ABC Wednesday: Not the Usual

As the ABC round winds down to the end of the alphabet, I find it harder each week to find a suitable word or words to highlight. Is there such a word as Un-Snow?? I think not, but that is pretty much what we've had here the past twenty-four hours. While blogging friends in Indiana and as far south as Mississippi and Texas have had snow, the big snowstorm forecast for us last night turned into a wet, cold, miserable rainstorm. So let's turn to the garden for a unique U . . .

. . . Umbel

Since beginning to garden, I have found that there is much more to a plant than just the stamens and sepals I learned about in junior high science class. Flowers like roses or lilies that produce one flower per stem are called solitary flowers. But other flowers produce an inflorescence, which refers to a cluster of flowers and how they are arranged on a single stem. One type of inflorescence is the Umbel, in which the clusters of florets are borne by small stems that arise from one point on the main stem of the plant. An example of an umbel inflorescence is the "Queen Anne's Lace," pictured above.

You can see more clearly in this budding "Queen Anne's" the shape of the umbel, which resembles an inverted umbrella, and, in fact, the two words come from the same root. This plant is also known as "wild carrot," but I much prefer the more regal name of "Queen Anne's Lace." Though it grows wild on the roadsides here, it's much too pretty to be called a weed, in my humble opinion.

Two other excellent examples of plants with Umbels are dill and fennel--I think the fennel is to the left, and the dill to the right.

To illustrate further how different inflorescences can be, you need only to look at other flowers in the garden. Notice the florets growing along the stem of this pineapple sage. I think this is a spike, but it is definitely not an umbel.

Neither are these--another salvia, "Black and Blue," and the rudbeckias, or Black-eyed Susans, illustrate other types of inflorescence as well.

Regular readers of this blog know that my knowledge of botany is very limited, so I had to do a little research to clarify this definition of umbel. I had planned to include this photo of a geranium, more appropriately known as a pelargonium, as another example of an umbel inflorescence. But when I looked it up to be sure, one source called this a pseudo-umbel. I think I'm getting in over my head . . .

And I certainly don't want to mislead anyone, in case you think all these flowers are now in bloom in my garden. Other than the geranium now residing in my garage, all these photos were taken in the summer.

No, this is what an Umbel looks like in my garden at the moment . . .

Frozen Fennel, anyone?

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I had planned to end this post here, but this past weekend brought to mind another U for the Unusual harvest we have had this fall. The cornfields surrounding us were finally harvested on Monday, the latest I can ever recall. Usually the harvest is done by the end of October, but a late spring planting coupled with a very wet fall kept farmers out of the field until recently.

Once the soil was dry enough so that farmers could enter the fields with their heavy equipment, there was yet another problem. The corn itself had retained so much moisture that it had to be dried before it could be stored.

Grain elevators could dry only so much grain at a time, resulting in limited hours of operation while the corn was readied for storage. Semi-trucks loaded with grain found themselves sitting in line for hours at the local elevator or even having to wait until the next day to unload. This meant the harvest was extended even longer, as the farmer had to stop his combine and wait until he could unload the corn into an empty truck. In our fields, for example, what should have taken a day or day and a half to complete turned into a four-day task instead.

But all this doesn't matter much to a two-year-old who finds tractors, combines, and any kind of machinery totally fascinating. I picked up Youngest Grandson one morning so that he could get a firsthand look from the family room window. I think he was pointing out the combine to Sophie, who also finds all this activity very exciting.

Idle hours spent waiting for an empty semi also gave Grandson a chance to get a close-up look.

Looking out my window as I type, I can see corn still standing in some fields in the distance. After last night's downpour, I don't know when those fields will be harvested. Some farmers may find themselves working in the fields while Santa gets his sleigh ready.

Once again, thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt for hosting ABC Wednesday, and do check out the ABC blog for more interesting takes on the letter U.

ABC Wednesday: The Ties that Bind

This week's letter for ABC Wednesday is the letter F, which stands for . . .

. . .Fields lying in wait for the warmth of spring. Just as we gardeners are looking for any sign of spring in our gardens--the bloom of a snowdrop or even the tiniest hint of a green shoot thrusting through the soil--farmers are also anticipating spring. In the heart of soybean and corn country, where I live, it is much too early to begin working in the fields, but preparations are being made for a new growing season. Seeds were ordered long ago, and now is the time to check over machinery to ensure it is in good repair and to finish any other necessary preparations so that once the weather is suitable, planting can begin without interruption.

By late March farmers will be getting restless, checking the temperature and moisture of the soil, hoping that they can soon begin working up the ground so that planting begins on time. Like gardeners, farmers are at the whim of the weather gods. Last year heavy rains at the end of May postponed much of the planting, causing a great deal of concern for farmers who feared that a late harvest would mean lower yields or none at all. Fortunately, though, the warm, dry fall we had offset many of the problems caused by the late start.

