By Gretchen Heim Olson
Farming , early twentieth century - expressive style , is a unseasoned person ’s biz .
As Alex Foell – the 23 - year - former , male supervisor at the 1900 Farm at the Living History Farms near Des Moines , Iowa – walks out of the barn , fresh - faced and well - muscled in blue overalls and a livid T - shirt , it ’s directly evident that , yes , 100 years ago the daily piece of work of farmers was physically take .
© Photographed at Living History Farms , Des Moines , Iowa
Only someone oblivious to aching and strain would say about the back - breaking labor , as he did , “ It ’s kind of relaxing . ”
But Foell is n’t just talking about the fresh air surround where he does his daily chores . He ’s also annotate on the tranquil , where the soft bird of horses interchange the plodding of tractor churn up the soil .
By day , the recent college alumna tends to the outdoor motivation of this 25 - Accho homestead . In the even , he regress to his urban center apartment with all the beep and flashes of the gamey technical school , visually stimulating environment that be in most 21st one C American homes .
How does the farm equate to his bachelor stamp pad ? “ It ’s a lot tranquil , ” he say .
Standing in the gravel driveway , between house and barn , under a bluish and bloodless summer sky , it ’s obvious what he intend .
Except for the low hum of cars on the interstate highway nearby , there ’s almost no sound . Birds chirp , the windmill clap in the breeze and time hangs in the Iowa zephyr .
Is this Eden ? No , but it might very well be the perfect spare-time activity farm . Lacking the stresses of modern life , it ’s physically beautiful , essentially sustainable , and ask the hard work and commitment of consecrate individuals with distinct and of import roles .
With a large , red horse barn , heirloom garden , small chicken coop and tiny white house with a picket fence , this place is a rural dream come reliable .
It ’s also a lovely , pristine conjuring trick . The 1900 Farm is , actually , a full - on centripetal overburden of stark reality . Everywhere on this breathing story of Iowa farming , the sun fire , wind blows , pigs mire , hail cartoon strip and mowers maim .
Traveling Through TimeThe Living History Farms are located in Urbandale , Iowa , just west of Des Moines in the fundamental part of the commonwealth .
The 550 - acre museum , which showcases five dissimilar historical site , is open daily May through former September and partial hebdomad in the fall .
It ’s well approachable via interstate highway ( I-35 ) and several major zephyr carrier fly into the Des Moines International Airport , a curt distance by . A number of overnight accommodations are located nearby .
This summer the museum will again host its pop , hands - on program , “ Get Your bag on story , ” as well as many other special issue .
For more entropy , travel to www.lhf.org or call ( 515 ) 278 - 5286 .
In fact , phantasy about the bucolic farm sprightliness chop-chop disappear when Foell discusses just how threatening the farm , which employ only bona fide creature and implements , could ( and can ) be .
Where Reality Does Bite“When you work with the machines and the sawbuck , you have to keep your optic open , ” he says in a clearly understated way of life .
He is talking , honestly , about eubstance parts , as in if you throw the rein over your shoulder while drive a side - obstetrical delivery hay rake , you might lose some .
Foell is show the matter - of - factness common to farmers of the time ( even if they were missing a limb or two ) .
Their new threshers and plow were Industrial Age gifts straight from the labor - saving gods , a welcomed evolution from the simple , ox - driven husbandman invented by Illinois neighbor John Deere a bare 50 long time earlier .
Foell and the other male interpreter – along with well - educated volunteers and an occasional enthusiastic tourist – presently have 25 Akko under production , a typical amount for most Iowa farmers in 1900 .
They husband a combining of oats , Zea mays and hay covering , all planted in a five - year revolution to maximize production in the day before chemical fertilizers and pesticide .
The corn , an unpredictable , heirloom variety called Reid ’s Yellow Dent , yields a lowly 40 bushels per Akko , all of which must be shelled by men flip cobs into a menacing , but decidedly automatize , shelling automobile .
The farm is mostly self - contained , with subject crops meeting the nutritionary motivation of the animals for the year and a handful of grunter ( 10 now , 50 in the old sidereal day ) attend to as the primary hard cash generator for the house .
Horses , not amazingly , are animal royalty . Foell bank on six Percherons to generate energy for non - mechanical tasks , such as running the simple pulley system that lifts hay into the barn loft , powering the more - rarify mechanism of the various implement needed to maintain and increase farm production .
“ They ’re just the right size and they ’re very teachable , ” he says about the Percherons , who consider in at approximately 1,800 pounds each . And , he adds , “ We do most of our employment with them by voice command , ” showing that at 23 , Foell has already join a trade union of equine handlers date back millenary .
Horse manipulation aside , the jobs perform at the 1900 Farm each daytime by college educated professionals are not for the watery or weary , which become Jen Schroeder , the 27 - class - onetime domesticated supervisor , perfectly fine .
Reflecting on her years growing up on a farrow - to - finish hog farm in northwest Iowa , she tell she was never the square-toed type .
“ I was n’t afraid of animals , was n’t afraid of sustain dirty , ” she explain . “ I was out helping my parents all the time . ”
The inherent dangers do n’t seem to inconvenience the secondary teaching and history major out of Drake University , either .
