In answer to Zeb’s query about memories of the flat, my first memory would be of haying the fields. Will do a whole piece on haying and other work that we did on the farm another time. When the fields were no longer hayed, the blueberries came in. I know the younger kids remember picking them. This lasted for a few years until the brush and trees came in. We picked strawberries there some and also in the “Five Acre Piece”, which is now Wayne’s field. Of course we did a lot of walking in the woods and especially liked the pines on the knoll on the north side of the road.
I remember Grammie Basford having chickens in the field where my house is now during the summers. Before I can remember there were beans planted, the dry bean type. Later this field and a portion of the woods was pasture. I frequently come across remnants of the barbed wire fences. There were a number of hen houses next to the farm house, three I think. The building right next to the house was used to store grain and feeders, etc. for the chickens. As you may know, the largest hen house was once the school house for South Detroit and was moved around the corner from Rt. 220.
The farm house, of course, looks pretty much as the old one did from the outside. Some of you remember the pantry, which had a spring or a well under it. Mom did have the refrigerator in it but otherwise was used more to store tools, etc than as a pantry. There was a small shed next to the kitchen with a set of stairs leading to the open chamber over the kitchen. Firewood was brought in through the shed and the woodbox set right next to the door. There was also an open shed next to the house where Dad would put sawdust for the cows and shavings for the chickens. Then there was kind of an open shed with the ‘lovely’ outhouse at the end. There had been a pig pen next to that but we didn’t have pigs in my memory. More details about the original farm house later.
One of the differences in the restored barn is the loss of the silo. As you went in through the front door, there were grain bins on the right and then kind of a walkway leading to the silo that was on the north side of the barn. We kept corn silage in that. Not sure when it fell over but think it was during a hurricane in the 1950’s. The left section of the barn was the tie-up where the cows were kept. The cows were tied up to the right as you entered that section. There were doors with hinges on them in front of the cows and hay would be put through to feed them. The small building to the left of the barn was the milk house. For some reason we usually referred to it as the milk room but it was always a separate building that held the milk cooler. The milk cooler was a tank filled with cold water to cool down the milk, which was dumped in milk cans after milking.
I remember Grammie Basford having chickens in the field where my house is now during the summers. Before I can remember there were beans planted, the dry bean type. Later this field and a portion of the woods was pasture. I frequently come across remnants of the barbed wire fences. There were a number of hen houses next to the farm house, three I think. The building right next to the house was used to store grain and feeders, etc. for the chickens. As you may know, the largest hen house was once the school house for South Detroit and was moved around the corner from Rt. 220.
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| Picture taken in the early 1920s |
The farm house, of course, looks pretty much as the old one did from the outside. Some of you remember the pantry, which had a spring or a well under it. Mom did have the refrigerator in it but otherwise was used more to store tools, etc than as a pantry. There was a small shed next to the kitchen with a set of stairs leading to the open chamber over the kitchen. Firewood was brought in through the shed and the woodbox set right next to the door. There was also an open shed next to the house where Dad would put sawdust for the cows and shavings for the chickens. Then there was kind of an open shed with the ‘lovely’ outhouse at the end. There had been a pig pen next to that but we didn’t have pigs in my memory. More details about the original farm house later.
One of the differences in the restored barn is the loss of the silo. As you went in through the front door, there were grain bins on the right and then kind of a walkway leading to the silo that was on the north side of the barn. We kept corn silage in that. Not sure when it fell over but think it was during a hurricane in the 1950’s. The left section of the barn was the tie-up where the cows were kept. The cows were tied up to the right as you entered that section. There were doors with hinges on them in front of the cows and hay would be put through to feed them. The small building to the left of the barn was the milk house. For some reason we usually referred to it as the milk room but it was always a separate building that held the milk cooler. The milk cooler was a tank filled with cold water to cool down the milk, which was dumped in milk cans after milking.
2 comments:
That's awesome, Mom, especially for those of us who can't remember things for very long. Now it's where we can always come back and refer to it. When we cleared out the sumac this summer, you could see the marble pieces in a circle on the ground that used to be the foundation of the silo.
Look forward to reading more.
What a nice story Joan, can I put this in the family history I'm working on? Keep the stories/memories coming!!
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