[MonaLisaVito]

Is anyone else that's "not from around here" fascinated with the cotton plants? Me and my kids think they are the coolest thing ever. We always want to pull over and pick one, but not sure if that would be ok. Do they sell these plants at stores?

[zenjenn]

Yes, us too. As I just posted in my post about Tate Farms, it was quite a realization to my daughter that cotton grew from plants! Actually, my husband and I were fascinated as well. We had to stop and pick our fingers through the cotton. Having heard of Eli Whitney among the list of inventors I learned about in school, after handling cotton it was the first time I understood, not just academically but *really understood* exactly how and why this device was so important!

[Reactionary]

About picking cotton: cotton farmers use a variety of chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, nematicides, defoliants, &c) to improve the quality, harvest, and yields. You really don't want this stuff on your kid's hands or in their mouths.

That said, if you are respectful and safety conscious, I don't know of a farmer who would mind you picking a specimen - as long as you promise to buy more cotton sheets, towels, shirts, and pants.

Note that the boll (which is a fruit since it contains seeds!) has a prickly bur. Hand picking cotton is bloody work.

Not sold in stores. And yes, I'm fascinated, and wouldn't mind growing a little cotton patch in my backyard for the fun of it...

[Keeper]

Have you seen peanuts growing? My late DH (he was from Ma) didn't know they grew in the ground and he had never seen cotton growing either. We found a place where the cotton had already been picked and got a piece of plant (dead) with cotton ball attached.
I remember as a kid my grandmother letting me pick one and those thorns hurt. Just imagine in the old days when they picked them by hand

[Threestep2]

Craftstores sell it.

[MonaLisaVito]

I have not seen the peanut plants, but I see the signs all over the place selling peanuts in southern Alabama. When I drove home from Florida last week, we saw signs everywhere for peanuts!

Threestep, are you just talking about the bags of it at the craft store? I'm talking about getting an actual plant that I could put in my yard.

[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!

[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.

[Southlander]

You will not get many peanuts from North Alabama's hard-packed clay soil, which makes cotton plants grow so well. Peanuts grow much better in sandy soil. On the other hand, why not try it in a big pot? Might be fun!

[Bravo35223]

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