Family Farm
by Thomas Locker
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LearningTranscript
00:00Family Farm by Thomas Locker
00:09To the Michael Johnson family None of my friends sit with their sisters
00:14on the school bus, and neither do I But the day we heard that our school to be
00:19closed, I did Sarah, you said they'd never close down
00:24our school Leave me alone Mike she said and she stared
00:28out the window Why couldn't they close the school in Warren
00:32instead and make those kids ride to our school?
00:36I don't want to sit on a bus for three hours every day
00:40How are we supposed to have enough time to do our chores?
00:45How should I know Mike?
00:47Sarah answered I guess we'll just have to get up earlier
00:52As soon as we got home, Sarah went looking for mom
00:57She was out in the garden gathering the best pumpkins for tomorrow's trip to the market
01:02Sarah told the terrible news Dad and grandpa had driven to town to deliver
01:08the last load of our corn crop So I just started in on my own chores
01:15Before supper Sarah and I went out to the barn to work with our calf Dorinda
01:21We groomed her and tried to lead her around on the halter rope
01:25Then we tried to get her to drink milk from the pail
01:29Come on Dorinda Sarah said, you're too old to be drinking from that big baby bottle
01:35She'll never win a ribbon at the fair if she doesn't start growing soon I said
01:41Then we heard the brakes on our grain truck squeal as dad and grandpa pulled up
01:46Supper time Mom called
01:50Dad and grandpa were really quiet at supper When I told them about our school closing,
01:57grandpa just said, with so many folks giving up and moving away, we'll be lucky if there
02:03are enough children left to fill the Warren School
02:07You can't blame the farmers dad said The money we got from our corn crop today
02:12hardly covered the cost of seed and gas for the tractor
02:17And the price you get for milk these days is still way too low
02:20He glared at grandpa, then added, if we had brought that land last year, maybe we could
02:26have raised enough to stay in farming If we had bought that overpriced land we would
02:32be bankrupt by now Grandpa snapped
02:36Now pop, please don't start that again Mom said
02:42Things have got to get better She turned to dad
02:44Honey, do you think you could find a job to see us through until it's time for spring
02:51planting, she asked Maybe dad said
02:56That night I was so worried, I couldn't sleep I saw a light on in Sarah's room so I tiptoed
03:02past mom and dad's room and tapped quietly on Sarah's door
03:07From in mic she whispered Sarah, if we lose the farm, what will happen
03:12to the animals? Where would we go?
03:16Would we have to move to the city? Sarah shook her head slowly and said, we can't
03:23What about grandpa? He's lives his whole life on this farm
03:28Mom must have heard us Opening the door she said, it's late, and
03:33you both should be asleep Remember, tomorrow is Saturday, and we're
03:38taking a load of pumpkins to town And don't worry she added gently
03:44Somehow we'll find a way to keep the farm going
03:49We always have A few years ago, when the bills started to
03:53pile up we had to borrow from the bank to keep the farm going
03:58Mom had wanted to get a job at the restaurant in town to help out, but dad didn't want her
04:03to do that So last spring mom planted a big garden of
04:08flowers and pumpkins to sell at Halloween After morning milking we loaded the cool slippery
04:14pumpkins in the pickup truck and drove to town
04:18Nearly everyone wanted our pumpkins I can't believe it
04:23I told mom and Sarah We sold every one
04:28And the florist asked us to bring more flowers Sarah added
04:33When we got home, dad said, pumpkins sure sell better than corn
04:39Then why don't we plant pumpkins? Sarah asked
04:44Dad shrugged Selling a few pumpkins is one thing, but how
04:48would we sell thousands of them? A few weeks later my uncle Charlie who is
04:53a foreman at the electric switch factory helped dad get a job
04:59Our family was lucky because there weren't many jobs around
05:03On dad's first day on the job I set my alarm to ring at 5 o'clock an hour earlier than
05:08usual Sarah and I would have to help mom and grandpa
05:12do the morning chores that dad usually did Sarah is asleep ahead
05:18She hates to get up in the morning Wake up Sarah I called
05:24Go away It's still dark
05:28But finally she got up and we went out into the pasture and brought in the cows
05:34Grandpa turned the radio on to the gospel music station as he always did
05:39And he and dad started milking When they were finished, I got a pail of milk
05:45for the barn cats Just before he left for work, dad called
05:50to us, thanks kids See you tonight
05:54It was tough keeping the farm running with dad away all day
05:59Grandpa cleaned the barn after milking and he hardly ever went into town to drink coffee
06:04at the cafe with the other retired farmers He worked all day
