MILLING OF AN UNUSUAL NATURE

For the past three days the scent of fresh milled onion fills the air. Unlike the sharp tang of a chef's kitchen this smell is delicate and quite enjoyable. Our homestead has been busy in the recent weeks, as you know, with the frantic onion harvest. As fast as we have hired extra pairs of hands to help pick the large field of onion seeds so the onions continue to produce more heads to be picked. As the heads are picked they need to be spread out in the sheds and turned daily to prevent mould. But now that they are ready they are being cleaned up. The flat bed trailer with the special machine arrived last week and Farmer Buckaroo has been at the helm for three days.

It is hot and stuffy work in our over 40C temperatures. But you have to admit, the view from his work spot is beautiful! And just a stone's throw from his lofty perch is the homesteading dam. In the middle of the day the trees cast shadows over the water and my hard working husband can dive in to cool off.

Cleaning the onion seed is a fascinating process. I don't spend long at the machine as the fine onion dust causes terrible sinus infection. Of course I have a natural remedy for many ailments. So I've brewed a batch of eye bright. As the name of this remarkable little herb suggests it is for eye ailments. Every couple hours our hard workers wash their eyes with the eye bright before heading back to the machine.

Farmer Buckaroo almost crushed his fingers loading one bag of onion heads. Miraculously he escaped with minor abrasions. The fast working mechanics of the machine do their job effeciently but need to be manned with extreme caution.

Rollers, conveyer belts and fans quickly separate the actual black onion seed from the rest of the onion head. This in turn becomes a fine chaff which we will add to a compost heap.

Half of the onion heads have already been cleaned. This means we have 20 bags of onion seed. Each bag is 25kg and so we are well over 600kg into the harvest! It's been a real bounty despite the bad weather conditions and lack of rain.

To fill our quota we need one and a half tons but we are almost half way there. And next week the team will be back to onion picking again. At this time of year both the tractor and the workers hands labour tirelessly to bring in the harvest.

All in a day's work, so the saying goes. Our team is working long and hot hours but after months of tending the crop the end is in sight. The sun birds, butterflies and bees continue to enjoy the seeding onions. We hope soon we too will enjoy the financial fruits of our labour which should tide us through another year of drought.