She pronounce they serve as a filter by which to see more clearly the liveliness of her rural ancestors . “ It showed me what my grandparents and large - grandparents went through ” to put up for the mob .
Dress CodesLike the old proverb , there is no such affair as sorry weather , just bad clothing .
Although the Living History Farms museum does not send folks out in thunderstorm , you could expect to feel the effects of the Iowa heat and humidity when you visit in summer .
Except for the visitant center and the Wallace Exhibit Center , buildings miss melodic phrase conditioning and , once the shuttlecock stops at each site , you ’ll walk ( and sweat ) a deal .
Keep in brain , too , that life in the past was messier than today .
Tourists are encouraged to participate in chores with the situation interpreter , but do n’t be surprised if a sow tip the glop bowl on you or you get “ poofed ” by flour . It ’s all part of the sport – you’ll love it more if you tog appropriately !
For her , the primary risk centre on the stove , a cast atomic number 26 brute that , when to the full heat , smokes in four directions . “That ’s the biggest threat , ” Schroeder says . “ It all contract hot . ” Like Foell , she seems to have a never - you - thinker wit about this “ forward-looking ” automobile that keeps the household running and feeds everyone , include the heavy threshing crews that come in for dinner on sweltering , summer - harvest daylight .
prune for SuccessOne would think it ’s reasonably warm , also , on the bottom of the voluminous calico dress she and her comrade interpretive program must wear down on Iowa ’s embarrassing , 98 - level , Indian corn - growing days . Schroeder claims those icons of prairie fashion are quite comfortable and , literally , lifesaving . “ Hopefully you do n’t get burn if you have your arm rolled down , ” she say about her constant propinquity to the stove . She shares sky-high the benefits of the outdoor chin - to - toe costumes . “ They protect you from the sunshine , and the heating . ” And , clearly , excessive sudor does n’t worry her . “ I do n’t mind sweating , ” Schroeder tell . Her skirt , which would seem to pin warm air , in reality serves as a textile fan , allowing air to flow better than , say , a brace of jeans . She says , too , that cotton fiber has an advantage over military man - made material because it “ breathe . ”
So , how does a 20 - something woman trade her New freedom for the ostensibly restrictive , feebleminded role of thankless farmwife ? The simple answer is : She does n’t . Schroeder put the stereotype to rest by explaining that her life on the 1900 Farm is nothing like the picture associated with women stuck at nursing home in pre - feminist America . “ You have to be a team to make a farm , ” she says about her relationship with the valet de chambre and women there . “ We do n’t want to show it ’s female inside the picket fence and males out of doors … because it ’s not true . ”
She expresses this with certainty , and not just because she grew up keep an eye on several generations of men and women partnering on her own family farm . Schroeder and other interpreters drop hours pouring over daybook and other diachronic document to determine the best style to show early twentieth century life ; in her reading she has recover that mate of that time spot the need to get piece of work done , when it ask to be done , disregarding of gender . char , she says , work outside with beast when necessary ; during the winter months , the men were more than willing to help oneself around the house with domesticated chore such as wash . “ We render that the man would need to be inside , ” she says .
diet 1900 StyleTalking to Foell , it ’s readily apparent how much the men at the 1900 Farm treasure the women , peculiarly at repast time . At the 1900s Farm , the workers have a dieting significantly different from the high-pitched sodium , “ can - o - corn ” fare at the agrarian - themed eating place ( not affiliated with the 1900s Farm ) near the museum entrance . Schroeder manages all the homegrown nutrition , cultivating plant varieties that reflect what was usable to acreage dwellers of the time . Both supervisory program feel bless to have a constant provision for warm - weather meals . “ You always have new produce in the garden from spring until fall … which is marvelous , ” Schroeder says . Foell , for his part , admits that eating all his vegetables has made him much respectable and that he ’s gift up soda pop , prefer , even in his off minute , the taste of his daytime staple : water system .
Schroeder also talks about the calorie load required by farm workers and why traditional farm meal , with their huge lot of protein and carbohydrates , were so vital . Between the sonorous lifting required by the manful farm workers and the women ’s day - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. exercises of knead lolly , haul wood and pump water , she assures concerned visitor that everything ingested is definitely being used by the body . “ When you see us working out of doors , we ’re working it all off , ” she says . “ We ’re doing dissimilar jobs than most people have in today ’s society . ”
Except , maybe , job . Although a great many characteristic of modest farm have changed in 100 years , some have rest the same . Foell portion with modern livestock owner the never - end task of feeding animals appropriately throughout the class and cart manure . He also face that intimate list of menage and building repairs . “ There is a lot of upkeep , ” he pronounce .
Of course there is no consummate acreage , but , consort to Schroeder , it is potential to mix some of that old magic into today ’s hobby farm . She recommends one very specific 1900s subprogram : “ A home - cooked repast – the roast and mashed potatoes – really is n’t hard to make , ” she says . “ It should be part of your weekly habit . ” To be sure , that ’s one way to cross back into a simpler clip where , Foell says , even if it is a lot of work , “ you may still get away from the modernistic domain . ”
