A couple of weeks ago,ย I did a little Thanksgiving decorating using simple things around the house. This week I’m decorating with cotton. As a delta girl, I think cotton is the perfect natural touch for the home. It’s too late to pick it from the fields, so if you missed out or don’t live where cotton is grown, you’ll have to purchase it onlineย or at craft stores. Not quite the real deal, but you’ll get a similar look.
pick a bale of Arkansas cotton
Iย grew up in the Arkansas Delta, so for me, fall means harvest, and harvest means rice, soybeans, and cotton. As you might gather from the title of this post, once again I’m talking about cotton. (Last cotton blog post for the year. Promise.) Some folks haveย never seen a field of cotton readyย for picking, and the entire process of ginningย is a mystery. I made a few videos during my recent tour of Lee Wilson & Company Cotton Gin in Wilson, Arkansas. And, I wrote an article about Arkansas Cotton for First Security Bank’s Only in Arkansasย blog. Impressiveย sustainability improvements have been made in cotton farming since 1980. Click HEREย to read all about the world’s most popular fiber.
BUT FIRST, check out my videos which you may find as exciting as watching paint dry, but I happen to love.Continue Reading
Pictured: Delta Cotton
P i c t u r e d:ย Delta Cotton
Cotton-picking time in the Delta is my favorite. This week when I haven’t been holed up working on my book edits (yay!), I’ve been driving from the bootheel of Missouri and along the Great River Roadย searchingย outย magazine and blog post stories. The highways and byways of the Delta are roaringย with trucks hauling soybeans and grain. The gins are ginning at capacity. I can often be foundย poking around in fields or parked on the side of the road taking pictures. So far, the farmersย work around me. ? ??
A few Delta cotton pics. (The smoke in the first two pictures is from the adjacent soybean fieldโburning stalks after harvest.)
- John Deere picker, Mississippi County, Ar.
- Round bale, Mississippi County, Ar.
- Adams Cotton Gin, Leachville, Ar.
- Old cotton picking sack, Mississippi County Museum, Osceola, Ar.
- Momma, my sister and me.
- 1910 cotton picking basket, Mississippi County Museum, Osceola, Ar.
- Beautiful boll, Dunklin County, Mo.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
[tweetthis]In them old cotton fields back home… @ArFB @JohnDeere #farming #Delta #Arkansas[/tweetthis]
Musical Pairing:
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cotton Fields Back Home