Andrew+Watson

Andrew Watson Konette 1st

 A summer at the farm

As the snow melts, the rivers flood, and the warm weather floods back, spring is here, and its time to head on up and ready the farm. A bit of a ritual that was started back when Grandpa and Grandma Hartgee died, and my grandma couldn’t live there. Its part of the rutine maintenance that needs to be done.

A trip from lower michigan takes about 3 and a half hours to get there, and once we’re there its a mess. The winter storms have littered the ground w/ branches, large and small, and large branches weigh several hundred pounds. Aside from that, the yard has overgrown tremendously, the garden must be tilled, and the house needs some work on it.

We begin by getting into the house, taking down the insulators, killing any bugs, and surprisingly, no rodents, as well as get the antifreeze out of the pipes, make sure the electricity is good, water’s good, get water out of the basement, and light the furnace. After that comes the outside work. We attempt to start the tractor, but its out of gas, and since we need supplies anyways, we head on into kalkaska. There, we get canned vegetables, about a week’s worth of food, bottled water, some milk, plenty of seeds, motor oil, and about 50 gallons of gasoline. Once back at the house, we use the tractor the pull the largest tree branches into the compost pile, and mow the lawn w/ riding mowers.

As we finish maintenance on the area, the garden still must be tended to. We hand till it w/ hoes as the tractor’s implement is hoplessly decaying into a rusty mess. Once that is done the seeds must be planted, squash, corn, sunflowers, beans, carrots, tomatoes, grapes, berries, lettuce and potatoes are some of the plants that are planted. It takes a full day to finish, but in the end it’s worth it. Then we re-open the little irrigation channels and get ready to finish up all the small things, and leave, as school is going to be starting in a few days, and spring break is nearly over. We will return in a few months.

Mid-June has come, and like the summer heat, we are here. Of course, as on our first trip, we need to buy some food, and other supplies, but that aside everything is in good shape. The plants have grown very well, and the grass needing a trim is the only maintenance that will need to be done. Its time for a trip to the lake.

We load up our cars w/ beach toys, and swim suits, as well as the kyaks in the garage. The lake is small, sort of like a pond, but not quite. As the sun hits high noon, we unload our gear, and set up for a picnic on the boat since grandpa and grandma are on their way w/ the boat. As they arrive, we have the landing cleared, and the van unpacked. Mom stays ashore w/ the younger ones, and plays in the sand w/ them. Then some others mount on the cyaks and the rest of us get onto the boat and head out. After a couple of hours of skiing and tubing we head on in and eat dinner. Grilling out is always nice, especially on a charcoal portable grille. As the day nears its end, we load up, and head on back to the farm.

July has come, it’s time for independence day. Having a little party at home is always nice, but having a real fourth of july party, with some real fireworks is a hundred times better. To begin the day we beat the heat by going to the lake for a few hours, and around mid-day the fun really starts. The big outside grilling starts around five, and the kids run and play. Some of them ride the golf cart through the cattle trails, and some go exploring in groups, but all are back in time for dinner.

Dinner is a grand meal. Hamburgers, hot dogs, potatoes, french fries, soda, juices, and many other traditional foods. The smell is overwhelming and with mouths watering we dig in.

After a hearty meal we head on down to the carnival. At the carnival there’s elephant ears, lemonade, and all the junk food you could eat. We clamor to ride the cheap ferris wheel, and pet the animals, but are sure to reserve our spot to watch the fireworks. The fireworks are amazing, and to wind the day down we head on back and let the kids run around w/ sparklers, & firecrackers while roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over a warm fire.

Soon we must go back, its been a good 2 weeks up at the farm, but all good things must come to an end, of course, we’ll be back soon enough, and it was a nice way to spend the 4th of july, but its still sad to go.

As August and September rolls around, things are winding down. Few things are left to do, as the weather cools, summer activities become less enjoyable, and more difficult to do. Readying for the winter is coming more and more into the mindset, and the harvest is nearing. On these still warm, but cooling autumn days, canoeing is a nice activity to do. The cooling river waters, are fresh, and the autumn air feels great as you paddle the labryinth of lakes, streams, and rivers. On a nice day, we’ll pack up the canoe in the truck, and head on off to the nearest river. About mid-day we land on a little island in the river, and set up for a nice picnic. As some kids go exploring, the rest of us finish up the meal, and pack the canoes, but we stay about an hour longer since some kids want to go swimming for a bit, and why not, we’ve got a whole day to finish the canoeing and some rest is always a nice thing.

Once we’ve loaded the canoes up, we head on out, and after a few hours, we’re totally lost. We’ve got compasses, but honestly, who know’s how to really use those? At least efficiently, especially when you don’t know your location or the location of the pickup. So, we finally find a little bait store and use the phone to contact the people who stayed w/ the trucks, and get them to come pick us up. After a long day, a nice fire is a great thing, especially when over the course of the next few days, we’ll have to harvest, and save all the crops, as well as ready the farm for the winter.

The harvest is a great time. Its a good bit of work, since we lack any implements other than scythes, since the true tractor implements have all but rotted to rust piles. The actual tractor may be in good condition, but thats simply due to a lack of overall use, and fairly usual maintenance.

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">So, as we go the the fields, we hand harvest everything. There’s only about 2-3 acres of crops, but, thats a good amount of work if you’re doing it by hand. Then, the day after harvesting the initial crops, there’s the fruit trees, and there are quite a few fruit trees. About 3-5 apple trees per acre, and a few other fruit trees, as well as the vining plants.

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Once everything’s been picked, its time to store them up. I never knew much about this part, but i did know that fresh jams were made, and this is when the corn grinder got used, allowing fresh cornbread and many other corn based products to be made. Anything that could be canned would, ensuring a nice supply of food for the winter, and next year, decreasing overall food costs.

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">With a large surplus of food, we have an amazing thanks giving. The smell is amazing, roast beef, potatoes, gravy, turkey, beans, corn, fish, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, squash, and grapes are a few of the things there to eat. Almost all home made, and as the family gathers round, it becomes agonizing to listen to the prayer, but finally we dig in and the explosion of flavor takes you away. An hour later, you just can’t move because so much has been consumed, but wait, theres more, time for dessert! Guess its time to unzip the jeans and fit that extra pie in there.

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">As the day winds down, we end the night, akin to many other nights, simply w/ a fire. Tomorrow we have to pack up to leave, and this may be the last night we spend at the farm this year. The warm glow shields your back from the autumn chill. A few of us will return for things like closing up for good, snowmobiling, and getting rid of the piles of leaves, but aside from that, this is the last we’ll see of the little old farm house and all its attractions.



[|Fur Trade]

[|mining boom present] [|mining booms]

[|Coming auto boom?]

[|Fishing Boom]

[|Land Speculation]

[|Farming]

[|Lumber]

[|Notes]