Summer Gathering 2023: Our Farm

"Knee high by the fourth of July" is the benchmark farmers use to determine how tall their corn should be if it is growing as it should.

Looks like Leslie and Rick have gone well beyond the mark this year!

As for our corn, it is also doing well, although not nearly as well as Leslie and Rick's.

"Our corn" may have surprised you. I don't think I have ever mentioned that we own a farm. It's south of Lafayette and about 25 acres. The old farmhouse was razed along with a couple of smaller outbuildings years ago, and we have a farmer who rents the land from us and keeps it in corn or soybeans.

At the south end of the property is a beautiful woods that is thick and almost impenetrable.

A creek runs through the woods where Craig used to fish with his grandfather (the original owner of the property) when he was a boy. 

We inherited the farm in 2016 and haven't done anything with the land aside from keeping it in production and paying taxes, but if I were younger I might be tempted to use it for horses.

Recently the farm has become classified as prime development land. Unsolicited offers for it have been coming in from developers ever since. I'm amenable to selling, but several of our kids are keenly interested in keeping the land in the family. A trip out to see it while we were all gathered only fueled that desire.

What will we do? Hard to tell - the discussion is tabled for now. The land has been in the family for sixty odd years so I can see the kids' point.

Guess I'll be staying 'tooned on this one myself!