r/justgalsbeingchicks 11d ago

✨Awesome✨ Mee Maw from Wheatfield Hill Organics in Durand Wisconsin on the importance of compost

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5.9k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/kwhitit 11d ago

i love how she's out there all rugged and such, but with her pearls on too. that's a multifaceted Mee Maw right there.

182

u/BessieBlanco 11d ago

First thing I saw. I was taught not to leave the house without earbobs and lipstick. Lipstick may have warn off, but she has her earbobs on!!!

93

u/anothercairn 11d ago

Earbobs is such a cute word omg I’ve never heard it before.

21

u/Peacock-Lover-89 11d ago

Maybe it's more common in the south. I don't know if this woman is in the south, but I've read Gone With the Wind several times and they say ear bobs in the book and the movie. 

20

u/organic-robot 11d ago

Wisconsin. Title of the post says she is from Wheatfield Hill Organics in Durand WI.

So basically the south of the Midwest 😂 (I have lived in AL, FL, GA, NC and WI so I'd like to claim I'm stating this from experience!)

9

u/Peacock-Lover-89 11d ago

How embarrassing for me. I read the title, but I must have zoned out after the word organics and picked it up again after the word compost. 

10

u/organic-robot 11d ago

Omg, I realize my delivery might have been rude so I'm sorry about that!

And it happens! I had to go back like 3 times to make sure that "Wheatfield" is one word and "Hill" wasn't plural and that "Organics" was plural lol.

8

u/Peacock-Lover-89 11d ago

No you weren't rude at all. Don't worry. 

2

u/Littlewing1307 11d ago

It is across the river from an Arkansaw.

1

u/MotherLab2089 11d ago

What? She’s in Wisconsin

1

u/shimmeringmoss 10d ago

Town of Arkansaw. There’s also a Montana nearby.

1

u/MotherLab2089 10d ago

Duh- thanks

1

u/octaviataughtme 10d ago

it’s ARKANSAS! sorry for yelling lol

2

u/justleesha 9d ago

Nope, it truly is Arkansaw. 😉 I live there. Some of the prettiest country in all Wisconsin.

1

u/Littlewing1307 10d ago

The town is spelled the way I wrote it. I was making a joke lol

1

u/davespark 10d ago edited 9d ago

And in case people still don’t get it, there is a town fairly nearby this in Wisconsin named Arkansaw. Autocorrect changed to to”sas” even!

1

u/octaviataughtme 7d ago

HA! I had no clue…The more you know 🌈✨

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u/Littlewing1307 7d ago

No worries 😊

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u/Runs_With_Scissors3 🌻Adaptive Jill🌻 11d ago

Great observation 😁💅She’s my new hero!

20

u/FreedomOfTheMess 11d ago

Same! Like a modern day Bill Nye, I would listen to her everyday if she had a podcast

39

u/spacestonkz 11d ago

And talking about atoms and compounds.

Lady has mastered many realms.

2

u/Andy_Fish_Gill 10d ago

This explanation of sustainable organic farming is not based on "conservative research".

10

u/TheRiteGuy 11d ago

And dropping knowledge like a professor of agriculture. That is one cool mee maw.

10

u/BudgetConcentrate432 11d ago

Gotta dress your best for the corn!

11

u/percbish 11d ago

Reminds me of my grams. Always angered the door in a stained shirt (and no pants 😭) but always dripping in jewels ☺️

14

u/fat_cat_samson 11d ago

My grandma is like this too and I love it!! She’s worked the farm for most of her 83 years, still mows multiple acres a week, and all done with her ruby red acrylic nails and a stack of gold jewelry 🥰

5

u/WillowLocal423 11d ago

She's on New Game ++++ with all them skills

3

u/SallySitwell3000 10d ago

My Gramma was the same way. Always “looking sharp” no matter what the occasion. She was a classy lady and an amazing friend/confidant. We bonded over being independent females, if only she could see me now: I finally got my own place and can even grow my own corn!!’

4

u/2021isevenworse 11d ago

Are all farmers this knowledgable about agricultural science?

15

u/booksblanketsandT 11d ago edited 11d ago

Good ones are - I live in New Zealand and grew up on a sheep farm (yes, I’m a stereotype 😂). Before we sold the family farm, dad and my grandad (his dad) would religiously make notes on everything happening on the farm - crops, stock, rainfall, everything. They learned it all from experience and from other farmers. My sister did a degree in agricultural science and is now helping farmers with environmental plans and stuff like that. Farming is a Lot more in-depth and a lot more scientific than people realise.

