I (Jonathan) remember fondly the many visits we made to the Johnson Farm to help weed, harvest, or process some fruit or other. It seems like we must have made the hour or so one-way trip at least one or more times a year. We always went as a family, and Mom and Dad expected even the smallest of us children to work while there. Of course us kids had a different plan. There was so much to explore on the farm, the barn, the chicken coop, and other buildings on the property, the expansive farm fields and the forest, the occasional farm animal, the black top loop drive, and in later years the pond. It was always a challenge trying to weasel out of work either weeding strawberries; picking them, apples, peaches, and probably other produce; or processing the produce. I remember not being alone in seeking creative ways to sneak off, while Mom and Dad tried equally hard to keep us focused on the work. Service at the Johnson Farm was one of the ways Mom and Dad tried to instill in us the importance of service and hard work. Once the work was done - and those of us who had snuck off to play had been tracked down – we’d pile in the big old station wagon, or whatever vehicle we had at the time and made the trek back home. We usually left with a feeling of satisfaction for having provided valuable service, even on days where we played more than we worked. And as an added bonus, we often stopped on the drive home for ice-cream at our favorite roadside ice-cream stand. Ahhhhhh!!! What an end to the day!
I have many fond memories of the Johnson farm. I loved the aroma therapy experience while picking strawberries--and the all you could eat aspect as well. Weeding the berry patch was a different story. All that time down on your knees with no end in sight made the effort harder to sustain, but it was good training for so many adult efforts. Dad had more experience with farm work than the average stake member, so a number of times he was especially asked to work on Johnson farm without the whole family coming along. When he asked for a companion, I volunteered on several occasions. I loved driving there and back, just the two of us. I'm not sure what his tasks were while we were at the farm, but twice I remember that it was during the height of the allergy season, and we both ended the day with funny noses and swollen eyes from all the pollen. I remember once that Dad's eyes were so swollen that he wasn't sure he could drive safely home. I acted as his side view navigator as we drove down the country roads to the roadside ice cream stand that Jon mentioned. We stopped to have a cone and put some ice on Dad's swollen eyes so we could manage the rest of the drive home. Good times.
ReplyDeleteI loved the big barn, which had such "character". I imagined what it was like when it had been in full use. As teenagers we took full use of it for a barn dance on at least one occasion. We also had a youth campout on the back end of the property--by the woods. I recall that it rained that night. One Pioneer Day the stake had an all-day event there. I remember a greased pig contest which was quite entertaining.
Funny thing, when the farming part of the Johnson farm was discontinued just a few years ago, the equipment was brought west for sale. Scott attended the sale at the Sharon Stake farm in Orem, which was also dismantled, and bought a very nice sprayer that we learned had come from Hiram, Ohio. We've got a little piece of the Johnson farm with us.