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Post by stella1751 on Oct 14, 2009 17:20:39 GMT -6
I've been reading and reading and reading and looking at photos, and I have decided this is a great phorum. The members have the same values I grew up with on the farm, taking pleasure in simple things like putting up their own food and enjoying nature. I love the photos of chickens, puppies, and pigs. I like reading about making your own soap. I always wanted to make my own soap and my own candles, the old-style way.
Decades ago, as a young adult, I had an acreage with chickens and horses. No pigs, which doesn't mean I don't appreciate a decent boar when I see one. I heated my country home with a woodstove, splitting the wood myself until I wound up with carpal tunnel, climbing on the roof in a South Dakota blizzard to pound blockage from the cap. I maintained fences, gave shots, dewormed, put up my own hay. It was hard work, but I loved it.
I'm stuck in the city now, "farming" on a very small scale with my organic garden. It keeps me outside, which is where I want to be. In the winter, I am compelled to knit hats and scarves for people in need. (It's cold here in Casper, Wyoming!) While reading through this forum, I am becoming envious of those of you who still have the dream.
I asked Phil what was the common thread, telling him I thought it was like a forum for BTTLers (Back to the Landers), people who head for the country and a return to a simpler lifestyle. Am I right? So I ask my new fellow phorum members: What's your story? Do you consider yourself, as I suggested to Phil, a BTTLer? What do you most value? What makes you happiest? What's your best memory about country living?
You're an interesting group of people!
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Post by Rita on Oct 14, 2009 17:48:53 GMT -6
Hi Stella ... Interesting Question ... I was brought up in the great wide open middleish of oregon ... Farming and saving conserving was part of life .. Then 11 years ago ..(Yesterday) ... I moved out here to Massachusetts .. Big City life ... No place to do no farming for sure but ... well being the red neck I am when a tree in my front yard blew over I took it as a sign to plant some veggies and save as much as I could .. And here I am .. asking questions ect as much as possible to make my garden as good as I can ... One day tho ... one day I will have a good bit of land and will have everything I could ever want ..  well as far as my gardens go |
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Post by Rita on Oct 14, 2009 17:49:14 GMT -6
Ummm sorry still under codeine  |
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Post by Laura on Oct 14, 2009 20:06:42 GMT -6
 Good ?? Stella.. I was a city slicker all my life..until Phil & I met. Moved here & here we are..we tell ourselves we are going to make a smaller garden..& we LIE..every year..we seem to grow more..& more..& more..  we find things we just cant pass up..So our pantry is full..& we have more to can yet..all in due time..
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Post by stella1751 on Oct 14, 2009 20:55:52 GMT -6
I was brought up in the great wide open middleish of oregon ... Farming and saving conserving was part of life .. Then 11 years ago ..(Yesterday) ... I moved out here to Massachusetts .. Big City life ... No place to do no farming for sure but ... well being the red neck I am when a tree in my front yard blew over I took it as a sign to plant some veggies and save as much as I could .. And here I am .. asking questions ect as much as possible to make my garden as good as I can ... One day tho ... one day I will have a good bit of land and will have everything I could ever want .. well as far as my gardens go I love this, Rita! That is exactly what I was looking for. How wonderful to see a felled tree as a sign to garden. I'm also secretly happy to see another farmer-at-heart who's fenced in by these city lights. Thanks for sharing! |
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Post by stella1751 on Oct 14, 2009 21:01:03 GMT -6
Good ?? Stella.. I was a city slicker all my life..until Phil & I met. Moved here & here we are..we tell ourselves we are going to make a smaller garden..& we LIE..every year..we seem to grow more..& more..& more.. we find things we just cant pass up..So our pantry is full..& we have more to can yet..all in due time.. Laura, I have seen photos of your produce, and I am so glad I'm not competing against you at the fair! I told Phil that if I lived in your county, I would first visit you before planting so I could decide what NOT to plant. There's no way I can compete with 13' corn. I don't think there's any such thing as a smaller garden, to be perfectly honest. Each year, I scratch out another tiny section of soil. Eventually, my entire yard will be one big garden, front and back. P.S. I want Roy. I think you can ship him to me via Greyhound if you dress him appropriately. Thanks in advance. |
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Post by Laura on Oct 15, 2009 18:27:07 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2009 21:10:30 GMT -6
I come from a LONG line of subsistence farmers. I joined the Army before I finished high school, then after serving ten years got tired of playing politics and moving every couple of years.
Then the first wife (who was NOT a gardening person) and I lived in the big city of Atlanta for awhile. After the divorce, I came back home to middle Georgia, met and married a "country girl" who loves gardening just as much or more than I, and we are buying our little piece of the "prehistoric beach". My health is not what it used to be, but we do what we can, and enjoy every bit of our gardening successes and cry jointly over our failures....
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Post by stella1751 on Oct 16, 2009 4:25:37 GMT -6
Wonderful story, Oneoldbear! Dumb question: What is the prehistoric beach?
