Last year, in a field where Chuck Hinton once planted soybeans, the ground was plowed and sunflower seeds broadcast. In the next weeks, rain and the warmth of the sun reached down through the soil to the gray striped seeds, causing the husks to split open and green shoots to emerge.
By mid-August, the field was a fiesta of sunflowers, their yellow faces turned to the sun.
The cycle has been repeated this year on the Hinton Family Farm, where the Second Annual Sunflower Patch opened to visitors on August 11. It will be open on weekends, like last year, but with one difference: the patriarch of the family, Chuck Hinton, passed away on April 17 at the age of 84.
The sunflower patch reflects Chuck’s passion for dogs, wild birds and farming. Chuck walked dogs at the animal shelter and was a member of the board of the Clinton Animal Rescue Endeavor (C.A.R.E.), which runs the shelter. When he couldn’t walk dogs anymore, Chuck liked to watch the birds. Growing sunflowers was a way to produce a supply of seeds for the birds.
The Hintons opened the sunflower field last year to the public at no charge, but put up a donation box for C.A.R.E. on the entry gate. They raised more than $700 for the shelter, Jennifer Hinton said.
“That’s what makes this year special,” said Sarah Smidt, Chuck’s granddaughter. “We can continue to support the animal shelter. And supporting something Poppy loved is nice to do.”
Last year, a neighbor sowed the seeds, but this year, Brant Hinton, Chuck and Carol’s son, broadcast the seed. Jennifer said they used half a bag of Pioneer sunflower seeds, and added two more bags of black-oil sunflower seed from Miller Seed.
On its opening day, the sunflower field drew more people than the opening last year — cars were lined up in the drive, Sarah said. Sarah is a photographer and posts photos of the field on the Hinton Family Facebook. The Hintons ask for a small donation from professional photographers using the sunflower field for photo shoots.
“There are four or five photographers in town who hold mini-sessions in the field,” Sarah said. “Couples have had engagement photos taken in the field, and I’ve heard that senior sessions are planned, plus regular family portraiture.”
The Hintons say that the enjoyment they get from the sunflower field is reflected in the faces of visitors. Although they lost a spouse, father and grandfather last spring, seeing the sunflowers bloom again makes them smile.
“Sunflowers are happy,” Carol Hinton said. “It’s something that Chuck loved.”
“And it was something to look forward to,” Sarah said.
The Hintons put a concrete pot of faux sunflowers on Chuck’s grave in Englewood Cemetery, Carol said. She thought of choosing a headstone with dogs carved on it, but none of them looked like dogs he had owned.
“Dogs were his passion,” she said.
Born in Clinton in 1938, Chuck Hinton is a graduate of CHS and Pittsburg State University. After teaching in California, he and Carol returned to the family farm in 1967, where he farmed the land as his parents, Earl and Pauline Hinton, had before him.
“It’s continuing the family tradition of farming,” Sarah said of the sunflower field. “This is our 78th year on the land.”
Last year, the Hintons didn’t harvest the sunflower seeds, but let the birds do it, Jennifer said. The plants were disced back into the soil by the neighbor who helped plant the seeds. The sunflower patch stayed open for three weekends, Sarah said.
The Hinton Family Farm Sunflower Patch is open to the public on Fridays, 4 p.m to 8 p.m, and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. at 149 NE 201 Rd, Clinton MO. Follow signs from NE 100 Rd, off of Vansant, to NE 201 Rd., then turn into the drive and follow it through the gate to the parking area. Boots are recommended — the field can get muddy.
By next spring, the headstone will be on Chuck Hinton’s grave, with its simple inscription: his name, and the dates of birth and death. The Earth will have made another circuit around the sun, and shadows in the Midwest will be getting longer.
To get ready for spring, the Hintons have purchased a seed drill for planting the sunflower patch on the Hinton Family Farm, in the field where Chuck used to grow soybeans.
Go to Hinton Family Farm Facebook for updates on when the sunflower patch is open.
