AgWired

Aunt Jeanette joins us again today:

I love plants and flowers. My house used to look like a jungle – until we added a sunroom. When I was teaching, if I had a particularly challenging day at school, I would come home and repot a couple of plants. It was my therapy. Word got around at school (and in town), and I became “the plant doctor.” Other teachers and friends would bring me their half-dead plants to save. I usually could take their “sticks” and turn them into beautiful, healthy plants – with a little TLC, Miracle Gro, and time.

My parents have green thumbs, as did all my grandparents. Their gardens and flower beds made Earl May look like an amateur! I would like to think I have inherited some of their ability to care for living things.

As I was watering this morning and just enjoying my outside plants, I looked at this particular basket and thought, “These are perfect flowers for the Fourth of July!” The heat and wind have taken their toll, but they still show off the colors that symbolize our country’s freedom.

So, here’s to celebrating the USA and the Red, White and Blue!

Until we walk again …

We often refer to our founding fathers when we talk about the signing of the declaration of independence, but they could just as well be called the founding farmers, since that was the primary profession of so many at the time. There is a poem on the internet that I came across written by a California organic farmer by the name of Hilary Hodge. It’s pretty long – and some of it is kind of anti-modern agriculture, but the first few stanzas reflect our nation’s agricultural heritage and the struggles farmers of all types face today.

It’s hard to open up, to display my sad depression.
But indulge me for a while, as I share this history lesson:
During the birth of this fair nation, in 1790, just for measure,
90% of us were farmers, a new-born nation’s treasure,
And when someone went to congress then, it was a deal of sacrifice,
They had to leave their stock behind, say goodbye to beans and rice.

We pander to our buyers, tally daily what’s been spent,
We fear the strangers at our door are from the government.
We keep faith that one day congress might value things that grow,
And find a way to value farmers even much more so.

Just a note about the photo – for those of you who have never seen it, heard of it, or read Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol”, the fresco in the dome of the U.S. Capitol is called the “Apotheosis of Washington” and it depicts six different concepts in the founding of our nation, including agriculture. Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, is shown with a wreath of wheat and a cornucopia, symbol of plenty, while sitting on a McCormick mechanical reaper. The personification of Young America in a liberty cap holds the reins of the horses, while the goddess Flora gathers flowers in the foreground.