Bob Artley

Once Upon a Farm, by Bob artley (read 14 Sep 2016) This 2001 book tells of the farm where the author grew up. It is located near Hampton, Iowa, some 150 miles northeast of where I was born and grew up. The author is some 11 years older than I am and so his memory of his farm time is different from mine but there are many similarities. He tells of muddy spring roads but also of the joy of springtime...He tells of clearing the field sith fire--something we never did knowing that it was better to return the residue of last year's crop to the land. He tells of preparing seed oats with a fanning mill,, of butchering hogs and cattle, plowing with horses, the early days of tractors, of selecting seed corn in the days before hybrid corn, of corn shelling, planting corn with horses, hauling manure, birthing of pigs, the hatching of chickens,.handling of bees, making hay,,milking (by hand), running the separator by hand, churning for butter, cultivating (he calls it plowing--we never so referred to it),using a binder, shocking, threshing, digging potatoes, picking corn--all things I remember so vividly. He also talks of silage making and corn shocks, not part of my growing up. But I found so much so poignant of what I recall so vividly that reading the book was a trip to a past now utterly gone from today's world. He went to a one room school for eight years, which is not part of my experience, and he did not have electricity most of his youth whereas we always did--even though it was only 32 volts and so there was no refrigeration or milking machines till after the War, Half of the book is of drawings which make the book a quick and easy reading experience.… (mais)

4547. A Book of Chores As Remembered by a Former Kid, by Bob Artley (read 12 Mar 2009) This is a little 100-page book, half of which pages are drawings. The author grew up near Hampton, Iowa, and he tells of farm chores done by him and his brothers in the days when horses were the motive power on the farm, and even when there was no electricity. Much of what he tells reminded me of my own youth on an Iowa farm, though he is a bit older than I am. A pleasant non-profound book, which was easy to read and look at.… (mais)