Farming has inspired all manner of amazing feats in this world, and here’s another jaw dropper that can be traced back to the seat of a tractor: the “monumental earthwork” of Kansas artist Stan Herd.
More than a mere master of crop circles (amazing in their own right), Herd has spent the past 40 years honing a technique of actually planting his enormous artworks, which are best viewed bird’s eye, from high above. The crops, in essence, create the image—with considerable input from the weather, as you might imagine.
“I have gravitated to the idea that the earthworks need to be more than just something to look at … that the background story of mankind’s relationship to the earth, in agriculture, and in stewardship of pristine nature, is what the act of creating the work is about,” Herd explained to Modern Farmer.
The latest of his many creations, completed this year, is a 1.2-acre reproduction of Van Gogh’s Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun in Eagan, Minnesota, comprised of native plants, gourds, oats, and other various natural materials.
For comparison, here’s the original Van Gogh painting (oil on canvas):
Vincent van Gogh, Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun, 1889, via Wikimedia Commons
Now, watch in wonder the video below, which follows Herd’s fascinating method of cultivating Van Gogh’s classic as a commission for the Minneapolis Institute of Art:
He is now drumming up funding for his in-progress collaborative earthwork, Young Woman of Brazil, in São Paulo, Brazil. You can contribute to this sustainable community garden for people who reside in the surrounding favela (urban slum) by becoming a “Root Supporter” via the Herd Arts website.
“I want to see if an image of this sort can add something to the community for the long run,” Herd says. “All art doesn’t have to have a utilitarian purpose, but at their best, I believe my earthworks do.”
If you farm in the Midwest, you may be able to help monarch butterflies next year and get paid in the process.
Photo by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson via Wikimedia Commons
Monarchs make their way to the United States in the summertime, and in recent years, these ecologically important (and oh-so-pretty) pollinators are having trouble surviving the season due to a lack of food.
Seems strange, especially during the summer months, when green things abound, but one of the monarchs’ main food sources is the native flowering milkweed plant, and it is rapidly disappearing in the wake of herbicides.
Photo collage by Pixeltoo via Wikimedia Commons
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is taking action to target milkweed restoration and management on private farms and ranches in 10 states that provide critical habitat for monarchs (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin).
“We’re focusing efforts in the southern Great Plains and Midwest—two regions at the heart of the monarch’s migration,” announced the USDA last month. “In the southern Great Plains, our work will focus on rangelands and ways to improve the health of pastures so they provide good forage for livestock and food for monarchs. In the Midwest, we’re focusing on integrating plantings into croplands and making improvements to wetland areas.”
As with its other cost-share programs, the NRCS will offer financial assistance, incentives, and technical guidance to landowners whose property meets the specifications for monarch habitat establishment and/or improvement. The agency’s goal is to partner with farmers and ranchers “to voluntarily establish habitat for the monarch on working lands while ensuring America’s farms and ranches stay productive.”
Pollinators, as we know, are a vital factor in that equation.
If you’d like to get a jump on establishing healthy monarch habitat this spring, get in touch with your local USDA service center for details.
On the first day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
A full year of MaryJanesFarm!
On the second day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Two Mossy Wreaths and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the third day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the fourth day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the fifth day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the sixth day of Christmas a farmgirl sent to me:
Six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the seventh day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Seven Orchard Farm soaps, six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the eighth day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Eight Milk Cow Kitchens (pass ’em all around!), seven Orchard Farm soaps, six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the ninth day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Nine crocheted snowflakes, eight Milk Cow Kitchens (pass ’em all around!), seven Orchard Farm soaps, six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the tenth day of Christmas a farmgirl sent to me:
Ten Clothespin Apron Patterns, nine crocheted snowflakes, eight Milk Cow Kitchens (pass ’em all around!), seven Orchard Farm soaps, six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Eleven Scrappy Hotpads, ten Apron Patterns, nine crocheted snowflakes, eight Milk Cow Kitchens (pass ’em all around!), seven Orchard Farm soaps, six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, a farmgirl sent to me:
Twelve Tin Can Snowflakes, eleven Scrappy Hotpads, ten Apron Patterns, nine crocheted snowflakes, eight Milk Cow Kitchens (pass ’em all around!), seven Orchard Farm soaps, six Yo-Yo Pillows, five Felt Cupcakes, four Jars of Jam, three Rag Dolls, two Mossy Wreaths, and a full year of MaryJanesFarm.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
