Imagine a life in farming without tractors, bailers, combines and other equipment. In today’s society it is easy to take for granted all the equipment that makes farming easier. Marlene Christensen who is my grandma, helped me trace my farming roots. She was born in 1936 and remembers how much farming has changed in her 77 years of living. She grew up in Riverside, Utah when man power and horse power were a farmers best friend.
She accounts that tractors were just starting to come about but not all farmers could afford them , so they relied more on man power and horse power. She agrees, that between 1945-70 is when the change from horses to tractors came along to help increase technological practices. (Growing a Nation) Although, Marlene worked on a farm without a tractor, so she was required to put her hands to use at a very young age.
When she was 10 years old , she helped produce beats. Beets required a thinning process which happened twice a year to give them room to grow. She remembers that it was always a cold muddy time when they thinned beats, because they were thinned in October. The thinning process made sure beets were not touching each other and was done by hand using a hoe. After thinning took place they waited for the beats to grow and when ready, they would use a digger pulled by horses to dig up the beets. When the beets were on the surface, they would throw the beets onto a truck and they were ready to be sold. She did this until she was 14 years old.
Later in her 20’s, Marlene remembers picking potatoes. To pick potatoes they would go from row to row having a sack between their legs and once the sack was full they would take it to a truck and get another one and continue picking potatoes. This sounds like a long drawn out process and it makes sense that one farmer would supplies 10.7 persons with food. (Growing a Nation)
It is interesting to see that farming has increased from one farmer providing 10.7 people with food, to one farmer provides 100 people with food in the year 2000. (Growing a Nation) Marlene expresses this perfectly, when talking about the processing of beats and potatoes were done by hand or by horses, back in the 40’s. To now, everything is done with machines. This makes sense, why a farmer can provide for 10 times more people today then they could 50 to 60 years ago. This was not possible without, laying a foundation and farmers establishing their roots.
She accounts that tractors were just starting to come about but not all farmers could afford them , so they relied more on man power and horse power. She agrees, that between 1945-70 is when the change from horses to tractors came along to help increase technological practices. (Growing a Nation) Although, Marlene worked on a farm without a tractor, so she was required to put her hands to use at a very young age.
When she was 10 years old , she helped produce beats. Beets required a thinning process which happened twice a year to give them room to grow. She remembers that it was always a cold muddy time when they thinned beats, because they were thinned in October. The thinning process made sure beets were not touching each other and was done by hand using a hoe. After thinning took place they waited for the beats to grow and when ready, they would use a digger pulled by horses to dig up the beets. When the beets were on the surface, they would throw the beets onto a truck and they were ready to be sold. She did this until she was 14 years old.
Later in her 20’s, Marlene remembers picking potatoes. To pick potatoes they would go from row to row having a sack between their legs and once the sack was full they would take it to a truck and get another one and continue picking potatoes. This sounds like a long drawn out process and it makes sense that one farmer would supplies 10.7 persons with food. (Growing a Nation)
It is interesting to see that farming has increased from one farmer providing 10.7 people with food, to one farmer provides 100 people with food in the year 2000. (Growing a Nation) Marlene expresses this perfectly, when talking about the processing of beats and potatoes were done by hand or by horses, back in the 40’s. To now, everything is done with machines. This makes sense, why a farmer can provide for 10 times more people today then they could 50 to 60 years ago. This was not possible without, laying a foundation and farmers establishing their roots.