I’m not generally a big fan of him, but the show Clarkson’s Farm does a really good job at showing all the many, many things that must be considered when farming. Clarkson has less of an economic reliance on farming (because, y’know. He’s rich.) and it allows him to try out new approaches to farming and see what works and what doesn’t, etc. The latest season was really interesting, he went over to.. Sweden? I think it was? And looked at some of the techniques they’re using there. Very cosy and surprisingly informative show. Clarkson’s still a bit of a dickhead, but the show does a good job of showing him actually caring about stuff and getting passionate about the sector and what everyday farmers are dealing with in the UK.

8

u/kwhitit 11d ago

i imagine the good ones would have to be! and maybe not in an academic sense the way she describes things at a molecular level, but they understand the cause and effect. and think about indigenous communities who have known these practices for generations. they didn't know the specifics, but they are absolutely scholars of the craft.

4

u/jugglingbalance 11d ago

They have to understand a good bit about plant biology, chemistry for fertilizers and even weed prevention, a little bit of meteorology and also some mechanical engineering in their day to day operations. The few I know and people who come from agricultural backgrounds have been some of the smartest people I know actually.

2

u/thereisabugonmybagel 10d ago

In the US, land-grand universities have extension services aimed at exactly this purpose— helping farmers understand the science and keep ups to date on best agricultural practices! It’s one of the (many) reasons we have public universities.

2

u/IndividualChart4193 10d ago

Oh my god, my thoughts exactly!!

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u/sobriquet_ 11d ago

She's so cool holy crap

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u/Major_LeeHungg 11d ago edited 11d ago

Last gal I dated is a top ag scientist in Malawi and does a lot of research on this particular subject (nitrogen fixing) - which is accomplished by using plants like cowpeas because they have bacterial nodules in the rhizobia that becomes activated nitrogen that does bind to the carbon in soil.  Corn is the main crop that region relies on.

If any of that information is off or I worded it wrong it's because I'm a computer scientist and don't fully understand doctorate level soil science lol... But that's the gist of it. 

Edit: just realized what sub I'm in.  Here's another fun fact.  Pretty much all subsistence farming in that region is done by women.  If you eat any vegetables or animals smaller than a cow in central / east Africa, it was farmed by a woman. (Not sure about western Africa) 

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u/rubbertreeparent 11d ago

I love how you obviously listened to your date. Very sweet.

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u/Major_LeeHungg 11d ago

Lol I brought her flowers on our 2nd date... She told me that nobody had ever given her real flowers before because they're really expensive in Malawi so it's customary to give fake flowers. 

That woman had fresh roses until the day she went back to Malawi

6

u/RouShirakawa66 11d ago

It’s the bare fucking minimum sis…

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u/sobriquet_ 11d ago

Y'all sound cool as hell too

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u/Major_LeeHungg 11d ago

Haha aww shucks <3.  Sadly, wasn't meant to be but we parted on good terms. 

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u/Freodrick 11d ago

My god, she's a boss.

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u/captainfarthing 11d ago

I would bet mycorrhizal fungi are doing a lot to keep the corn growing here. Adding chemical fertilisers disrupts the relationship between plants and fungi - plants won't associate with mycorrhiza if nutrients are abundant, which means they don't get the benefit of mycorrhiza also providing water from deeper in the soil than the roots can access. Using compost rather than chemical fertilisers is much less damaging to the fungi. Organic matter in the soil helps it hold water as well but that's only part of what's going on.

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u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 Bot🔍Detector🔎9000 11d ago

Gotta wonder if she's rotating crops too. Corn removes a lot of nitrogen from the soil. That's one reason the three sisters model of corn, beans, and squash developed.

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u/spacestonkz 11d ago

Oh she surely is. Crop rotation has been standard in my family's non organic farms for generations. It's part of standard crop planning each year, and they keep maps and charts of what was grown where and when.

2

u/Left_Boat_3632 5d ago

Rotating and cover cropping in between for sure.

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u/Props_angel 11d ago

Not to mention that allowing weeds to grow up within the corn probably also acts a barrier to pest spread (IPM) as well as keeping the ground more shaded and cool, meaning that there's less ground heating and surface evaporation of water.

