The 15th annual threshing bee started Saturday and will continue today, Sunday, at Pleasant Prairie Farm/Foster Timmons Farms just northwest of Jefferson.
The whole story is under the Features tab on GreeneCountyNewsOnline, but since we know how many words a picture tells, here are 5,000 more words about it.
A thresher, which is belt-driven off a steam engine, takes the oats from the straw, augers the oats into a wagon, and shoots out straw and chaff. It’s laborious work, pitching shocks of oats into the thresher.
The steam engines are on wheels and owners gave rides to curious folks.
An antique tractor show also draws enthusiasts, as do mules. (Note from a city girl: If it looks like a horse but has ears like a rabbit, it’s a mule.)
Nick Foster (pictured) organizes and hosts the old-fashioned threshing bee each year. According to Foster, between 450 and 500 people attend the threshing bee each year. “We have friends to come do the threshing because it’s fun, and we invite the public for the sake of education,” Foster said.
