Summertime on the Swanson Farm
Posted 11/7/02

In the early 1900s, farms were pretty much self-sustaining. Except for purchasing basic staples, the family's food needs were planned to last the entire year. Sustenance and shelter were arranged for farm animals. Windows and doors were repaired. Worn clothing was mended and handed down to younger children. Even lowly grain sacks were mended by Grandma. According to Alys Johnson in the Swanson Family History, "Ma used store string and wove the hole closed with a large darning needle, or sometimes patched the hole with used overall cloth."

Farm equipment was serviced and, when parts wore out, they were repaired at the farm when possible. My grandfather's smithy shop came in handy for many things. Alys writes that one winter her father and Charlie made a bobsled, assembling sections of the wagon in the shop.

Families usually were large and everyone worked. As boys and girls grew, they did their share, arising early to help with chores (milking cows, feeding and watering the animals) that sometimes were beyond their physical capacity. They helped with fieldwork and many household tasks. Plus, the children attended schoolóand they usually walked the distance, short or long.

Fortunately, Grandma adapted well to the role of "woman's work"óthe multitude of chores within the house, tending to the garden, raising chicks in spring, gathering eggs, feeding the chickens and chopping off their heads. As the children grew older, Grandma was relieved of milking cows, though she helped with the job of separating cream from the milk and then washed the containers. There were no convenient household spray hoses to make the job easier.

Alys writes in the history, "Ma had a huge garden south of the bee yard west of the house. We grew enough for the entire year, canning and storing foods we didn't eat in the summertime. She started tomatoes and cabbage in a hotbed." A hotbed is an outdoor wooden frame partially or fully covered with glass (old window frames with glass intact are sometimes used) to stimulate early germination of seeds and growth of seedlings.

Who else remembers the delicious, rich, thin-skinned 'real' tomatoes that we savored back then? "We also grew carrots, rutabagas, turnips, cucumbers, peas and pumpkin," Alys adds.

Grandma and Esther worked as a team putting up jellies and jams made with fruit from the orchard. Apples were canned and fresh apples were individually wrapped in newspaper and stored in a cool place for later eating and cooking. Crates of peaches and pears were purchased from town, canned and stored in the basement.

The Swansons preferred to churn their butter. No easy task. Alys says, "We had a big barrel churn for making butter. It was the job of us kids to turn the crank. We'd count so many turns of the barrel then, when our arm was tired, someone else would take over. There was a little glass peak-hole in the cover to check when the butter was made. When the butter was churned, we each got a glass of buttermilk and smacked our lips when the glass was empty. Ma took out the butter and worked it in several changes of cold water with the butter paddle. Salt was added to taste."

Every household grew rhubarb, a favorite as sauce (as we called it) for dessert. At first they ate field corn until sweet corn became available. They grew and made their own horseradish. "We raised our own navy beans and dried them for baking. Ma made the best baked beans," according to Alys.