Unlike gardeners, though, who usually work in the garden for the sheer enjoyment of it, farmers are focused on trying to earn a livelihood. Due to many factors, farming has become more of a business, in many cases a big business. In the last 50 years in the state of Illinois the number of farms has been cut in half, while the size of the average farm--the number of acres--has doubled. What is particularly sad to me is the demise of the small family farm. While the majority of Illinois farms are still family-owned and operated, there are fewer of them.

For example, while my husband and I live on land farmed by several generations of his family, my husband no longer does the actual farming. After quite a few years of working his "day" job and then doing the farmwork on weekends and evenings, he decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. It is more cost-productive to rent out the land. Sadly, my own family's farm is in much the same situation. When my father finally decided to retire as he approached his 80th birthday, there was no one in our immediate family to take over. Virgin prairie land purchased by my great-great-grandfather and farmed by four generations of the same family is now worked by someone else, albeit a distant relative.

Larger and more expensive equipment and a narrow profit margin have forced farmers to either increase the size of their farms or to give up farming altogether. Some find the higher prices of real estate development more enticing than the constant struggle to stay solvent. I don't think there's any kind of conspiracy afoot against small farmers; it's simply economic reality. The small family farms are going the way of "mom and pop" retail businesses.

F is also for Family, which is a very important part of my life. Those of you who read my last post know that two of my grandchildren stayed with us for the better part of last week while their parents took a short vacation trip. We had a wonderful time: Granddaughter asked if she could stay 10 days instead of 5 (!), and little Grandson was perfectly content the whole time, but was absolutely thrilled to see Mom and Dad on their return! You wonder what must have been going through his mind since he was too little to understand the concept of a vacation.

The day after they went home, my father was rushed to the hospital after suffering a mild stroke. He seems to be doing well and hopefully will be coming home tonight. But he is 83, and we don't know yet what the near future will bring. I have been spending as much time as possible at the hospital the past few days in between working almost full-time this week. And so, dear blogging Friends, I think you will understand if I haven't had much time to read or post lately; Family is my first priority right now.

Garden Muse Day: Putting in the Seed

Putting in the Seed

You come to fetch me from my work tonight

When supper's on the table, and we'll see

If I can leave off burying the white

Soft petals fallen from the apple tree

(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite,

Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinked pea);

And go along with you ere you lose sight

Of what you came for and become like me,

Slave to a Springtime passion for the earth.

How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed

On through the watching for that early birth

When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,

The sturdy seedling with arched body comes

Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.

--Robert Frost

My first ever Garden Muse Day post, and I am late. Late because we have had so many rainy days. Some days it is a soft, gentle rain welcomed by the flowers and the seeds just planted. Other days it comes down in torrents, rushing through gullies and filling up the ditches and waterways. As gardeners, we may become impatient when the rain confounds our plans to weed or when the tomato plants have to sit on the patio for days before being planted in the vegetable garden. But imagine if your livelihood depended on the whims of the weather. That is exactly the plight of the farmer.

I live in the heartland of agriculture, and I have been trying all week to get a picture for this post of a tractor and planter planting soybeans in the fields. But there have been no tractors in the fields this week, and farmers have begun to get worried. Normally by this time of year the fields would be green with foot-tall corn and small soybean plants in perfectly straight rows stretching toward the horizon. Instead, the corn is just a few inches high, and the bean fields look as they did in December.

According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, only 75% of the corn and 15% of the soybeans in the state have been planted. A late planting can create problems with pollination and yield, and it also means a late harvest, which can mean more problems with the weather. Ironically, this comes in a year when farmers are receiving high prices for their crops because of increased demand.

While my garden dries out fairly quickly from the rain, it takes much longer for a field like this one to dry out enough for the heavy equipment needed to till it. You'll notice in the picture the remaining corn stalks from the previous year's crop. This is an example of a conservation practice used for at least the past 20 years, called no-till planting. Gone are the days, for the most part, when farmers plowed their fields in the fall, leaving the rich black soil exposed to the elements. On windy days in the fall the plowing would create a mini-dust storm, causing a driving hazard on the country roads. I can remember my father often saying as we drove through such clouds of dust, "There goes some of the richest soil in the country just blowing away." Instead, farmers leave their fields alone after picking the corn, and in the spring they may run some kind of cultivating implement over the fields to break up the debris or simply plant soybeans directly into the untilled field. Over the growing season, the corn residue breaks down, much like compost in the garden. Obviously, this practice helps to prevent wind and water erosion; it also helps to reduce fuel consumption and soil compaction. Today's farmer practices many conservation techniques to preserve the integrity of the land.



Although I was raised on a farm, I am certainly no expert on farming. But if you live in this part of the country you can't help being aware of the concerns of farmers. Today is the third straight day of sunshine. I can only hope that the fields dry out soon so that this week we will see once again the tractors going through the fields putting in the seed.

Garden Muse Day is brought to you by Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden in Chicago.