Let me start off by introducing myself. I'm Lynsey. Better known as the Farmers Daughter.
I grew up on a Dairy Farm with my 3 brothers in a small town in Maine. My Dads family has owned this farm for over 40 years and still going strong. Out of his family, just my Dad and my Grandmother have ties to the farm. My Grandfather passed away when my Dad was only 14 and left everything to his wife and 6 children. That is a story for another day. One that I will tell, but not right now.
My mother home schooled all 4 of us kids. Not an easy task but she made it seem easy. Still to this day I do not know how she stayed sane. She is a saint for sure.
My parents made the decision to home school us when my oldest brother was in 2nd grade. Keeping us home was the best decision they ever made. We witnessed so many amazing things on the Farm. We learned way more than if we were stuck in a classroom. The farm was our classroom in many ways.
When the boys were old enough ( 8 / 9 years old), they started seriously working on the farm alongside Dad. Milking at 2:00 a.m, chores (feeding the cows, cleaning out the barns...) field work, milking at 2:00 p.m, more field work and then doing it all over again the next day. School would be done in between chores and lunchtime usually.
When we were young, it wasn't just Dad and the boys. With a couple hundred head of dairy cattle, there is no way that would have been possible with just Dad and a couple of boys under the age of 10. We had a couple of hired hands at the time that helped run things.
Even when we weren't old enough to "work" on the farm, you can bet we were right there watching, riding and "helping" in anyway we could. When school wasn't happening, we were right there in the middle of it all.
Usually while the boys were working with Dad, Mom and I would have the house to ourselves to get my school done and make the boys goodies to enjoy when they got home. Or we would take a day usually once a week if not every 2 weeks to travel a few towns over (40 minute drive) to visit my grandparents ( mom's parents) for a few hours. Most of the time I would have to bring my school with me if it wasn't done already. One of the pros to homeschooling! It can be done anywhere! Even in the car during football practice when the boys were in high school!
We wouldn't stay past lunch time because Mom had to get back to feed calves or milk cows. Oh yes! She wasn't just a stay at home, teach the kids, clean the house, feed the family,balance the check book farm wife. She also works alongside Dad. If I wasn't with her in the calf barn or the milk parlor, I would usually be found with Dad either in the tractor or the dump truck ( especially in the summer) while the grass crop was getting harvested.The best naps I had as a kid were on a hot July day on the bench seat of a GMC dump truck with my pillow on Dads lap. The smell of fresh cut grass and truck fumes bring me much comfort.
At the end of each day, we would all go home ( less than a mile from the farm) . Mom would make us dinner, we would watch some TV and then off to bed we went, wake up and do it all over again!
Thinking back on the days of my childhood brings me so much joy. I loved those days.
Day in and day out the work never stopped. There was no 9-5 it was sun up to sun down.
Except on Sunday. On Sunday's we went to church. The cows still had to eat and be milked but that was what it was limited to. My Dad taught us at a young age that it was important to recognize Sunday as a day of rest because that's what God intended it to be.
God has blessed our family and farm richly over the years. Now, that doesn't mean that we were or are rich, but He has always given us what we need.
Many years I watched Dad pray and pray and pray during planting season and harvest season.
There have been wet springs and dry springs. Some too wet to get a tractor on the field so it would hinder the planting of corn or the first crop of grass. Some too dry so the corn wouldn't grow or the grass would burn up too quick. Through it all Dad prayed and prayed and prayed. God always answered. Not as quickly as Dad might have wanted but He answered. On years that it was too dry and the corn struggled to grow, we would have a bumper crop and would end up with more than we needed. On the wet years , the process may have taken longer, but we would have another bumper crop. Like I said before, God has blessed us richly and we always give Him the credit. Something else that Dad taught us at a young age.
Growing up on the Farm was fun, exciting, exhausting, frustrating and rewarding.
I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else.
No comments:
Post a Comment