fields Archives – J. G. Coleman Photography

Yankee Farmlands № 47 (Old Corn Cribs beside broccoli field, Bloomfield, Connecticut) — “Yankee Farmlands № 47”
Old corn cribs beside broccoli field, Bloomfield, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

Rows of broccoli wave flowery, yellow crowns beneath a December sky marbled with sunset clouds. Atop the nearby hill, an aging flat-bed farm truck sits parked amidst the wiry frames of vacant corn cribs.

Store-bought broccoli is actually clusters of flower buds that are cut from the plant just before they begin to bloom. If the buds were left alone, they would burst into bouquets of tiny, yellow flowers. The broccoli plants seen here were probably harvested in mid-autumn; residual flower stalks began blooming in November and December thanks to unseasonably warm weather.

The corn cribs on the horizon are wire-mesh towers in which the farmer could air-dry corn on the cob for use as livestock feed (back when corn was grown in this field instead of broccoli). Although corn cribs of various designs were once widely-used, they became rather obsolete after the mid-1900s when advances in equipment made air-drying unnecessary. Relatively few corn cribs remain in Connecticut these days and clusters of this particular design are quite rare.

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Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 47” 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 Connecticut’s countryside in celebration of New England’s agricultural heritage.

Yankee Farmlands № 44 (Autumn Cabbage Field, Farmington, Connecticut) — “Yankee Farmlands № 44”
Cabbage in Muddy Field during November,Farmington, Connecticut
© 2015 J. G. Coleman

Bare forests line the margin of a muddy field in the Farmington River Valley as autumn deepens, bringing colder temperatures and even occasional frosts. Cabbage crops, still verdant and thriving under the setting sun, stand as an unlikely contradiction in the otherwise stark, sleepy landscape.

By early November, most crops in New England have been harvested and the fields laid bare. Farms that were bristling with corn, tomatoes, squash and other crops just months earlier become dormant expanses of open land.

Persistent “autumn cabbages” are among the rare exceptions, though. Resilient and cold-hardy, these white and red cabbage varieties continue to grow and yield under conditions that might seem incredible to those who are unfamiliar with the vegetable’s durability. In this piece, we find a row which has just recently been harvested amidst other plants that continue to mature.

Purchase a Fine Art Print or Inquire About Licensing

Click here to visit my landing page for “Yankee Farmlands № 44” to buy a beautiful fine art print or inquire about licensing this image.

Want to See More?

Be sure to check out more work from my Yankee Farmlands project, an on-going journey through the farmlands of Connecticut in celebration of New England’s agricultural heritage.