An important article appeared on the Business Day Page of the New York Times on January 24, 2014.
"The Elders of Organic Farming" by CAROL POGASH
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/business/the-elders-of-organic-farming.html?_r=0
"The Elders of Organic Farming" by CAROL POGASH
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/business/the-elders-of-organic-farming.html?_r=0
Their knowledge must be passed on. Quickly. They should be hired as consultants to community farms, consisting of organic farmlands these people have farmed since the 60's. They clear enough to live, but work very hard, 7 days of the week. Their children are not willing to commit to this lifestyle. They are in their 50's and 60's, and created modern day organic farming practices through trial and error and determination that it IS possible to farm with only what mother nature has provided in its natural form.
My father's parents were farmers. They sold out in the 50's - sold their land, but the farmhouse is still there on Springfield Road. Here's a brief history of this region:
Ellsworth Reynolds was a Quaker. His wife, Merle Brown Reynolds, had been raised up Mennonite, and graduated from high school, and attended classes at Moore College of Art. Her parents died in the 1918 flu epidemic; they resided in Philadelphia. Family lore says Merle had more than a couple of brothers, but she never saw them again after she was shipped away to live with her two spinster aunts. Merle nearly evolved into a spinster herself, but was married off to Ellsworth when she was well into her 20's. Ellsworth grew up on the farm on Springfield Road. The farm grew corn and asparagus, and bred 2 big houses full of chickens. During the season, Ellsworth hired a man to help with the farm labor, and he otherwise managed many acres by himself; my father, James Lewis helped out as a kid was expected to do, up until the time he left the farm to study steam boilers at Williamson Trade School, and to serve in the U.S. Army in Japan during the final days of World War II.
Merle cooked on a wood burning stove until the 1940's. She had a 'girl' come in to help her on Thursdays. The 'girl' usually brought her son to play with Jim; they were the same age. (They almost became reacquainted with in their 70's, but the all grown up little black childhood friend died shortly before a mutual connection made the link between the two men. That would have been an interesting reunion to observe.) Thursday was the day chickens got slaughtered in the garage; they usually did about 100 birds a week. On Friday, my father would help load the chickens and if it was in season, the corn and asparagus. They'd stop at neighboring farms to pick up their colleagues' produce, and then the truck would head from Springfield to the Reading Terminal Market at 11th and Filbert in Philadelphia. Here are some pictures:
and here is a history:
The farmhouse was built in the 1730's, and survived the American Revolutionary War, and the Civil War. World War I and World War II pass much more peacefully in the 20th Century. It was owned by Seth Pancoast, who was married to Ellworth's aunt Minnie. (See: http://books.google.com/books?id=1T4tAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA747&lpg=PA747&dq=history+delaware+county+Seth+Pancoast+farm&source=bl&ots=HcXhc5PDsv&sig=EsCvakPrfFwVl-fhrYwI-1YwV7E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=E23oUqDlEoLLsAT4_4KwCg&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=history%20delaware%20county%20Seth%20Pancoast%20farm&f=false
Here is Seth in the 1828 Census: http://www.delawarecountyhistory.com/springfieldtownship/SpringfieldTwp.1828StateCensus.htm.
Ellsworth's mother, Carrie Butcher, had married William Reynolds in 1893? and gave birth in 1896, in the barn, to triplets. She died, as did one of the triplets. The two surviving babies were given away to relatives, Ellsworth going to his father's sister, Minnie R. Reynolds Pancoast, who lived on the farm where Carrie gave birth. The other triplied died at age 7. Seth had inherited the land; the property traces back to a land grant from William Penn. Family lore says that Seth's family came over on the boat with Penn. The Springfield farm was likely used to produce food for the cityfolk, and the Quaker community in that region of Delaware Count is the reason for its placement.
Springfield Township
Settled in 1682 and incorporated as a Township on June 21, 1686. Tradition states the name comes from the discovery of a large spring in a field.
Anyhow, farming...... that knowledge of managing the Springfield Road property was lost when my father declined to adopt that lifestyle. Having said that, I must admit I do not recall my father ever speaking of a conversation with his parents regarding his future. I'll call this a logical assumption.
The one man farm concept is clearly not a sustainable model for the future. However, community gardens would work! We must preserve this knowledge. Quickly.
