Jacobs Family Farm – Dean, Donya, Dahlia & Dawson

Partial Transcript: Dean introduces himself and gives a little background. Dean talks about his love of the area and coming to this area as a kid. Dean talks about meeting his wife and moving up in the area. Dean talks about life when they moved into the area, his career, and the farm.

Keywords: Brevard; Looking Glass Falls; Sliding Rock; South Carolina; mountains; Columbia

Subjects: love of the area

Partial Transcript: Dean describes the difference between the dream of farming and the reality of farming. It is relentless and never-ending. He talks about the time they were planning to get a new horse and a donkey and one of their goats went into labor. Over the next ten days, they had eight goats born. It was non-stop for two weeks. But the work is a joy. Dean says he likes the goats more than anything. They are easy to deal with.

Keywords: donkey; goat, joy; horse; never ending; Relentless

Subjects: Life on the farm

Partial Transcript: Dean talks about the people who have helped and given him guidance with the farm. He has talked to Mr. Fred Kilstrom who has been in the area for over fifty years. He had a great garden and offered gardening tips. A lady who has been involved with the 4-H club offered lots of tips on the goats. They were able to seek out people they needed, to help with various aspects of the farm.

Keywords: 4-H club; garden; Fred Kilstrom

Subjects: Learning about farming

Partial Transcript: Dean explains that at the moment this is a hobby farm and they are not able to farm full-time. The chickens are free-range. Dean talks about all the other animals on the farm. There is a way to help sustain the farm by selling the animals and eggs. Dean still has a job. His family helps out with the farm and he maintains the structures.

Keywords: chickens; free range; Hobby farm

Subjects: Hobby farm

Partial Transcript: Dean talks about the benefits his kids get growing up on the farm. He feels they experience more reality, births, things they have grown, and the whole process. Dean feels it is good not to be so wrapped up in the technology of today.

Keywords: births; experience; technology; Benefits

Subjects: Benefits

Partial Transcript: Dean describes what happens on the farm regularly. They feed and water the animals. There is a spring in the barn that helps water the animals. Dean talks about dealing with the spring when they first moved in and how it is now beneficial to the farm. The larger animals stay in a different area which Dean describes. The larger animals are fed twice a day and the smaller ones once a day. The eggs are collected at the same time. The horses are fed again in the evening.

Keywords: spring; water; feed

Subjects: Chores

Partial Transcript: Dean talks about why he thinks it is important for the kids to see this kind of lifestyle. The kids need to see how food is raised and where it comes from. It is better to know where it comes from and that it is organic. The food is better and healthier. Dean says he thinks there will be a swing back to things being grown organic and moving more towards hobby farms. Dean thinks the small farms are coming back.

Keywords: important; organic; Lifestyle

Subjects: lifestyle

Partial Transcript: Dean talks about the background of the farm. The land and the home they purchased was built by a man named Mr. Baynard in 1934 he worked at Cascade Lake Dam, which he helped to build. The walls are poured concrete in the basement and barn. In 1934 this was not common. Dean describes some of the interesting parts of the house and barn. Two railroad tracks are running under the house to support it. The house was built with the wood off the land. There are a few different types of wood used. Dean is not sure when the barn was built. Dean talks about the wood used to build the barn and how solid it is. The land used to be a Christmas tree farm. There were a few left when they bought the house.

Keywords: 1934; Cascade Lake Dam; Christmas tree farm; poured concrete; railroad tracks; Mr. Baynard

Subjects: The house and barn

Partial Transcript: Dean thinks it is great that there is a project to document the heritage of the people passing down their knowledge and traditions. We don’t want to lose this information. People need to look to their elders for wisdom. If we want to live off the land people do not want to lose their wisdom.

Keywords: elders; heritage; information; knowledge; wisdom; Document

Subjects: document the heritage and the traditions.

Partial Transcript: Dean talks about what people lose if the memories and traditions of the people disappear. He feels a connection to the land. When Dean works the land he feels the connection to someone who may have plowed the land at one time. This is something that should not be lost. If the connection is lost people become distanced from the land and the community, they become isolated.

Keywords: community; connection; traditions; Memories

Subjects: knowledge disappears

Partial Transcript: Donya introduces herself and give a little background about meeting Dean. They both wanted to be on a farm and leave city life. Donya spent her childhood in the area. Her dad was the Pastor of the Little River Church. The opportunity came up to move to this area and it was a perfect fit. The kids are home-schooled and they can learn about the land.

Keywords: Little River Church; home school; Pastor

Subjects: Donya Jacobs

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about her memories of growing up in Mills River. She remembers riding horses at her friend’s house. It was a good community. She loves the area. It is a special place

Keywords: Riding horses

Subjects: Growing up in Mills River.

