Disclaimer – We do not encourage you to trespass just so you can get a picture in cotton.

When you are in relationship, most people like to share their family history, where they have come from, their traditions, and their people. Aaron had been trying to get me to Senath during cotton picking season the last few years and I haven’t been able to go. This past fall was the year I made it, along with Katie and her boys.

Not only does Aaron have cotton picking in his family history, but I do as well.  My Grandma Pratt grew up on a cotton and tobacco farm in Georgia. I will admit that I haven’t taken full advantage of the history that she could share with me but I do know a few minor details.  Her family worked for some years as sharecroppers picking cotton by hand and eventually added tobacco as a crop. The one I find most interesting is when she would tell me that they would ride the wagon to church on Sundays.  My grandma, who is still alive today, was riding a wagon to church. That just seems far beyond any history of my immediate family members.So it may be a bit odd that Aaron and I both have cotton in our family stories.

Aaron has mostly fond memories of living in Octa/Senath and helping out at Barbie’s family farm -The Leveloam Farm – a century farm.  I’ve heard many of the stories and been given a brief rundown on what cotton picking season is like, but he wanted me to see and experience some of it first hand.  Katie who is always up for an adventure and whose boys can appreciate some interesting farm equipment were invited to go as well.

Because of various scheduling conflicts, we needed to leave before sunrise so we could arrive early enough for a tour of the gin that Barbie works at.  We left in the dark and headed south. It was a beautiful morning to watch the sunrise and even more picturesque were the cotton fields lying beneath a vibrant streaked sky.

Not only did Aaron and Sam want to share the cotton experience with us, but we thought we needed to share a little of the food experience with Katie as well.  Our first stop was Causbie’s bakery in Kennett.  This is a personal favorite of Sam’s and her preference is the icebox cookies.  Aaron likes the fried pies. I like the maple nut cream filled doughnuts. Katie and her boys made similar selections and then we were on our way again.

Our next stop was the Dalton Gin where Grandma Barbie works.  We were given a personal tour of the gin and how this modern process works.  We all piled in a car and Aaron became our personal chauffeur for the next half hour while Barbie was our personal tour guide.  She explained each step of the process while we were able to watch the gin in action. It is more or less a cotton factory where the cotton is cleaned, separated, and baled then awaits a grade before it can be sold.  Katie and I both found it interesting that the gin doesn’t charge the farmers but makes its money from keeping and selling the seeds. Barbie was a great tour guide (she went into teacher mode) and was extremely informative.

We were sort of learning about the cotton process backwards, so our next step was to catch up with Aaron’s Uncle Scott and his crew.  They were finishing up at the farm before heading out to the fields, so we stopped in to explore there. Aaron was anxious to share the tractor collection and a few stories that went along with them.  The boys were sidetracked by the dogs but Aaron was able to share a few details.

Finally we were headed to the fields.  When we met back up with Scott and the others, they were all picking cotton.  The first thing Tanner noticed was the sandy dirt, “Does cotton grow in sand?”  Very perceptive. While we were waiting for Kevin and the cotton picker to return, Katie and the boys were invited to jump in the cotton in one of the module containers.  Swimming in cotton.  I didn’t get to see it but apparently Katie did a face plant.  

While they were playing, Kevin returned and Oakley and I were headed off for a ride in the cotton picker.  I don’t think Oakley was quite sure of what was going on, and I wasn’t quite sure if he would make the entire trip without crying a bit.  We were helped up the stairs and found a seat in the quiet climate controlled cab of the six row cotton picker. Once we started moving, Oakley looked a little more pleasant and I was a little less worried.  As we started moving, Kevin started sharing a few stories with me as well. Stories about Aaron, who might otherwise be known as Lightning, growing up and helping on the farm.  Aaron did have an encounter with lightning, was bested by the tractor, and was known for his love of injecting his meat.  I would like to personally thank Kevin for these insights.

Oakley taking it all in.

Our view from the cotton picker which is a little different than what my Grandma would have experienced.

With the tractors and cotton behind us, we were headed out to make our last stop of the day. And of course that involved more food. We headed back up the road a bit and stopped for a late lunch at Strawberry’s.  The BBQ by which Aaron compares all others. It is a tasty meal and I never turn the offer down for a meal there. It is definitely worth the drive.

Katie’s Thoughts

Even though I consider myself a farm girl (I grew up on a cattle farm, not a crop farm), I didn’t know much about cotton other than Eli Whitney invented the original cotton gin (who doesn’t), they grow a lot of it in the “Bootheel” of Missouri, I think the fields of white are absolutely gorgeous, and I always get jealous when I see family pictures of people standing in cotton fields.

When Caroline asked if the boys and I would like to go down to Aaron’s family cotton farm to visit, I jumped at the chance.  At first, the boys were less than enthused when they found out we would have to leave at the butt crack of dawn, but once we got down the highway far enough that we started seeing the cotton farms, they started perking up quite a bit.

I won’t rehash the series of events for the day as Caroline has already mentioned them, but I will give a few personal thoughts:

1. Even though there are times that all the questions that Tanner asks me can be tiring, I really enjoyed listening to him ask some very intelligent questions to Grandma Barbie while she was giving us the tour of the cotton gin.  One question that really caught my attention was when he asked “how does the amount of rain affect the production of cotton?”
2. The size of the cotton gin!  It was a huge!! We literally drove through it!!!  It’s amazing how technology has changed over the years.  It’s funny to see how an original cotton gin compares to the a cotton gin of today.
   

   Old Cotton Gin

   

   New Cotton Gin
3. My favorite part was “swimming in cotton”!  As I watched one of the workers jumping around in it like he was on a trampoline and then my boys hopping in with no issues, I was not prepared for my first big step in being so “soft” and really did go end over end and face plant!  It’s a good thing I don’t get embarrassed that easy because my feet were higher than my head and I had nothing sturdy to use to push myself up. So I had to “waller” myself around until I finally got myself in a better position to get right side up again.
   

   Visiting the cotton farms in Southeast Missouri

   

   Visiting the Cotton Farms in Southeast Missouri

   

   Visiting the cotton fields in Southeast Missouri
4. I found the tractor with two steering wheels the most interesting.  Once again, I consider myself a farm girl, but had never seen a tractor with two steering wheels.
5. The guest caboose in Aaron’s grandparents back yard would have been the ultimate playhouse growing up.
6. I really enjoy riding in the large combines and tractors with enclosed cabins, but I’m afraid I would fall asleep at the wheel after so many hours of doing the same thing like that.
7. I was super excited to get those family pictures in cotton like I wanted!  They look sooo pretty!! I have a feeling that law enforcement watch for people pulling off the roads and trespassing into other’s cotton fields to take pictures (we are pretty sure we saw someone getting told just that on the side of the road) so we are lucky we know some people who will allow us to walk through their fields.
   

   Family Pictures

   

   Family Pictures
8. I’ve been wanting to eat at Strawberry’s for quite some time now, and it lived up to its reputation!  I ordered ribs for baby Oakley and I and Oakley tore them up! August made sure I didn’t leave without buying some of their special seasoning that they use on their meats.
9. We were in Sheryl Crow’s hometown and while I was riding in one of the tractors, the driver pointed out a couple of fields that actually belonged to Sheryl herself!

All in all it was a great day.  I truly enjoyed the little adventure in cotton with my boys and they seemed to have a good time themselves.  As you can imagine, all three boys were fast asleep before we could even get into the neighboring county.