In my research of the mid-1800’s, I enjoyed taking a look back at the history of farming and the changes that have taken place over the past 150 years. My Prairie Sky Series is set in the mid-1800’s when plowing, planting, hoeing, and harvesting were all accomplished with meager tools and horses or oxen.
Work was difficult and time consuming. For that reason, farmers were limited to planting a small amount of acreage, on average twenty-five to forty acres. Tiny seeds like wheat were hand sown by broadcasting over plowed and harrowed ground. Before planters were invented, farmers were forced to plant corn, potatoes etc. by hand. Rows and kernels were spaced farther apart than they are today, thus yields were not as great.
When crops ripened, they were often harvested with a scythe or hand-picked. It was hard, grueling work shared by the entire family, down to the youngest of children.
The turn of the century brought huge changes to farming with the invention of farm implements and equipment. By the early 1900’s, tractors began to replace horses and oxen for pulling and self-propelled combines did the work of separating the seed from the stalks.
Today’s farmers do all their work with farm machinery. Modern technologies such as tractors, planters, chisel plows, and combines do the hard work once done by farm workers. Many farmers now tackle farming several thousand acres each year.
Technology has completely altered the way farming is done, but one thing will never change, and that is the farmer’s dependence on the Lord for sunshine, rain, and the miracle of taking a single seed buried in the soil and creating a stalk which yields a hundred fold.
May that be the goal of our lives ~ to plant seeds of hope and healing into people’s hearts through our words and actions. We may do the planting, but it’s the Lord that brings about the growth and harvest.
How has the Lord brought a blessing of increase into your life? I’d love to hear your story.
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**Read how God works in the lives of Cynthia’s characters in her Inspirational, Historical Romance (Prairie Sky) Series.
UNDER THIS SAME SKY ~ BOOK ONE
~ She thought she’d lost everything ~ Instead she found what she needed most ~
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
UNDER PRAIRIE SKIES ~ BOOK TWO
~ Beyond shattered dreams lies a realm of possibilities ~
**Connect with Cynthia Roemer on Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter. Read more of her writing at: Putting on the New Blog.
After living in far W TX for 4 years, I am in awe of the powerful faith of the farmers I met. Their lives and livelihoods depend totally on the Lord. That’s true for all of us but, unlike me, they walked their faith in every step and, no matter the harvest, they praised God for His provision.
Amen! Thanks for sharing, Sherry. My husband and I are farmers, so I know first-hand how dependent we are on the Lord’s provision. God bless you!
I grew up near a dairy farm where my mother (who loved cats) took all our stray cats and dropped them off. Ugh. We learned later how they were often stepped on by cows. My 5th grade ‘boyfriend’ and I used to explore the strip mines across the street from my house and next to his. We had one neighbor beside us and one in back of us and one across from us. Very rural, until a developer bought all the empty land and threw up cracker jack houses by the hundreds. But, I gained a good friend and a babysitting job from those houses. My house on a half-acre is still there among the mass of little ones. There is something special about rural. But, I love having neighbors I can call on next door who aren’t a mile away. Many blessings for success with your book, Cynthia.
Thanks so much for sharing your memories, Bonnie, and for your well-wishes on my writing. Yes. There is something special about rural living. I can not imagine living anywhere else. God bless you!