Fields of Wheat

The road between the city and the lake winds through lush countryside. This time of the year both sides of the asphalt stretch for miles and miles with fields of green. Crops rotate year to year with the usual plantings of soybeans, corn and cotton which are nice enough crops, but my favorite of all is the winter wheat.

Winter wheat gives Ireland a run for its money when it comes to the color green. Winter wheat peaks above the ground in the late winter, bright slashes of green rows amid the lingering browns and grays of the cold season. By mid-spring the brighter green has mellowed into a deep blue green, the fine leaves waving in the spring storms like waves on the ocean. "Sky of blue, sea of green..."

Late spring into early summer, like now, the winter wheat is beginning to ripen. Fields of green are turning golden.

This, my last day at the lake before heading for the city, I rose at 5am in order to be at the wheat field by dawn.

Farmers have terraced their land to help control erosion. Not being a farmer I'm thinking there are many reasons to terrace land but that seems to be the case. In the above photo there is a strip of green cutting through the turning wheat where a lowland lies. Here, various duck species come to swim about, surrounded by wheat. I've seen the usual mallards and wood ducks here.

"And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together."

Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels

Purple vetch climb along the outer edges of wheat along the roadside.

The sun rises golden and warm, illuminating the wheat much like light through a stained glass window. Next post I'll show you more of the winter wheat and surrounding farmland and its creatures.