This past weekend my friend and I took a road trip down to Minneapolis. Of course the purpose of the trip was shopping, but because this is an agriculture blog, I won’t ramble on about the good deals we scored! Rather, I want to write a bit about what’s happening in the fields between here (Manitoba) and there (Minnesota).
Growing up my family took many road trips. Minneapolis or the Dakotas were popular destinations and I also remember taking longer vacations to destinations such as Florida, Tennessee and Arizona. My dad always insisted on driving rather than flying. As a child, I was less enthused about the drive. Who can blame me? I was stuck in the back seat of the family car between my two older brothers! But he wanted to see what’s between here and there, specifically the agriculture. What’s the wheat crop looking like in Kansas? What about the corn in Iowa? This is important to a farmer because the crop in other parts of the world will affect the agriculture markets here at home. If a crop is poor in a certain area it’s often because of inclement weather – excess moisture, drought, hail etc. A good farmer is always aware of what’s going on around the world that could impact the markets.
So back to my road trip to Minneapolis… what kind of farm girl would I be if I didn’t observe the seeding progress during my drive? Now keep in mind that I was behind the wheel the entire drive there and back, and barreling down the Interstate at about 70 to 75 mph. So needless to say, I didn’t get a thorough look. However, we did make a couple of pit stops to snap a few photos.
- A worked field near Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
Much of the North Dakota landscape is very similar to where I grew up – flat prairies. Many of the fields along I-29 were not seeded yet. Some of them still had large puddles and looked like a big mud hole, which is most likely due to the nearby Red River flooding. Further into Minnesota, along I-94, you come across rolling hills and lots of dairy farms. I noticed many fields along the Interstate were planted. Unfortunately we didn’t see many farmers out working in the fields because of the rain.
Rural Route Ramblings 
I’m enjoying your musing, and felt the need to reply to your question, but my “field” is a little plot rather than rolling acres…
1) lettuce, spinach, and mustard spinach are up and being eaten
2) half the broccoli raab drowned in the last two weeks
3) peas are looking sprightly
4) garlic is holding up
5) groundcherries also drowned (probably replant, but the season is a bit on the short side now…)
6) half the beans were eaten by birds (must replant)
7) carrots are holding on, by the tip of their roots
8) collards are looking good, are is my volunteer kale and mizuna
The herb garden is a delight, as always, even though the above mentioned rain means it’s a weedy mess.
Wow, sounds like you have quite the garden – a nice variety. I hope it all comes up. My mom also has a huge garden on the farm. I unfortunately have no yard so I only have a tiny patch to plant anything. Thanks for the comment.