Kids & Work

I spent three more hours today transcribing the old tape I found from July 4, 1985. Next time my kids feel picked on because I made them work as children, I want them to think about this:

Dad [Grandpa Robertson]: ...Then we had that big garden down below there which we had to irrigate. It came out o’ that same spring where we got the water. We run it around the hill and irrigated. We raised all our own potatoes and carrots and rutabagas and peas and beans.

And we always had corn, cucumbers and onions that we raised. And turnips. We’d all go down there, all four of us kids and Mom, and we’d weed it, we’d help plant it, we’d rake it after it was ploughed. Dad would plough it. He always had a horse and a plough.

Me: About how old were you?

Dad: That was about seven years old...

And we’d take and hoe the corn. We’d help plant the garden, help rake it. Our job was to help water it. Mom would be there to help us. Dad and John were generally out working on a ranch some place during the summer time or for the Forest Service, or in a mine. So it was up to Mom and us kids to take care of the garden and we did. Then we’d pick and shell peas and have peas and new potatoes and beans and a little bit of bacon on them. Always raised radishes. Mom always made our own homemade bread, of course. She’d bake a big batch and every time she’d bake bread, she’d bake a pan of cinnamon rolls. Sometimes, we’d run out of butter. We’ve used Crisco for butter more than once. A time or two when there wasn’t much else around to eat why I remember that we’d make sandwiches, spread Crisco on ‘em and cut up radishes and have radish sandwiches.

Me: That doesn’t sound very good.

Dad: Well, they were pretty good, actually.