A Beautiful Crop

As a little girl in Illinois, I remember having some sort of nature presentation in kindergarten. We were allowed to pick a packet of flower seeds to go home and plant. When my five-year-old self learned that one of the packets contained flowers that would grow over 6' tall (insert little-girl "whoa"), I happily brought it home to my mom, excited to see a real-life flower tower over my head.Little did I know, I was about ready to get agronomy lesson #2. (#1 was learning that I wasn't allowed to split milkweed and scatter those soft, feathery seeds.) "Honey, on the farm these are weeds," she said, while both explaining why I couldn't plant them and trying to soften my disappointment at the same time.Now, fast forward 18 years. I've moved to a state where sunflowers are not a weed, they're a crop! My 5-year-old heart was leaping with joy when it saw this:North Dakota agriculture continues to amaze me. What a beautiful land!