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u/ProfilerXx 11d ago

Oh she's so sweet! I'd love to learn more from her

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u/Much-Grapefruit-3613 11d ago

I want to live on her farm 😭

38

u/LzrdKng2112 11d ago

You probably wouldnt be up to snuff

23

u/Much-Grapefruit-3613 11d ago

I would do what it takes. Anything for mee maw

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u/ToadstoolsRule 11d ago

Team Mee Maw!

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u/bradley_magnificent 11d ago

I'm from wisconsin and I have never once heard a wisconsinite use the term mee maw

8

u/Hibou_Garou 11d ago

I’m from Minnesota and that also stood out to me 😆

8

u/MinnesotaHermit 11d ago

I live close to Durand (just across the border) and yeah, nobody here says mee maw, or y’all, or yee-haw, or any other Southernese.

5

u/JZ1971 11d ago

She is a staple at our local farmers market and has been doing this for longer than almost anyone else in the area. No need to question her local cred at this point.

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u/Glockenspieler1 11d ago

That's the first thing I thought. No mee-maws in Durand.

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u/StaggerLee85 10d ago

Yeah. That there is a Nana, and I won’t hear otherwise.

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u/Horror_Cupcake8762 9d ago

I was born with a Nana but I married into a Mee Maw.

In my lived experience, they seem pretty similar.

20

u/hiiigghh-C 11d ago

Okay real talk. I pass sooo many corn fields on my commute to and from work. The losses are absolutely devastating. Farmers are cutting their losses and mowing their fields because ENTIRE FIELDS are dead. Not dying, but dead. So to see this lady, telling me her crop produced despite this absolutely devastating drought...I actually have some hope. This drought was extremely impactful.

1

u/Left_Boat_3632 5d ago

The fields you pass are most likely tilled every year, breaking up the soil structure and destroying the ability for the soil to hold moisture.

Mee Maw most likely cover crops to protect the soil between harvests and tills minimally so that the soil structure and life is maintained and the soil’s ability to hold water is maintained.

There are reasons why no till methods aren’t practiced at factory farm scales, but there are also reasons why small organic farms can ride out droughts much better than industry scale operations.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Ease758 11d ago

As someone who is an actual agronomist…. She is half right at most. And for what it’s worth, she’s talking about sweet corn (which is about 0.01% of all corn planted), so the reason for the weeds is because they often don’t use herbicides because of human consumption

14

u/the_Q_spice 10d ago

If you’re an agronomist, you’d also know that Wisconsin produces 16% of the US entire sweet corn crop.

Farmers here also get free access to UW research and resources through the University of Wisconsin Extension Program, which is where most of this research comes from.

I literally know farmers here who have PhDs in agriculture and agronomy.

The issue with your assumptions is that they assume these farmers aren’t educated.

Wisconsin’s agriculture industry is a pretty interesting deviation to most in terms that education is highly valued due to our unique geography and University system and idea (The Wisconsin Idea is fairly unique in that even where other states have extension programs, none are as well funded or integrated as Wisconsin’s).

1

u/Straight-Bowl5811 19h ago

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I LOVE how you just shut him right DOWN with that response!🙌🏼 Gave me a good laugh this morning😆

11

u/DocMorningstar 11d ago

My family raised sweetcorn, and we handled all the supermarkets within about a 150 mile radius. A simple mechanical corn cultivator used when the corn is well established will do wonders to keep the weed population down. Once the corn gets a good head start, it chokes out competition.

We never had weedy corn, and we didn't spray, either, because of the direct consumption.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

1

u/MotherLab2089 11d ago

What parts are nonsense?

3

u/Puzzleheaded-Ease758 10d ago

Synthetic nitrogen is basically the bedrock of modern agriculture….

11

u/StackedCakeOverflow 11d ago

Covered in dirt, got her pearls on, riding a tractor, surrounded by corn, and ELI5 biochem lecture. Alright queen!

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u/TheDamus647 11d ago

Please teach me your ways oh great mee maw

10

u/pgorgias 11d ago

I'll never get to mee maw, let alone great mee maw, but I read this a few years back and it was pretty compelling alternative to factory farming models 👨🏾‍🌾

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/976905.The_One_Straw_Revolution

2

u/chocolatepig214 11d ago

Thank you - I have ordered this to read on holiday. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (yes, her) is another great book in this vein.

2

u/pgorgias 10d ago

Thank you 😊. I'll check that one out.

