Agriculture – Page 111 – Dan Routh Photography

Muscadines

Darrel and Tammy Smith are raising several varieties of muscadine grapes on their farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. They pick them for both table use and wine. Muscadines are the only grapes native to the Southeastern United States, and include the brown variety folks often call scuppernongs. Their vineyard is located on the slopes of Caudle’s Mountain, one of the most scenic spots in Randolph County.

Corn Harvest

Agriculture, Farm, Portraits

Neighbors Joe Capps, Sr. and his son Joe, Jr. were hard at work today combining corn. It’s been dry and hot this summer and the corn crop isn’t the best around here, but the harvest goes on anyway. Jack Fagg came in behind the combine with a rotary mower chopping the left over stalks so it will be easier to get the ground ready to plant grain in the fall.

Merlot Harvest

Agriculture, Wine

Early September means grape harvest for Leslie and Norm Zimmerman of Zimmerman Vineyards, a family run winery in Trinity, North Carolina. Family and neighbors get together on this day to pick Merlot grapes. There was an overcast and a little rain, which made things a little more comfortable for the pickers. The Merlot wine should be good, because Norm said the sugar content was real high this year. For information on Zimmerman wines, tastings and venue info, go to http://www.zimmermanvineyards.net/#.

The Neighbor’s Sunflowers

Agriculture, Sunflower

Fields of sunflowers are starting to appear in our neighborhood in Grays Chapel, North Carolina. Some of the local farmers are beginning to experiment with them for oil and to supplement their livestock feed. These were at a dairy down the road.

Planting Vegetables, A Family Affair

Agriculture, Farm, Vegetables

Week before last was a little cooler around here and I found the folks at Walker Farms in Grays Chapel, North Carolina out in the field planting vegetables. Bill Walker and his wife Barbara and sons Mark, Matthew, and Michael, along with daughter-in-law Heather grow vegetables of all kinds for retail and wholesale sale at the state’s farmers’ markets. Most of the family was out in the field the day I stopped by.

Walker Farms

Agriculture, Farm, Vegetables

Neighbors Bill and Barbara Walker raise all kinds of vegetables for the local retail farmers’ markets as well as wholesale markets in Raleigh. They were at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market on Saturday showing off their eggplant and other produce. Check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Walker-Farms/198921590136818.

Baling Straw

Agriculture, Farm

A neighbor bales straw left by the combines near my home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Saturday Morning at the Farmers’ Market

Agriculture, Farm

Neighbor and cousin Lula Mae Routh at the Asheboro Downtown Farmer’s Market in Asheboro, North Carolina. She and husband Thomas are there twice a week during the summer selling the vegetables they grow on their farm in Grays Chapel.

Combining Wheat

Agriculture, Farm, Wheat

The bearded wheat I showed on this blog a few days ago ripened and I found Earl York, Jr. and his son Rodney hard at work combining it. The Yorks run a fertilizer and seed business as well as producing corn, soybeans and small grains. This year they have several hundred acres in wheat, and so far the harvest looks pretty good. Thank goodness for air conditioned combines, because when I stopped by where they were working, the mercury was near 100 degrees. Although, with all farm equipment, you have to get out of the cab and work on things once in a while.

Baling Hay

Agriculture, Farm

They say you have to make hay when the sun shines. Here in Grays Chapel, North Carolina, it hasn’t shone much in the past couple of weeks. It did today, and my neighbor Mark Sexton was in the field hard at work.