Summer has arrived! And with it, the wonderful colors of ripening hay -- in the fields and in bales. It seems everywhere I drive in my rural North Carolina, hay fields are being plowed and rolled into bales ....
This is the field across from our home that was owned by two brothers -- now gone. I met them years ago when I first came to Oxford and when I was first learning to garden. They were so helpful to us with invaluable suggestions when we found our vegetables being enjoyed by almost every form of wildlife ...! They shared their incredible fields and trees of fruit with us, and we shared many meals with them.
Their way of life is changing so fast, it seems ....many large, family-run farms are disappearing --- but there seems to be a counter movement with many females entering the industry with niche farms. I see this echoed in my classes too with an increasing number of females taking horticulture classes .... and I'm really thrilled to see it happen -- just as it delights me to see hay being baled ...
3 comments:
What an absolutely gorgeous scene, so similiar to my area. Your memories seem to make it even more meaningful. Love it Lin!
This came out SUPER!!!! You really captured the colors of the hayfield perfectly. It is a shame that so many of the farms are disappearing. I'm glad to see that there are some people willing to work them and the interest in them seems to be growing.
I haven't seen this yet this year! It might have something to do with the fact that I haven't been out in the countryside for a couple of weeks ;D. But, yes, this lovely sketch makes me feel the warm air and hear the bees and smell the hay and grass.
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