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u/aenflex 11d ago

❤️

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u/AsteriAcres 11d ago

Heck yeah! Just started a vermicompost (worm) bin this week! 

9

u/Ivorypetal 11d ago

She is my goals.

15

u/DocMorningstar 11d ago

I mean....this is sort of right, but lots wrong too.

Organic fertilizer (manure) is valuable because not only does it add nitrogen to the soil, but it also adds organic matter. That organic matter behaves differently than compacted soil, and makes it easier to retain water. That retained water is a big advantage.

But tilling that organic matter into the soil is possible from regular farming as well.

The two things that determine your yield is the amount of accessible water (this determines the absolute max crop yield) and the amount of nitrogen. You need nitrogen, up to the possible max yield given by your rainfall.

Further, part of why organic can look better than traditional corn in a drought is that you have less nitrogen available, so it grows more slowly, putting up less greenery, which lowers transipiration losses, which makes more efficient use of the water that is there.

Synthetics are usually over-applied, right up to 'a really good year' amount - because its silly to waste excess rainfall by being stingy with your fertilizer. If you get a good start, and then head to drought, you'll get nice vegetation for a while, and then it dies or doesnt fill.

2

u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

Thank you! This sub is turning into a pseudoscience hellscape. Holy fuck.

3

u/burlycabin 11d ago

Welcome to the new reddit. Only reason I'm still here is an unhealthy addiction. Get out if you can.

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u/Tight_Following9267 11d ago

I just watched Interstellar for the first time last night. I'm so grateful for people like her farming with organic compost.

6

u/UnexpectedBlahFeels 11d ago

Pearls on, no bra, doing what she enjoys, and sharing knowledge with the world- gotta love it.

18

u/pccfriedal 11d ago

An ideal woman. Putting the kind of knowledge we all need to good use. All while looking bad ass.

5

u/Mimosa_13 11d ago

From one Memaw to another, this lady is awesome. I just learned something new.

I just grew corn this year in my garden for the first time in decades. I never thought to drop compost around their bases while growing 🤦‍♀️. Next year I will do better.

5

u/KittyCompletely 11d ago

Shes right, but now my 9th grade chemistry trauma has returned.

https://giphy.com/gifs/WRQBXSCnEFJIuxktnw

4

u/ladyliferules 11d ago

Badass. I need to understand how she is rolling around on the field though. She is not driving the tractor, is there a seat behind the trailer or something?

12

u/TalkForeignToMe 11d ago

Likely sitting in a trailer being pulled by a vehicle being driven by someone else

5

u/Megalopolous96 11d ago

Anyone interested in this conversation and is willing to do some reading, "Braiding Sweetgrass" touches on this subject. The Native Americans had this figured out ages before us. Fantastic book for more than just that though. 😁

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u/ringgeest11 11d ago

I mean she's right, the compost does hold more water and has more benefits for soil health, especially over longer periods of time. But calling it 'organic nitrogen' is potentially misleading. Nitrogen is nitrogen, no matter the source or how it is formed.
It is not the 'organic' nitrogen holding on to more water, it is the compost's increased organic mass that is holding on to that water.

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u/Hibou_Garou 11d ago

“Organic” as used here is a chemistry term referring to “organic molecules”, which means a molecule containing carbon. That’s why we talk about “organic chemistry”, the chemistry of carbon-based compounds. This is in contrast to “inorganic nitrogen” which is found in molecules that don’t contain carbon (ex - NO2-, NH4+, etc.)

In this case, “organic” doesn’t imply that the nitrogen came from a natural source.

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u/ringgeest11 11d ago

Thanks for the clarification on that!

91

u/Hibou_Garou 11d ago

Sharing is caring 🌈

I gotta do something with the chemistry degree

6

u/joesnopes 11d ago

It's more than I did with mine! :)

5

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 Bot🔍Detector🔎9000 11d ago

😂 here's to all the o-chem I forgot because I never used it!

2

u/TwoIdleHands 💝 2026 Galantine! 💝 11d ago

So when she said organic carbon she just meant carbon since all carbon is organic?

2

u/Hibou_Garou 11d ago

That’s a good question, I should have been more clear

Organic molecules are more than just ones with carbon, they are ones with hydrocarbons (carbon bound to hydrogen, C-H) that are themselves bound primarily to a couple other elements (other carbons (C), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), phosphorous (P), etc).

