I am getting old. I remember what fields were what and how long they have been native prairies.
This field hasn’t been worked up in 65 years….for sure maybe more. I passed this field everyday on the bus ride to school.
There used to be a school house on this piece of land…the lilac bushes are all that remain. (I think it was a country schoolhouse that was abandoned when the Linnell School was built(1890)…as the crow flies it is about a mile to the Linnell School…by road a mile and a half.)
The old Maude Brewer place or Harry Klarer place…my friend Carol lived here. She died tragically a few years ago when she fell off a mule in California, she graduated from High School with me.
When we go out on our nightly adventure we go this way often. Today someone started cutting the field. Last night is was normal…no activity.
You can barely see the Smoky Hills Tower in this photo. The Smoky Hills are real smoky today from the fires out West and in Canada.
I grew up on the farmstead in the distance.
I have travelled these roads often. I notice the changes.
I hope this piece of land has not been sold to the Corporate Farmer. I read in the paper that they are going to limit the number of irrigation wells in the Straight Lake Watershed.
The small farmer took care of the land…the large corporate farmer not so much. Soon the overloaded potato trucks will be going up and down the road…is it any wonder that our highways are always in need of repair.
Off the soapbox now.
I am with you about Corporate Farmers. I prefer the locals to take care of and use the fields. Hubby and I take drives out into the country where our relatives came from. Much has changed in just the last 20 years. Your post today really made me reflect on the past.
ReplyDeleteI hope it has not been sold to Big Business, also. Things change, but those changes are not for the better. You make me wonder how I would have felt to have been born and grown up all in one place and see those changes for myself. Bittersweet, for sure.
ReplyDeleteYes, farming in the old days was ethical and they tool good care of their animals and they actually grew REAL food. Now, it's field corn and soybeans neither of which I eat, the corporate farming practices are ruining the soil, the environment and are cruel to the animals. Don't get me started! LOL!
ReplyDeleteNo more small family farms around here, the Corporate farms go on for miles.
ReplyDeleteThey use so much water, you would think the state will go dry.
You have a mixed blessing...you have stayed wonderfully close to your roots (literally and figuratively) but that forces you to see things change, not always for the better. (And just the other day I referred to a house across the street as "the place where MaryAnn used to live." She moved out probably 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you can see for miles across those fields. I can just picture a school bus driving past there every day.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a mystery why the small farmers can no longer make a living: equipment costs a fortune, operating costs are extremely high, and crop prices do not begin to cover the expenses. It's a sad commentary of the state of our agricultural communities. No wonder the corporate farmers have taken over and are raping the land.
ReplyDeleteReally sad but there's very little native grassland left. A a child there was lots left. It was fragmented but it was still there. Not anymore. Sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd a good soapbox it was.....:) p.s. I'm finding typing with a sling a little slow....;)
ReplyDeleteThe natural world is disappearing and changing so much. I'm kinda glad I got here when I did!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to imagine how it would be to live in the area I grew up in. My hubby and I moved from Manitoba to B.C. with two very little ones a long long time ago. My parents are also long gone and I haven't been back for almost 15 years now. I'm sure nothing would look the same.
ReplyDeleteOn the rare occasion when I visit the Oregon farmland where I grew up I remember the who and the what of those long ago days too. I notice the changes and the surprising lack of changes. Farm life is so different from city life.
ReplyDeleteYou can stay on that soap box!
ReplyDeleteSupport those local farmers at the farmers markets for sure! My ancestors were all small farmers - some extended family still are. Not a fan of the big corporate stuff but I guess if I shop at the grocery store I do in a way support that kind of thing. :(
ReplyDeleteWe try to always take care of the land...for it is the thing that feeds us. It seems the corporate farmer uses up the land then sells it for subdivisions.
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Corporate farms may have seemed like a good idea to people at first, but their methods are destroying the land and mutating out food. So very sad. We need more organic farms with non-genetically-modified seeds. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox, too.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a native grass prairie.
ReplyDelete