Cotton picking!

Last week the boys headed out on their first ever field trip - to a local cotton field! I've seen pictures of cotton fields, and have heard about them, but I have never actually seen on or picked cotton myself! It was a very fun experience in a chaotic sort of way (imagine 150+ preschoolers all dressed in the same shirts in a very large field...I barely managed to keep track of 2 of them!)

This is almost a mature cotton "boll" (not ball). The final maturation of the cotton boll happens in the high heat high humidity climate that occurs in June, July, and August. When fully mature the cotton actually hangs out.

According to an essay I read by James Bolner, Cotton picking was considered to be "beyond any doubt, the most inhumane labor a person can perform," because of the position you had to maintain to pick and the heat and humidity. It was primarily a slave or prisoner labor!

Seth picked just a couple of pieces and then he was ready to be done! Notice the "bolls" down by his feet - the cotton is hanging out, this is a completely "boll".

Cotton used to be collected in sacks sewn by white denim by the local women. If you had a good strong sack, you could use it year after year, but usually the sacks were new each year and had the pickers initials sewn into them. For this trip, Zach had to settle for a Wal-mart sack with his name on it! Zach ended up with an nice handful of cotton to bring home a show Daddy! Not close to the normal 250+ pounds that a "good" picker could harvest in a day!

There were tractors to climb on and class pictures to be taken...it was a fun busy morning. Imagine about 150+ preschoolers running around in a huge field with the same colored shirts on! I was lucky to keep track of my own that's for sure!!

Next week we will head out to a local pumpkin patch for some more fun!!