The Farm Visit

We are driving through the rolling green and golden plains of Northern Montana as I write this. Hopefully there will be the time to post it Great Falls when we get back. We have had an incredible and memorable 3 days of driving through Montana and visiting the 2 family farms. We left from Helena after spending a night with Stan's brother, Steve. Then we dropped the van off in Great Falls and drove 8 hours to the farm near Plentywood (check your maps) on Highway 251 between mile markers 42 and 43. We spent almost 3 hours with "Billy" who is 78 years old who is farming the land there for the family. This farm is the one that Stan's grandpa homesteaded before he was married. The original barn built in 1909 is still in great shape. They used to have barn dances on the second floor, and, in fact, Grandpa and Grandma Galloway met at a barn dance.

Billy showed us the land, the wheat that is growing, his equipment and buildings. There is a natural gravel pit nearby on the property so I picked up a collection of colorful stones and later bought an old coffee jar to put them in. The Durham wheat will be ready to harvest by the middle September, which is later than usual, due to the weather being colder and wetter than usual. The winter wheat will be ready in a week or two. Hopefully the good weather will hold, the rain will come at the right time and it won't hail. The water actually adds more weight to the grain which means more profit. We have had a crash course on wheat farming. I can now recognize wheat flowers, healthy heads, wheat berries, winter wheat and Durham wheat.

The next day we went to the Medicine Lake, MT, to the land that Grandma Chloe homesteaded as a 19 year old girl. It is on Highway 16 right on the line of Roosevelt and Sheridan Counties in Roosevelt County -- on both sides of the road. We spent the afternoon yesterday looking at the tractors, combines, warehouse and assorted equipment with Paul and Janet McCabe who are distant cousins. Paul and Stan have the same great grandfather -- I think they are cousins 3 times removed. They are a wonderfully hospitable couple who opened their home for us and tooks us all over the area and explained all the workings of the farm to us. They farm their own land along with our family land. We also drove through the old town of McCabe which is named after Stan's great Grandpa, but since there are only about 6 people living there, it is almost a ghost town. The post office and most of the buildings are empty and falling apart.

The farm quipment on the Roosevelt farm is state of the art. Paul says he has a weakness for the latest and geratest technology. When planting, they don't even have to steer the tractor. Everything is done by GPS and all the rows are perfectly straight. Cousin Paul says it is boring now and he can nap while it does it's thing. All he has to do is remember to turn it around at the end of a row!! Maybe someday he won't even have to do that!!

I was so impressed with the beautiful colors of the sky and fields. The blues, greens, and gold, along with the white fluffy clouds were captivating to me and a feast for the eyes. I couldn't take it all in. I wish that I had had some water colors with me to try to capture the soft colors blending together on the horizon. But I don't think I have the skill anyway. The gently rolling hills were different from what we expected, but we were there at the best time of the year in a year that has had rain at the right times. Winters are typically from November to April and the snow comes and stays for that time. Trees are few and far between and mostly have been planted as wind breaks for the farm houses. It made me think of Little House on the Prairie stories.

One thing that is interesting about that region is the accent of the people there. Most have Scandanavian roots and you can hear it in their voices in the up and down inflections in their speech. I didn't notice it so much when in lived in Montana, but now it is so obvious. Either my ear is more sensitive or the regional accent is getting stronger, or both!!

So many have asked us if we are considering moving there to farm, and the answer is a very stong no! We will leave the farming to the experts. But it is a nice place to visit.

We will be spending 2 nights in Great Falls and then leave for Idaho where we will spend 2 nights with the saints in the church in Boise and then on to Nampa (outside of Boise) where Stan will work for my brother and sister in law for several weeks. I am looking forward to settling down for a while. The one and 2 night stands are tiring. I probably won't write again til we get to Nampa next week. But maybe our plans will be changing. Stan just came in and told me that he doesn't feel so well.....like he has food poisoning....one of the problems with eating in so many restaurants. I need to go take care of him.