The Hazards of Farm Life

The Old Farmer enjoyed life, everything had a joke in it.
I previously referenced the tipping of the manure sled, aka the Stone Boat.

While it could have had serious consequences, it was a great joke in the retelling. 

 

In its former incarnation as a Stone Boat.

it was used to go around the fields picking up stones.

One day a stone wall appeared between two large trees in the back yard.

 

In the spring the tractor was hooked up to the plow, then the drag to get out the
weeds, followed by the disc to smooth it for the vegetable garden. Over the top
of the sharp discs was a square rack of angle iron that could hold stones to weigh
it down and more effectively dig into the soil.

The Old Framer's Daughters and any other kids that were around were sometimes
loaded up on the rack to ride around the garden, note that this rack was open,
and our feet dangled and the discs were inches below!

It is a wonder anyone survived childhood in those days.

 

 

Then there was the time they set the telephone pole on fire.

Poles were coated on the bottom half with creosote (coal tar)
back then to keep them from rotting.

 After a day of planting field corn the Old Farmer and his son

went to burn the paper fertilizer sacks at the bottom of the field where they were piled.
Need I say more? Fortunately there were burlap bags too and a creek nearby.

They were able to beat out the flames. After these minutes of panic

 this also became a funny story.
The Old Farmer could laugh at himself.

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The Swamp

The swamp was a bit of a wonderland for children.

 

 

Little streamlets running this way and that.

Intermingling with hummocks in between.
Theoretically offering safe passage!

 

It was a mystical place, quiet, eerie, peaceful by turns...and scarrrry!

But if you were quiet the abundant life would reveal itself to you.
And sometimes the noise of children swinging on the Yahoo Rope
would interrupt the peace!

 
The yahoo rope swung out over the swamp

from a huge old tree of some fame locally.
It was the largest tulip tree anyone had seen.
4-H clubs would come look at the tree on a yearly basis. 

 

 

While there they would combine the trip with the opportunity to scour the fields for insects.

Entymology (the study of insects) was a 4-H project most members did.

And most farm children were members. 

The luna moth, the large graceful green one was the prize of a collection.

I personally do not like to get to close to hymenoptera (bees, I remember that  term from...uhm...a long time ago!)

 and I found one for my collection along the roadside, 

(a long overdue confession-are they going to take away my blue ribbon?).

  

 

YaaaaaHooooooooooooooooooooo

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Old Farmer's Memories

 

The Old Farmer lived a long life and loved to share his stories.
He and his brothers grew up in Niagara Falls, NY. 

They ran wild around the gorge below the falls.

They would climb up and down the steep cliffs and found Milky Cave,

I think this cave was filled in for some reason, there are many other caves that are still there.

 

 

On hot summer days they would hang onto rocks in the river below the whirlpool! 
 

In the winter they would ice skate on Love Canal,
do you all remember that from the news!? Look it up, worth the read.

The Old Farmer said it would freeze, then the water level might drop

and the ice would become "hilly".
I wouldn't be surprised if he fell through a time or two.

I suspect he got in trouble more than once for leading his younger
brothers on these dangerous escapades!

 

Their mother died while they were young and a neighbor lady
who lived across the road would come in to take care of the cleaning
and cooking and take care of the boys when they got home from school.
When the father got home from work he would go in the back door
with his lunch pail and she would go out the front door and walk home.

It was all very proper. 

 

 

One day the boys were told to get on their Sunday clothes,

then a preacher came in and married their father and the lady
across the street became their stepmother!

The were not consulted or advised about this and it came as a total surprise.

 

We have strayed from the farm a bit, but I hope this
glimpse of life long ago was interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its Strawberry Time

All too short is strawberry picking season!

 

 

The Old Farmer's wife had a strawberry patch.
Early days on the farm these were picked and sorted and the
prettiest ones were sold for 50c a box.
This was a bad job for the Old Farmer's daughters, for it would take "forEVer".
I think I would eat more than I picked.

Geese were let in the strawberry patch to eat the weeds.
 

We would all enjoy a month of eating strawberries!
Strawberries for breakfast, straight or on cereal.Strawberries on ice cream.
Strawberry shortcake for dessert. With lots of homemade whipped cream.
Or that great new invention-Dream Whip!

And strawberries frozen for the future...
 

 

EASY STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
Unfrosted Angel Food Cake or Pound Cake
Fresh Cut and Lightly Smooshed Strawberries, sugared to taste
Whipped Cream, (Highly recommend real whipped cream)
Assemble in order given

Tuesday was...

Tuesday follows Monday and that means ironing!
(refer to last weeks blog)

 

So Monday night The Old Farmers Wife took down the dry laundry from the line.

It was brought in and spread out on a table or the ironing board and sprinkled,

yes we made it wet again! Our Farmer's Wife technique was to dip her hand in bowl of water
and shake hand over the dry laundry. More citified folks had corked sprinkler caps you could
put on a bottle of your choice up to high end figurals. A great collectible. 

 

By the way fresh laundry brought in from outdoors smells so good,
now we buy fresh linen scent.

 

So sprinkled and folded and rolled up tight, packed back in the laundry basket overnight.

