I am a very proud daughter of a hard working farmer. Farm kids are few and far between these days, so that makes me just a little bit more proud to be one. Although I do not live on the farm anymore, it is very much still in my roots. I wouldn't change this upbringing for the world.
You might be a farmers child if...
1. You learned how to drive at a very young age.
I used to sit in my daddy's lap and drive his old red ford when I was six years old. When I could finally reach the pedals, daddy would have me driving the work truck behind the tractor he was moving to another field at the ripe young age of 10 years old. (My mom was so pissed at my daddy when he started doing this.)
2. You know how to drive all kinds of farm equipment.
The second thing I learned how to drive was an eight row Case International Combine during the corn harvest when I was eight. To this day I hear "Keep it straight now, if you don't keep it lined up, we'll have to go back over it, and that will put us behind." Daddy doesn't like to be behind his schedule.
3. You've learned not to get attached to the livestock.
Daddy also raises some beef cattle. I learned not to even bother giving them names, because in a couple months, they would be gone.
4. You don't even dare say "I hate the rain."
Here in South Carolina it gets very dry in July and August. Anytime it even sprinkles you say "Thank you Lord for the rain." My daddy will give you his angry eye if you say "I hate the rain," and will respond with "Well I guess you don't like to eat as well."
5. During planting and harvest season you don't even bother with making any weekend plans.
It's a miracle I can even get my dad to go to football games during the harvest. We do most of our vacationing between planting and harvest, or we wait till after the harvest to do anything.
6. You can tell the quality difference between in season food and off season food.
I don't bother to eat tomatoes, watermelon or strawberries until summer time because I hate the quality of them during the winter. It just doesn't taste the same to me.
7. You cringe from the sheer fact that most children think their foods come from the grocery store.
While it is true that you buy your food from the grocery store, all of the meats, vegetables, fruits and dairy products come from a farm around the United States. Most United States children do not know this, and just think that the Grocery store grows and produces their foods.
(Read more about AG in the classroom and what you can do to help at http://www.scfb.org/programs/ag-in-the-classroom)
Do you relate to these? Are their some other things that come to mind if you are a farm kid? Let me know! I am so very proud of where I came from and all of my roots. I hope you are proud to be a farm kid too. Those of you who aren't farm kids just remember this saying "In the winter's chill and summers heat, a farmer works so the world can eat."