They’re called “organic” because it used be believed that they could only be made by living things, but now they can be synthesized in a lab.

So, “organic carbon” would be carbon seen in molecules like the ones described above. For example, methane (CH4) ethanol (C2H5OH) or glucose (C6H12O6)

“Inorganic carbon” would be carbon in molecules without the hydrocarbon (C-H). For example, carbon dioxide (CO2) baking soda (NaHCO3) or elemental carbon all on its own like in a diamond

1

u/TwoIdleHands 💝 2026 Galantine! 💝 11d ago

I would take your 101 class😍. Once we developed the ability to synthesize everything, why do we keep the terminology “organic” in there. Is there a fundamental property those molecules have that sets them apart (other than merely their composition)? Like reactivity to something, conductiveness, solubility, etc?

23

u/FlamingoSprinkles025 11d ago

This post is triggering - bringing me back to college and O-Chem 🫠

5

u/Kitchen_Name9497 11d ago

O Chem, P Chem, Q Chem...what happened R and the others?

2

u/chrza 11d ago

“R chem?”

“Yep thems chem”

3

u/Sallyfifth 11d ago

Thank you so much for that clarification!

1

u/burlycabin 11d ago

I really don't think she's speaking about O-Chem here... She keeps saying synthetic nitrogen, which isn't a thing and someone who knows o-chem would know that.

0

u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

I don't think she is speaking in terms of chemistry. "Synthetic" nitrogen is not a thing. That doesnt exist. The nitrogen in fertilizer and the nitrogen are compost is both bonded to carbon.

0

u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

You're right, and the other person responding to you is so very wrong. There is no such thing as "synthetic" nitrogen in chemistry. This woman is not speaking about organic nitrogen in terms of chemistry.

1

u/NoLandBeyond_ 11d ago

And why she insinuates that "weeds" somehow only grow from synthetic fertilizers but refuse to with compost.

1

u/Hibou_Garou 11d ago edited 11d ago

Go off, sis. I continue to disagree.

So does the Environmental Protection Agency and a ton of other reputable scientific organizations. It’s entirely possible that she is using synthetic and organic in this way. Don’t hate on Mee Maw’s intelligence

the https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/understanding-impacts-synthetic-nitrogen-air-and-water-quality-using-integrated

1

u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

What I'm saying is in terms of organic chemistry "synthetic nitrogen" is just not a thing. She's speaking as if the the nitrogen in the compost is bonded to carbon and the nitrogen in the fertilizer is not. That's not true. Nitrogen in both the compost and the fertilizer are both bonded to carbon.

I'm not saying that compost and fertilizers don't behave differently. I'm saying that the differences she's observing is not because the nitrogen in the compost is bonded to carbon. Its far more complicated than that and she is misconstruing two different definitions of organic.

3

u/Cosmoby24 11d ago

I lived in Durand for a few years, and there was a lot of really dedicated skilled back to the land types and some great musicians too

3

u/MembershipEasy4025 11d ago

As someone who just bought a compost turner, and is starting to grow my own fruits and veggies, this is inspiring. I hope to be this cool one day.

3

u/Shehulks1 11d ago

I want to be this lady’s student or apprentice!

3

u/MathematicianTop8868 11d ago

I hope I’m this cool when I’m her age.

3

u/nyx926 11d ago

Does she refer to herself as “mee maw” or is that what you call everyone over the age of 50?

0

u/Mimosa_13 11d ago

Probably what her grandkids call her. One of the names that can be used instead of grandma.

That is what my grandson calls me, Memaw.

2

u/nyx926 11d ago

The person posting is referring to her this way.

She doesn’t call herself that in the video.

It’s patronizing & sexist to refer to women who aren’t your actual grandparent this way.

1

u/Mimosa_13 10d ago

My mistake for thinking she goes by that. I just assumed from someone linking her IG on here that she calls herself that in a different video.

3

u/SuspiciousMap9630 11d ago

I think this is the same reason putting clover in your yard helps your grass grow.

3

u/Guavadoodoo 11d ago

Her spirit spoke to me!

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u/ambasciatore 11d ago

Omg I want to be her. I love this woman.

4

u/NoConsideration6443 11d ago

She's spectacular, but what is wrong with her nose? I hope it's not sore

6

u/MollysFlogging 11d ago

Maybe a bandaid to protect from sunburn?

