Re: [gardeners] Re: Saturday and Sunday in the garden
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 06 Nov 2001 10:05:14 -0600
Nope, not a farm boy, just grew up in the country on 10 acres and Miz Anne and I lived on 5 acres
for the first 15 years of our marriage. Had enough room for a couple of cows, a few goats, and an
oinker or two. Not to mention the rabbits and the chickens.
Most cows have a favorite place to stand around or lay around and chew their cuds. Down here they
pick small knolls as everything else may be wet. Tend to get a concentration of manure at those
places and it's easier than going around the place picking up a cow flop here and one over there.
I could raise enough corn for fodder on two acres to keep the critters happy for the winter. I
finally just put in Pensacola Bahia grass on the place. Since I had it cross fenced I could let two
acres at a time get high enough for baling. Custom cutting and baling back then cost me 35 cents a
bale or the fellow would take his pay in kind. A couple of cuttings would give us more than enough
hay for the short winter season.
We had a 50X90 truck garden that fed our family, my folks, and my sister and her husband (lived
nearby) plus the stock for protein. Used an 8 horse TroyBilt tiller. For bigger stuff I had an old
Farmall A tractor with all the equipment. Wild blackberries, dewberries, plums, muscadine grapes,
etc. were available for the picking and we had a few fruit trees and some pecan trees.
My Dad and I were horticulturists. Definition: Horticulturist makes his money in town and spends it
in the country. Farmer makes his money in the country and spends it in town. We both worked for the
same oil company until Dad retired.
It was a good life for young marrieds but I don't envision life in the country anymore. We like
being in a small town with close by stores, doctors, hospitals, culture, etc. And one yard full of
stuff is all we want to take care of anymore.
George
bsk wrote:
>
> So George was a farm boy? Interesting! Our cows usually poop all over
> everywhere so there isn't any gathering to it. They do like certain trees to
> stand under for summer shade. Usually it is the first one they come to after
> coming from a big clearing. These are the trees that get the best pecans.
> How big/ small was your farm and what did you grow on it? Did you do a
> big tractor garden? Seems like you have to have a big spot for some things
> like corn, okra, watermelons and cantaloupe for us.
>
> Ranchmama
> Okie zone 7a
> ************