Feeding the farm family: Domestic outbuildings and traditional food ways in the Blue Ridge

Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The, Sep 2002 by Wyatt, Sherry Joines

The modest prosperity of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century period is illustrated by the wealth of stately farmhouses (typically I-house or modest Queen Anne in form). Adorned by wrap-around or double-tier porches festooned with sawn-work trim and brackets, these symbols of agrarian stability are located throughout the county. The sawn-work trim itself illustrates the level of trade and communication being undertaken as it obviously relates to the popular culture of the day (Figure 1).

Putting Food On the Table

The work inside the house and on the farm that surrounded it was in every way tied to the production of sustenance for the family. Food requirements and preferences dictated the crops grown and the animals kept. Essentially, farm life was governed by two factors: the endless effort to feed the farm family and the insurmountable cycle of seasons. Although wheat was grown in notable quantities, corn was the most abundant staple crop in the region, often garnering fifty percent of a farm's arable land.2 Allegheny County farmers invariably planted corn in early spring, even if the "windsnow was flying," reports oral history participant Kyle Cox. Throughout the late spring and into summer, the corn crop was carefully tended. Every field had to be hoed for weeds three times, carefully hilling soil around each young stalk.3 In the fall, the corn was cut with the stalk intact and shocked to dry in the field. The dry corn was stored in the granary by late November.

The granary, sometimes called a corncrib, was an important part of the farm's food production. This building is usually one of the larger outbuildings on the farm and is specially designed for corn storage. The granary at the Tolliver-Crouse farm is a good example (Figure 2). The gable front, frame building has a single entrance and a small loft door. The upper portion of the building is sheathed in clapboard while narrow slats create an open sheathing on the lower section. On the interior, the building was further divided into two cribs made of slats with an open work space in the middle of the building. The slats allowed air to circulate, keeping the corn dry and free of mildew. Furthermore, granaries are often raised up on piers of drylaid field stone that helped deter rodent intrusion.

Corn, with the stalks still intact, could be placed in the loft of the granary, or on the granary floor in smaller versions of the building. When the ears were removed from the stalk they were thrown into the slatted area. Often the granary served as storage facility both for the families' supply of corn as well as the corn that would be ground with a hammermill and fed to the livestock. When the family needed more cornmeal, the best ears would be shelled and taken to a local grist mill. The corn was only ground in small quantities since cornmeal could easily get "musty" if not completely dry.4

In mid-summer, the hay would be cut and stacked or stored in the barn loft to provide the livestock's winter food. Livestock on a typical farm might include draft horses, beef cattle, milk cows, and hogs. Oxen, sheep, and goats were also common in addition to chickens and turkeys.5 The animals kept on a farm served a variety of purposes. Chickens and turkeys were kept both for their eggs and meat just as sheep provided wool and meat. Pork was the most common meat consumed by Alleghany County farmers because hogs were relatively easy to raise and one or two hogs butchered in the fall would provide an adequate amount of meat for the family until summer. Beef cattle, on the other hand, were too large and expensive for a single family. Furthermore, beef was more difficult to preserve. Typically, two or more neighbors got together in late fall to "kill a beef." Each family took only a small portion that could be used before it spoiled.