Couple of stories about my great grandfather's farm

I worked on a farm while in high school for 3 summers into late fall and in winter if they needed help with the animals and were busy repairing machinery. I have some really great memories and told some of my stories somewhere here on thus forum.

In the summer, we had about 12-15 hands working the over 7000 acres of crops that were planted, plus the livestock, chickens, horses, pigs and whatever else. I named most of the animals for fun. Lunchtime was great. The women, who was the owner’s wife and daughters made a buffet almost everyday. If it rained, they would set us up in the new barn. Fridays we had to eat lunch on our own. My dad would bring me lunch on Fridays.

Anyone can get an education working on a farm. Before I started working on the farm, I was afraid to go near the cows and especially the bull. During my last year on the farm, the owner’s oldest son came home from college. He majored in animal husbandry, so they were just starting to artificially inseminate the females. I watched the son do it one time and there was no way I wanted any part of it. Watching cows give birth was very interesting as long as they were turned in the right direction.

The first time I saw them use chains to pull out a calf, I couldn’t figure out what they were doing by taking chains and sticking them into the cow and even up into her uterus to put the chains around the calf’s legs and the pull the calf out a little at a time. When the calf finally came out, all of the afterbirth came with it and even that confused me.
 
GGD had three chicken houses, but some chickens roamed free. There were turkeys and guinea fowl that also roamed free. Turkeys built their nests on the ground and they were VERY protective of those nests. They wouldn't allow you near the nests. I was strafed more than once by those big birds when walking around and not even realizing I was near some turkey eggs.

There was a long drive up to the house from the road and on both sides of the drive in season, wild grapes, muscadines and scuppernongs grew. They'd let me out down at the mailbox and I'd eat my way to the house. Besides his vegetable gardens and their bountiful produce, GGD grew peanuts and corn. He had a pecan orchard and watermelon patch. There were fruit trees scattered around and the one I remember the most was an ancient, weathered and beaten pear tree behind the barn. It yielded the best pears I've ever eaten in my life. That tree stood out and the memory has held up all these years.

My great grandparents had 10 children, my grandmother one of them. Extended family from all over the region gathered "up in the country" for holidays and Sunday afternoons. Some lived on the farm and helped out from time to time. I was one of the younger cousins and wasn't involved with work on the farm as much as some of the older ones. Much of my time there was spent carefree rambling around and seeing what I could get into.
 
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