone," Martin commented as he looked to all of them and gave small smile, "we thank you for competing and hope that all of you learned some things about what life is like for families working in the farming and ranching industries."
Sarah and Malice both nodded as they then heard Martin and Josephine read off the times for those that worked with areas for wheat and then as Sarah and Abby gave the times for those that worked with harvesting the apples. Many of the times were fairly impressive, even for those that were on their own.
"Though... I think the apple numbers were down," Sarah commented as the times were finished out, "granted... this was the first time I've ever been involved in anything like this beyond occasionally helping Abby with something... but it's like there were fewer of them than from some of the videos we had from last year."
"I think some of that is going to relate to what happened during the winter," Martin commented, "with last winter going longer than expected and so on... many of the conditions that would allow for a lot of flowers and thus a lot of apples weren't there. That's part of the weather aspect that every farmer has to deal with."
"Wouldn't that mean you do everything right and still fail?" Samantha wondered.
"Potentially," Josephine nodded, "but you all did well, and there was enough to have a harvest. So, in that you have plenty to be proud of."
"We will inspect what you've harvested to check for things might indicate that the crop isn't healthy and connect things to what would be their likely cause," Martin commented, "And that will then be measured in the final scoring for the competition."
"When will the final scores be announced?" the firefighter asked.
"We'd hope to have that calculated by Halloween and would ask that you come to the section that will be set up for the announcement as part of the Halloween party," Martin answered.