Cotton Picking

This year I planted Earline's Green Cotton, Sea Island Brown Cotton and Mississippi Brown Cotton.  I think it was a late start compared to the last couple of years but my cotton planting and harvesting are very casual.  I have only been cotton farming for three years but I have kept no records at all.   It would probably be better if I could look up when I planted each variety and how much I harvested but it's not possible.

Both garden bins have been growing nicely but the Mississippi Brown Cotton is at least a foot taller.   I'm not sure if it's a function of the cotton varieties themselves or just the seeds I managed to get.   Maybe this year I'll actually keep records and see how the varieties produce.

There are lots of bolls popping open.  I picked them for the first time this morning.

This Earline's Green Cotton doesn't look very green here but will darken up remarkably once it's spun up into yarn and boiled.

The Mississippi Brown cotton has outproduced the others so far but notice the white cotton.  I didn't plant any white cotton but here it is growing in amongst the brown.  It may be a leftover seed from last year or some sort of mutation.  Another odd happen stance is one plant that has Okra Leaf Cotton leaves.

The leaves on this plant are thin and small compared to the leaves on the other plants.  I have some Okra Leaf Cotton seeds in the studio but hadn't planted any.

The Sea Island Brown is a very soft beige in the boll.  Like the Mississippi Brown, it will darken up once it's spun and boiled.  Now it's time for me to really learn how to spin cotton.