Postcards From the Po’ Farm
First off, I need to refresh memories about where the name of the blog originated. My grandfather, who in the late 1930s bought the farm where we now life, called this 50-acre place the Po’ Farm, in reference to the “poor farms” that were prevalent in those Depression days. Fayette County’s poor farm, where people way down on their luck went to live, was out on McDonough Road.
My grandparents and my dad didn’t have to go to the poor farm, but my grandfather’s family did lose between 800 and 1,000 acres due to the boll weevil, the Depression and the financial ruin they brought. Pop’s nickname for this place shows that his sense of humor survived the hard times.
Best Watermelon Patch Ever
In an earlier era, lots of folks around Inman had a watermelon patch every summer. My cousin and neighbor Mickey Harp and I were familiar with lots of those patches, as we often got recruited to help pick, load and sell the melons. But neither of us can ever recall a...
Memories made breaking ground with an even more memorable friend
It’s been 25 years since the Inman Methodist Church completed an expansion that added a fellowship hall and numerous Sunday School classrooms. I was on the Building Committee for that project, and it was a great honor. We worked on the plans for a long...
The Adventures of Livestock… Especially in the Light of Day
Delivering a baby calf from a momma cow that’s having a difficult birthing experience is just part of the job for people who raise livestock. For us, it could turn into quite an adventure. Back in the day, when Joanne and I headed out for one of our...
Cold New Years Like These
When Joanne and I were farming full-time way back when, winters were a financial challenge. A hard frost meant the end of our yearly income from produce sales, and we had to do whatever we could to pay our bills. (The rest of the year could be a challenge...
Coldest Christmas Ever
Our coldest Christmas ever, according to AI, occurred in 1983, when the official high temperature was 17 and the low zero. The cold weather slipped up on us. We had been lucky on the weather through November and December and were still cutting collards as...