"You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl."
My long-time citified feet stepped back onto the farm, and my memory bank burst open.Simple things revived long-buried, yet oft-repeated, memories. That is how it should be. Life on the farm is simple; a daily routine replayed again and again, season to season.
As I rounded the bend of U.S. 89-91 from Logan, the horse-drawn grain binder emerged from the field. I was in sight of the Ronald V. Jensen Living Historical Farm, a short distance from a giant step back in time.
The milk separator, a part of the women's work introductory display, pushed the first of a series of memory-evoking buttons.
I almost caught the musky aroma of day-old milk left clinging to the separator crevices. Grandma Mary's basement milk room brewed that smell each day as Grandpa Oscar dumped his aluminum pail of fresh milk into the machine for processing.
I took the long way to the Jensen farmhouse. Wandering through a grove of box elder trees and stepping over a lazy stream kicked in the memory about mud pies and a big tree.
As a child I played near the irrigation ditch, carefully shaded by a box elder, "the big tree," perfect for climbing. By designing mud pies garnished with "coconut" and milkweeds, my "cooking" skills blossomed.
In the Jensen barnyard, I stumbled across the derrick, the cable/pulley/log apparatus that enabled hay or straw to find its way to the top of the barn.
At the 1917-vintage farm, the derrick was horse-drawn; on the Whiting Farms in the '50s, a little Ford tractor did the job. And I was the driver. It took me all summer to learn how to back up in a straight line; reverse seemed completely backwards to me . . . but then, I was only 8 years old.
Stepping into the midday Jensen Farm kitchen reminded me of the hectic farm food routines at home. We quickly cleared the breakfast table, only to set it for dinner. Without a dishwasher or a microwave, the morning was spent in cleanup and preparation.
Garden produce subsidized the meat-and-potatoes menus.
To me, it seemed like too much food, but the farm crew quickly swallowed the ample portions, then rested.
Dad left his grain-dust-laden shirt in the garage, swept off his jeans and stretched out for a 15-minute "snooze." Then Mom would help him tie the sleeves and neck of a clean shirt and he would return to the grainfield.
At the Jensen Farm, a grain harvest crewhand ties the shocks of grain. Farmhands sweat through the tedious process of preparing the grain for the thresher.
Guests at the farm have an opportunity to observe the harvest process firsthand. Tuesday, Aug. 7, through Saturday, Aug. 11, the bound sheaves of grain will be threshed. Authentic, multicoursed threshing dinners will be prepared and served to the farmhands.
Feeding the threshing crews meant hard work for farm women.
"Threshers were often fed three meals a day, but dinner usually consisted of two meats, two vegetables, potatoes, gravy, fruits, breads, pickles, jams and desserts," explained Birdie Brown, program administrator at the Jensen Farm.
Despite the work in the fields and in the kitchens, threshing season is remembered as a family treasure.
According to Patrick Williams of Utah State University information services, "Threshing was the most exciting happening on the farm calendar. Family and friends gathered to exchange labor; women prepared mountains of food, and there was the magic of the steam engine."
The steam engine transferred the horse-drawn harvest to the age of mechanization, and with it, Cache Valley prospered.
Kevin Jones, a farmhand and USU graduate student, explained the transformation: "With the U.S. involvement in World War I, grain prices skyrocketed; local farmers experienced a broad demand for their products. By essentially feeding the free world single-handedly, they felt the bulge of money in their pockets. This was a prosperous period in Cache Valley."
Everyday connections to the farm continue to provide positive experiences.
"A visit to the farm reminds us, in the everyday hectic pace of our lives, that it takes work to produce our food supply. We often forget that as we indulge in the convenience of the grocery store," Jones suggested.
A journey through the Jensen Farm nudges one to appreciate the overall convenience of contemporary living while stirring a vivid remembrance of the past.
As for me, I spent the time waiting for dinner by quilting, stitching together memories of bygone days on the farm.
A heart-warming journey through time.
*****
Recipes listed:
Peach Cobbler or Brown Betty
Hearty Ham Supper Dish
Mama's Quick Bread
Buckaroo Beans
Fresh Apple Cake
Apple Dumplings
Baked Rice Pudding
Birdie's Pear Butter
Jensen Farm Fried Chicken
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