This picture (below) is exactly how I remember rural life when I was small. We lived on the edge of a small Surrey Village, and our large garden backed onto open countryside. We also had our own Chickens, Ducks, and Bantams, as well as a large Veg' garden, and plenty of Fruit and Nut trees. So I'm no stranger to bucolic life.
Country life isn't all that different today. The Tractors are definitely bigger, and Hay Bales have changed shape, but otherwise life is much the same. Fields are ploughed, seeds sown, and crops harvested. Cows are still Milked, Pigs fattened, and Sheep sheared. Fields look much as they did over half a century ago, and their surrounding hedges continue to be trimmed. Rooks still nest in noisy gangs high in the Oak trees, and Rabbits run wild amongst the Wheat and Barley.
One of the few noticeable differences these days is the absence of Haystacks. When I was small, beautifully crafted Haystacks would always be topped with hay-sculpted animals and birds. Pheasants were a favourite. Serious competitions were held for 'Best Haystacks'.
The other major difference is that the Farmers themselves now all have glum faces, but the cause of that is beyond their control.
I would have quite enjoyed life as a Farmer. I did once contemplate buying a farm in Wales It had a lovely old stone farmhouse, loads of stone-built barns, etc, and about 20 acres of good level land. My only problem was that at 25 yeas old, I knew nothing about farming, so I bought a similar stone-built farm in S W France instead, which had just one Hectare of land; not all of which was level.
I grew Wheat and Maize, and I harvested an annual crop of Chestnuts from a small area of ancient grafted trees. And as I had been taught as a child, I grew all my own vegs, and had a run-full of Hens.
Farming runs in my distant family, as I imagine it does in almost everyone's families. I think I would have made a good 'arable' Farmer. No Cows or Sheep or Pigs; just acres of Leeks, Spuds, and Onions.
Now I shall never know.
30 comments:
That is how I remember England. We both ended up with blocks of land growing fruit and veg and raising, in our case, hens for eggs, cockerals for meat, ducks and turkeys.
We had a good start in life. Fuller taught me a lot!
I remember both Mr. & Mrs. Fuller and Maud fondly. I was in touch with Maud until her death.
And Mrs Belton. They were all such lovely people.
I grew up up on a few acres of land, in town, with geese and ducks, chooks and the odd lamb or 2. All grown for our consumption but loved and named. My father would have loved to be a farmer, my mother not so much. We grew aubergines and green peppers for market back when they were exotic vegetables. We grew potatoes, Boysenberries and whatever grand idea my father came up with.
We all helped out and the extra money paid for our summer camping holidays all over the country.
A different scenery from yours but the basics are familiar. The farmers my father worked with seemed happy and prosperous.
A different world
In France I once grew a large crop of Aubergines and Peppers, without having checked that there was a market for them. There wasn't! I can't remember what I did with them all.
During my early life I was brought up on my Grandparents farm, it was great for us kids but a hard life for my Grandparents. We had cows, sheep, pigs and horses as well as some arable. It was hard then but now farmers in this country are treated very badly especially by this Government. Regards Sue H
I grew up in a farming village in East Yorkshire and my father-in-law was an arable farmer all his life. Also going two generations back, my father came from farming stock. His people worked a farm on the high land above Scarborough so like you... I might say that I have got farming in my blood - even though I was never a farmer.
No bucolic lifestyle memories for me I'm afraid. Growing up on a West London housing estate, the nearest approximation we had was the small pig farm across the railway tracks at the end of our street.
Growing up in Somerset was much the same for me, these days I see bigger fields and less hedgerows, our wildlife is being farmed out of the countryside.
The main reason why I moved to France was because I wanted that lifestyle for my children. I was never a 'farmer' as such, but I did go through all actions. I think it was the best upbringing any child could have.
My farmhouse in France had a Studio as well, so I was able to work at both of my loves.
A London Pig Farm??? In Fulham I lived almost next door to a Pork Pie Factory. Maybe the two were linked?
At our home in France, where Farmers no longer farm, our wildlife is increasing. Our Surveillance cameras show daily visits of Foxes, Badgers, and Deer.
Marie-Rose in the haystack and Claudette in the studio...and she thought she was just going to do some nude modelling for you.
Who told you about Marie-Rose; even my wife doesn't know about her!
I grew up on a farm, that was not actively farmed, surrounded by serious farmers.
My brother is retiring this year from farming our family homestead in North Dakota. I swore I would NEVER marry a farmer and I didn't. It's a hard life but I thank God I had the privilege of running the hills as a kid. You have to have a certain kind of heart to take on the elements and stay hopeful. Having to take on the bureaucracy is another deal altogether. My heart goes out to your farmers.
Farming is nowhere to be found in my family history. That said, many of us (including me) love the land and enjoy planting. My mother wanted nothing to do with the land, but my father, grandmother and uncle loved gardening and especially growing veggies.
The British haystacks with animal sculptures atop sound delightful. I do see hay bales sitting in a field not far from me waiting to be collected; I suspect by some local horsewoman.
There'll soon be a lot more of those around.
Tractors today are not merely bigger, they are enormous and unable to enter the old gateways in the Yorkshire Dales, resulting in the beautiful stone posts being uprooted.
I was brought up with chickens and homegrown food and feel very much of peasant stock, happiest mucking about in the soil, growing my own food.
Yes, our poor Farmers are going through turmoil at the moment. It's as if our government really wants to be rid of them. Tax them out of existence.
I think there's a frustrated farmer in a lot of us. It's a rather primitive urge. However, I don't blame your mother for being reticent.
You sound like me! And have you seen the prices of those Tractors? Unbelievable. It wasn't so long ago that farmers were happy to have a 'Grey Fergie'.
I grew up on a small farm - two 100 acre plots with stables in between. Any farm with animals is a serious commitment - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so much of the activity and outcomes dependent on the weather.... It's not a life for the faint-hearted, no wonder that suicide rates for farmers are amongst the highest of any group. And recent UK governments have only made things infinitely worse, implementing the disasters of the EU CAP, the long drawn out uncertainty after the 2016 referendum, the current government's attempt to make multi-generational farm planning impossible....
AHH, the grey fergi, fond memories of those as one of the first things that I drove, along with the farm 1956 Series 1 Land Rover.....
Cro, I was a city girl, born and raised in New Orleans... but my parents made the mistake of sending me to spend summer days on my Aunt and Uncle's farm in Mississippi. There I became inoculated with country life... and loved it! For a city kid, used to less work and more conveniences, that old Mississippi farm taught me things I can't put into words. All I knew was that when summer came, that was where I wanted to be.
You describe perfectly why I would have been an arable farmer. I know it's not true, but the idea is to sow, go away on holiday for several months, then harvest before going on holiday again until spring.
I used to go to an Uncle's farm in Wales. It was pure heaven.
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