harvest timestop!

temple university photojournalism 2011

harvest timestop!

temple university photojournalism 2011

EditorsAmelia Field BlandaHannah EshlemanChris MontgomeryNing Shao

Cover Photo: Andrew Curtis

© 2011 Independent Photojournalists of Temple University

Amelia Field Blanda

Andrew Curtis

Hannah Eshleman

Paul Imburgia

Richard Kauffman

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10-13

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18-19

20-23

Table of Contents

Dillon Mast

Kate McCann

Kelsey McDowell

Lee Miller

Cindy Rau

Ning Shao20-23

24-29

30-33

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46-49

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Amelia Field Blanda

Right under our noses, there is a miniature harvest buzzing on. It starts early in spring as the first buds blossom and ends as the last buds close. But in the middle of autumn, while many flowers remain in bloom, tiny workers are hard at work harvesting vitally important pollen to continue the cycle of growth and harvest.

Here at the Philadelphia Urban Creators Farm, located at 11th and York Streets, an assortment of bees collect pollen from the colorful cosmos that are growing on the edge of the land. Bees

use pollen as food, but also are essential players in the cross-pollination process. Pollen clings to their bodies and as they fly from flower to flower, they spread the pollen and allow fertilization to occur. Though bees may be a small, almost unnoticeable part of the harvest season, pollen collection is key. Without it, many of the crops harvested would not grow in such abundance.

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Opposite: A bumblebee sits in the middle of a cosmo.

Right: A honey bee collects pollen from a Queen Anne’s lace flower.

Bottom: A bumblebee takes flight after covering its face in pollen.

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Top: The patch of cosmos, scientifically known as the Cosmos bipinnatus, comes in a range of colors from white to a deep pink.

Left: A honey bee blends in with the yellow pollen of the cosmo.

Opposite Top: A bumblebee extends its legs on the flower to collect the most pollen.

Opposite Bottom: A violet cosmo is sprinkled with pollen left in the wake of the harvesting bees.

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Andrew Curtis

Milburn Orchards is a 400 acre farm that grows everything from corn to pumpkins, cherries and apples. During the autumn months each year they open their 40 acres of apples to the public for harvesting.

“The U-Pick program we have here is what we like to call agro-tourism,” says Nathan Milburn, a fourth generation farmer and the current owner of Milburn Orchards. Every Saturday and Sunday locals of Elkton Maryland come to Milburn Orchards to pick apples and visit the farm store where they can buy fresh produce and home made pastries.

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Opposite: A golden delicious apple hangs from a tree waiting to be picked.

Right: Nathan Milburn, 4th generation owner of Milburn farm and orchards.

Bottom: A woman takes a photo of her family as the Milburn’s Picking Crew.

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Top: A girl finds a nice golden delicious apple.

Opposite Top: Maria and her son Anthony walk the rows of apples looking for the freshest finds.

Opposite Bottom: A family picks apples at Milburn Orchards.

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Hannah Eshleman

Daryl Martin is a 26 year old farmer from Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, who has recently taken over his father’s farm and now owns and operates the 2500 acre property on his own. I joined him as he and his 10-month old border collie Lucy harvested soy beans on a Monday afternoon.

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Top: The combine moves slowly through the fields as it is framed by tall trees on the front lawn of Martin’s home.

Opposite Top: These particular soybeans will be used to make high protein animal grains.

Bottom: After the chaff has been separated from the seeds, it is sliced into small pieces and released from the back of the combine.

Opposite Bottom: Martin, 26, pays close attention to his work in order to ensure straight rows, which is vital for efficient harvesting.

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Above: Lucy, a 10-month old Border Collie, sits next to Martin as he drives the combine. She joins Martin in the combine every time he harvests crops.

Opposite Top: The 122-ton combine lumbers through the soybean field.

Opposite Bottom: After the soy beans have collected in the combine’s cylinders, they are dumped into a trailer and will be stored until they are ready to be taken to the feed mill to be made into grain.

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Paul Imburgia

Sunday afternoon I had been up near the Free Library and had the good fortune to have walked by Whole Foods Market nearby which was sporting its new display of pumpkins, apples, potatoes, cider, gourds, cornstalk, etc. I had the pleasure of speaking with Veronica, an associate in produce at Whole Foods, she gave me some good insight on Whole Foods’ importance in the local area around this time of year. My coverage was not as in-depth as I would have liked it to be, but in the end I was very pleased with my photogrpahs they depicted the fall harvest as I had imagined it.

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Richard Kauffman

In a nutshell, the harvest is the grueling and arduous eight months of the year in which farmers plant and crop that year’s growth in plants, fruits and vegetables. For many, these months consist of grueling 12 to 14 hour workdays from dawn till dusk wherein they maximize the fertility of the land and create goods for the community.

In Oley, Pennsylvania, Steve Fisher, purveyor of Fisher Farms, has been in the business of farming his entire life, a job passed down through his ancestry. Prior to the Revolutionary War, Col. John Loescher purchased the land on which Fisher Farm now exists. The Fisher house was first established as a roadside stop where horses and carriages were kept. In 1790, Henry Fisher bought the land from Col. Loescher in a sale of thousands of acres of land across Berks County. Today, it is one of the old standing staples of Pennsylvania Dutch life.

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On the plot of Fisher Farms, which covers nearly 200 acres, the main two crops are sweet corn and soybeans, in addition to Indian corn, field corn, wheat, eggplant, spinach, and other crops.

