The Land of Cotton

I don’t know who reads MimiPearl and who doesn’t, but what I do know is this..... when I have guests from other parts of the country during harvest, they are amazed at the sight of our fields of cotton. Of course, people who live in town right here in the mid-south know what the crop looks like when the pickers are ready to get in the fields, but I’m not too sure they pay a lot of attention to what stages the plants go through in order to produce those big, white beautiful bolls. My house is surrounded by cotton this year and it is truly my favorite crop (at least it is what I like to see growing around my house). I guess my favorite crop for the farm overall is whatever is bringing the best price in any given year. We grow mostly cotton, soybeans, corn, and sometimes wheat; and we usually don’t put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak - we plant at least 2 or 3 different things every year. I listen to my farmer, Johnny, who I happen to think is the best farmer in the county, so we let him plant what he says is best for whatever field he thinks it best to put it in. Crop rotation is important. We have grown a few other things along the way, but mostly those 4 crops. My cotton is blooming like crazy and my corn is tassling (everyone pronounces that word as “tossling”) and loaded with ears. Since the cotton is blooming, I decided to take some photos and show everyone what the blooms look like. When we have what we call “squares”, I’ll post some photos; and then I’ll share pictures of the bolls and the beautiful sight of the fields come harvest. It is, indeed, a lovely sight to behold.



This is a white bloom shown with a leaf. It gives you a good idea about the size relationship of the bloom to the leaf. I guess my cotton plants are about thigh high and I am about 5"6" tall.










This is a delicate pink bloom surrounded by lots of buds.








Some of the blooms are a much darker pink. I guess it is sort of like what Forrest Gump's mamma said about the box of chocolates - you never know what you are going to get.

Squirt, my little camera ham, is on patrol. What would I do without him?