Blessed are they that own land!

Blessed are they that own land! It was the paramount reason our ancestors emigrated to this great nation. If you have the opportunity, I would advise you to get a few manageable acres. Something rural and able to farm on a small scale.
Before the Great Depression most of the United States was rural and agriculture was its way of life.Families commonly owned a cow , a few chickens and had large gardens to grow their own vegetables.That way of life has pretty much disappeared.We turned that responsibility over to big corporations .
Massive Supermarkets have strangled the life out of local streetcorner butchers .These shopowners are near extinction.Produce comes from third world countries with attached health risks we've all heard about.Mass production of meats & poultry can't hold a candle to home grown pork,chicken,turkey and beef.Or your own backyard free range eggs.
I'm amazed at how little land is required to raise your own food.Most of what I raise is accomplished within the confines of 2.5- 3 acres.That includes a pond full of fish,an orchard area of apple,peach,pear,plum & cherry trees,a garden 185 x185 ft ,a generous area for chickens & turkeys to browse about and the barn. Beyond that I have more land but its mostly wooded and the horse pasture where sheep & goats hang out.You don't need a heck of a lot of land if you're producing only for your own use.In fact, my garden area supports my household and is shared by my daughter & son in law's household.
It's a lot of work but I'm able to work full time and still manage it and have recreation time.You would be amazed at how much time we spend on foolishness.Having your own farmette provides you with the highest quality food, is invigorating, builds self esteem and is an absolute cure for insomnia.!
What about bad weather? Dress for it! The nordic people have a saying "there is no bad weather, just bad clothes!" It's true. I wore my snow pants I use for winter hunting when I had to feed the animals & deal with barn issues when cold temps bottomed out this winter.A hat and a hood keeps the head warm,my mucking boots had inner liners & I wore gloves. It was -15 F and I was warm as toast. "Phew ~ it's hot out there !" ,I said one night when I threw open the kitchen door with a frigid bluster of wind.I had just returned from evening outdoor chores ,closing up the barn and throwing down hay to the horses through the trap door from the upper level of my bank barn.
Outdoor activities keep you healthy.If I do get a cold it's gone within a week now.Maybe only 3 days.
There is a wealth of information out there both in books and the internet and a city-slicker can become quite skilled at country living within a short time.The best books I've found are:

"The Encyclopedia Of Country Living" by Carla Emery- Sasquatch Books

"Five Acres And Independance" by M.G.Kains A Handbook For Small Farm Management-Dover Books

"Farming For Self -Sufficiency" by John & Sally Seymour Independence On A Five Acre Farm- Schocken Books

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/15/175955/440/464/453112
The above website article is absolutely worth reading .Clicking onto the references is an enlightening experience.

As per the 1950 SUNDAY INDEPENDANT NEWS , of Luzerne County newspaper report above: " In the center photo,Mrs. Albert Verosky, Snyder street, points to the hole in the ceiling of the second floor by a boulder thrown with great violence by a stripping blast 1,000 feet away.
The force of the rock was sufficient to send it first through the roof and then through the ceiling.
At right Mrs. Verosky shows the size of the rock which did the damage and threatened life and limb. Despite its size it was tossed like a pebble by the explosion.
Police said some of the rocks weighed as much as 100 pounds."

This picture below is the lot next door to my grandmother's place.It was 1950 and I was an infant at the time.
The picture below that, of Jamie sitting on the red truck, shows the same area 23-24 years later.It was a grown in pasture area & my uncle made a 'race track' around it where he could exercise his horse Tangerine & later Robbie.
The houses affected in the newspaper clipping were Michael Vermeda & family (white house) and the dark colored house the Lutackas'.
It makes you think twice (and then some) of those companies having 'mining rights' ! Keep this in mind with the gas leases! Fortunately environmental laws have come a long way since 1950!

A Newspaper clipping from the Sunday Independant Newspaper in Luzerne County dated 1950:

"Larksville borough is having stripping troubles and real dangers from one end to the other.

It was one extreme at the western end of the borough, bzck of Plymouth, where huge power shovels were practically digging the foundations of homes right out from under them.

Then towards the east, near Courtdale, the people themselves were being threatened.Heavy blasts from the stripping operations there tossed big rocks long distances and with enough velocity to smash right through the roofs of houses.

The picture at the left, showing a power shovel rapidly digging its way into the front yards of two homes on Carver street,tells one story.

The street itself has already been dug through and its use as a thoroughfare eliminated.At far left a truck is shown going right under where the street used to be.

A Good Place To Bring A Kid!

I felt bad for my baby girl, Jamie, all cooped up in the city back in 1973 .We lived in Bayonne, NJ then and a trip up to see Grandma and the rest of the family would do her good.I said, "Jamie, you shall now learn to drive a truck." Then, you shall learn to ride a billy goat.Here's Uncle Fritz saddling up the billygoat. Why does Little Chuckie look sad? Why is little Jamie trying to run away ?? look at me! A size 10 !! I'll never see that anymore!!

Uncle Charlie had a slew of ponies when we were kids.The one above is Little Charlie Keefe on one of them.Mine was Trigger,Paulie's was Thunder,Davy's was Daisey Mae, my cousin Christine had Dolly.He had other ponies but I forgot their names.Below is Robbie, Uncle Charlie's horse.I wish I had a picture of Tippy, my grandmother's collie and Sheppy my Aunt Annie's collie who looked like Lassie.

Outhouse Treasures

These are backyard pictures you'll rarely see again~ a string of backhouses,single seaters & double seaters.

Below is my cousin Gerry happily displaying his brother Bobby with the two family duplex outhouse as a backdrop.To the left was a single seater & to the right a double seater for my grandmother's side of the family.With 10 kids , two could be seated to keep lines to a minimum.Moms could also train their little ones by example! There was a plum tree that hovered over Grandma's backhouse.My brothers & I thought what a fine idea it would be climbing that tree & lounging on its' limbs eating plums all daylong. All evening we made mad dashes with bellies growling ~ one seater, two seater,who cares!!! move over I gotta go !!!

Backhouses were also great recreational toys for 3 year old cousins (Mark) who thought,"What will happen if I throw this yellow kitten down this hole?" Luckily for the kitten, it landed on a rock & clung to its' precipice mewing pathetically.Uncle Tom just happened to have a broom & quickly rescued the poor poopy cat clinging wild-eyed to its bristles while we kids all cheered as he was resurrected to the light of day.Grandma was ready with a pail of warm soapy water ,dropped the broom & stinky kitty in & quickly covered the top with a screen. Now the cat really had something to fear as Grandma tossed him back & forth & agitated him round & round.The kitten fianally took off running into the bushes ,once freed, and was never seen again.