[NicoleC]

I know several folks that grow very happy peanut plants. Mine did very well this year although I only planted a bit for fun; my soil is clay loam but not hard packed; some friends who do have that thick red clay soil had tons of peanuts but could never really get them out of the ground!

Fresh roasted peanuts and peanut butter is a real treat! But it's hard to go back to canned peanut butter.

[MonaLisaVito]

Originally Posted by NicoleC

You can get peanut seeds (i.e. raw peanuts) at any of the Farmer's Co-ops. Plant what you want and roast the rest. I am sure the Co-ops could supply cotton seed as well, although it might be in 50 pound bags!

Do you know how I can get in touch with the Farmer co-ops? I'm looking for cotton plants only.

And maybe only like 2 or 3 plants!! Not 50 lb bags!

Thanks!

[Reactionary]

Madison County Co-op, Toney, 828-5360

Garvin Feed and Seed, Holmes Ave HSV, 534-5637

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by Bravo35223

You are lucky to have cotton fields in North Alabama as it is not grown very much elsewhere. They are so beautiful.

I believe Texas and California still grows a lot...along with Mississippi & Georgia.

[NicoleC]

What Reactionary said. More locations here:
Alabama Farmers Cooperative (broken link)

I doubt they'd have seedlings, but they might now where you can get some. Usually the folks that work there are very helpful.

[thebigr]

Originally Posted by dbkeel1

The first year or two of seeing cotton was certainly interesting, then it's like anywhere else you might live; it tends to become part of the landscape and, while you still notice it and enjoy seeing it as a seasonal event, it doesn't hold that same first-sight fascination. The thing that's always amazed me is how much seems to get left in the field and along the roadsides following harvest, but maybe it's not as much as it seems. The contrast of red clay and white cotton may just make it appear that way.

My wife and I were noticing that today. Looked like one field that was already picked, I know because I saw them picking it last Friday had alot left on the plants and on the ground.

[Delta Planter]

or find a company that sells seed. I've grown it in pots here in Texas. Kids walking by were fascinated with the blooms, and even more so with the cotton product coming out of the bowls. They had never seen nor felt raw cotton before. I really need to do that again.

Oh, you really won't need that many seeds. I usually drop 3 or 4 in a hole, clip out the lesser ones once they come up. Educational to watch, too.

I seriously doubt "craft stores" sell seeds.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Southlander

I believe Texas and California still grows a lot...along with Mississippi & Georgia.

Good thread...and we Texans had one going along similar lines a while back:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/texas...on-pickin.html

Anyway, here is a little "table" I found interesting:

TABLE 7.7 - Ratio of Cotton Farms to All Farms

Mississippi: 82.9%

Alabama: 80.4%

Texas: 70.5%

South Carolina: 70.0%

Louisiana: 69.6%

Arkansas: 69.2%

Georgia: 67.4%

Oklahoma: 42.3%

North Carolina: 27.6%

Tennessee: 27.3%

Florida: 9.5%

Virginia: 2.0%

Kentucky: 0.2%
SOURCE: Regionalism and the South: Selected Papers of Rupert Vance. Contributors: John Shelton Reed - author, Daniel Joseph Singal - author, Rupert Bayless Vance - author. Publisher: University of North Carolina Press. Place of Publication: Chapel Hill, NC. Publication Year: 1982. Page Number: 101.

[marmac]

I saw pictures of monster cotton harvesting machines and big round bales of cotton that my brother-in -law took while in California.

I read in farm magazines that cotton and rice farmers got hit the hardest by competing on a world wide basis.

[marmac]

Although my magazine is a little old--------it lists
Texas
California
Mississippi

as the three leading states in growing cotton. Those three account for over half of all the cotton in the US.