Doing Jobs The Old Way
November 21st, 2005 by Northern FarmerAll is going smoothly on the farm these last few days. Any available moment I try and get out and make some firewood. Just wish it would get a little cooler because now it stays just a little above freezing and the ground is slimy because of recent rains and light snow. Tires a person out working on greasy ground, but I’m sure that’ll be remedied in a short time in this area. Marketing our beef this fall is going better than I expected with a couple of calls and emails almost everyday inquiring about our ad in a local newspaper. Starting to enjoy this. There’s a long way to go in getting this farm to the point of selling mostly everything direct, but then again, it’s a lot of animals we’re talking about here. Thus, the wisdom of a five year goal instead of trying to change over at the drop of a hat.
Following up a little on Saturdays post about the neighbors getting together for church and work from the Foxfire Books, I started mentioning this in between mouthfuls of GOOD food. And the reception to my comments even amazed me. For starters we are going to help each other doing some good old fashion hog butchering. Help each other and eliminate the very hungry middle men. This will expand into sausage making, curing hams and bacon, etc. Now let me say this, when you have a few men looking forward to “butchering†and cutting up meat together, you know they’re good folk. Slackers don’t take to these occasions very well. It expanded to wood making crews and more. This is just the beginning.
So, it’s a simple blog tonight, nothing earth shattering. He always hears our prayers, and I’ve prayed for this change in our lives for quite some time now.
November 22nd, 2005 at 10:44 am
Sounds great Tom. It’s exciting when God rewards our patience and perserverence.
Our own community is similar, in that the neighbors all take care of each other and help out when you need it, though not all the farmers around here are in agreement about self sustainability or using older methods and techniques on the farm. But its better than the suburbia attitude and for that we are thankful.
Mike
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:07 am
Hey Tom
Sounds like you’ve found a good bunch of folks out there, Praise the Lord. I really miss community hog butchering. When I lived back in the flats, we would all get together and kill 8 or 9 hogs sometimes between milkings. Oh, and the foxfire books, I love them. Thats where Nate and I got the plans for our little whiskey still.
November 22nd, 2005 at 2:32 pm
Sounds like you found the perfect church! We should all get back to helping each other and skipping the middle man. I love the Foxfire books and grew up in the NC mtns. where some of the people written about lived. And about 21 miles from Rabun Gap, Ga where some others wrote about lived/live. furman Arvey that lived in Otto, NC was a cousin to my dad. He was written about in Spring 1980 in Foxfire. I have the whole set of books that once belonged to my dad.
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
Mike, Scott,Peggy,
It always gets me exited finding like minded folk and it sure does make me happy when the Lord makes our paths cross.
And Scott, the other evening the wife was wondering what I was laughing at while reading Foxfire 3, I think. Well, this oldtimer was telling about driving his ox team to town pulling a wagon of corn or something to sell there. Aways from home a bit the team decided to just stop and that’s all they were going to do for the day, this guy had some problems before with this team. Well, some good old backwoods sense solved the problem, he gathered up some dry deads leaves and sticks and set them by the ox’s butts. They were laying down not wanting to go, not a care in the world. So he started the stuff on fire and in a bit them oxen got up and ran all the way to town, with a short break in the creek they were crossing to cool their behinds. You won’t find that trick in a modern teamster manual!
And Peggy,
If you were that close to Rabun Gap you really were right there. I have Foxfire 1 and 2 for the last 25 years or so, but am reading 3 and 4 now from the library, and will go on from there. This next year I’ll try and get the whole set, because there isn’t any homestead manual that even comes close to the practical wisdom that’s in these books.
You got yourself in trouble now, now that I know where you grew up
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:07 pm
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
November 23rd, 2005 at 7:34 pm
Peggy,
Same to you and yours, and a big thankyou to your son in law Brian!
Tom
November 29th, 2005 at 8:31 am
Tom,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. It is encouraging to know of like minded folks rin Minnesota. When I left there 20 years ago, I wasn’t thinking like I am now. So I didn’t know people as you have described. Now I can’t wait to get back!
JM
November 29th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
JM,
I can see some dandy times coming when you do get back!
Tom