21/05: Touring Around Herb and Rosetta's Farm
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
Herb is officially a retired farmer. Herb's nephew does most of the farming these days though Herb will get on a tractor and help out when needed. Rosetta is a retired music teacher though you still find her playing the organ and piano at church or accompanying a menu's choir in Texas or directoring choir.
We started the day with a tour of the local area including the farms. The first thing I noticed is that Kansas isn't that different from Bruce County --- Kansas is a little flatter and Bruce County's trees are a little bigger. The next thing I noticed is Kansas's space is bigger --- that probably doesn't make sense but I don't know how else to describe it. The open space just feels bigger (hopefully the pictures will help explain).
The main roads are paved but the farm roads (which are most of the roads) are dirt.
Corn and soy bean are being planted and it's just about time to harvest the winter wheat.
The population of the county where Herb and Rosetta live has dropped dramatically. A lot of young people have moved to the cities and with the new large farm machinery a farmer can farm several thousand acres with part time help.
The town of Burr Oak is not as busy as it once was. In fact all the schools in the county have been consolidated into one school.
Herb is not only a farmer but also a designer as he has built pieces of farm machinery that made farming easier for him.
Herb and Rosetta designed and built their home completing it 1975. Ed and I designed and built our Mountsberg home completing in in 1986. The funny thing is the homes had a lot in common --- passive solar, bedrooms on the lower level, cathedral ceiling on the upper floor, etc.
After the tour we drove to Superior, a town in Nebraska about 20 minutes from Herb and Rosetta's place, to visit Lorna (another person we knew from Texas). We had last seen Lorna in Arizona in 2013. It's her fault that Ed and I own ATV's as she introduced us to riding in the desert. We had a great visit with her as well.
We started the day with a tour of the local area including the farms. The first thing I noticed is that Kansas isn't that different from Bruce County --- Kansas is a little flatter and Bruce County's trees are a little bigger. The next thing I noticed is Kansas's space is bigger --- that probably doesn't make sense but I don't know how else to describe it. The open space just feels bigger (hopefully the pictures will help explain).
The main roads are paved but the farm roads (which are most of the roads) are dirt.
Corn and soy bean are being planted and it's just about time to harvest the winter wheat.
The population of the county where Herb and Rosetta live has dropped dramatically. A lot of young people have moved to the cities and with the new large farm machinery a farmer can farm several thousand acres with part time help.
The town of Burr Oak is not as busy as it once was. In fact all the schools in the county have been consolidated into one school.
Herb is not only a farmer but also a designer as he has built pieces of farm machinery that made farming easier for him.
Herb and Rosetta designed and built their home completing it 1975. Ed and I designed and built our Mountsberg home completing in in 1986. The funny thing is the homes had a lot in common --- passive solar, bedrooms on the lower level, cathedral ceiling on the upper floor, etc.
After the tour we drove to Superior, a town in Nebraska about 20 minutes from Herb and Rosetta's place, to visit Lorna (another person we knew from Texas). We had last seen Lorna in Arizona in 2013. It's her fault that Ed and I own ATV's as she introduced us to riding in the desert. We had a great visit with her as well.