From Chicago, we briefly traveled through both Indiana and Ohio to reach a friend’s farm in Blissfield, Michigan. Why can’t every town be named something like Blissfield? The transition from urban to rural was gradual, but eventually we found ourselves bumping down narrow roads surrounded by miles of tall, dry cornstalks on either side. We wondered what would happen if we met a car coming the other direction. Blissfield is in Riga township, and it was settled by Germans and Scandinavians. Land was originally sold in 40 acre plots, but the Thompson farm has grown much larger over generations. It’s been a farm since the 1880’s, but it has belonged to the Thompsons since the late 1920’s. It will be designated a Centennial Farm soon.

When my sister, Rebecca, graduated from college, she moved to Nashville, where we were living. Five or six of her friends from Athens moved at the same time, and several of them lived upstairs in our house as they were establishing themselves in a new city. Natalie Smith, from Macon, Georgia, was one of them. When Rebecca, Brandon, and I had to leave in the middle of the night for Peter’s birth, Natalie stayed with the rest of the kids. She worked at a bakery, and when she came home, she baked delicious things in our kitchen. Eventually, she met Scott Thompson, a farmer/musician, who was giving Nashville a “go”. When he decided to return to full-time farming back home in Blissfield, Natalie went, too.

I thought it took a lot of pluck to embrace such an adventure. Natalie sent us pictures of the hundred-year-old farmhouse they were renovating between growing seasons. I envisioned her behind the wheel of a tractor sporting a Laura Ingalls-style bonnet, overalls, and sunglasses. (She can drive a tractor, too.) A few years later, the house is looking beautiful, and it is noisy with two little girls, Grace and Nora.

EARLY in the morning, Brandon jumped out of bed and rode along with Scott, as he drove a semi, full of corn, to the nearby ethanol plant. The corn will be used for ethanol in gasoline. Ethanol production also generates byproducts like livestock feed and captured carbon dioxide. Scott’s farm has its own storage, so he can wait until prices are just right before he sells his corn. Like most farmers, he’s a businessman, too, and he teaches himself to do all kinds of things, like judging futures markets, designing large-scale storage facilities, and adjusting farming practices to comply with erosion, fertilizing, and patent regulations.

Since we’d just learned about farming practices that helped cause the Dust Bowl and walked through an exhibit on soil at the Field Museum, we were full of questions about how they do things on the farm and why. Scott and his dad have a three-crop rotation of corn, soybeans, and wheat. The soybeans return nitrogen to the soil. They plant clover, which is also a legume, for the same reason. Clover also puts out long roots and dries the soil, so that the clay in that area doesn’t become too packed. Wheat was disappointing this year. The area was so wet that the wheat developed a fungus called vomitoxin, making it unsafe to eat. They own some seriously huge farm equipment! Scott even keeps it in use during winter plowing snow for the surrounding towns.

Here’s a link to a video clip of Scott and the harvester in action:

I thought the farm visit was one of our best “museum” experiences yet. The kids loved Scott’s tractor rides and Natalie’s homemade muffins. Misha ran around off-leash like a delighted puppy with Hank, the farm dog. Brandon learned all about the science and business of modern family farming. I reveled in another happy reunion. As I imagined, Natalie has embraced a new way of living and is nurturing her own little house in the heartland.