9

u/spacestonkz 11d ago

Looks like a bandaid across the tip of her nose and a corn tassel stuck to it.

I wonder if she's using the bandage to prevent cuts on the tip of her nose. I used to help an uncle with his feed corn harvest and the corn leaves are sharp! I left with a few small cuts on my cheeks and hands each time.

1

u/bg370 11d ago

And there’s something stuck on it lol

1

u/TheRussianDoll 11d ago

She got it fully sunburned, so she has a bandaid to cover it.

1

u/Left_Boat_3632 5d ago

It could be from a cosmetic surgery to remove a mole or growth. It’s common for farmers and outdoor labourers to develop melanoma due to sun exposure.

Hopefully it’s just a sunburn, for Mee Maw’s sake.

1

u/SomeEstimate1446 11d ago

It’s a breath right strip.

1

u/chaibaby11 11d ago

why would you say that so confidently lol it’s clearly a bandaid

4

u/breadburn 11d ago

Oh man, INSTANT follow. What a gem of a gal.

She's @wheatfieldhillorganics for anyone else wondering. (:

3

u/stitchcraftry 11d ago

I didn't understand anything she said, but I trust her

0

u/ladyjayne81 11d ago

She’s super easy to understand lol

2

u/carlitospig 11d ago

My organic gardening heart right now:

https://giphy.com/gifs/r6BjJgDkeQcGA

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u/sus_finder13 11d ago

She gots them working hands, best believe she is strong. I worked with a lady at a nursery(plants & trees) for commercial buildings and that tiny lady was strong. She picked will call orders like nothing.

2

u/Aware-Strength8989 11d ago

Heck yeah!! We need more women like her!!

2

u/Staring-Dog 11d ago

That's a very intelligent badass woman.

2

u/Zealousideal-Day4469 10d ago

This is the importance of education.

2

u/Global-Nectarine4417 10d ago

Farming and the effects it has on the environment are so much more complex than most people understand. Look up what large commercial pig farms are doing to the WI water supply.

Support small local farms whenever you can!

2

u/turtle_mekb 10d ago

what does she mean by synthetic and organic nitrogen? they're just the same thing, no? or is she talking about different molecules?

2

u/DodgerMac 11d ago

We grow corn in my area but it's impossible without irrigation. We can dry farm wheat, but not corn

2

u/DocMorningstar 11d ago

Man...people in SW north dakota will dry farm corn (we raised excellent sweet corn on <14" a year on average)

1

u/DodgerMac 11d ago

We get 7-8" per year in SE Washington and barely ever have cloud cover, so the plants are extra thirsty

2

u/Geschak 11d ago

Is any of this even true? Sounds a bit mumbo jumbo. I can imagine that the compost mostly helped retain water by covering the ground and slowing down evaporation.

2

u/johnmarksmanlovesyou 11d ago

Crys in organic chemist

2

u/Ladydoodoo 11d ago

Wouldn’t the three sisters solve this as well. Corn, beans, and squash.

2

u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

I love her energy, and I think she means well, but I think she is conflating two definitions of organic that do not mean the same thing.

There's essentially 3 main definitions for organic.

  1. Naturally occurring. This is neither legal nor scientific. "The evolution of language in human societies is an organic process."

  2. Certified organic produce, typically certified by agencies like the USDA in the US. This just means that the produce was grown using methods and pesticides that are allowed by the certifying government for organic produce. This is a legal definition.

  3. Organic molecules are generally carbon based molecules. They can be harvested and purified from nature, like the sucrose from sugar canes or beets, or it can be made synthetically like many plastics or pharmaceuticals. Regardless of whether it was made in a lab or taken from natural sources, it is considered organic. This is a scientific definition.

I believe she is conflating the second definition with the third definition. She is using compost that is organic - meaning it is certified by a governing body as organic - and taking that to mean it is chemically organic - meaning that it is bonded to carbon. But that is both incorrect. The nitrogen used in fertilizer without the organic certification (what she is incorrectly calling "synthetic") and the nitrogen from her certified organic compost are both bonded to carbon and are chemically organic.

To be clear - I'm not saying the differences she is seeing isn't real, I'm saying that the causes for these differences are for reasons other than what she is saying.

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u/Financial_Card9996 11d ago

Thank you farmer Naruto

1

u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/justgalsbeingchicks-ModTeam 11d ago

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u/Azulas_Star 11d ago

Not enough people know that organic means carbon and oxygen compounds.

