As the snow falls into puddles, and all is cold as ice, I am cozy by the fire with a cup of tea and a piece of hazelnut torte. I can think of nothing better except the added company of a dear friend!
After a reader's request for hearing more about some of my life experiences, I thought I would begin this post with a little background before I dive into the subject of food and meals. And yes, there is a connection!
Life on the Farm with Ted and Doris I grew up in a suburb of a fairly large city. I spent all of my time there until I was 9, when my parents bought a small farm in central Wisconsin. It was a quasi farm in the sense that the family that had lived there for the previous 25 years had not really been a farming family. The father had been a barber in Chicago and had decided to change the circumstances of his family living environment by moving to a small farm in central Wisconsin where his one son could learn about ‘real work’. He and his wife and son had raised a few cows and had done a bit of gardening and fieldwork, but had never modernized the facilities. There was an old barn built about 1913, and an equally old silo that had a pool of muck in the bottom and pigeons in the top. My family took on the routine of spending nearly every weekend at this farm as well as most of the summers. The house was a rustic affair with no indoor toilet facilities and only incoming cold water. The first thing my father did was hire a water dowser to find a suitable location for a well. Success! We had water, at least enough to imagine taking baths. The house then became the main focus. After a scary chimney fire, a new chimney was built. The upstairs was finished and insulated so we could sleep there in the winter, and a bathroom was put in, making trips to the outhouse in winter obsolete. Things continued to improve. A pond was dug, a garden begun, trees planted, and best of all, I discovered the neighbors!
Ted and Doris were in their mid 50’s. Their only daughter had married and moved away and they were by themselves on the farm every day milking 35+ cows. Ted had been born in a lean-to attached to the original log cow shed on the farm in 1913, the 10th of 12 children. He and his brothers and father had cleared the land, cutting down the old growth white pines and burning the stumps to clear the fields. They farmed the 160 acres for 30+ years with horses and scythes. Tractors came after WWII and Ted still had the originals in good working order when I arrived on the scene. He had a scythe too which he taught me how to use. Doris was from a farming family in a nearby town. She was the 10th child of 11 children, and grew up in a household that was run like clockwork. She was even kept home from school one day each week to help with the family’s ironing.
Ted and Doris were thrilled to have my company and welcomed me with open arms to visit whenever I liked. I soon began my apprenticeship in the dairy business by being given the job of manure pusher. I had to make sure the barn isles were kept clean during milking time. I was gradually promoted to milk pail carrier (a very heavy job for a 10 yr. old.) The quantity of 3-5 gallons of milk from each cow was poured from the milker into a stainless steel bucket and carried into the milk house to be emptied into the bulk tank where it was cooled and kept before being shipped to the cheese factory. My jobs eventually expanded to include feeding the cows, summer haying, barn cleaning, tractor driving, and cow herding to and from pasture 2X each day. Doris seemed convinced that she was going to train me thoroughly in the domestic arts of cooking, cleaning, gardening and laundry. I was resistant to staying indoors any more than necessary, but no one argued with Doris! I was thus introduced to the world of making pies, cookies, donuts, cakes, bread, jams and pickles.
Farm life focused on the rhythm of the cows, the people and the earth. Cows were milked at precise times to give the most milk, meals were exactly on time to accommodate the hunger gained from hard work, and chores were managed to fit in between these two backstops to everyday life. This environment introduced me to the relevance of good food and rhythmical living. Without these pillars of daily life, the necessary strength to accomplish required farm tasks was not guaranteed. Farm life also introduced me to the tastes and flavors of real food. The raw milk was delicious, the bread, jams and pickles vibrant and homemade, and the meals well balanced and simple. I felt as though I had found nirvana!
My ongoing experience on this dairy farm, through to adulthood, set the stage for my choices as a parent. In contrast to my family of origin, where meals were sporadic and often from cans and boxes, I choose the farm patterns to include in my family life. I observed everyone on the farm to be more content and balanced and I certainly found the food much more enjoyable! In addition to the dairy farm experiences, as a young adult, I had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world, both to urban and rural areas. My observations from these trips only added to my interest in traditional foods and living patterns.
I was astounded in Rome when I first ate Fettuccine Alfredo at Alfredo's restaurant. It tasted better than anything I had ever eaten! I was equally amazed the first time I arrived at a farm in a remote village of Serbia where the women of the household, three generations, had produced all of their clothing and fabrics. The family as a whole grew all their food and the feast table honoring our visit, was groaning with vegetables, a roasted pig, cheeses, corn, drinks, slivovitz brandy, and breads, all originating on the farm. I was amazed at this level of self sufficiency and family integration. I had no idea people actually had the ability to live like this.
While I know it is unusual in our culture to carry out such life practices, I was inspired to incorporate as much of the richness as I could into my own family's life. And so, a little over 40 years ago, I began to learn and incorporate traditional living skills into my daily activities. Since then I have lived rurally and along with raising and homeschooling two boys, I have raised chickens, horses, sheep, goats-both for fibre and milk, and have gardened and cooked extensively. I have also learned to weave, sew, and build houses, and have used these skills to adorn our living space with the resulting hand worked items.
These skills are at the heart of what makes our household run, beauty providing the backdrop, rhythm the matrix of activity, and food the nourishment for our lives. I must add here that without the help and support of my dear husband, none of this would be possible. We have worked together to bring these qualities to our family members' lives. I look forward to sharing a bit more about how this has been carried out. Until then, be well and enjoy each day!
Susan
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