Farm – Page 149 – Dan Routh Photography

"Make Hay While the Sun Shines"

Farming is many times a exercise in compromise. Abundant rain means a lot of grass and a lot of hay. Overabundant rain means a lot of grass and the lack of good weather to harvest hay. Our area has fallen into the later category this year. We have a tremendous amount of hay, but we haven’t had a lot of good weather up until now to make it, and nothing upsets a farmer more than wet hay. Greg Williams of Williams Dairy, south of Greensboro works late in the afternoon to catch up on his baling.

Garden Guardians

Cat, Farm

Farm cats Misty and Scamp survey the goings on in our garden from their picnic table perch at our home in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Baby Calf

Animals, Farm

One thing that is demonstrated by being on a farm is the continuous renewal of life. This baby calf rests in tall grass probably an hour or so after it was born. Mom was close by to offer her care.

Farmall Super A Tractor

Agriculture, Farm

A 1948 Super A Farmall tractor sits at the end of a row of corn in my garden in Randolph County, North Carolina. This is a very special piece of machinery to me. My Grandfather bought it new in 1948 and it has been in use on our farm by him, my Father, me and my sons ever since. As a kid, I literally spent days in the seat plowing (cultivating) corn. This tractor is perfect for that, because the engine is offset and you can look straight down and see the rows of corn pass under you. We don’t raise a lot of corn anymore, but we continue to use the tractor in our garden to cultivate and lay off rows. The old guy just keeps on going.

The inset is a self portrait of the “A” and me.

Afternoon Scenes

Agriculture, Farm

This time of year, when the weather stays dry for several days in a row, it means one thing. It’s time for farmers to make hay, and last week most of my neighbors were during just that. These late afternoon scenes were indicative of our area of Randolph County, south of Greensboro.

Old Chevy Heavy Farm Truck

Agriculture, Automobile, Farm, Randolph County

My community, Grays Chapel, was traditionally a farming community until just a few years ago. Development has spread into the area and it has become more and more a bedroom community for Greensboro and the Triad. There is still a lot of rural space left, however, and there are many old farms, and with these old operations, there is a world of old farm equipment and vehicles. Time has produced a patina on many of them and they take on the effect of historical sculpture. This old Chevrolet heavy farm truck sits sleeping in my neighbor’s barnyard.

Old Farm Outbuildings

Agriculture, Family, Farm, Randolph County

The most interesting things sometimes on old North Carolina farm homeplaces are the many outbuildings. At my Grandfather’s homeplace in Grays Chapel (Randolph County,south of Greensboro) there are several; a smokehouse, a washhouse, a chicken coop, pack house and grainery, besides the regular barn. Each had it’s specific use and each still has it’s own personality.

Organic Gardening

Agriculture, Farm, Portraits, Randolph County

Gardener Lindsey works in my neighbor’s organic garden near Grays Chapel, south of Greensboro. The area is becoming a center of local sustainable agriculture and locally grown food.

North Carolina Farmer Portrait

Agriculture, Farm, Portraits, Randolph County

Portrait of my neighbor and Randolph County farmer Jack Fagg. Jack is a semi-retired farmer who raises grain, hay and straw near Grays Chapel in central North Carolina. If you live near the area and need some straw, Jack is sitting on about 4000 bales of good clean wheat straw from last year’s crop.

Raising Vegetables

Agriculture, Farm, Portraits, Randolph County

My father’s cousin Thomas Routh and his wife Lula Mae live just down the road from us in Grays Chapel. In their late eighties, Thomas and Lula Mae grow a large vegetable garden each year from which they sell fresh produce at the local farmer’s market in Asheboro. Doing all the work themselves, they grow plants in their greenhouse from seed, prepare their ground, plant their plants, do all the harvesting, and sell the fresh vegetables at the market. I caught them Saturday morning as they were finishing up planting tomatoes. This year, they have about 750 tomato plants. That’s a lot of tomatoes. Of course, they also will have squash, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, corn, plants and canned goods too. Lula Mae said last year she kept track of the green beans they picked, and the total came to 2300 lbs.