As a child growing up in the country I wasn’t aware that there were differences between how I was raised and how my cousins who grew up in the city were raised. And now as adults we do have different habits.
First, we did not have an indoor bathroom until I was 12 years of age. Bathing was in a Banya at either Grandmothers. Or in a big metal tub that fit all three of us girls. Rising at 4 am was not unusual. There were chores to do. If you did not have any electricity like at my Grandmothers, you had to keep fires burning to heat the house, melt snow if you needed water, light the kerosene lamp if it was in the winter, dig a path to the outhouse free of snow, feed the animals if you had chickens and a cow.
My Dad would clean a path of snow for us to catch the school bus and put ashes on to make it less slippery. That is because we wore rubber boots with a felt liner, and if it was really cold, a wool sock, and another over our boot. My Grandmothers knit the socks for all of their grand children and adult children. When my Dad was young he and his Dad knit the socks on a wooden knitter they made. It was like a large Knitting Nancy.
The day continued with many chores. Country children help to feed the animals, water the garden, weed, harvest and prepare to can food after you pick it and dehydrate some. We never had a TV until I was 12 years of age. It gave lots of time to be screen free and develop the brain. Along with all the chores which also helped brain development. When my Grandmothers were six they were already knitting and sewing for the family.
I grew up where shopping for groceries in the winter time was less due to winter road conditions. You just couldn’t get to the city. So you had meals that were different then the children who grew up in the city. My Grandmother liked oatmeal with squash. I liked soup and homemade bread or croutons. We loved to walk in the spring and pick Nettles, False Solomon Seal, Watercress, Morel mushrooms. Our root cellar below the house was full of produce, canning, and fed us throughout the year until the wild food and gardens started producing. As Doukhobors were vegetarian it was pretty easy to do this.
Today I share a few of these country habits with my grandchildren here at Oliver Creek Farm. It is hard for adults to live on a farm who grew up in the city. Habits like sleeping in, not doing farm/garden daily chores; spending time reading, watching something, exercising, maybe shopping daily for food; and liking the entertainment of visiting somewhere. Which are all necessary for city life, which is great. Please be aware farm culture is different. And it is a vanishing lifestyle today as most people live in cities.
When I was young, it cost $13,000 for my Dad to purchase our home and an acre of land to grow food on. Sadly wages then really haven’t gone up too much. When I was in high school the boys got jobs at the local sawmill on weekends and were able to make $20.00 an hour and buy a car. I made a dollar an hour babysitting. The mill would not hire girls. It wasn’t until after college that I could be employed with enough money to purchase a used vehicle. Today to purchase a used vehicle for your family you have to earn $20,000 and to even afford rent or purchase a house you both need to work at pretty high paying jobs just to get a mortgage. Extended family life is becoming a way to survive.
The future survival of country living is at risk. Mega industrial farming has taken away many family farms. Wealthy city folk invest in summer homes in rural areas which make all the taxes go up making it even harder for the small family farms to exist. So if you see a farm stand support your local farm family.