There's Something Special About These 18 Kentucky Farms From The Past
By Jenn Shockley|Published January 12, 2016
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Jenn Shockley
Author
I am somewhat a cliche'. I grew up running around barefoot on a farm in Kentucky.
I love writing, art, sunshine, all animals and my incredibly patient husband, who tolerates my "crazy animal lady" side.
Growing up on a Kentucky farm in the 70s and 80s was a really beautiful experience for me, though it was a lot of hard work. The farm is a special place where natural food can be plentiful and the rewards of a hard day’s work are fresh food aplenty on the table and hot water to wash with. It was the same in the early 1900s, though farmers didn’t have the conveniences that we do now. Farmers were familiar with the land they worked, and the animals that worked with them. Everything was done in patterns by season, working from dusk till dawn. All that life and love that goes into a farm tends to make it a special place, rich in both soil and memories.
Here are 18 eye-opening photos of Kentucky farms from the past:
This was a liquid feed station in Owensboro where local farmers came to pick up liquid feed. I’m not sure exactly what that was, as my parents never used it to my knowledge.
These farm workers in Jefferson County were working to harvest the potato crop. This was hard work in the hot sun from dusk till dawn. I’ve harvested potatoes before and though it's hard, it is rewarding.
A farmer’s wife is returning home after taking vegetables and fruits to town to trade for other commodities in Breathitt. This was how they survived, via trade and sales.
This is the local blacksmith as he was working on shoeing a cooperative horse. Shoeing is hard work, as it has to be done right or the horse can become lame. This man had an important job in the community.
This repair man and his family traveled around to different farms to work. This image is from their campsite near Lawrenceburg where they were preparing to approach local farmers.
Workers cut and attach burley tobacco to sticks in Lexington so it can be hung up to properly dry in the barn.
Each one of these pictures depicts an aspect of Kentucky farm life as it was in the 1930s and 1940s. This was the time frame when my own parents were children, and my Dad lived on a farm. They did not have all the “make farming easier” machinery that we do nowadays, and instead, did much of the work by hand or mule and plow. I still remember my Papaw’s mules, and my Dad actually has their harness set. Farming was a hard life with not a lot of rewards if the season was dry, but they symbolize a powerful part of our history. Farms are a deeply special place, as they are where life begins and ends for many a fruit, vegetable, animal and human. Do you have any memories from farm life, now or ancestrally?
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