Autumn Harvest
Fall Fest at Wilson Farms
The theme for Gardening Gone Wild photo contest for September is Autumn Harvest. I was not inspired by our own drought-thirsted crops as considered what photo to enter. The above photo is from Wilson Farms near Boston. They make a fall tradition of gathering in some of the biggest pumpkins, squash, and gourds that you will ever see. They also have apples, cider, and a generally inspiring collection of wonderfully diverse market garden produce and flowers. If you have the opportunity it is well worth a visit.
However, I think for my entry I’m going to go with last year’s visit to Turkey. As we drove across the country we went from the fruit orchards of the coast to the equivalent of our midwest where the big crop is sugar beets.
Harvesting sugar beets
We saw tractor after tractor towing in wagons of sugar beets. They drove them up a near vertical ramp to dump them out (see the red tractor in the upper left of the picture). Then the enormous piles of sugar beets were loaded onto big trucks for traveling across the country.
Trucking sugar beets
The source of the sweetness for some of those delicious baked goods is probably the molasses derived from sugar beets. The sugar beets are also used for one version of Raki, a distinctive turkish alcoholic beverage. But wait, the quest for an Autumn Harvest image goes further.
The small farm that we stopped at for an overnight stay operated with more of a traditional mixed crop approach. We were hosted by a multi-generational family that provided a wonderful meal for us. They offered that those who wanted to get up early could witness the milking the next morning. So I got up, along with several others, and toured the barn to see the milking (the whole farm reminded me of my grandfather’s place in Canada). Then we took an morning walk into the fields. . The early morning light fell on the stacks of reed-like plants that were as tall as the old traditional haystacks that you may have seen in the U.S.. In honor of the many hours that were required to create those twelve foot stacks I decided to submit this image as representative of Autumn Harvest.
Reedstack at Akburun village
Sounds like you had a great adventure. I hope we can see more pictures from it. Your entry is very good, best of luck to you.
I love the photo you entered. Great lighting and composition. Think you’re going to be at the top!
John, wonderful “golden” photo and a winner.
Your entry is stunning! I saw this entry and decided not to participate in this contest–hands down–AMAZING!
Hi.
Great picture for the competition. Love these old fashioned hay stacks, so much more natural looking than the geometric circular bales of the modern world.
Good luck in the competition.
ESP.
[...] choice for the Gold Medal is Reedstack at Akburun Village from MacGardens. The charisma and atmospheric tone of this shot reinforces a well-worn aphorism about photography : [...]
Congratulations on the Gold, a well deserved winner.
Congratulations!
Congrats– your winner is a great image! Enjoy your success.
Carolyn
Hey, congratulations! I’m a bit behind the times here because I haven’t visited GGW in a while. Well-see and the award is well-deserved. And it was great finally meeting you in person last month at NBCC.