Farmer's
Roundup
Greetings from North Dakota! Mother Nature has been good to us
this year, giving us a growing season tailor-made for flax: cool,
wet, and cloudy, with an average temperature of only 66 degrees.
Of course, it wasn't the greatest summer for going to the beach--
but we think the flax had a great
time.
All the wet and cold, however, made for a challenging
harvest. In order to get the crops off, we need dry and sunny weather,
which we
didn't get. Every once in a while, the sun would
peek through the clouds for a day or two, but more often than
not, the weather was cold and rainy. Most of our soybeans were
destroyed by an early August frost, and for a time, it looked like
our wheat crop was bound for a similar fate. Thankfully, however,
with the help of relatives and neighbors, we were able to get
our entire wheat crop off the fields and safely in storage. The
yield was excellent, and we all breathed just a bit easier.
The
harvest season doesn't allow for much relaxation, though. No
sooner than we'd finished the wheat, it was time to turn around
and bring in the flax. Miraculously, the rain let up for a week
straight in mid-October, which was just long enough to harvest
all of our flax. There are few feelings, as a farmer, more satisfying
than the end of a good harvest-when I made the last trip 'round
the field with the combine, and when my father pulled out of the
field with the last truck, I felt as if I let out a sigh of relief
that I'd been holding in ever since we planted the field last May.
We're all proud of this year's crop, perhaps me especially. I can
honestly say that it's the best flax crop we've grown in years.
Something tells me that my grandfather David, who won the 1934
Flax Exposition in Chicago with flax he grew right here on the
same ground, would have been proud.
We've all worked hard this year to bring you our Golden Valley
Flax. Like the label says, it really is "fresh
from our farm to your home!" I hope I've been able to
show you just a bit of what it's like to live and work here
on the North Dakota prairie. Life here isn't always easy,
and the nights can get a little chilly, but there's something
about the wide-open spaces and clear blue skies that we've
all grown to love. We're proud to offer you a piece of that
prairie, in Golden Valley Flax. We like to think of our customers
as a part of our farm-- if you have any questions, just give
us a call, send us an e-mail, or better yet, if you're ever
in the neighborhood, stop on by! We'll make you an honorary
farmer for the day. Until then, from all of us here at Hylden
Farms, we wish you and yours all the best. We hope you'll
wake up every morning with Golden Valley Flax at your table
-- and as long as you do, we'll keep waking up every morning
to put it there.
All the best,
Mark
