grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Vintage Harvest Photos (and the magic therein)

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Vintage Harvest

As farmers work another harvest, I thought it would be fun to share a few vintage harvest photos from our family farm. Something odd to me—none of these pictures are dated. There are no dates printed on the white borders by Kodak or scribbled on the back in Momma’s handwriting…

What’s up with that?

Based on the various photograph styles, I’m guessing these pictures span the early 1960s through the mid-1970s.Continue Reading

Pictured: Delta Cotton

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P i c t u r e d: 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 Road searching out magazine and blog post stories. The highways and byways of the Delta are roaring with trucks hauling soybeans and grain. The gins are ginning at capacity. I can often be found poking around in fields or parked on the side of the road taking pictures. So far, the farmers work around me. ? ??

A few Delta cotton pics. (The smoke in the first two pictures is from the adjacent soybean field—burning stalks after harvest.)

cotton picker

 

round bale cotton

 

Adams Cotton Gin

 

old cotton picking sack

 

in the cotton field

 

1910 cotton picking basket

 

Delta cotton!

  1. John Deere picker, Mississippi County, Ar.
  2. Round bale, Mississippi County, Ar.
  3. Adams Cotton Gin, Leachville, Ar.
  4. Old cotton picking sack, Mississippi County Museum, Osceola, Ar.
  5. Momma, my sister and me.
  6. 1910 cotton picking basket, Mississippi County Museum, Osceola, Ar.
  7. 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

so much depends upon a… John Deere Tractor

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so much depends
upon

a john deere
tractor

coated with delta
soil

beside the grain
buggy.

My 16 word poem is styled in the format of William Carlos Williams’ famous work The Red Wheelbarrow.  Not familiar with it? click here—> The Red Wheelbarrow… (I would reprint it but don’t want to tangle with copyright issues…)

The Red Wheelbarrow is a simple poem, one long sentence broken down into couplets. Each phrase builds upon the next, each slows the reader down and raises questions. 

What depends upon the wheelbarrow? the john deere tractor? So much— farming, livelihood, everything? So much. 

I know. I’m being deep this morning. I get this way during harvest:)


talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.




Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!