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about the people who have helped them get started farming in the area. She mentions Mr. Kilstrom who showed them a lot about gardening. Donya mentions Ms. Barbara from her church who is known for her weaving and Donya will learn from her. She has been learning beekeeping and these people are the same age as she is and they have learned from their elders.

Keywords: bee keeping; weaving; Ms. Barbara

Subjects: people who have helped

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about what experiences she wants to give her kids that the farm offers. She feels this is a dream come true and all the memories. Watching the birth of the animals and just having animals. Donya talks about her Granddaddy Dixon’s farm in Barnwell SC which had all kinds of animals he was a pig farmer. She hopes they will always have a farm even if it is something simple.

Keywords: Barnwell SC; Granddaddy Dixon; dream come true; pig farmer; Experience

Subjects: getting growing up on a farm

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about what kids are missing by not having a connection to the land. She feels they are missing a lot. They have always kept technology to a minimum. She wants to show the kids they don’t need to be plugged in. People miss too much by being connected all the time. She remembers old-timey Sunday drives. Her kids will have the experience of not having technology and they will hopefully pass it on to the grandkids. They miss being able to connect to their elders and having respect. Donya wants her kids to have conversations with older folks and inquire about their childhood. Older folks are walking museums.

Keywords: old timey Sunday drives

Subjects: connection to the land

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about using the farm as a classroom for teaching kids. They have home-schooled all their kids and they have a connection to homeschool groups and 4-H groups. The Transylvania home school group has had their festival there for several years. Dean taught the kids science and they would walk up the road to Cascade Lake for class. Donya also teaches art camp in the summer.

Keywords: 4-H; Cascade Lake; Transylvania; art camp; homeschool groups; science; Teaching

Subjects: the farm as a classroom

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about the animals she likes the best and what lessons can be learned from the animals. She prefers the horses the best but has learned a lot from the alpaca. Donya did have goats for a short time when she was a kid. She talks about all the animals on the farm and what she has learned from them. Donya has learned a lot from the bees as well, she has gone to Bee School. Her pig Lucy is her other favorite animal. Donya shares Lucy’s story.

Keywords: alpacas; bees; pig Lucy; Horses

Subjects: animals on the farm

Partial Transcript: Donya talks about why it is important to keep the traditions of the community alive. Donya feels that if she doesn’t do it then who will? The elders are passing away and the kids are moving away. The new people moving in are trying to keep the knowledge going. It will be a sad day when people can’t remember the stories and then their children won’t remember things. Donya feels that people are coming back to living off the land, and foraging. She and Dean are trying to learn, they were city kids. This is an adventure for them.

Keywords: foraging

Subjects: Keeping the traditions of the community alive

Partial Transcript: Donya discusses growing and preserving the food they grow. They are learning, they have been here for four and a half years. She has done jams and jellies. She is looking forward to learning to can more vegetables. She loves living here.

Keywords: canning; jellies; Jams

Subjects: Growing and Preserving food

Partial Transcript: Dahlia, Dean and Donya’s daughter, talks about the farm. She plans to have a family. Her mom has taught her a lot about growing food. Her favorite thing in the garden is the herbs. She adds them to whatever they are cooking. Dahlia has helped a little with jams and jellies but her favorite part is the horse. She has always wanted horses. She plans to tell her kids about farming. Dawson, Dean and Donya’s son, agrees it is good to learn about the farm so when he grows up he will have the knowledge.

Keywords: herbs

Subjects: life on the farm

Partial Transcript: Dawson and Dahlia talk about what kids who do not have a farm experience are missing. The city kids don’t know about farming and it is cool to teach them. They are enjoying farm life. It is a much healthier life and they are learning a lot. Dawson has enjoyed growing the mushrooms and looks forward to taking them to market.

Keywords: mushrooms; City kids

Subjects: Farm life vs. City life

Partial Transcript: Dahlia and Dawson talk about keeping the tradition alive in the community. They feel they are keeping the tradition alive and it is meaningful because if they didn’t it would be lost. People need to know how to grow their food. They both feel they have skills that will serve them well in the future.

Keywords: lost, skills; meaningful; Tradition

Subjects: Keeping the tradition alive

Partial Transcript: Dahlia and Dawson talk about what legacy they want to pass on to their kids. Dahlia wants to teach kids basic stuff. She is sure she will have a farm one day and her kids will know what to do. Dawson wants his kids to have the same experiences he has enjoyed.

Keywords: basic stuff

Subjects: Legacy

Partial Transcript: Dawson closes by saying the farm has been a good experience and one day the farm may be his. For Dahlia, it has also been a good experience she has loved being on the farm. They both love the land. They used to come up to camp here and love it. Dawson is a rock climber and this area has good climbing here. Dawson explains what he likes about climbing. They both hike.

Keywords: camping; rock climber

Subjects: Life on the farm