Growing up on a primitive farm
@Robert57 (71)
Adrian, Missouri
November 19, 2015 5:59am CST
Some can relate, Some cannot but those of us who lived it can surely never forget. This trip down memory lane was brought on by an article about breakfast written by GardenGerty yesterday.
Year round The day started with a huge predawn breakfast. I can still recall city cousins spending a few days with us only eating light the first day. I suppose it had something to do with the odds of even seeing the inside of the house until after dark. If you were hungry at lunchtime, the biscuit, egg and sausage or bacon you had stashed in your pocket was just going to have to do. There were days when Mom would hunt us down with some eats but they were few and far between. She and the girls had plenty to do closer to home.
380 acres surrounded by fences and filled with poultry, Goats, Cattle and corn kept everyone busy as all get out. and those were just the moneymakers, Hogs for butchering a pair of draft horses meant a lot of extra work. I can still remember when Dad proudly came home with an old Allis Chalmers tractor. Boy, we were in hog heaven then. haha. Naturally the timing was such that I got the task of converting the plows and all other tools to pull behind the tractor. But I didn't mind, A pair of my older sisters had to take over my normal task of planting fence posts. Boy, was that a reality check for them. Dad expected every post to be put into a 3 foot hole. If He walked up, leaned on it and it moved. start over, Its was going to be a long day. I don't know how many are familiar with the nature of Missouri topsoil but trust me, You were breaking up bedrock within 2 feet.
That Breakfast was the one constant in that life and I sure miss it. I miss the family prayers and the reading. Everything was about family then and everyone pulled their weight. We today could learn a bit from yesterdays primitive Farmer.
9 people like this
9 responses
@GardenGerty (161165)
• United States
19 Nov 15
My grandparents were on a smaller holding and were not quite so primitive. I never saw granddad drive a tractor, not sure I even remember one. He raised beef cattle, but you know, some of them had to be milked as well as tended to in the mornings before breakfast. He went out to do that and grandma got up and started cooking. They let the chickens out once the sun was up. Both of them worked the garden which along with the wild things they gathered made up a lot of their food.
4 people like this
@allknowing (138327)
• India
19 Nov 15
Most would have their roots in village life as I would term it. We too had a different kind of life compared with what we now have what with all gadgets under the sun.
3 people like this
@allknowing (138327)
• India
19 Nov 15
@Robert57 The lifestyle that our parents had and what we have now there is a world of a difference. They did not have phones, tv, computer, pumps to pull water from the well, no plane rides, .......................
2 people like this
@Robert57 (71)
• Adrian, Missouri
20 Nov 15
@allknowing Yes, can you imagine that? The families were so much closer but then, I'd never have met you wonderful people.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
19 Nov 15
My father was a farmer and even much later in life, breakfast was a very important meal for him. He always ate hearty at breakfast. But, he said that on the farm, you took care of the animals first, then went in for your breakfast.
3 people like this
@Robert57 (71)
• Adrian, Missouri
19 Nov 15
It was pretty much that way for us too. Except that everything but the Chickens were scattered all over. There were 7 children in our family and the 5 girls had to take care of the hens. The downside to the time was the lack of gender neutral jobs. (Correction) perceived gender neutral jobs.
1 person likes this
@wetnosedogs (1533)
• United States
19 Nov 15
I always wanted to live on a farm. Wonder if I would change my mind, though.
3 people like this
@Traceyjayne (1784)
• United Kingdom
22 Nov 15
we certainly could learn a lot from things gone by in yesteryear.
2 people like this
@Robert57 (71)
• Adrian, Missouri
24 Nov 15
Certainly, whether it be from social interface, common sense approach to everyday problems, there is plenty to be learned. We often didn't see an outsider for weeks, so when someone came by to visit, They were well met! and a reason to stop and socialize.
@suzzy3 (8341)
•
21 Nov 15
We lived surrounded by farmland. Most of us worked the fields and it was quite usual to see the other workers working early till late , we all did it and it was nothing special. A few would benefit from some hard work and discipline these days. Leave all the health and safety behind.
1 person likes this
@Robert57 (71)
• Adrian, Missouri
24 Nov 15
How could I not agree? I think the word you used (discipline) is the key. It is never too early for a young one to learn self discipline. Where better than where You are responsible for the well being of livestock. as in: never leaving gates ajar and, well, stuff like that.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
22 Nov 15
it is nice living in the rural places; no high technologies at home.
1 person likes this
@Robert57 (71)
• Adrian, Missouri
24 Nov 15
I no longer live in the country unfortunately, My home is on the very edge of a town however, the neighbors are not very close by. I do woodworking as a paid pastime. so it can be pretty noisy. When working on a piece, I will often ignore the modern approach and fall back to the handplanes and primitive tools my people so loved.
