harvest

• 
  The 600 acre farm is divided into summer crops. The butterbean field is adjacent to the barn.
• 
  Melvin Holland lends a hand during the butterbean harvest.
• 
  Charles Holland supervises the bagging of beans.
• 
  The peanut is a nitrogen-fixing plant. The roots form nodules, which absorb nitrogen from the air and provide enrichment and nutrition to the plant and soil.
• 
  From planting to harvesting the growing cycle takes about four to five months, depending on the variety.
• 
  Peanuts are actually legumes - not nuts.
• 
  Hundreds of watermelons are sold at the barn every summer beginning in late June.
• 
  Africa is considered to be the native home of the watermelon.
• 
  Harvesting is particularly critical because watermelons do not continue to ripen after they have been removed from the vine. They should be picked at full maturity.
• 
  Watermelon is also high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A, in the form of disease fighting beta-carotene. Research also suggests that the red pigmented foods provide this protection.
• 
• 
• 
  The catfish harvest begins by slowly seining the pond, beginning at one end with two tractors dragging the net, one on each side.
• 
  George drags one end of the seine net.
• 
  In this panorama of the pond, one man can be seen on right of the photograph. His job is to hold down the mud line so that the fish cannot escape under the seine net.
• 
  The larger tractor hauls a reel on which the seine net is slowly rewound.
• 
  George Carpenter watches the seine net gradually close a small circle on the west bank of the pond.
• 
  The two harvesters in the lower frame are attaching "the sock" which is used to grade the fish.
• 
  The fish are contained in a narrow area, defined by the buoys on the seine net.
• 
  The trapped catfish swirl in the muddy water of the seine net.
• 
  The fish are being driven into the sock. Small fish can escape through the netting while catfish 3 pounds and above remain in the sock. The grading process takes about 24 hours.
• 
  George rescues catfish that are caught in the seine net..
• 
  George is measuring the oxygen content of the water. This is an important task done as many as four times during a 24-hour period. The water is aerated at critical times. The sock will remain in place for 24 hours while the small fish escape the net.
• 
  After the fish have graded themselves, the harvest begins. It usually takes place at night. The fish travel better at night and arrive at the processing plant early in the morning. There are six live wells on the truck that are injected with oxygen, ensuring that the catfish will arrive in excellent condition.
• 
  The loading basket has a trap door in the bottom.
• 
  A boom truck will pick up the basket and load the fish into live wells on the truck.
• 
  There are no chemicals used in the pond. it is a totally controlled environment. A sample fish is sent to the processing plant for assessment. Tasters at the plant decide when the fish are ready for harvest. A select few fish from each load are ground up and anaylzed for chemicals by the USDA.
• 
  The taste of the fish depends on the quality of feed and water conditions. With the depletion of fish in the sea, catfish farming is becoming a growing industry.
• 
  Stalks range from 36 inches to 42 inches.
• 
  Gobbler Road is in the Walnut Hill Community off Highway 97.
• 
  There are thousands of acres in cultivation in the Walnut Hill community planted in a variety of crops.
• 
  The crop is planted in late May or early June. By July the plants will shade out the center of the row before blooming.
• 
  Mennonites moved from Kansas to northern Escambia County. Their farms are well maintained and picturesque.
• 
  Winter wheat was brought to the US by Russian Mennonites in the 19th Century.