Dear Daddy – The Farm Letters

Dear James,

We were glad to get your letters Monday and the package came yesterday just in time for your clothes to get in the wash. Last night we had a nice little shower and it looks like showers all day today. It will be a blessing if it does rain as everything is terribly dry. The vines are still green tho’ and the tomatoes are growing good, but so many of them get a big rotten spot on the bottom just as they get ready to ripen. It is good that I set out so many plants, just a few would have yielded nothing. I found 2 small ripe ones yesterday and gave them to the children. I found the library card and am sending it along.

I haven’t seen any plowing yet but the corn is all cut and nearly every one is thru threshing and silo filling. They’ll probably get out after the rain. I’ll send you your clothes tomorrow. We won’t go to town this week as I have all the supplies we really need but am sending you a little list. How would you like to have us drive down and get you and we could take a few things back with us? We would come right back and you could drive all the way home. School starts here on the 5th of September and we’d have to come down before that as I don’t want the children to miss a single day if things go right. They can start here anyway and if we decide that it is best to move back to Minneapolis later it will be all right.

We are all well. Let us know about the fishing trip.

Lots of love from us all, Martha, Ruth and John

Dear James,

Your letter came Saturday and we were so glad to get it. First of all we’ll tell you that Mitzi is better but can only hobble on three legs and is in much pain when she moves. I sat out in the yard reading all afternoon Sun., and she lay at my feet. We gave her 2 doses of castor oil, one Sat. night and one Sun. morning and she had 4 good movements and felt much better afterwards. I remembered what you said when she was hurt before and watched out for that in particular. Her leg isn’t broken but is badly bruised and one hip and side, although no skin was broken. I hope it cures her of chasing cars.

I bought a crate of peaches Sat. and shall can them today. They cost a dollar and aren’t extra good but I decided not to wait. I also bought some sugar and a piece of bacon and some cloth for petticoats for Ruth so I have just a dollar bill left but that will do until payday.

Most of the threshing is done and they are cutting corn. If it rains some more and the millet gets it’s growth we’ll have as good a crop as anybody around here, and I think you can sell it for a good price.

I need some cloth to make bloomers for Ruth. I’d like sateen in a flesh or tea rose color, about 5 yards. You may be able to get it for 20 cents a yard. John would like to make a pushmobile. He wants to know if he can use the wagon wheels, and they need nails and John would like a yard of canvas. He’d pay for it himself. Will you get me another paring knife? John lost mine and gave me a dime to buy another but I couldn’t get a good one for that.

I made 2 pints of the rhubarb conserve. It is pretty rich but will taste good “when the snow flies”. Let us know how and when you are coming. Could we meet you at Wadena and do some trading there? The road from there to P.R. is very good. I must get at the canning.

Lots of love until we see you, Martha and the children.

Dear James,

We were glad to get your letter and hear about your fishing trip. I wish we could have helped you eat them. I believe we’ll have a try at it before school starts. We’ve had some excitement here too. Mitzi got run over yesterday morning, on the way home with the milk. She had jerked the rope out of John’s hand or else the rope came untied and she got in the way of the car. Her hind legs are bruised but no bones broken that I can see. She can barely drag herself around and whined and whimpered all night. Her appetite is good but I guess I’ll have to get some castor oil.

Mr. Rood and Mr. Jenson hauled in 2 loads of sudan grass yesterday and stacked it at the end of the other stack. The millet is growing good since the rain. Our share of the thresh bill was $1.01 and I paid it. There were 101 bushels of oats at 3 cents per bushel. Mr. Rood wants to know if he should put in the crop next year. He’d like to put in rye on the big square field and oats on the south 18 acres where they did the best this year. He has the oats in his granary but I believe I’d either sell them or store them here somewhere so he won’t have the responsibility of them.

I got up before 6 this morning and have bread set. We want to go to town this afternoon and I think I’ll get some peaches and grapes. We picked most of the corn and I am drying it. It has been real cool and there was frost in some places night before last so they say.

I hope when you write again you’ll have better news of the N.R.A. [National Recovery Administration] We are all well but get on each other’s nerves. This uncertainty about everything is hard to bear. Here is a recipe I think you’ll like. Try it with apple sauce for desert.

Sour Cream Gingerbread

2 eggs
&frac12 cup white sugar
¼ cup molasses
Three fourth’s cup sour cream
&frac14 teaspoon soda
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Beat together eggs, sugar, molasses. Add half of the cream. Dissolve the soda in the remaining half and add to liquids. Sift dry ingredients. Combine mixtures and beat until smooth. Bake 30 minutes in a moderate oven.

Well James, I wish I knew when I was going to see you again. Until we do lots of love from us all, Martha, Ruth and John