Tag: farm

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Simsbury Blossoming

Yankee Farmlands № 83 (Field of decorative flowers, Simsbury, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 83”
Field of decorative flowers, Simsbury, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Exotic blossoms invite vivid color into a dusty farm field in Northern Connecticut where decorative flowers have reached maturity. Blue skies and a leaf-dense woodline embody the warmth and vitality of late summer in New England.

I’ve recently finished shooting for my Yankee Farmlands project, an endeavor which I thought would require roughly a year of work. Well, here we are now… nearly two and half years after I shot Yankee Farmlands № 1 at a hayfield in East Granby. It’s been a far longer, and far more rewarding, journey than I could’ve anticipated.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be rolling out all of the final installments of the project, picking things back up where I left off in late summer, transitioning through this past autumn and concluding with pieces I produced recently this winter. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the visual story I’ve sought to tell about Connecticut’s agricultural landscapes; it’s certainly been a pleasure to create the final chapters.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 83” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Texas Longhorns in New England

Yankee Farmlands № 72 by J. G. Coleman (Texas Longhorns on feedlot, Watertown, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 72”
Texas Longhorns on feedlot, Watertown, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Enclosed by a mesh of chain-links, distinctive Texas Longhorns laze away the early morning on a feed lot in Connecticut’s Naugatuck Valley. Overnight rains have left droplets clinging to the gate and the humid air imparts a lingering haze to the sky and nearby grove of shade trees.

Not all of Connecticut’s livestock farms are situated on grassy, rolling hills and sprawling countryside. Feedlots such this one in Western Connecticut are able to fatten up cattle more quickly than could be achieved if they were grazing on open pastures. The faster they pack on the pounds, the faster they can be sent off to market to turn a profit. Not to mention that, for a given herd, a feedlot can be much more compact than a comparable pasture.

Indeed, the economic advantage of using feedlots over pastures is indisputable and this model has proven useful for some Connecticut farmers. All of that increased productivity translates to more affordable meat for you and I. On the opposite side of the coin, purveyors of more expensive, grass-fed beef are quick to extoll the culinary virtues of raising livestock on pastureland. Older, grass-fed cattle produce more flavorful meat, they insist.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 72” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work from my on-going Yankee Farmlands project, a journey throughout the Connecticut countryside in celebration of New England’s agricultural heritage.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Square Bales and Summertime

Yankee Farmlands № 71 (Square bales and windrows in hay field, Bloomfield, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 71”
Square bales and windrows in hay field, Bloomfield, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Summertime sunlight beats down on a warm field dotted with freshly-bound hay bales. Looking toward the wooded field edge in the distance, we find windrows of drying hay awaiting the baler once the tractor arrives for a new day’s work.

Despite their rectangular shape, bales of hay such as these are typically referred to as “square bales”. Weighing in at only about 50 pounds, they offer the convenience of being easily moved by hand. That’s something which certainly can’t be said for larger, round bales which can weigh up to a ton and must be moved with a tractor.

But while square bales are easy to handle, you’ll generally find them only at smaller farms. Large operations produce and use so much hay that juggling all those tiny bundles would prove overwhelming. For all of the labor involved in loading, hauling and stacking a dozen square bales, it tends to be far more practical to fire up the tractor and move just one half-ton, round bale.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 71” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work from my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

Yankee Farmlands № 69 (Windrows in hayfield, Bloomfield, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 69”
Windrows in hayfield, Bloomfield, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Windrows of freshly-cut hay snake through the corner of a quiet field bounded by woodlands as hazy morning clouds drift over the humid landscape.

Although hay may seem like a rather simple farm product, there’s a fairly involved series of steps and machinery that go into producing those tidy bales. Hay must first be cut and raked, usually with a tractor, into long piles known as “windrows” which are left to sun-dry in the field. Fair weather is a necessity, as excessive rains at this stage could drench the hay crop, causing it to spoil before it’s even gathered.

Once the windrows have sufficiently dried, a tractor equipped with a baler scoops up the hay, compressing it into round or rectangular forms before firmly tying the bundle. Finished bales are dropped upon the field so the next bale can be started. Thus, the final step in the process involves gathering the bales from the field for storage.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 69” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Empty Barns & Fields of Daisies

Yankee Farmlands № 68 (Tobacco sheds & wildflowers, Windsor, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 68”
Tobacco sheds & wildflowers, Windsor, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Beside creaky, derelict tobacco sheds besieged by prying vines, a brilliant mosaic of ox-eye daises, cow vetch, wheat and field grasses blankets an overgrown field in Central Connecticut’s waning Tobacco Valley.

