I feel like I'm a dying breed

[noodleroo]

Everything changes, doesn't it... I grew up on a ranch. My father was born in 1900 and his mother, my grandmother, in 1880. I was his first and only child and was born when he was 58 yrs. old. I feel like I'm from another century and I guess I sort of am. I am so grateful for it. I learned so many things that shape my life and the life of others today. Its not so much the self sufficiency, but the importance of consistency in actions and trying to do the right things. I try to eat something alive every day (sprouts, garden veg.s, etc.), I make my own cleaning products with vinegar and baking soda, I love learning about and using herbs and essential oils for health.

A friend of ours was mowing his aunt's yard (my neighbor) the other evening and it was really hot. South Texas summer hot. Anyway, I asked him if he wanted to come in and cool off for a few minutes and have a glass of iced tea. He did, and when he tasted the tea he said, 'Wow, this is the best tea I've ever had; what brand is it?' When I told him, he had never thought of making tea with herbs. (It was nettle, red clover, horsetail and dandelion leaf with a little lemon balm and honey, by the way.) I don't like to buy things in bags or boxes; are y'all like that too? Anyway, I like to think for myself; I guess its just how I was raised...

 

[Wolfwoman]

It's going to be called population control when it happens and those of us that can, will.

 

[zazouse]

You may be a dying breed but you are not alone.

We raised our kids on this farm, one in 4 has decided to live here on a piece of land we gave her, but she is not self sufficient like we are, she lives in a disposable world, mabe when she gets older she will come around when she needs it.

My husband lost his job last Monday,he is 56 and he is devastated, he is a work-a-holic.

It has taken a few days to get him to settle down and realize it is in gods hands, that we are going to be fine, we have everything paid for and money in the bank and make money off our garden, hay fields,and livestock.( now he's got more time to help here)

We have always lived a frugal life together even with his great income so being self sufficient is a bonus in our case.

We are so lucky to live our life out here in peace , many people aren't so lucky.

The way lands are being developed , one day the things we do now will only be read about in books.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! I grew up on a working farm in GA --- with cows, pigs, chickens, etc. (chickens were just there and not 'raised for market').- I had horses and goats for a time, but they were never 'contributing members' to the farm.

...also see a lot of sharing of ignorance, which bothers me no end.

Do you care to share what bothers you? Now's a good time to correct 'mis-information'.

Lisa​

 

[mississippifarmboy]

You aren't alone.

I was raised by my Grandparents on a small farm here in north Mississippi. They had lived through the Great Depression and they lived like it was going to come back. We raised almost everything we ate, had a large garden, home canning, raised and butchered all our own meat, hunted & fished and gathered wild nuts, polk salad, berries and herbs. I feed the chickens, milked the cows and ate breakfast before daylight most mornings.

I was fifteen when I left home and had been working earning a man's wages and doing a man's job at 13. I had never eaten in a cafe or restaurant until after I left home. I'd never had a soft drink, a hamburger or ice cream (Other than homemade in an old hand crank ice cream freezer). I'd never even heard of a computer, video game or anything of the sort. We had a bare light bulb in each room and one electric receptacle in the living room, one in the kitchen and two on the back porch for the freezers. We still didn't have running water when I left home; we used the well on the back porch for water and had an outhouse out back.

After we got a TV when I was about 10 years old, we watched the news for 30 minutes every night and were allowed to watch two hours of TV on Saturdays. No TV at all on Sunday. Heated and cooked with wood we cut ourselves.

I remember getting my first rifle at Christmas when I was 11 years old but had been using Pa's rifle for a few years then. My son is 12 and I still don't really trust him alone with a BB gun. He's a great kid, just not as responsible as I think he should be.

I am trying so hard to get our kids to understand what is real. They help in the garden and have their own breed of chickens that they are solely responsible for. I let them pick them out of the hatchery book, their Mother and I made up chores for them to do to earn the money to buy them. They brooded them, feed & watered them and on the few we've culled so far I have had them help me process them. When they start laying they will get to sell the eggs and keep the money after they buy feed. They each have their own rows in the garden that they get to pick what to plant and do the planting, weeding and harvesting.


We never had much growing up, but we had love. We had respect. We had responsibility and rewards if we deserved them. My Grandfather told me several times growing up that he didn't want me to be a farmer. He would tell me to get an education and do something with my life. But he told me he wanted all us kids to know HOW to farm and how to make it if things didn't work out. He's been gone several years now and I'm still setting here writing this with tears in my eyes. I miss them both so much.


I'm not any good with words, I know what I want to say, just not how to say it. I want to raise my kids right, but just hope and pray I'm doing as good a job as I can.

It’s funny; our house is the one that all the neighborhood kids hang out at. A lot of them tell me I’m too strict, but they all want to stay here all the time. They love helping around the farm and learning how to do stuff they don’t do at home. Maybe at least a few will learn something anyway.

 

[Beekissed]

Most of the women I know are a little disdainful of my country skill set...and these are country raised women! They imply that this is why they have husbands...so they won't have to learn how to, or have to, do anything that requires thought or manual labor.

Unfortunately, their husbands don't know how to do the things I do either.....

I have my grandmother and mother to thank for knowing how to process animals, garden, make do with nothing and generally jump in and do "man's work". In the absence of a man, someone better learn how to do it!

Another sad thing I notice? Men are very threatened by a woman who can do all these things. One would think this would make a woman a more versatile and strong mate if they could accomplish things outside the normal accepted skill set. Not so.....the world is quickly becoming full of weak women and men.

I know a lady who owns a farm, runs cattle and even gardens~ who won't watch, nor let her teenage daughter watch, Food, Inc....states it is "too upsetting" and would worry her too much.

She told me that she has never cut up a chicken in her life...not even one from the store!

She is 52 yrs old. She told me she hopes she dies before she has to kill her own meat for food.

The art of surviving on little, of working with one's hands, of supporting a family by the sweat of your brow...these are fading fast. What is worse, these things are mocked and belittled by those who feel like those skills are just not necessary now.

Mark me down as one who should have been born long ago in order to fit in.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

...I'm not any good with words...

You are great with words. Thanks for sharing.

Lisa​

 

[CityClucks]

I was a farm kid too - small family who raised or bartered for our food and other goods. I'll never forget the day one of the kids in my high school who, when he found out I milked several cows by hand every morning before school and that we ground wheat for flour, made a big deal of it in front of the other kids and said "That's just gross! Why don't you buy milk and bread at the store like normal people?!" I was new kid in school - a freshman girl, he was older, a junior boy on the football team. I promptly challenged him to an arm wrestling match then and there and beat him in front of everyone. That shut him up.

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
Hand milking does make your hands and forearms amazingly strong. I just ignore people who tell me something is gross or mess with me. The only thing that ever makes me mad is when someone asks me why I am choosing to be poor. I always respond that my quality of life will make up for all the money I won't have and at least I won't be locked in a cubicle all day!

 

[Beekissed]

I bet it did!

I was raised on a homestead for the better part of my formative years...two room log cabin, no electricity, no running water, lots of hard work and clean livin'. When the kids at school would find this out, they always asked the same snarky question, "How do you take a bath????"

I always answered, "With soap and water. How do YOU take a bath?"