OPINION: Time for our families to relearn some skills

I doubt seriously if my grandmother ever went to a store to buy a broom. If she needed a new broom, she simply asked grandfather to make one. Everything he needed to make the brooms came from the farm except for a couple of pieces of bailing wire.

Actually, they used two different brooms in those days. They had a yard broom and a house broom. The yards around farmhouses of that day were kept clear of any vegetation. If a sprig of grass dare sprout near the house, it was rooted up immediately. Then the hard-packed dirt yards were swept frequently. It was their method of pest control. If any bug, worm, lizard or any other crawly creature dared to cross the yard, a nearby chicken would spot it and add it to her menu.

Yard brooms were made from dogwood limbs. Dogwood trees that grow under old-growth pine trees are long and spindly due to low light levels. Three of these limbs tied tightly together made a very satisfactory yard broom. When it was worn beyond use, the limbs then were used as handles for the house broom.

Cotton was almost the only crop grown in those days, but cotton is very damaging to the soil. If a field was planted in cotton for several consecutive years, it would simply stop producing. Farmers had no choice but to abandon that field for a number of years and allow native plants to recolonize it and eventually bring the soil back into balance. About the only thing that would grow on an exhausted cotton field was broom straw.

Any time a new house broom was needed, there would be a nearby field of broom straw to harvest for the straw. Farmers kept a supply of the material cut and cured to use for new brooms as they were needed. A new handle was cut from worn out yard brooms, or the old handle reused. A bundle of straw of the appropriate size was placed around the end of the handle then tightly bound in place with bailing wire. The more you twist the wire, the more secure the broom.

These brooms looked exactly like the ones used by wicked witches, or Harry Potter, to fly through the air. However, the only time I ever saw one of them fly was when grandmother threw it at a barking dog!

So, what is the purpose of this column? It is possible for people to take care of themselves without government interference, regardless of the state of the economy. That is, if they have the motivation and knowledge necessary to make do with whatever resources are available. It takes some experience, and some effort, but it can be done.

My diapers were made from flower sacks. My toys were made from such things as corn cobs and chicken feathers. Yet I never felt underprivileged or impoverished. Maybe it is time for our families to relearn some of these skills.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com/