“We sell to places like Redners, Giant, and Weis, as well as right here on the farm,” says Fisher. He also buys certain goods like tomatoes, cauliflower, and green beans from the local Amish and Mennonite communities because “they do it better.”

“We are all local, except in late spring to mid-summer, we ship in canteloups and watermelon, because they’re in high demand, but the crops aren’t ready yet.”

In the off-season, which Fisher describes as

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“the easy part of the season,” many days consist of cover cropping, repairing equipment, planning the crop rotation, and laying down a green manure crop that adds to the tilth of the land. Fisher brings in a big combine to harvest the land, because he can’t justify the cost of owning one. That type of machinery is more accustomed to a farm with thousands of acres of land.

“With our small acreage, we’re more labor intensive than machine intensive.”

Fisher Farms is part of the farm land preservation that strives to

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protect farm land and dedicate other areas to develop housing. The Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Association inspects the management of the farm, analyzes crop control, makes sure they aren’t destroying any buildings, and offers easements of acreage that enables landowners to receive cash for equity tied up in their land, but allows them to retain ownership.

“[Development] is not going to happen in this valley,” says Fisher. “Hopefully this should be all farmland for the next 100 years.”

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Dillon Mast

I know a guy that lives out past Bernville. He holds a patent to some chemical used in "harvesting" milk from dairy cows, so naturally he knows tons of farmers. He took me to a farm, Hetrickdale Farms, on the outskirts of Bernville. For those who know the area, it's essentially in the middle of nowhere, between 419 and 183. Because of my connection, the 81-year-old owner and his three middle-aged sons kindly took me in and gave me an intimate look into the daily chores and maintenance involved in running a thousand-acre dairy farm. They even handed me a truck to drive around in.

The experience was pretty incredible. Whichever son I was shadowing at the time surely thought I was just some strange city kid because I was literally taking pictures of everything. That was to be expected, though, because the three sons, as one expressed to me, knew nothing but farming. They never left the farm. They don't care about much else and have no other interests than the farm. To me, they represent some of the last remnants of a dying tradition of American farming. The entire

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farm is archetypically American, and I don't mean that in a bad way as I normally would.

I haven't written the one brother, Scott, yet, but when I do, I plan to show them some of my work and ask if I can become a sort of periodic visitor. I want to turn my 10-hour photo assignment into a long-term project centered around the family and their farm. You'll notice there are no pictures of faces. This was intentional because a.) I didn't want to stick a camera in the wary and probably mistrusting faces of the farms, and because b.) I knew within the first hour that I would be back for several visits, offering plenty of time to build a comfortable relationship with my subjects. I'm hoping to make at least one more visit before Pennsylvania's first snow.

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Kate McCann

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On a classic fall day, I headed to Media, PA to capture the pumpkin picking harvest at Linvilla Orchards. There were mobs of families going on hayrides, buying caramel apples and picking pumpkins for jack-o’-lanterns. What I found most endearing was the range of ages attending. There were children, grandmothers, and teenagers in love all enjoying the same tradition of ringing in the fall.

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Kelsey McDowell

I traveled to Milburn Orchads in Elkton, MD to capture scenes from the harvest. At Milburn, they grow the produce on their land, pick it to sell, and then make baked goods and preservatives out of the produce. They offer a “pick-your-own” option as well when the season is right. For the project, I wanted to capture the different stages of the harvest, first starting with the land, then the produce itself, and then finally where it is sold and what the final product is.

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Lee Miller

Top: A horse sicks its nose over the fence, smiling at visitors.

Opposite top: Small children pose to have to have their picture taken.

Opposite bottom: The festival featured live bluegrass music for much of the day.

Perry Hall, Baltimore County was founded as a farming community and for decades it was just that. Much of the town was made from a subdivided plantation, and my family played a large role in this early farming community raising livestock, boarding horses, and growing grains. In the last 30 years the town has quickly turned into a suburban sprawl of Baltimore City. Its fall festival, though, remains an integral part of the community. Chapel Hill Farm and Nursery has been going since 1952, and its festival has now expanded into a huge multi-weekend event.

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Top: A family plays in the pumpkin tent.

Right: In the now suburban Perry Hall, Pony rides may be a young person’s only

exposure to horses.

Opposite top: It wouldn’t be a fall festival without a hay ride.

Opposite bottom: A petting zoo was open for kids and kids at heart.

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Cindy Rau

For my harvest adventure I went to B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill in Old Mystic, Connecticut. The mill has existed since 1881 and has long produced hard apple cider, sweet apple cider, jelly, jam, maple syrup, and fudge to the surrounding area. The sixth generation mill is open to the public from September until late December and offers cider making demonstrations in October and November. I went to this National Historic Landmark on October 15th, a beautiful sunny day that had the crispness of fall in the air. Everyone from full extended families and couples of every age was enjoying the fresh apples, apple cider, folk music, and the company of who they were with. While I was there I got to see the cider being made which I have never seen before; it was very interesting to witness. The day was a fun-filled, festive day for all. All I know is that it made me even more excited for the season’s festivities.

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Ning Shao

I went to Shady Brook Farm at Yardley two weeks ago. They were having a Pumpkin Fest at that time and some of the produce was being harvested. I went to the pumpkin patch for the first time. It was fun. A lot of people from near and far went to the fest. It is a enjoyable event for kids as well as adults. I visited the shop nearby, they have fresh vegetables and fruits and produce. Shady Brook Farm is a great place to visit and get a feeling of harvest.

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