A Traditional Farm Life
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! The emerging sense of a life-long dream being
fulfilled is heady stuff. Realizing you
are but a step or two away from a goal, that has hereto now always seemed just
out of reach, gives you light for one step more.
The lamp of sustainable living has been burning for my
husband and I for more than seventeen years now—as long as we have been
married, in fact, and perhaps even longer.
Sometimes it burns bright, sometimes the lamp is trimmed and only a soft
glow fills the room, but it has remained burning nonetheless. The circumstances of our life together have
ebbed and flowed, precipitating frequent moves even though the desire to
“settle down” has always been there.
And now we find ourselves owners of 11 acres on the edge of
a quiet rural Kansas town, and current circumstances seem to be indicating our
desire to put down roots is at long last being fulfilled.
For us, sustainable living means knowing how to provide—with
God’s help—for our daily needs of food, clothing, and shelter. We may never be completely independent of the
local grocery store, but our goal is to provide as much of our “daily bread” as
possible—fruit, vegetable, herb, meat, dairy, grain, etc.—and know how to
preserve the bounty for future consumption.
Throughout the years of our marriage, we have managed to put
different pieces of the sustainability puzzle together, but unfortunately, not
necessarily at the same time. We’ve learned many useful rural life skills, but
until now there has always been a corner of the barn our lamp of sustainability
has never filled with light—the draft horse stall.
My husband grew up around horses on the farm, but they were
not used out in the field. Since he was
a child he has dreamed of farming with draft horses, and has passed this dream
down to his sons.
The boys recently finished their round pen for horse
training. Their desire for working with
horses grows with each new fence they install, as the horses graze down the
tall grass and reveal the possibilities of what our property can become as
scrub trees are cleared and pasture reclaimed.
The lamp burns brightly now.
It is heartening to see some of the pieces of sustainable
living with draft horses slowly start falling into place, and in typical
Hamilton fashion, we put the cart before the horse--literally.
Our boys went to an auction last Saturday, drawn by the
dream of a team of Percheron draft horses.
The team brought more than they were prepared to spend, but a “people
hauler,” manure spreader, and horse tack were very much within their price
range.
The “people hauler” is a long wagon with benches along each
side, designed for the specific purpose of giving folks horse-drawn rides. Barring a coat of fresh paint, it will need
few improvements. The only piece missing
was the draft horse to pull it.
Though disappointed to return home without draft horses
Saturday, Monday morning found the boys in a pickup with horse trailer heading
towards Holton to consider an older Belgian draft horse mare.
Our sons purchased a “Jewel.” Their gentle giant is quite literally twice
the size and weight of our buggy horse Jack.
Her feet are the size of dinner plates—better watch your toes! This week the horseshoe farrier measured the
circumference of one trimmed hoof at a whopping 19 inches!
Once shod she will be able to pull the aforementioned people
hauler to give rides on Friday nights at the Enterprise Farmer’s Market. In the meantime, she has other roles to fill.
We were at a point in our attempt to clean up our property
in which we knew some horsepower was necessary, whether it be the type with
rubber tires or iron shoes. Michael and
the boys spent some time with Jewel in our garden one evening this week, using
a horse-drawn cultivator on an unplanted weedy patch.
Out of the garden, both older boys practiced “ground
driving” Jewel, walking behind her without an implement, holding the lines and
giving appropriate commands to be used in future farming scenarios.
This, dear friends, is the dream: to see our boys farming successfully with
horses. Our lamp is full of oil; the
flame burns bright. Its light reflects
back upon us from a Jewel, and we bask in its warm glow.
While waiting for the boys to return home with Jewel from
Holton, my eight-year-old daughter took the reins and cooked our “ladies‘
lunch” while I cut out a nightgown for our four-year-old. The asparagus spears sautéed in bacon grease
and ham drippings were simply sublime.
Ham and Asparagus
Skillet Dinner
bacon grease
ham slices
asparagus spears
salt and pepper
Melt enough bacon grease to cover the bottom of your
skillet. Fry ham slices to desired
doneness, turning once. When ham is
fried, add more bacon grease if necessary and sauté asparagus spears until
crisp-tender, sprinkling with salt and pepper and turning occasionally until
lightly browned.
Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton
Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in
Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband
own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled
children. You can reach The Buggy Stop
by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.
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