"Knee high by the fourth of July" is the benchmark farmers use to determine how tall their corn should be if it is growing as it should.
Looks like Leslie and Rick have gone well beyond the mark this year!
We inherited the farm in 2016 and haven't done anything with the land aside from keeping it in production and paying taxes, but if I were younger I might be tempted to use it for horses.
Recently the farm has become classified as prime development land. Unsolicited offers for it have been coming in from developers ever since. I'm amenable to selling, but several of our kids are keenly interested in keeping the land in the family. A trip out to see it while we were all gathered only fueled that desire.
What will we do? Hard to tell - the discussion is tabled for now. The land has been in the family for sixty odd years so I can see the kids' point.
Guess I'll be staying 'tooned on this one myself!
Lynn--while ultimately it is Craig and yours decision to make, I'll be rooting for you to go with your kids and keep the farm in the family!
ReplyDeleteDidn't you say that the land belonged to Craig's grandfather?? Well--that's 3 generations right there, right? What a neat legacy to leave for your own grandchildren (especially if they've inherited the love of animals from you! That would make it 6 generations!) Great way to teach them that our food doesn't grow in the grocery store!
Oops-hit button by mistake! Also--how I hate seeing the rural areas being developed to resemble the big cities! If you ever go through
ReplyDeleteBargersville, Trafalgar, Noblesville, Westfield, Fishers or Carmel--None of these areas look the same as they did 30-40 years ago!!
Don't get me wrong--development does have its place--especially if you're a struggling city or town economically ---but how sad to lose the charm of these places(and no longer being able to see farm animals out in the field if you just want to go for a drive on a warm summer day!) just for them to become cookie cutter replicas of their big city cousins!!
Here's another thing---what happens if Tim ever gets tired and wants to retire and sell the farm?? Where would Abby go?? Where would Sultanna, Hokey, and Two Socks be??
ReplyDeleteAlso--if part of your farm is natural undergrowth, do you really think the developers would care that they would be destroying the wildlife habitat??(they have to live and eat too!!)
Of course, there's always the cost of maintaining the farm! If it's not cost efficient, then I suppose the developer's offer would be hard to resist!!