The family farm was looking good in the early morning light. The soy beans had been harvested, but the corn was next as soon as the soil was dry enough for the combine to go out in the fields. The neighbor up the road seems to have gotten rid of the longhorns. The sun sets…
Tag: Farms
Family Farm, Late June 2026
The corn is still relatively short at the family farm east of Peoria. It is prime firefly season, with thousands appearing when the sun sets.
Anheuser Estate, Kimmswick
The Anheuser family had a country estate on the banks of the Mississippi just south of Kimmswick that is now a park. The house was originally built in 1867 but the Anheusers bought it in 1916. I suspect the family could have easily taken the train directly to their estate on the tracks, which may…
Eckert’s
You might be surprised that in forty years since first arriving in St. Louis, I had never been to Eckert’s, the famous orchard which interestingly lies partially within the city limits of Belleville. Not surprisingly, we were immediately interested in the large farm house in the Italianate style, which sits high up on a hill…
Family Farm, Mid March 2026
We made our first trip up to the family farm and things were looking good. While it was overcast at first, the sun came out finally. There was a bull in the barn, but other than him there were no other cattle around. The power lines a mile or so away captured my attention, as…
Family Farm and Environs, Early November 2025
I visited the family farm east of Peoria for the last time this year, but will be back up in the spring, as usual. The harvest has been over for weeks, so the landscape has been transformed to the fallow fields with its stark beauty. I photographed this corn crib to the northwest of the…
Storms, Central Illinois, August 2025
I determined with a weather app on my phone that the lightning I was witnessing was over fifty miles away, so I thought I would see what my iPhone would capture. These are raw, unedited photos that I thought turned out interesting. I never tried photographing thunderstorms so far away in the pitch darkness of…
Family Farm, August 2025
I somehow managed to miss the hottest day of August in St. Louis by escaping to the family farm near Deer Creek, Illinois. It was still hot up there, and I was treated to an amazing light show both nights as storm rolled through the area on Friday, and then on Saturday, I witnessed a…
The End of the Former Orthwein Estate
The “old estate” I was referring to back in September of 2018 was the Orthwein property in Huntleigh, and since then the property was sold off and subdivided. Large McMansions have gone up on the western end of the property. It was by far the largest tract of undeveloped land in St. Louis County outside…