What are you canning now?

[journey11]

My mom has told me of long nights up 'til 5am watching a canner full of green beans. I think I would blow it up at that hour, were it me. My parents did rely heavily on their garden when Dad was laid off and we kids were small. At some point, once they no longer had to do it, they surely backed off to no more than a gratuitous tomato plant here and there. Mom gardens and cans a little now, but just for fun.

Do you mean the honey-do list, Smart Red? The only thing we want you to put on your list right now is to be good to yourself and take it easy as you can for awhile. I'm sure that new tractor of yours will make many a project less cumbersome too.

 

[Nyboy]

My grandparents had a victory garden several blocks from their house. It had no water supply, it was my fathers chore every day to haul water and water the garden. He used a wagon to haul large barrels. He hated doing it all summer. If the garden died the family could go hungry. He has never planted 1 vegtable has a adult, everything we ate growing up was from supermarket.

 

[seedcorn]

@Nyboy Understand that some what. For me strawberries. My job to pick-hate it. Just now, getting to point of liking them. Too bad he missed out on joy of gardening

 

[thistlebloom]

That's my husbands excuse for not wanting to do yard work.
He does the big stuff, weed whacking the road easement, and cutting trees and stuff like that. But when he was a kid, his mom, who has just about the blackest thumb I've ever seen made him pull weeds in the ice plant ground cover growing on their huge front bank. It was always summer and 150 degrees and he said no matter how many weeds he pulled out of that stinking bank he never got them all and it was always ugly.

I told him to suck it up and come help me...haha.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I think that is what happened to American farmers. They worked hard as kids and with all the new job opportunities and living in town, they never wanted to work hard like that again. I know a man that had to work hard on a farm. Weeding the green beans and he talks about 100 foot rows and looking down the row and being 9 years old and thinking he would never get done. He plants nothing as an adult.

 

[PennyJo]

For umpteen years I owned two business's showed dogs 51 weekends a year
there was no time and maybe because we worked growing up there were chores
never ending.. now as my world has changed so much I find myself doing that again
but I am so blessed my two housemates are always at my side also

 

[seedcorn]

I think that is what happened to American farmers. They worked hard as kids and with all the new job opportunities and living in town, they never wanted to work hard like that again. I know a man that had to work hard on a farm. Weeding the green beans and he talks about 100 foot rows and looking down the row and being 9 years old and thinking he would never get done. He plants nothing as an adult.

1980 happened to farmers. Bankruptcies with no way to cash flow. It's what 2017-19 is looking like. Wasn't the work, it was the losing money they didn't have.

 

[digitS']

Interesting how this thread evolved ... interesting how Fed chairman Paul Volker evolved in his response to the 1980 recession and, as advisor, to the 2008 meltdown. Maybe not, he seemed willing to take a tough approach each time.

My own parents had an attitude of catch as catch can to gardening. It wasn't seen as important. I must have been at the right point in time to believe my dad's dream of dairy farming. We never evolved much beyond the hobby farm status as he realized that entering that profession during the second half of the 20th century was nearly impossible. Interesting that the company that processed our milk began about the same time we did, is still family owned and still in business ...

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Currently the milk check is not even covering the feed bill.

Egg producers are in the same economic environment. Heard they are disposing of layers.

 

[baymule]

The system is broken. Prices are high, but not for the farmer. I have bought beef direct from the person who raised it before and do so when ever I can. There are a couple of raw milk dairies in neighboring towns and they sell out. It's too bad that more farmers can't sell direct to their customers, or form a co-op.