Sitting overnight allowed the sprinkling to evenly dampen the fabric before ironing.

This would be almost all but for towels and washcloths, and sheets,
altho I think some people did iron sheets too! But we gave them a good shake,
then folded them up in our house.

 

 

Us girls were trained starting with hankies only, then moved up to aprons, skirts then pants;

pants and pleats required a bit of skill but blouses/shirts were the hardest.

You started with the collar and cuffs, then went to the sleeves, then laying lengthwise over the edge of the board so you could iron out the center of the sleeve with the iron hanging

over edge of board so you wouldn't get a crease.
Halfway there! Now the shoulders over the tip of the board, then the body of shirt/blouse. 

 

As a previous comment noted on washday,

"no wonder my aunt was tired at the end of the day".

And that was just the half of it! No dryers or steam irons or wrinkle free fabrics....

 

 

Memorial Day

 

 

 

Honoring our American

Warriors

 

 

With Gratitude

 

 

Will return to our regular programing Tuesday.

Monday was Wash Day

Monday was laundry day.  That was determined by the Old Farmer’s wife. 

Tuesday was the alternate if it happened to rain on Monday, but in the winter the clothes were hung in the basement so the weather did not matter.

 

 

So by Monday morning, each member of the family was responsible to bring to the laundry room their hamper of dirty clothes.  The laundry room was just the backroom of the house where the laundry tubs were, definitely a multi-purpose area. 

 (Sometimes the tubs were used for bathing dirty children.)

 

The washer was electric, but each step was manual.  The washer had to be filled with water and soap, the clothes put in and then turn the swisher on for 15- 20 minutes depending on the dirty-ishness of that particular load.  Then the swisher turned off and the clothes lifted out to the spinner (or wringer) and spun.  Then the clothes were lifted into a laundry tub filled with water to rinse.  Then the clothes were lifted back into the spinner and spun as dry as possible, then lifted to the basket to be taken outside (or to the basement) and to be hung.

Somewhere in that procedure, when the wash water or the rinse water were dirty, the tubs were emptied and refilled with fresh water.  And for items that were bleached, such as sheets and towels, bleach was added to the tub and then when the items needing bleach were finished, the tubs were emptied.

 

 

In earlier days a hand cranked wringer was used, and a washboard and a bar of Fels Naptha soap (A strong bar soap) rubbed on ring around the collar and cuff and other stubborn stains and scrubbed.

 

One thing the Old Farmer’s wife always said as we drove past a home with the laundry hanging out to dry, “You can always tell how a woman keeps her house by the way she hangs her laundry.”  And then there was the old joke –

“I heard there was a hanging at your place.”

 

 Ah, such was life on the farm.

 

 

(Contributed by Old Farmer''s Daughter #2 with some inclusion info from Old Farmer's Daughter #1)



 

 

An Earthier Subject

Ah, the old manure pile!
Welcome farmers and want to be farmers!

 

Any self respecting farm had a manure pile out back of the barn. This was a great asset for the garden. It would be full of straw and .... well manure, cow manure, pig manure, chicken manure, goat ... etc. Your stock of choice.

 

 

 

Our main pile was outside a large window opening behind the main pen in the barn.
You would pitchfork it out the window onto the pile. After aging for a year,
and over the winter it was ready to spread on the garden. Rotting the manure
in this manner is really important, it is full of bacteria and the aging
and heat from this process kills the bad germs off.
Do not put fresh manure on the garden!

 

 

 

This job was usually handled by my father or brother as he grew into it.

Not being pc us girls were spared from the job! When my brother was a senior in
high school he tossed the manure and his HS ring right out the window,
it was never found again! Still out behind the barn (or in the garden) to this day.

 

One year my father built a manure sled. It was two long logs for the base

topped with planks. he loaded up the manure and dragged it with the tractor up to the garden,
all us kids riding along. The first row of pitching the manure into the garden went well.
But on the turn, it seems it was too long and not maneuverable

 and we went topsy turvy. tipping over! What fun we had as kids!

 

 

 

Well that is a picture of the finished product, doesn't it look good!?

How Tall Is Your Corn

Welcome old and new farmers....

 We used to say your corn should be knee high by the fourth of July. Now this was in the northern states, actually down here in Virginie we are eating corn by the fourth!

How do you plant your corn?  We always planted four seeds to a hole.

One for the worm;

One for the crow;

One to rot;

And one to grow!

Now normally you would get more than one to propagate, maybe two or three...

but this ensured a full row without large gaps in it.

Speaking of gaps; for corn to produce it needs to be planted in several rows, not one long row as I have seen beginners do. You need several rows or a block of corn so that the tassels will spread their pollen to the silks and give you a nice full ear of corn.

Another tip for serious corn lovers, plant 4 rows, then a week or two later plant another 4 rows and then again. I would say every two weeks and you will have fresh corn producing for a couple months!

The Old Farmer was quite the connoisseur of corn, he knew how many rows of kernels on an ear of different varieties and swore by picking it right before dinner while mother was getting the water to boiling. He would say if it wasn't in the pot within 15 minutes of picking it would start to turn to starch and loose its sweetness. All I know is we had awful good corn!

Now you have a hint how much you are missing if you are buying it at the grocery.