October marks the end of the harvest season for farmers, and October 12th became the most common date that people celebrated Farmers Day way back in the mid 1800s. So today, October 12th, is Old Farmers Day! Farming goes back to the very beginning of our American culture when the early settlers cleared fields and forests to farm the land. They brought seeds with them and found new seeds here as well as new farming methods, like planting seeds in hills, or mounds, in the soil.
A farmers’ work is long and hard. Farmers usually begin preparing the soil in March, then in April and May the fields are planted with seeds. The seeds sprout, and some crops are ready to be harvested after a month while other crops are not ready to be harvested until September or October. There is no guarantee of a good crop since bugs, animals, weather, diseases and other problems can hurt or kill the growing crop. Farmers give their all to raise good crops for us to benefit from. So take today to celebrate the farming community and their contributions to our health and wellbeing, our value system and society as a whole!
