Childhood Memories of the Hampel Farm

Written By Ernestine Hon

Growing up on the farm, I became a tom-boy.  I would do anything so I would not have to stay in the house to cook or do dishes.  When my brothers were busy in the fields or needed someone to help with the chores, I would run to go do it.  That way I wouldn't have to work in the house.  Whenever Dad would let me, I would go out in the fields and help my brothers shock feed.  Back 50 or 60 years ago, that is what they called it.  (A number of sheaves of grain or stalks would be stacked upright in a field for drying.)  I hated doing dishes so much that one day after we all had dinner, I decided to go to the outside toilet (we didn't have a bathroom at that time) and stayed there for one or two hours--thinking my sisters would have the dishes finished by that time.  I went back into the house and all the dishes were still on the table.  Mother said, "Now you can do the dishes by yourself.  Never pull that trick again."

I remember in the winter time John, Norbert, and Paul did trapping.  They would get up real early in the morning, before milking the cows and going to school, to check their traps.  I always wanted to go with them but Mother said that was for boys, not girls.  She did let me go one time.  After that I never did ask to go again;  it was too cold.   One time was enough for me.

We would play house a lot outside.  We had apricot trees north of the farm house and there we would have our play houses.  Each room was marked off in the dirt.  One day some of my brothers and sisters decided that we were going to have a funeral.  We used my only doll to bury in the dirt.  Some time later, I decided I wanted my doll back.  I started digging for it but never could find it.  I never got another doll after that.

Out of all eleven kids, I got in the most trouble.  For example, I ate green pears when we were told not to.  I did not think Mother saw me get them off the tree.  When I went in the house, Mother had some caster oil for me to drink.

The basement on the farm had an outside door and I would go down and steal jars of fruit;  peaches, pears, etc.  Then I would get some of my brothers or sisters to go down the road with me where there would be some trees to hide in and eat the fruit out of the jars.  I would put the empty jars in a culvert so nobody would find them.  I even had my mouth washed out with soap once.  So much for that.

Every one of us girls had a lot of practice baking bread.  Every other day, we would bake around six loaves.  At that time, if we got store bought bread, it was something special.  On Saturday, we would take part of the bread dough and make a big pan of cinnamon rolls for Sunday breakfast.

(This story was written in 1993.)