Waitsburg newcomer joins the Abbey harvest

WAITSBURG - When Andrew Knee and his wife, Tricia Adams-Knee, moved from Seattle to Waitsburg earlier this year, it signaled the start of a new chapter in their lives. Little did Andrew know that it would include a summer side hustle.

Knee described that their search for a new home had not been straight-line process. Having decided to move to the Walla Walla Valley, looking online at homes for sale, Andrew would show Tricia a house in Walla Walla. "She would say, 'Oh, that's nice.' Then she would show me a house in Waitsburg, and I'd say, 'Oh, that's nice.' Then I'd show her another in Walla Walla," he said. "It went back and forth three or four times. Finally, I said, 'Looks like you want to live in Waitsburg.'"

Tricia's preference was in no small part because she is related to one of Waitsburg's deep-rooted farm families, the Abbeys. Bruce Abbey and Tricia are first cousins once removed.

When asked if they knew that the Knees had been looking at Waitsburg as a new home, Barb said, "We were clueless."

"We'd met, but it had been a long time," says Bruce. "Her mother and I are first cousins, and I knew her mother quite well. Not so much Tricia."

Of course, when the Abbeys learned their cousins had moved to town, they were pleased, and the couples enjoyed getting to know each other better. It wasn't long before Andrew got the call: the Abbey's needed a second truck driver for this year's harvest.

"She asked if I wanted to come drive a truck for harvest," said Knee. "I'd never done anything like that. I didn't know much about harvesting," he continued.

Finding time from his carpentry business, Knee followed his curiosity and accepted the Abbeys' offer. Tim Stiess introduced him to the farm by inviting Andrew to ride on the bankout wagon, Tim's job during harvest. Andrew immediately began firing off questions about the operation and eventually apologized for his inquisitiveness. Stiess, who has worked harvest for the Abbeys since marrying Bruce and Barb's daughter, Beth, in 2010, wasn't bothered.

"He made the mistake of signaling interest in the job," Tim laughs.

Unsurprisingly, Knee signed on as part of this year's crew. A family-run operation starts at the top with Bruce and Barb unloading trucks; Bruce also wears a handyman's hat. Family members include their son-in-law Stiess on the bank-out wagon, son Jonathan Abbey, who drives the combine, and daughter-in-law Anne Abbey driving grain trucks with the newbie Knee.

Asked how it was learning to drive a grain truck, he answered, "There are eleven gears if you count reverse. They haven't had to replace any clutches so far. I started training on the baby field, of course," he says, referring to the small level patch across the road from the Abbey home. "The slopes were a bit more of a challenge."

Unfortunately, due to a lack of precipitation since planting in late March, yields look poor. However, the crew was pleasantly surprised to find the size of the wheat berry had been favorable. "The industry looks at berry size as the most important factor," Barb says.

Nevertheless, Andrew has been grooving with his new gig. And asked if he'd return, "Oh yeah, if they need me, I'd be glad to come back." he says. "I've enjoyed working with the family."

"Yeah, it's a crazy bunch," says Bruce, to general laughter.