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Post by kansasterri on Oct 16, 2009 8:57:03 GMT -6
I started out in San Jose', California. In the first place I hated the concrete and I loved the oceans, the soaring redwood forest,s and the rocky little creeks. If they have not paved what I loved about California, it is not for lack of trying! I got out of school during a recession, and we moved to the midwest where there WAS work. We have been very happy here, and my allergies are MUCH better! I was never able to get the rach/farm that I craved, but I DO have an acre in town and 5.5 acres outside of town. I WAS going to farm the land outside of town and sell at the farmers market, but, I got sick right after we signed for the land. I have Multiple Sclerosis. I am now exploring handicapped farming/gardening. I do not expect to be able to have a farmers market booth again, but the one year that I did not try to garden did not feel RIGHT!, KWIM? My favorite thing is to mow the lawn on my riding mower, it clears my head. My SECOND favorite thing to do is to eat the lovely veggies that I grow! For more of what I have been up to, go here and scroll to the last post on the page. pharmerphil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=construct&action=display&thread=5487&page=2 |
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Post by 4rum on Oct 16, 2009 12:03:55 GMT -6
Grew up on a farm in the Appalachian mountains (and all that that implies). Had to grow it if you wanted to eat. Did barter for some necessities. Traded eggs or butter for salt or things we couldn't raise or make. We cut timber from the place to pay for it. We worked every day except Sunday. I saw few after school activities or weekend parties. I hated it.
Out of school in '67 into the military December of that same year. Sent to Korea where I finally saw folks poorer than me.
Worked Detroit a few years like everybody else who ever tried to escape here. Found out 'here' wasn't so bad. Moved back.
blah, blah, blah, married, yada, yada, yada family .... an' now I'm old. I finally LIKE puttering about the yard with flowers, shrubs or my small 'truck patch'. Have fits with the deer, raccons and critters that like to freeload, but I guess that's part of returning to your roots... you learn, if not to cherish, to accept.
Hope you get all the good honest dirt under your fingernals that you can stand.
blessings
4rum
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Post by stella1751 on Oct 16, 2009 18:02:49 GMT -6
I started out in San Jose', California. In the first place I hated the concrete and I loved the oceans, the soaring redwood forest,s and the rocky little creeks. If they have not paved what I loved about California, it is not for lack of trying! My favorite thing is to mow the lawn on my riding mower, it clears my head. I love what you said about the paving of California, kansasterri! I, well, everyone in my family (I have seven sisters and brothers) was born in North Dakota. Even though we weren't raised in North Dakota, we grew up with the Plains values. Now most of my family has wound up in the Seattle/Tacoma area. I visited twice, and I get this panicky feeling every time I go. To my eyes, there is no clear line between the two cities; it's all concrete. They want me to move out there, and I think of how depressed I would be  I also liked your remark about the mowing. When I was breeding horses, my favorite job was cleaning stalls. A person can get so much thinking done when she is cleaning stalls--it seriously does clear the head! |
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Post by stella1751 on Oct 16, 2009 18:13:05 GMT -6
Grew up on a farm in the Appalachian mountains (and all that that implies). Had to grow it if you wanted to eat. Did barter for some necessities. Traded eggs or butter for salt or things we couldn't raise or make. We cut timber from the place to pay for it. We worked every day except Sunday. I saw few after school activities or weekend parties. I hated it. Out of school in '67 into the military December of that same year. Sent to Korea where I finally saw folks poorer than me. Worked Detroit a few years like everybody else who ever tried to escape here. Found out 'here' wasn't so bad. Moved back. blah, blah, blah, married, yada, yada, yada family .... an' now I'm old. I finally LIKE puttering about the yard with flowers, shrubs or my small 'truck patch'. Have fits with the deer, raccons and critters that like to freeload, but I guess that's part of returning to your roots... you learn, if not to cherish, to accept. Hope you get all the good honest dirt under your fingernals that you can stand. blessings 4rum I thought we were poor when I was growing up. We weren't, though, just frugal, but I know what you mean. We spent weekends either putting up hay or getting in the winter's wood. Seems all my life, I've been getting ready for winter :-) Dirt is honest in a way so many people can't comprehend. If you give to it, it'll pay you back in good measure. Secretly, I've always been fascinated by the soil and by everything it feeds. I lived in Detroit (Taylor) briefly when I was nine. (My Dad was with the Border Patrol.) When it rained, the earthworms crawled onto the sidewalk. The air reeked with the smell of dead earthworms because everyone just STEPPED on them. On my way to the schoolbus, I would get a crick in my neck from stooping over to pick them up and chuck them back on the lawns. Now I'm an organic gardener, and I think I must have been looking into the future. I'm still saving earthworms! Good stories! Thanks, guys. I think I don't feel so out of step with the rest of the world anymore. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2009 4:27:08 GMT -6
Wonderful story, Oneoldbear! Dumb question: What is the prehistoric beach? Stella, Way back when (during the Cretaceous Period) this area of Georgia was part of an inland sea. As a result, we have literally TONS of sand deposits - our almost 7 acres was definitely part of a beach. We have what is commonly called "sugar sand" - it is extremely fine and requires a LOT of compost to grow anything other than pine trees and grass.... |
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Post by stella1751 on Oct 18, 2009 5:22:27 GMT -6
Poor you, Oneoldbear! When I lived in Cheyenne, my soil was mostly chalk. Each year, I mixed in tons of compost, spring and fall. Each spring I would tell myself that this would be the year that my soil finally had the right texture. Each spring I would want to weep. Worse, no matter how many small stones I removed, the earth would shove more to the surface when the ground heaved and shifted during the winter. I had a coffee can set every three feet, just to chuck the stones in while I gardened. They'd fill almost weekly. (Really pretty ones, though. Wyoming has the prettiest rocks I've ever seen: pink, green, white, striped, spotted.)
Kinda a challenge to garden. I grew some great stuff out of that chalky, rocky soil, but it was twice the work of any garden I've ever had!
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well as far as my gardens go 
Good ?? Stella..
