Iowa Thoughts

We returned from our visit to Iowa just in time to dive into a garden that had gone wild.  For the last few days I have been canning and freezing the results of our enthusiastic planting in the spring.  Now that I have a few minutes to breathe, I want to share a few thoughts on our trip.

I know we tend to drive everyone crazy at our daughter's with our endless questions about everything, but we are both fascinated by the similarities and differences in the lifestyles and farming methods in different locales.  For example, in Kentucky farming rarely makes the evening news unless it is a cow loose from the stockyards. However in Iowa farming often is the news.  One newscast spent considerable time discussing the  extremely high temperatures and the effect that would have on the pollination of the corn crop.  (I didn't know that corn pollinates at 89-92 degrees.  Higher temperatures cause incomplete pollination and smaller ears.)  So since the corn was beginning to tossle and the temperatures were hitting 97-99 degrees, no one was happy.

This is a time of waiting for most of the farmers in the area.  The crops are out and now are dependent on getting enough rain, sunshine, and not too hot or too cool temperatures, which like farmers everywhere they discuss endlessly but can't do a thing about.  With time on their hands they tend to mow.  Everywhere we looked on the drive out we saw beautifully manicured lawns.  The smallest little house would have a lush green yard mowed to the horizon.  These people like to mow.  They mow the yard, the barn lot, the road sides, the edges of their fields, and on and on.  As far as you can see it is mowed and neat.  My daughter says that they are used to being on BIG equipment for hours at a time so they buy big lawn mowers and go at it.  I think they hang around the house until mama tells them to get out from underfoot and DO something!  So they kill time mowing the world.

They also go to coffee.  That's a big deal in any rural community and hubby soon found that he could join the local coffee group without missing a beat.  The trick is to discover where they are meeting.  There aren't any fast food restaurants in this area.  There just aren't enough people to justify a McDonalds or Wendy's on every corner.  What they do have it little restaurants at every crossroads.  They aren't fancy but the food is hot and wholesome and the coffee ready at 6 am.  The men may meet for morning coffee one place, lunch another and afternoon coffee at still another.  As with all small gatherings, crops are compared, repairs discussed, deals made and problems solved.

Most of the little communities are laid out around a square.  The square usually has a playground, several benches, a few flower gardens and a bandstand.  We were lucky enough to go out to eat one night at a neighboring community and discovered they were having a concert in the square.  We sat in the car for a few minutes and listened to a pretty good band belt out "Mustang Sally" and "Rolling on the River" while several dozen people listened from lawn chairs and blankets with the children playing around the edges. What a wonderful evening!

We don't often visit during the summer since that is when the kids usually come to Kentucky.  However, with our daughter deep into getting her shop ready to open, we got to visit during the growing season.  That gave us the opportunity to watch the crop sprayers at work.  These distinctive little bright yellow airplanes are like watching an airshow as they swoop and dart over the acres and acres of corn.  I still haven't figured out how they know exactly where they are spraying and how  they know not to overlap or miss spots but I have been assured that they don't. 

All in all we had a lovely visit in an area that reminds us that while farmers are farmers no matter where they are, how they go about farming is sometimes different, depending on their crop, area, climate, and techniques. What remains the same are the friendly, warm people who inhabit these farms.  Thank you Iowa for being so patient with our questions and so welcoming to these farmers from Kentucky.