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Home > Got Me Thinking....

Got Me Thinking....

February 22nd, 2010 at 05:52 pm

because of Campfrugal's entry. Thank you, Campfrugal, for my trip down memory lane. My kids roll their eyes at my stories. I was raised on a mini-farm. We grew all our veggies, and my grandfather raised our meat. We had eggs delivered on Fridays and milk on Mondays. We went to a store for things like toilet paper and chips maybe every two weeks. We made our own cookies and drank our ice cold well water. I can remember my first grocery shopping in college. I had to buy things that we'd always had in the freezers. My inlaws were amazed at the fact that I'd hardly ever gone to a restaurant and so didn't know what to order. We picked blackberries from one of our fields, and Dad grew blueberries after I left home. My other grandmother had apples, and her pears put store pears to shame. Sometimes, we'd get amazing peaches from Mom's boss. One of my neighbors grew strawberries and raspberries--he'd share the raspberries with me. The other neighbor grew popcorn. We'd often sit outside with BIG bowls of popcorn and iced tea. We made our own ice cream on the weekends. I, too, can remember a neighbor's pigs getting out and the roundup, roosters crowing in the mornings, chasing down a horse or two that ran off, and one mule chase for two elderly ladies. Needless to say, my upbringing was a little odd to most of the kids in school. I loved it!

13 Responses to “Got Me Thinking....”

  1. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1266865174

    Grew popcorn? Doesn't popcorn come from corn kernels??

  2. janH Says:
    1266865817

    I can't remember the specifics so I might be off course here, but I remember it being hard and you didn't eat it off the cob. It might have been dried regular corn, but my impression is that it was a different type of corn. I only remember that they grew it for popcorn. Have to admit that it was a very LONG time ago. Sigh.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    1266870519

    Wow, sounds like an idyllic childhood!

  4. patientsaver Says:
    1266871308

    I didn't grow up on a farm or anything, but I can relate to your childhood. We did simple stuff to entertain ourselves, like walking into town to the Dairy Queen, riding our bikes all over the place, playing catch with a softball and exploring the creek for crayfish and tadpoles.

    I think we have a serious problem with kids today, who have grown up attached to their cell phones, video games, DVDs and computers. I think kids are so wired for technology past times today they'll forget what the outdoor world is all about and so if we're in danger of losing it, they won't care.

  5. janH Says:
    1266872658

    That was us. We rode our bikes everywhere and played ball and hiked and flew kites and everything that needs space, fields, and woods. Played in creeks. Only thing we had to watch for were snakes. Nowadays, you'd have to watch for people, too! It would be so scary to have the kids roam far. The houses are bigger but the outside place to play is much smaller. I hope that the next generation rediscovers the outdoors! Kudos to those parents teaching their kids to grow stuff.

  6. dtjunkie Says:
    1266874600

    That was a great childhood story. It was like straight out my "farmer living" daydreams.

  7. thriftorama Says:
    1266876957

    Popcorn is a certain variety of corn. A guy down the street from my grandpa grows it. I LOVE it. It's the only kind we eat.

    The life you described is the life I would love to give to my sons. Holistic, meaningful. I grew up country and there are a lot of merits to it. I always have my eyes peeled for the perfect mini farm to buy, but the other side of that is we hate commuting. So, in the meantime, I try to grow as much food on my city lot as I can, and I get the babies involved so they at least know where food kind of comes from.

  8. campfrugal Says:
    1266884646

    Your Welcome, Jan.

    Living that kind of life was very peaceful and fulfilling. There was always something to do. It always amazes me how we kept ourselves busy as children playing outdoors, riding horses, feeding animals, climbing trees, building tree forts, looking for treasures in the woods; and if we were hungry, we just grabbed something to eat off a tree or out of the garden. We would sit in our cherry tree forever eating big dark red cherrys and spitting the pits at each other for entertainment. I don't remember saying I was bored very often.

  9. janH Says:
    1266885248

    Campfrugal, it does boggle my mind when kids say they are bored! When we didn't have people to do things with, we just took a hike through the woods or read a book under a tree. Or, often, did a few chores our parents assigned us. I baked cookies when I didn't have something to do. Of course, my parents haven't told us that they knew about some of the more risky things we did.

  10. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1266885828

    How interesting! I learned something new today - about popcorn. Smile

  11. boomeyers Says:
    1267079673

    That fresh fruit description makes me drool!! Dump some on ice cream... oh yeah!

  12. Jerry Says:
    1267217094

    That leads me to remember the fresh blackberries we used to pick when I was a kid in Oregon. So good! So FREE! I miss that. One of my favorite people is a cardio-thoracic surgeon and he just sold his huge house and moved with his family to a smaller place with land so that they can grow and raise their food and have some insurance of "living simpler lives." What a great concept!
    Jerry

  13. nance Says:
    1267483817

    Reading this post and the comments is a trip down memory lane. We rode bikes, and walked everywhere. We'd go to the four ponds behind our house and catch tadpoles. One summer, my BF and I spent much of our time in a huge old elm tree.
    I was lucky enough to be able to raise my kids in the same atmosphere. Actually better. They had horses, baby goats, a pet Polish Chicken, lots of barn kittens and a couple of dogs. One of my daughters is rearing her kids the same way. Her little boys are "country kids" and are the best kids ever! They are learning responsibility, and have lost of room to roam. I wish all kids could have that experience. My other daughter has two little boys, who are city kids. They would rather go visit their country cousins than go to Disneyland!

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