This is the second in the series of posts pulled from my journals. What follows is a small selection of entries that gives a sense of our day-to-day life on the farm.

2005

January 20: Increasing layer pellet rations, trying to induce our hens to begin laying again.

February 7: Last week we got our first egg of the season. Tonight, we collected nine. Significant increase over zip.

April 9: Completed clearing the fence line in the Shinn field — took six hours of chainsaw work — then spent a few hours dragging cut timber out and stacking into a brush pile.

Came home to find our freezer failed. Saved the steaks and roasts. Will need to clean out and toss remainder of contents.

May 9: The rooster periodically begins to cluck, like a hen that is laying an egg. Three times running this has signaled a newly hatched chick under the setting hen. Odd.

July 23: Used the cold chisel to take off the top of a 50-gallon drum. We use these as burn barrels. This our third one, so they last about three years each. Rain moved in overnight, left over from Hurricane Dennis. Rain expected to linger all week.

October 1: Spent the morning making seven bottles of vin d’orange, using my muscadine wine as the base. We then loaded up the canoe and hit the river. Cindy paddled while I fished. Dinner later of corn chowder.

November 12: Dropped off the farm truck in Sweetwater in front of Fred’s to sell. Before bed I received a call from a lady who wanted to buy it for her son. He was returning home from his third tour of duty in Iraq the following week. I can’t imagine.

2006

January 3: Received word that 15 more stores are closing, and two district managers have lost their jobs. Glad to still have mine. But, shocked nonetheless. That brings the total to 33 stores and four DMs eliminated in two months. Not a good trend.

January 20: My politics seem far from those of my younger days. I seem to find more common sense in Lasch and Berry. Perhaps this meandering has been the river seeking an outlet?

We spent the afternoon walking through the old barite mine on Ross Road. Fixed a dinner of chicken paprikash.

February 29: Butchered five roosters. And went to Elliott’s Boots in Crossville for a replacement pair of boots, after the new pup destroyed the old ones. Dinner of red beans and rice with neighbors from down the hill. We spent too much time discussing one guest’s former husband.

March 18: Reworked flower beds with tilled-in manure. Dinner of shrimp creole with my aunt and uncle in K-town.

March 25: Gertie calved in the night. We found her in the corral munching hay, looking much thinner and with a trail of afterbirth down her backside. We searched the ravine and couldn’t find a calf. At noon Gertie went up the lane behind the house and stood there looking quietly. I moved through the woods and she followed me. Eventually I spotted the calf; led Gertie to her calf, who began to nurse.

March 26: She has lost the calf again. Gertie stands in the corral bawling and looks at us. Cindy and I both headed up the hill and began walking the line, with the lousy mom walking behind us. Eventually I spotted the calf on the other side of a fence. Slipping through the barbed wire, I moved it back through and took it to its mom, where it happily nursed. Dinner of chicken and sausage gumbo.

April 9: Our farm dog is playing with a catfish. She went swimming in the stock pond and caught one in her mouth!

April 30: Article in the New Yorker by Bill Buford in which he uses an Italian term, agricultura promiscus, for a smallholder. I like the sound of that.

May 12: Headed into Knoxville to visit with Don and Judy Fiene. His decline is increasing (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s). They are moving to California to be closer to family. This will be the last time I’ll see this good friend. Stopped by to see my aunt and uncle. They are selling their book collection in preparation to moving to an independent living facility. Changes in the air this spring.

September 1: Replaced wheel on hay rake with what I thought was a comparable tire and wheel from Tractor Supply. It wasn’t. The aluminum hub collapsed, which caused the rotating arms to fall to the ground and snap. I called my neighbor to see if he could weld it back together. Upon leaving the barnyard I drove my rear tractor tire over a six-inch oilcan spike. Now, I possess a broken hay rake and a large punctured tractor tire. Oh, the joy.

October 18: Dinner at Hunter’s in Sweetwater. The owner had to come and get our order. The one waiter was too busy witnessing and trying to save the souls at a nearby table. Now that is your small-town experience.

Got word earlier that NBW is closing remaining stores. Out of job by end of February.

Late October: Pigs spend most of their time galloping and playing in their paddocks. There is your argument against confinement.

December: Back has been out for the previous four weeks. MRI shows herniated disc. Losing job next month. Mr. Kyle comes by to check on me. He just had more surgery on the cancer in his skull. Looks like hell. But, he makes the time to visit me? Geeze, there is some guilt.

2007

January 21: Bought four red wattle weanling pigs. Spent most of the day working on fencing. Job ended yesterday; start new position on Monday.

April 8: Low of 19 degrees. All fruit trees, hardwoods hit hard. (This freeze killed 90 percent of the Tennessee fruit crop. It also killed all the young leaves on the hardwoods; they did not leaf out again until mid-May.)

July 5: Straight-neck yellow squash is prolific. But I miss the nutty flavor of our usual crookneck. Fear of flavor wins out again.

August 16: 102 degrees. You can hear, if you listen carefully, the moisture being sucked out of the ground. Bought three more red wattle pigs.

September 11: Cut and raked hay the past few days. Went to bale today and snapped the chain on the Heston. Why bother with getting up, sigh.

November 25: Back went out again. Three days staring at the ceiling.

December 25: Chores, then blueberry pancakes with Steen’s Syrup. Christmas calls: Cindy in Florida (home tonight), Phil in London, Dad in Lake Charles.

 

A final note on this period in these journals: One common thread that I didn’t include was how much time we spent doing fencing and retrieving cattle from neighbor’s fields and along highways. Frequently a note says, “Couldn’t find all or some of the cattle. Cindy saddled up a horse and went and found them.” It makes it sound like a Texas ranch, but I am still surprised to be reminded of how much she used the horses to work the farm.

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Reading this weekend: Mastering Stocks and Broths: a comprehensive culinary approach using traditional techniques and no-waste methods (Mamane). This is a surprisingly engrossing read, much more than a cookbook.