06:09Sarah quit the volleyball team so we could both come home right after school
06:15I decided not to try out for the basketball team this year
06:20We took care of the calves and fed the pigs The days were growing shorter and the sun
06:25was down when dad got back for the evening milking
06:29Winter came The old furnace at school wasn't working
06:34well and some days it was really cold in our classroom
06:38So the school boards decided that instead of getting a new furnace, we should start
06:43going to the Warren School right after Christmas vacation
06:48Changing schools didn't turn out to be so bad
06:51It was fun meeting all the new kids from Warren The gym was much newer and everyone said that
06:57we would have a great basketball team And the bus ride wasn't really that much
07:03longer One evening before supper Sarah and I were
07:07out in the barn feeding the calves Dorinda was finally growing but we hadn't
07:13had much time to work with her If we don't start getting Dorinda to lead
07:18on the halter, she won't have a chance to win a ribbon at the fair I told Sarah
07:24I know Sarah said, but there just isn't enough time
07:28It'll be great when spring comes and dad can work full time on the farm again
07:34But in February things started to get even worse
07:38First grandpa hurt his back and couldn't work Our neighbors helped, but it was mom who kept
07:45things going Corn prices were still low
07:49Dad said it wouldn't pay to plant a crop, and he'd have to keep on working at the factory
07:56But things were slow at the factory, and we heard rumors that they might start laying
08:00off workers If that happened, dad said we'd have to sell
08:05the farm and move to the city where he could find work
08:09Mom cried a lot and said, we can't just give up
08:14Then Sarah got a great idea We decided to wait for just the right time
08:19to tell dad The spring thaw began and one warm Sunday
08:24morning we decided to walk to church On the way back Sarah asked, dad, if we can't
08:30earn enough from corn this year why don't we plant flowers and pumpkins
08:36Mike and I could set up a farm stand by the main road and sell them to all the people
08:40that drive by Grandpa said, you know, I've been thinking
08:45about pumpkins A few fields might just make the difference
08:50for a farm like ours But we might have to sell some of them to
08:54the food stores We didn't have any trouble selling everything
08:59from the garden last fall Mom said, we'd have to sell an awful lot
09:04of pumpkins to make a go of it Do you really think we could do it?
09:10I think so said grandpa A dairy farmer said dad, I don't know anything
09:16about flowers or pumpkins We can learn mom said
09:22We talked and talked Then, when dad got laid off at the factory
09:27that did it We decided to give it a try
09:32We planted enough hay oats and corn to feed our animals through the winter and the rest
09:36we planted in pumpkins and flowers By June the first seeding of flowers were
09:42in bloom, but so were the weeds I couldn't believe how much work it took
09:48to raise flowers We had to weed by hand, and spray and feed
09:53those plants all the time If we were trying to grow weeds instead of
09:58flowers Sarah said, we'd be rich
10:01When summer vacation came, we had a lot more time
10:06But Sarah was never around She and grandpa were always driving somewhere
10:10to deliver truckloads of flowers so I had to try to train Dorinda by myself
10:16That summer my legs had finally gotten long enough to reach the clutch pedal on the old
10:21tractor Dad started to teach me how to drive
10:26As we drove past the flower patch I saw that some of the flowers were withering
10:31Dad, a lot of the flowers are spoiling in the field
10:36I know we're selling some, but do we earn enough to pay for the gas it takes to haul
10:41them?
10:42Don't worry Mike he told me Wevee made some money on the flowers and now
10:48we know a lot of store owners who will sell our pumpkins at Halloween time
10:53You know, we might just do alright Summer ended, and except for thousands of
10:59bright orange pumpkins the color faded from the fields
11:04Dad and grandpa went back to all the stores that had brought our flowers and delivered
11:08tons of pumpkins Sarah and I set up the roadside stand and
11:14by Thanksgiving most of the pumpkins were gone
11:17Dad and grandpa even started talking about renting some load to plant a crop of Christmas
11:23trees We took Dorinda to the fair, but when it
11:27was our turn to lead her past the judges, she balked and kicked
11:32It was lucky I had a good grip on the rope She didn't win anything and we brought her
11:38home and put her with the rest of the dairy herd
11:41We were disappointed of course But a few days later, as we were closing the
11:47pasture gate, dad called to Sarah and me, come to the barn
11:52I have something for you There, nestled in the straw was a beautiful
11:57newborn calf who could win a ribbon at New Years County Fair
12:02The End