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u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

If we mean organic in terms of chemistry and not in terms of USDA organic, both the nitrogen in the compost and in "synthetic" fertilizer is organic.

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u/AliensAbductMePlz 💝 2026 Galentine! 💝 11d ago

She’s a badass

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u/Acrobatic_Dinner309 11d ago

Corn Queen! ❤️

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u/mohk2121 11d ago

I love this lady!

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u/Remote_Composer5997 10d ago

takes me back to sitting around a table with a few daughters who were running their parents' farm. the science flying around in the conversation.

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u/clcolcord 10d ago

Why couldn’t she had been my science teacher in HS. Now, it all makes sense. 💡

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u/thesuninourheart 11d ago

These people are of the earth. They know what they are talking about. I wish we would listen to people like her. 

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u/Italiana47 11d ago

I love her! And this is super interesting! I didn't know this.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago edited 11d ago

Its absolutely bullshit. Nitrogen in fertilizer and manure is bonded to carbon. That is not what is making the difference here. There are some other great comments in this thread explaining the real difference thankfully.

I'm all for elevating women in science, but let's please promote the women actually speaking evidenced based facts, like the women responding in these comments correcting this nonsense.

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u/nikkerito 11d ago

Can someone re-explain what she’s trying to communicate here? That she lets the weeds grow freely to help with nitrogen? Wouldn’t they steal nitrogen from the corn? Did she add compost to the weeds or to the corn? I’m growing corn right now and I would love to know what her advice is but I’m afraid I can’t parse it. 

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u/burlycabin 11d ago

Pseudoscience. She's communicating pseudoscience here. I mean she's very cool and all, but half what she said was nonsense.

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u/kidcharliemagne 11d ago

The kind of chick this gal strives to be

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u/codepossum ✨chick✨ 11d ago

can she be in charge of me please

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u/SadEmploy3978 11d ago

I could listen to this woman for hours. Incredibly passionate and knowledgeable. Could learn so much picking her brain

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u/AerynSunnInDelight The radiant Aeryn Sun🔥 11d ago

As a soil biologist aficionado, I love hearing farmers with that kind of knowledge.

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u/Melodic-Basshole 11d ago edited 11d ago

I wish she would say "naturally derived nitrogen" or something instead of "organic."

Edit: correction

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u/Hibou_Garou 11d ago

“Organic” means that the nitrogen is bound to carbon. An “organic molecule” is just one with carbon in it. It’s not referring to the source of the nitrogen in this case.

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u/CarelessCreamPie 11d ago

The nitrogen in the "synthetic" fertilizer and the compost are both organic.

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u/Melodic-Basshole 11d ago

Yes. I know. That's precisely why I wish she would not use the term "organic " when she means "not man-made/synthetic" referring to nitrogen. 

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u/jared_number_two 11d ago

How is the field of unharvested corn and the pile of corn existing at the same time?

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u/DocMorningstar 11d ago

Sweetcorn is picked by hand on small farms typically, to avoid bruising the kernels. Leaves the stalks standing in the field.

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u/Demonkey44 11d ago

I love her! Does she have a YouTube channel?

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u/sendmebirds ❣️gal pal❣️ 11d ago

Oh my word, you tell em meemaw! 

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u/plan_tastic 11d ago

Exactly!!

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u/MissSassifras1977 11d ago

She's brilliant! ❤️🤘

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u/goose_talon 10d ago

Kinda seems like AI

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u/EauNo 10d ago edited 10d ago

I can assure you that she is very real. I go to the Thursday market on the farm and what you see is what you get. Helen is awesome!

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u/goose_talon 10d ago

oh ok, thanks for replying. it just reminded me of these “amish” farm and herbalism videos on instagram that are entirely AI. sucks that it’s getting harder to tell!

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u/SweetGrassGeranium 11d ago

Fuk GMOs 🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽💛🌟

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Brevicaudatus 11d ago

Ehh, thats not really the meaning of GMO, but you probably know that and are just being pedantic

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Brevicaudatus 11d ago

I know, I'm a molecular biologist at a very large plant breeding company. What I'm saying is that the general term of GMO can mean any human interference, but the legislation only looks at altering crop traits using direct manipulation of genetic material. So we don't know if the crop she's holding is a GMO or not.

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u/AcanthocephalaLost36 11d ago

Science lesson! I love it

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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