In the past 6 months, I’ve often heard the idea that the world has entered “unprecedented” times during the COVID-19 pandemic. On multiple occasions during the uncertainty of our current times, I’ve found great comfort in my history research for my historical fiction novel. Have the past 6 months been tumultuous? Absolutely! Are they “unprecedented”? Not really. History has a […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on June 3rd, 2019 It is easy to take for granted the modern kitchen, or more specifically, modern refrigeration. Food can last incredibly long inside of our modern refrigerators, but modern refrigeration is barely 100 years old. What did people do to keep food cool and away from pests before […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on May 7th, 2019 When thinking of commodities, the first thought would probably not be manure. Commodities like oil, gold, coffee, and natural gas have a fairly high demand, but who would pay a premium price for manure? In many cases, large farms need to pay others just to get […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on May 3rd, 2019 The statistic is quite striking. In 1820 it is estimated that 72% of Americans worked on farms. In 1920, the number was 30%. Today, less than 1%. This concept continues to come up repeatedly. For 200 years, people have been leaving farms for the city. The underlying […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on January 25th, 2019 I spent some time talking to my father this past week about what he knew of life in the early 1900s. I asked him questions about Dr. W.E. Taylor’s bookSoil Culture and Modern Farm Methods and was somewhat surprised by his response. His ancestors were not doing […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on January 17th, 2019 Though Dr. W.E. Taylor’s book, Soil Culture and Modern Farm Methods, is nearly 100 years old, it contains many practical tips that still apply today. This is the fifth of 5 blog posts on this subject. Find the posts here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on December 11th, 2018. Though Dr. W.E. Taylor’s book, Soil Culture and Modern Farm Methods, is nearly 100 years old, it contains many practical tips that still apply today. This is the third of 5 blog posts on this subject. Find part one here and part two here. 3. Proper Germ […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on November 27th, 2018. As I read Dr. W.E. Taylor’s book Soil Culture and Modern Farm Methods, I have been simply blown away at the depth of knowledge farmers had access to 100 years ago. One hundred years seems so far in the past that it is easy to assume the […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on November 21st, 2018. With the increase of production of corn in the early 1900s due to better technology and understanding of farming techniques, the price of corn dropped by nearly 50%. This dramatic increase of supply placed farmers in a difficult position. How would the farmer gain “a fair […]
Originally published as a blog for the Plymouth Historical Society on November 13th, 2018. In The Best Kept Secret to Successful Farming, Part I, I examined W.E. Taylor’s book, Soil Culture and Modern Farming Methods (1913). In it, Taylor implores American farmers to use manure as a primary source of soil fertility maintenance. So where does the United States find itself today? Farming […]
