Garden Gathering Time

As summer came to a close, we were furiously gathering goodies from the garden (a large one at the far end of the house) to enjoy, but also to preserve for winter food.  Much of our food was grown on the farm.  We purchased very little if we could raise it ourselves.

Mother and we girls were canning tomatoes which we enjoyed stewed throughtout the cold weather months.  Potatoes were dug and put into the bin in the cellar.  Pumpkins and squash soon would follow.  The last of the cucumbers we made into pickles.

The beans had been canned with a few pickled as a special treat.  Sweet corn had been cut from the cob and canned. Beets were pulled, then canned or pickled.

The garden was becoming bare and we looked forward to plentiful meals during the winter.

(Image: sxc.hu)

Preserving Summer's Bounty
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
5-Piece Home Canning Kit
7-Piece Home Canning Set

Dogs on the Farm

Several dogs come to mind when I think of life on the farm.  They were cow dogs, but were gentle with us children, too.

Shep was the dog of my early childhood.  He was a collie and was living there when I was born.  Dan, our hired man, sent Shep for the cows in the pasture late afternoon, and he would round them up.  I don't know if Dan was the one who trained him or whether my dad did.

Shep was tolerant of us children and seemed like one of the family.  We even had a birthday cake for him on his birthday in December.  As I recall, Mother said that was the month he was born.

Bud Rover followed Shep, who died of old age.  We acquired him as a pup, when Shep was getting stiff and unable to round up the cows.  He was part German Shepherd and part collie.  My sister and I wanted to call him Rover and my brother opted for Bud.  So Mother combined the names to satisfy us all, and Bud Rover answered to either or all.

Dan took him along when getting the cows for milking, and Bud Rover soon learned his task.  However, he wasn't so good on his own as Shep was.

Dasher was a dash hound we acquired, I don't know from where.  Low to the ground and comical, he wasn't much of a cow dog.  But he became one of the family and followed my brothers around.  By now, Dan had retired, and we youngsters called in the cows and sought out the elusive ones in the pasture.  Dasher came along for the run on his short legs, but didn't scare the cows much, I think.

I left for college when we still had Dasher and married after graduation.  However, my brothers had several dogs to help them on the farm in those years.  Generally the dogs we had were working dogs and expected to help us in the pasture.  They often liked to follow us to the hay fields, too.

What were the dogs in your life on the farm?

Farm Dogs: A Celebration of the Farm's Hardest Worker

School Time for Farm Children

For my first four years of school, I attended a one-room schoolhouse.  There were six grades, taught by one teacher.  This time of year, I looked forward to going back and seeing all my friends.

Sister and I had new dresses for the first day.  My brothers had new pants (not jeans for school) and shirts.  Even though money wasn't plentiful, Mother got us something new to wear for starting school.  Getting a new "store bought" dress was something I looked forward to.  (Mother made many of our clothes on her treadle sewing machine.  But she purchased dresses for starting school.)

The school was about half a mile from our farm.  Mother or Father drove us to school in the morning.  But most days we walked home from school, carrying our bookbags and lunch boxes. 

I've been trying to find a picture of the Poughquag Schoolhouse but have only come across one on a postcard that probably was an earlier version.  The building seems somewhat different from what a friend and I recall.  So we're wondering if the original school was distroyed or dismantled an a newer one built when we attended.

In a desire to recapture my one-room school memories, I've begun writing my One-Room School Heritage blog.

Some books available about one-room schools around the country.  (Eventually I should compile my blog entries into a book with photos and sketches.)

Legacy of One-Room Schools
One-Room Country Schools: History and Recollections from Wisconsin
Northwest Indiana One Room School