By the mid-1800s, Connecticut had reached its peak level of deforestation in human history. As much as 70% to 80% of the state had been clear-cut, with a good deal of that acreage ultimately finding use as pastures, hayfields and croplands. But agriculture began a steady a decline from that point forward. Enormous swaths of farmland were abandoned as folks sought work in flourishing industrial cities or headed out west in search of new opportunities. Many towns throughout Connecticut had lost half of their population before 1900.

It’s no surprise that scenes such as this one, with fields and pastures growing wild and barns left to decay, would have been a familiar sight to folks living in Southern New England during the latter half of the 1800s. Most all of Connecticut’s modern forests, which now cover more than half the state, grew upon the deserted soil of those long-vanished farms.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 68” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Beyond the Old Ways

Yankee Farmlands № 66 (Bloomfield, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 66”
Field with plastic mulch, Bloomfield, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

In a small field in northern Connecticut, rows of freshly-planted sprouts dance in the breeze amidst cloud-marbled skies and nearby woodlands.

Modern farming represents a fascinating blend of old and new. After all, there’s something refreshingly timeless about a quiet pasture dotted with grazing cattle or a sprawling orchard of wizened apple trees. But advances in technology and technique have also enabled farmers to be more efficient and productive than ever before.

Case in point: the use of plastic sheeting, known as “plastic mulch”, seen in this field. Covering crop rows with plastic prevents the growth of weeds and better retains moisture, meaning less field maintenance and less water usage throughout the growing season.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 66” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work from my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Turning the Soil

Yankee Farmlands № 65 (Cromwell, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 65”
Soybean field being turned with a cultivator, Cromwell, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Morning sunlight filters down through a hazy mesh of clouds, falling upon the warm springtime landscape below where trees at the periphery of the farm are freshly-clothed in leaves. With planting time fast approaching, a farmer guides his tractor in broad loops around the field, churning the soil in preparation for a crop of soybeans.

Although most folks tend to refer to any disturbance of field soil as “plowing”, farmers can tell you that’s not entirely accurate. The tractor seen here, for example, is pulling an attachment called a “cultivator” which turns a much thinner layer of surface soil in a process known as “cultivation”.

Why not just plow the field instead? Plows aerate and distribute nutrients very deeply in the soil, a crucial step for growing crops that produce deep roots. But the soy beans that will be planted in this field produce shallow roots which can’t access nutrients that are buried too deeply. In this case, cultivating rather plowing keeps all of the good stuff close to the surface where it can offer the most benefit to the bean crop.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 65” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work from my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

The Decline of the Silo

Yankee Farmlands № 67 (Farm in Bethany, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 67”
Bethany, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Virginia creeper and poison ivy climb in tangles, competing over a weathered fence post at the corner of a quiet barnyard in the south of Connecticut. Barns in the distance flank a towering concrete stave silo, likely retired from use years ago but still faithfully standing sentinel over the farm.

Silos are undoubtedly among the visual staples of farm country, but they are quickly approaching the end of their era. These unmistakable towers rose to popularity in the late 1800s as a means of preserving nutritious livestock feed for use during colder months. By the 1920s, nearly a half-million silos dotted the dairy regions of the United States.

But the purpose of the silo was to keep feed in an air-tight environment, a task accomplished far more easily these days by simply covering bunkers or feed piles in long lengths of plastic sheeting. Indeed, modern plastics have made farm life quite a bit easier, all the while tolling the death knell for the classic silo. Most of the silos that you see these days aren’t used any longer; they’ve been empty for years, in fact. Even those increasingly rare farmers who still use their silos admit that they can’t imagine ever building any new ones once the old ones are worn out and retired. It’s quite probable that within a century, the once ubiquitous silo may all but vanish from the countryside.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 67” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work from my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Waiting for the Leaves

Yankee Farmlands № 63
“Yankee Farmlands № 63”
Cedar fence at field edge, Somers, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

As the farms of Northern Connecticut settle into springtime, grasses and tiny wildflowers sprout up at the periphery of the fields. In just a couple weeks, imperceptible buds on the distant shade trees will burst into a fresh crown of leaves… but for now, the branches still seem just as bare as the old, cedar fence posts nearby.

Even though I very much enjoy the winter aesthetic in New England, it never fails that I spend the entire month of April holding my breath in anticipation for “leaf-out”. Stripped forests and dormant fields, in all of their unlikely audacity, never fail to brazenly trespass upon several weeks that rightfully belong to spring!

