[Granville-Hough] 17 Oct 2009 - Weekday Work

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Weekday Work.

    Sunday was an easy day to predict and describe because we did much 
the same things each Sunday.  During crop season, we always walked the 
crops and planned the work for the week.  With 52 weeks in the year, we 
had at least 52 general categories of work we would do through the 
year.  We would always be up at dawn and have all the breakfast we could 
eat.  During crop season I would bridle and water my mule or mules and 
groom them of all sand and debris which might chaff them in plowing.  
Then I would select or prepare the proper plow to use.  We had turning 
plows for plowing terraces and preparing seed beds, middle busters for 
digging out last years growth, and Georgia stocks for attaching all 
sorts of scooters, McCarty sweeps, etc,  for different types of 
cultivation.  We had side harrows, planters, fertilizers and other 
devices for specialized work  So off I would go to get in as many hours 
of work as I could.
    While I was getting off to the fields and starting, my mother and 
younger brothers (Clifford, Donald, and Roland) would milk the cows, get 
them out to pasture, and take care of the chickens and hogs.  Then they 
would join me in the fields for putting out fertilizer, hoeing, or doing 
whatever  else needed doing.  We worked until noon, and our mother would 
usually join us for two or three hours field work each morning.  About 
10:15, she would send someone to start a fire in the cook stove and set 
any pots of vegetables to be cooked on the proper burner.  My mother 
would get there about 1100 and prepare the corn bread, get sweet 
potatoes in the oven, and be sure the pots of salt pork and vegetables 
were cooking properly.  Of course, we had the morning milk and 
yesterday's butter and buttermilk.
    About 11:30, the mules would stop at the end of each row, suggesting 
it was time for a break.  We would stop work at about 11:45, take the 
mules in for water, a good wallow, and their lunch of 8 to 10 ears of 
corn.  Then we would wash our arms, hands, and faces with lye soap, comb 
the dust and grime out of our hair, and proceed to eat dinner.  Of 
course, we ate with more gusto than manners.  Then we would lie down on 
our floor for a 30 minute rest.  We had cowhide, deerskin, sheepskin, 
and goatskin pads for this short rest.  Then we would groom and water 
our mules, go back to the field, hook up and continue plowing.  On long 
summer days about 5:00 pm, our mother would often bring each of us a 
sweet potato.  This wonderful snack gave us the energy for the final two 
hours of daylight.
    One memorable snack was on a long summer day in 1937 when we were 
working our most distant field of about 10 acres called the "old new 
ground," which bordered the Will Lack fence.  (There was a 4 acre patch 
patch on the Allen fence we called the "new ground.")  Our mother 
brought a basket with four bowls of banana pudding, and we each had a 
bowl.  (We rarely had bananas, and when we got them we made them into 
banana pudding.) It was still warm from the oven.  I still make banana 
pudding and I wonder if I will ever be able to make it as good as that 
snack in the "old new ground."
    At sundown, the mules knew it was time for supper, so we stopped, 
unhooked, and took them to the barn for water, wallowing, and corn and 
hay.  Then we helped our mother finish the milking and separating the 
calves from their mothers for the night.  The hogs knew it was their 
feeding time, and the chickens got their ration of shelled corn before 
they got on their roosts and we closed them in the chicken houses for 
the night.
    We then washed up, and had supper with the mewing cats outside the 
door eagerly awaiting any leftovers.  We never had a hot supper.  My 
mother and grandmother cooked twice daily and the noon meal (dinner) had 
enough food in the pots or oven for the evening cold meal (supper.)  As 
supper was dinner left overs, that made for considerable variety.  Our 
day ended between 8 and 9 pm and bed time was instant.
    As we were all in school for eight months, our work in school weeks 
was tightly focused on immediate need.  The big day was Saturday, and we 
tried to complete the major tasks that day, particularly gathering in 
the fall and plowing in the spring..  Through the five school days, we 
could get in the equivalent of about two days of regular work  after we 
got home each day.  In the winter, we had to cut wood, thresh field 
peas, fix fences, and  do all sorts of work  which had to do with the 
upkeep of the farm.
     We did not live on a plantation.  We did not live on a ranch.  We 
lived on a subsistence farm where we grew just about everything we and 
our supporting animals ate.  We knew nothing about grocery stores, and 
other amenities.  We had no running water.  We drew our water from a 100 
foot well.  Later we had a barn cistern for the livestock.  We had no 
electricity, and when we got it, it took several years for us to convert 
to refrigerators and freezers.  We did not have enough money for those 
things until after WW II began.
    In another time, we would have been called yeoman farmers.  In my 
family, we did not look down on blacks or anybody else.  We all did the 
same kinds of work and went to the same kinds of churches on Sunday.  
Neither did we look up to anybody.  We were scornful of those who 
considered themselves to be upper class, because we knew we had skills 
they could not match.  They had not made their way on a subsistence farm 
where you had to use both your hands and your mind and constantly plan 
ahead.
    Well, that way of life has gone forever.  Or, has it?  Time will 
tell as global warming takes its toll.