The 2010 Cotton Is In!

We finally got the rest of the cotton that was planted this year in today. This was the first time we had planted these three varieties and even though we got them in almost 2 months too late, they still produced very well.
The browns were Mississippi Brown and Sea Island Brown and the green was called Eileen's Green. Even getting them in as late as we did due to the flooding, the plants still managed to grow close to 6 feet high and were still setting blossoms after the first frost!
Where we live, the growing season is JUST long enough for cotton IF (key word here is IF!) nothing goes wrong! This year EVERYTHING seemed to go wrong from the May floods that destroyed not only Nashville but many of the roads and structures around here, to the unreal heat and humidity we experienced the bulk of the summer! If we had been able to get the crop in sooner, I have no idea if the result would have been more or if it would have all died from drowning!

Today we spent several hours cutting the remaining branches that were heavily laden with unopened bolls and bundling them in groups. Once bundled we tagged each one (experience is a HARD teacher!) so we would know which ones were which, and hung them in the living room to hopefully continue to dry and open. I'm curious if the quality of the cotton may suffer somewhat from not naturally maturing but it's a chance we are willing to take at this point. The only other option would have been to leave hundreds of unopened bolls out in the garden to rot. At least this way we have a chance to get some more! Next year we hope to return to planting white Pima AND get it in the ground much sooner. If all goes well, I will be documenting the planting and harvesting next year and will post it here!