But especially fitting of my Yankee Farmlands project is a line by late French author Alain-Fournier. “Life on the farm is a school in patience,” he explained,” you can’t hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.” Landscape photography tends to demand a strikingly similar brand of patience, equanimity and perseverance… and the harvest cannot be rushed.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 63” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project, a journey through Connecticut’s picturesque countryside in celebration of the agricultural heritage of New England.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Holsteins Abound

Yankee Farmlands № 61 (Holstein cows on Connecticut's largest dairy farm, Ellington, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 61”
Holstein cows on Connecticut’s largest dairy farm, Ellington, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Hazy clouds glide over flatlands in Northern Connecticut where we find a sprawling farm bounded only by the soft contours of distant hills. Before us, a herd of dairy cattle mingle about, some wandering casually while others are content to lounge upon the ground in the warm springtime sun.

Ask just about anyone to describe a cow from memory and they will almost certainly mention the blotchy, black and white pattern of the iconic Holstein. This exceptionally popular breed accounts for 90% of the dairy livestock in the United States, owing largely to its remarkable knack for milk production. The average Holstein yields around 25,000 gallons of milk per year; exceptional specimens can supply 70,000 gallons!

And while we’re on the topic of impressive numbers, it’s worth mentioning that the Holsteins seen in this piece are just a handful of the 4,000 kept on 2,800 acres at Connecticut’s largest dairy farm. An operation of that size is remarkable for a small and crowded state like Connecticut, especially when you consider that the average US dairy farm only keeps around 200 cows.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 61” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Winter Lingered So Long…

Yankee Farmlands № 60 (Cows grazing in early spring, Litchfield, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 60”
Cows grazing in early spring,Litchfield, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

Cattle wander aimlessly through a silent pasture veiled in heavy fog which clings to the Litchfield Hills. Though springtime arrived a few days earlier, dormant woodlands at the farm edge still reach skyward with bare branches.

As if the leafless forests weren’t a stark enough reminder of colder months past, Connecticut is expecting another few inches of snow today. In the words of 19th-century author Edgar Nye: “Winter lingered so long in the lap of Spring that it occasioned a great deal of talk.”

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 60” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project.

Categories
All Things Connecticut New Print Releases The American Northeast

Winter’s Final Days in the Countryside

Yankee Farmlands № 59 (Old plows beside ornate round-roof barn, Colchester, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 59”
Old plows beside ornate round-roof barn
Colchester, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

With spring having arrived just about a week ago, it’s about that time for my on-going Yankee Farmlands project to make the change, as well! Next week’s addition to the series will be the first springtime farmland imagery this year. In the meantime though, I’ve released two final pieces from the very tail-end of winter.

In “Yankee Farmlands № 59” (at top), antique plows rest silently beside an elaborate, round-roof barn in Eastern Connecticut. With winter drawing to a close, the snows have melted away and soft clouds soar through the blue skies overhead.

If you were to briefly glance at this barn and expansive farm while driving by, it might be difficult to tell that it’s no longer an ordinary commercial operation. Roughly 16 years ago, the last of the previous owners donated the 170-acre farm –barns, machinery and all– for use as a unique “farm museum” where visitors can observe a broad range of both historical and modern farming equipment in use.

Yankee Farmlands № 58 (Snowy farm and hay wagons, Bethlehem, Connecticut)
“Yankee Farmlands № 58”
Snowy farm and hay wagons
Bethlehem, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

“Yankee Farmlands № 58” (immediately above) captures one of winter’s final blows to the Connecticut landscape. Tractor tracks impressed in frozen mud guide us past wagons and wrapped hay bales into a snowy expanse of farmland in Western Connecticut.

For all of the advancements in mechanization that have revolutionized farming over the centuries, the typical hay wagon has actually changed very little. After all, they are basically just cargo trailers for hauling hay… there’s only so much room for innovation beyond improving materials. If you could drop farmers from the early-1800s into a modern farm, machines like tractors, disc plows and balers would be completely foreign to them. Hay wagons might be among the few pieces of heavy equipment that they’d recognize fairly easily.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Visit my landing pages for “Yankee Farmlands № 58” and “Yankee Farmlands № 59” to buy a beautiful fine art prints or inquire about licensing either of these images.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out all of the work in my on-going Yankee Farmlands project, a journey throughout Connecticut’s countryside in celebration of the agricultural heritage of New England.