Posted on 09/11/2020 8:55:13 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
A Wisconsin farmers know people need a reason to smile this year and he hopes 2 million sunflowers will do it.
Scott Thompson, a fourth generation berry farmer, said it was his wife's idea to bring blossoms of sunshine into the mix this year.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, they knew they wanted to help people, especially those in nearby urban areas, with an escape "to get away from their reality for a little bit," Thompson told USA Today.
So, over five weeks, Thompson progressively planted sunflower seeds across 22 acres. The grand number of 2 million was not in his head, but the result allowed visitors to experience a 6-8 week bloom instead of a typical 10 to 14 day stint.
"It just keeps going and going, and I think that's really captured the hearts of people," Thompson said. "Every single day has just become busier and busier."
Thompson Strawberry Farm is about an hour from Chicago and a 35 minute drive to downtown Milwaukee. The establishment offers "Pick-Your-Own" strawberries, raspberries, pumpkins, and now sunflowers.
The final and biggest field of sunflowers has yet to bloom. According to Thompson, 750 thousand blossoms are 7 to 10 days away. Depending on weather, he thinks this year's sunflowers will last until the end of September, or another three weeks.
"It's just a naturally, socially-distant activity," he said. "[People want] an hour... to be outside, and just kind of feel a little sense of normalcy in our lives; so, it's had a lot of positive impact."
"And whether we made a dime or not, we've sure had a lot of fun doing it."
(Excerpt) Read more at rfdtv.com ...
Weekly Garden Thread Ping List PING!
How beautiful.
Hey, I think it's workin'! :^) That's a lot of harvesting to do, I hope he knows what he's doing.
I saw on a farming YouTube video where sunflowers were described as a weed.
North Dakota plants 500,000 acres of sunflowers each year.
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-dakota/sunflower-blooming-nd/
from the air it says, “Trump 2020”
But MLB has banned spitting!
i counted them there are 2,000,045
I’m foolin’ with their graphics URLs, to make some nice 1080p wallpapers.
The fields draw crowds. Asians in particular drive for miles to see them. They consider them good luck. Some farmers have set aside land for paid parking and bouquets for purchase. Otherwise, visitors are parked all over the roadside and cutting the crop willy nilly.
Nice. My personal best was over 9 feet tall. It looked down on me like a dragon before it bloomed.
They kind of are... but they are a pretty weed.
It’s a You-Pick Flower Farm this time of year, so he’ll have people PAY HIM to do the harvesting. $25 per car, according to his website. But 22 acres is a LOT of sunflowers! The local birds and small critters will be eating well, for sure.
I love the farmers that have come up with novel ideas to keep earning money during the Covid Sham-a-lama-ding-dong!
A local dairy rents land from us for crops for their milk cows; we gave them a 20% discount this season on the rent because they were FORCED to cut their production by 20%.
Plus - they give us all the milk we want for free! And instead of dumping it, they GAVE IT AWAY to anyone in the area that wanted some.
I read stories earlier this year of many, many dairy farms that did the same for their neighbors and communities.
Not everyone in this world is a jerk - thank goodness!
Oh, Thank You! Those are terrific! I’m putting the Sunflower Sunset one on my computer right now. :)
I have one in the garden now that’s about 8’. I love growing ‘Kong’ ‘Russian Mammoth’ and an old Heirloom called ‘Earthwalker.’
I usually have some volunteers each season, so I move them to the BACK of the garden and stake them well. :)
“from the air it says, ‘Trump 2020’”
It just might! Rural Wisconsin loves President Trump. It’s the dopes ‘in town’ you have to worry about around here!
He’s right....that pic cheered me up.
Looks like the China Cat variety
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