Wednesday, November 4, 2015

FARM INGREDIENTS


A Barn -- A Truck -- Some Straw (hay?) Bales -- A Tractor

Out riding the roads a couple weeks ago and noticed this somewhat symmetrical pattern created by this barn with its truck, straw bales (could be hay?) and a tractor. I snapped a few photos of the whole composite. Figured the truck is essential for hauling farm goods, the straw bales are usually for animal bedding or if hay bales for feed and of course the tractor for many duties especially field work. The sky was gray-overcast that day so I cheated and used lightroom to add some blue in the sky. 

I want to mention that I have always appreciated the work of  the true farmers that work hard and long to grow food for our markets.

22 comments:

  1. Great working barn! I don't know the difference between hay and straw...

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    1. Barbara -- Hay is for horses and straw is for mulching or bedding. Straw has no food value for animals. Barns always seem to have an earthly quality about them. thanks -- barbara

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  2. One of my earliest memories is my Uncle Ray plowing with draft horses. He worked his fields six days a week; the horses rested the seventh.

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    1. Joanne -- Ohio is where my mother's relatives all lived at one time. They all had beautiful farms that I enjoyed visiting. My great uncle had draft horses also -- huge as I remember. thanks -- barbara

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  3. That's a very nice composition showing the farming world. As one who earned a crust from farming for many years I'm always interested to see how agricultural work is progressing. But I'm also delighted that someone else has to do the hard graft.

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    1. John -- I've always looked at farming (non-industrial) as honest work. The farmers I have known in the past are what I call true grit. Unfortunately industrial farming in the U.S. has taken over those wonderful independent farms like my grandfather had -- that were diverse not industrially mono-cropped. thanks -- barbara

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  4. What a sense of order that farmer has! A wonderful picture. You remind me that in grade or high school, when a kid called, "Hey" to get someone's attention, the retort was "Hay is for horses." These look to me, as they do to you, like straw.
    My father had a team of horses, I was very small so they seemed very large but I suspect they weren't that large. I was five when he got a tractor and sold the horses. What a step up for him! Post-war prosperity was even coming to the farmland.

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    1. June -- I imagine that your father's horses did seem very large to you as a little girl. I remember a great uncle putting me on one of his draft horses when I was very young. I cried the whole time I was on the horse -- they finally took me off so I would stop crying. Today, I admire those huge draft horses when I have the opportunity to see them which is seldom anymore. thanks -- barbara

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  5. I live out in the country and am surrounded by rice, corn, cotton, and sorghum fields. As I watch the farmers working their fields, I always give a silent thank you to them.

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    1. Florence -- What a nice practice. They surely are to be thanked.. I support the young folks that are restarting the tradition of independent farming -- usually on a smaller scale than years past. thanks -- barbara

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  6. My friends in Delta are doing just that Barbara but maybe stepping down quite a bit. Use old JD equipment and Chevy trucks. https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

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    1. One Fly -- Your friends must be in that category of small farms that is gaining popularity among back-to-the-landers. It is a tough road but also can be very giving, thanks -- barbara

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  7. That's the beauty of a barn, always: form and function.

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    1. Melissa -- Barns have been an iconic symbol of our rural countryside. Hopefully we will not lose many more on our national landscapes. -- thanks barbara

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  8. Interesting composition in symmetry.

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    1. Tabor -- This barn caught my eye principally because of its symmetry. But I also think that barns will be can be rather chaotic too and catch one's attention. Even chaotic-ness presents fine stories surrounding it. thanks -- barbara

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  9. Very nice symmetry to this one, and there quite a lot of history must me included in this one. Lends itself to making the history.

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    1. visualnorway -- This barn was located on a working farm. I noticed that the fields were all planted with produce surrounding this photo. Beautiful area -- mountains, woods, and farms. thanks -- barbara

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  10. Catching up with you. You really have to travel the back roads the way you do to see all these wonderful things. Have you read Paul Theroux's latest, "Deep South?" It's fine piece of work.

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    1. Hattie -- I am trying to keep track of you as you visit all those wonderful places. No I have not read Paul Theroux's "Deep South. I will check it out today. thanks -- barbara

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  11. I would have stopped dead in my tracks for that shot too. Truck, barn, hay, tractor. What's not to like.

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    1. Raining Iguanas -- Country shots are still some of my favorites. Ky has a treasure trove of country while Oregon requires hunting for them it seems. Maybe I just don't have the hang of country yet here in Oregon. Thanks for the comment -- barbara

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