My beloved father passed away twenty years ago today. It seems so long ago and yet my memories of it are like they happened yesterday.
My father was a hard-working dairy farmer for most of his life, having bought the farm from his widowed mother after he returned from duty in World War II.
In this old 1972 photo, he is 'teddering' the hay. Grass would be cut and then teddered to scatter it around the field so it would dry better. This would be done at least twice to help it dry faster (the machine on the tractor would be configured differently to how it is here).
Here he is raking the hay up into rows ready to be baled. The tractor was a Nuffield, a true work horse on the farm for many years.
The cowshed on the far right was a walk-through. Whole milk was collected daily from the shed by a milk-tanker, supplying the Waharoa Butter Factory (now defunct).
The farm was around 120 acres and the herd normally was around 120 cows. Bulls and heifers were also kept on the farm, along with a couple of steers and a few sheep that were destined for the freezer.
I feel I was fortunate to have grown up surrounded with farm life.
Margaret xx
Great memories of your father and also your childhood growing up on a farm.
ReplyDeleteFarmer's wives are usually tough
ReplyDeleteWhat a good life.
ReplyDeleteI think you were blessed to grow up.there, too. I grew up.on a small farm...not dairy. And funny thing, my father-in-law drove a tank and picked up.milk from the dairy farms when my husband was just a kid.
ReplyDeleteOf all the career choices I have been exposed to, the dairy farmer is by far the most challenging and hardest. Caring and milking the cows every day is a labor of love. Sadly, the small dairy farmers are almost nonexistent nowadays.
ReplyDeleteGood memories of your Father and the farm you grew up on!
ReplyDeleteThat takes me back!! My father was manager of a store which sold those rakes and other agricultural machinery. We all worked in the store as we grew up and my brothers spent summers baling hay.
ReplyDeleteMy father would have been the same generation, share milking after he came out of the Navy.
Lovely memories!!
I’m so sorry for your loss. You did have a wonderful childhood. Those memories are precious. May they give you comfort
ReplyDeleteMy older brothers and sisters grew up on a farm, but Mom and Dad had sold it before I came along . . . I always felt a little bit cheated when I would hear them talk about life on the farm :) I can not think of a better way to grow up, learning to tend to animals and learning how to grow a garden and can your own food at a young age. This are the things that make responsible hard working people . . . the backbone of our world.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous upbringing you had Margaret - life on a farm was a holiday novelty for me :)
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Maxine
Good to know Margaret that your Dad was a Dairy Farmer and that you grew up on the Farm. Regards. KEV.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was a milk tanker driver at the Waharoa factory and one of the first trucks he drove there looked just like that 😊 Memories ❤️ I went to Waharoa primary school for a year before going into “town” for Intermediate.
ReplyDelete