McHenry County Annual Tractor Trek

I just got back from the bank here in Spring Grove after being delayed by lots and lots of old farm tractors going down Meyer Road toward Horse Fair Park, I imagine.  The police had traffic on US-12 stopped and it eventually became one huge line, probably a couple miles long.  It was the McHenry County Annual Tractor Trek.

I wasn't in it, fortunately, but couldn't proceed to a couple other places I wanted to go to, so just parked the '85 Firebird, got out and watched the procession.

How often do you get to see a whole lot of antique tractors go by.  Of course, McHenry County, Illinois, is known for its farms and agriculture, so this is of special importance.  Every year, there are a lot of tractors in the Spring Grove 4th of July parade as well.

Had I known about it earlier, I would have been there for the whole parade, as I figure I only caught the tail end of it.

One of Those Unexpected Pleasures.  --RoadDog

JSIS (More): Sinking Houses, $34 Million Sunken Treasure, Not So Peachy for Georgia

JSIS-- Just Some Interesting Stuff (More). From the July 23, 2013, USA Today. (Sure wish they hadn't raised the price 100% from $1 to $2, especially with no increase in issue size or coverage.

1. SINKING HOUSES-- Eight homes sank and ten others were in danger in a mountaintop subdivision in Lakeport, California. Things got so bad that the U.S. Postal Service refused to make mail deliveries. Found out a leaking county water system had saturated the mountain. Getting that old sinking feeling.

2. $34 MILLION SUNKEN TREASURE-- The Odyssey Marine and Exploration reported it had recovered more than 61 tons of silver from the wreck on the SS Gairsoppa off the Irish coast. The ship had been torpedoed by a German U-boat in February 1941 and the haul is estimated to be worth $34 million. I wrote more about this in my World War II blog. Not a Bad Day's Work.

3. NOT SO PEACHY IN GEORGIA-- The state, long known as the Peach State may have to rethink its slogan. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture reported that the value of the state's blueberry crop passed peaches in 2005 and continues to widen the gap. Blueberries generated $94 million in 2012, more than three times what peaches did.

Welcome to the Blueberry State. --RoadDog

No Buffalo Here

While at Stade Dairy farm this past Friday, I mentioned to the lady collecting the money that I had seen two buffalo out with the cows earlier this summer. On my way out to visit Frances in Woodstock, I would always slow down and look for them. You just don't expect to see buffalo out in the fields around here. They seemed to be getting along well with the cows.

Then, one day, I didn't see them, nor did I see them ever again. I figured that since I was here, I might as well inquire. Another woman behind the counter that I took as a member of the Stade family told me that they had had two buffalo, but had sent them off to a regular buffalo farm after they found out.

They found out that buffalo get very mean and ill-tempered as they get older and especially during the summer when they get into mating season. The two that Stade had were still young, but would grow up to be crotchety old buffs. And liable to hurt a visitor which wouldn't be good for business. I can see it now, "Come to Stade's and get trampled by a temperamental buffalo."

Plus, they were told that their fencing would have to be upgraded a lot as adult buffaloes could easily knock what they have down. I told them it was a good thing they got rid of them since I live so close by. I could just see going out one morning to get the Chicago Tribune and coming eyeball to eyeball with a buffalo. Man, that would be one big, ugly, smelly dog or is it that I had too much imbibing last night.

Home, Home is Not on the Stade Range. --RoadDog

Sweet Corn and Stade Dairy Farm

On my way back from visiting with my mother-in-law Frances this past Friday, I stopped at Stade (prounounced Stah-day) Farm on Miller Road about a mile from our house for some of the last corn for the season. This is very popular place for corn and vegetables as everything is always fresh-picked that very morning. They have two other roadside stands in the area as well as the main one.

A year ago, they built a huge barn-like complex to handle all the customers and their Shades of Autumn celebration which they hold every fall in September and October. They have hayrides, a pumpkin cannon which is really a sight to see when it fires, petting zoo, mazes, food, and entertainment every weekend. It is free admission.

A week from today is the Classic Car & Truck Show and Rockin' Oldies Concert. One of my favorite local oldies bands, The Rockin' Fenderskirts will share the bill with one I haven't seen, Dr. Rhythm and the Rockers. With a name like that, they can't be too bad.

I especially like the sweet corn at Stade's. Just-picked as it is, it's hard to beat. When we first moved out here in 1992, it was 25 cents an ear, but thanks to Big Oil's inflation, it is now 35 cents, but way too worth it.

Once home, I was trying to break a bad piece of corn off one ear, and got juice in my eye, that's how fresh it is.

http://www.stadedairyfarm.com/

http://www.shadesofautumn.net/

Sweet Corn, BBQ, and Hot Dogs. These are a Few of My Favorite Things. --RoadDog

Not Many Farms Left in Lake County, IL-- Now One Less

You always hear about the fact that there are fewer and fewer farmers in the Chicagoland Metropolitan area. In the 1950s, there were 13,000 farms in the Chicago suburbs, By 2000, that number had dropped to less than 3000. Every year, some of the best agricultural land in the whole world, sprouts subdivision after subdivision.

Papers and media try to paint a sad picture and make us feel sorry for these farmers. However, I find it hard to feel sorry for these new millionaires. Had they been forced to sell their farms because of unfortunate events beyond their control, I'd feel sorry for them. But, NOT when the sale is their choice.

In an article by Mike Zawislak titled "The end of an era" in today's Daily Herald, I read about the Titus family selling their 160 acre farm for an undisclosed amount of money. However, back in 2004, the farm was on the market with the asking price of $17.5 million. I'm sure it is considerably higher today.

Tony Titus is the great-grandson of Lorenz Titus who started a dairy farm on the site with 100 acres in 1877. Production has since switched to grain and vegetables. For years, you could buy fresh produce at their farmstand and they also sold at various area farmer markets.

The developer who purchased it will do a land swap with the Lake County Fair Association. This will be the new site of the fair, after 50 years at its current site in Grayslake. The developer will get the old site and will also sweeten the deal with $12.5 million. A 769,000 square foot shopping center will be built.

This Sunday, all the farm machinery will be auctioned off.

I must admit that I am part of the problem when it comes to the loss of farmsteads in the area. We bought our lot and built our house in 1992 out in Orchard Bluff Subdivision in Spring Grove. The the year before, they had been growing corn on out lot and there was an apple orchard on part of the subdivision. If people like me weren't buying the lots, the developers wouldn't be buying the farms.

Plus, you have to remember, this is some of the best land for growing crops anywhere in the world. Now, all it is growing are houses and several million rotten Japanese beetles.

Again, I DON'T Feel Too Sorry for the Titus Family. --RoadDog