Friday, August 26, 2016

Farming is Almost a Lost Art

As a child I can remember my grandparents having a big garden with a little bit of everything growing in it.  They raised tomatoes, okra, peas, beans, squash, peppers, and eggplant.  We all ate from this garden as soon as it started producing each year.  As kids, we would have pea shelling contests (a trick created by my Mama B to get us to shell the peas).  Our fingers would be so sore the next day, but we would shell those peas.  My grandmother was a fantastic cook and most every Sunday (and if we were lucky also some during the week) we would get together and have lunch as a family.  My granddaddy also raised cattle and when needed they would have one processed and put in the freezer.  There was no shortage of fresh food from late spring until well into the fall.  Then we would eat off of what she had canned for the winter.

We kids would ride our bikes all over the neighborhood, which was several miles across and several miles long.  There were no worries then about being kidnapped, or worse.  We'd stay outside until almost dark.  We did not play on computers, or phones.  Our mom would call us by yelling out the front door.  We played ball, rode bikes, played "rodeo" in the pasture.  Life was good!  The neighbors chickens would come into our yard, mostly to use the restroom.  You've never lived until you find their "restroom" with your bare feet!  That's right, we went barefooted in the warm months.  We made "mud pies" and "playhouses".  The TV only had three black and white channels and it went off at midnight anyway.  There were only cartoons on Saturday mornings.

It's sad that today's kiddos are missing out on so much.  There are so many things of interest on a farm and so much to learn.  Kids today sit in the house and play video games constantly.  They need to "get out and get some sunshine" as my Mama B. would tell us to do.  They never had to tell us twice.  Staying inside was almost a punishment for us.

Most of our grand kids and nieces and nephews have grown up in cities, some of them larger cities.  They cannot wait to get here in the summer for a few days.  They typically run in and put their things away and take off to see what new pens have been built, or to explore through the Pine thicket.   They plan each year to visit again the next.  The boys actually enjoy helping Willy and Tristan work on pens and such.  The girls help with feeding the chickens and other birds and with the cooking and clean up.  They fall in and help with the chores and never seem to mind.  Then we do the fun stuff, like swimming or fishing occasionally.  We even take in a movie on occasion.

A farm is an educational experience these days.  Our dream for this farm is to eventually provide a place where kiddos can come and spend some time in the summer and learn about the almost lost art of farming.

No comments:

Post a Comment