Now that graduation season is coming to a close, along with another school year, it’s time for summer and all the fun that comes with it. Since my column is a reflection of memories, I have to say that, for me, summertime wasn’t all about sleeping in every day or lounging by the pool. I grew up on a farm so there was no shortage of work and chores that needed done. I’m no stranger to hard work. Summer days gave us more daylight hours, which meant more time for work. Don’t get me wrong, we found ways to relax and enjoy ourselves occasionally. We didn’t spend every hour of our summer vacation working. We made time to jump in the creek and cool off and there were outings to Ryerson for fishing or swimming. But when you live on a farm, you work.
When I tell you that we lived off the land, we truly did. Our vegetable garden encompassed the majority of what we considered our back yard. We grew everything we needed to get through a year. Mom did the canning and freezing- everything from beans and peas to corn and grated zucchini. We made our own tomato sauce, tomato juice, and ketchup. The potato patch was twice as big, and there were potato bins in the basement to keep the harvest of potatoes cool over the upcoming months.
Our meat was also raised on the farm. We used everything from the hog “but the squeal,” so we always had bacon, sausage, and ham. We never had a shortage of beef either, and Lord knows I plucked my share of chicken feathers. Trips to the grocery store were basically for things like flour, sugar, coffee, and paper products. All the other food we needed was grown and raised around us.
I’ve got plenty of memories from the farm… riding in the wagon up the hill to “pick rocks” as Dad called it when we cleared fields for new crops, berry picking, hay making, and more. There was the old boar we named Fred, sheep, goats, pigs, roosters, hens, cows, calves, and a host of others. And I’ll never forget our family dog, Frisky, who ran beside the tractor on every adventure.
The memories go hand in hand with the lessons I was learning. In a world increasingly disconnected from where food comes from, farm kids have a deep understanding of the earth and its needs. I was also given an enduring gift of perspective. I was learning the value of time, the importance of responsibility, and that success doesn’t come without effort. Growth takes time, failure is part of the process, and sometimes you have to keep going no matter what.
So, here’s a piece of my mind… growing up on a farm was a blessing. It gave me a deep appreciation for hard work. My early mornings were often spent feeding animals and helping with crops, but every day brought new challenges and responsibilities. While I was complaining about pulling weeds and the summer heat, I never realized that I was learning resilience and resourcefulness. There is unique satisfaction in watching your work grow. Farming is a life grounded in simplicity, but rich with lessons of patience, persistence, and pride in honest work, that will last a lifetime.
