Before I leave my crops update for this month, let me share a few unusual crops we've seen this summer. See if you can recognize them!
Recognize this one? We saw this field about two hours to the south. They obviously do multiple plantings, in order to ensure a continuing supply of cabbages over the season.
How about this farm? It's about 45 minutes south, so we pass it every time we go back and forth.
It's garlic, and they pick it manually, hiring local families to come and work for a week or two. The harvest is usually in late July. That's a lot of garlic bulbs to pick up!
How about this one? Big leaves with small white flowers, and sometimes they grow this for honey production. This is buckwheat, not a wheat at all, but a relative of rhubarb. It does have seeds though, and you can buy buckwheat flour.
I saw this band of bright yellow in the distance and thought I had found a field of sunflowers.
But when I found some close to the road, they weren't a crop at all, but an infestation of bright yellow Sow Thistles! For whatever reason, this field didn't get planted this year allowing the thistles to grow.
Finally a hay rake. I should have added this to yesterday's post. It's a stage between cutting hay and baling it, when farmers use a hay rake to combine individual swaths of the hay and fluff it up to dry it. Then it gets baled.
That's enough of crops for now! Thanks for sticking with me.
I imagine that field of thistles is just allowed to grow for a season without harvesting- good for the soil to regenerate.
ReplyDeleteI have been away from blogging. I found this post so interesting. I do find that field of thistles interesting. I wonder the effect this "crop" will have on the soil.
ReplyDeleteHere the buckwheat is plowed under. It produces a bio-fumigant as it decays and helps control pests such as wire worm.
ReplyDeleteBy us in West Michigan we have several fields of squash. Acres and acres. First time I've seen that.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what buckwheat looked like! It is a pretty plant...I did guess garlic...I could not tell on the very first pic...next year there will probably be more sow thistles.
ReplyDeleteThat hay rake is impressive! Never seen anything like it.
ReplyDeleteBuckwheat really doesn't look like a plant you would grow for flour does it? Not at this stage anyway.
ReplyDeleteHello, I have never heard of Sow Thistles. They are pretty. I am glad there are local families to help with the harvest. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm 'cropped' out now but have learned lots. My problem is to try and retain the information. :)
ReplyDeletethanks for the posts!
I could have written Patsy's comment! I feel just the same, but that last picture is fascinating, to see the machine that does the work. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen garlic growing or being harvested so your photos of this were interesting. A nearby town here has an elephant garlic festival every year but I've never gone.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that, FG. Loved your photos, particularly of plants we don't see growing over here. In the north of England, where I am at the moment, very few crops are grown - it is mostly livestock, particularly sheep. In the south, however, where I am from, and in the east, you tend to see field after field of crops of one sort or another.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is a lot of garlic. I use a lot of garlic.
ReplyDeleteI've seen those hay rakes around here too.
I often wonder what some of the crops are that we see in our travels. This year there seems to be a lot of corn, which looks so pretty in the huge fields. When you see a field gone to weeds, the farmer has usually let it go fallow (no crops) to rejuvenate the soil. I've heard they try to do this around every seven years, although I'm not sure all farms do this. Rotating the crops will also help rejuvenate the soil.
ReplyDeleteWendy
PS thanks for your comment on mine. My son's favourite style of canoe is the prospector, and they really are a classic shape. Would love to see a photo of yours if you care to share some day it sounds wonderful :)