ozarkmountaingal

We always had chickens. My grandparents always had chickens.

Chickens played a dual role then. They weren’t treated as pets. It’s hard to eat a pet. You could eat the eggs and the chicken. Survival would depend on how much you prepare.

On the family farm you are always in preparation mode. Need milk,  get a cow. Not any cow, but one that has a calf. After the calf has been weaned, the cow could be milked on a daily basis. Day and night. My grandpa was so experienced milking that he could squirt the teat and feed the cat. Grandpa had a three legged stool he would sit on as he milked. After he started getting up in years , I often wondered how he could sit so low and still get up from the stool.

Grandma would let the pail milk sit out at room temperature with a cloth over the bucket. The cream would rise to the top. We would take the cream, put it in a jar and shake it to make butter. Grandma would keep the buttermilk to make her biscuits with.

The butter would be rinsed with water several times. A bit of salt would be added to it. There is nothing quite like a fresh hot biscuit with fresh butter on it. One would often make a meal with biscuits with a touch of butter on it.

The typical Ozark Mountain meal would consist of fried potatoes sometimes with onion, pinto beans with hammocks, if available, then cornbread.  On Sundays many would often have chicken, fried.

Children would walk to school if they weren’t needed on the farm. Children played big role on the farm. There was always chores that needed to be done. For the girls sewing, repairing clothes, canning. The list goes on.

The boys did more manly chores. Cutting trees for firewood. Anything that was considered dangerous would be the role of the man. My grandma told grandpa that she needed honey. Grandpa always seem to know what tree had the honey.

He would take containers with him, go to the tree and get the honey.  Being as I was girl I didn’t get to go with him. So, I don’t know if he would cut the tree down or bore a hole and let the honey flow in.

To be continued.