Grandpa Ward's The "Have More" Plan

My questions into honey bees (mentioned in my previous post) led my Mom to ask her father, my Grandpa Ward, about any books he might have that might shed some light onto the topic of raising honey bees.  The treasure that emerged from that discussion dramatically shaped my thinking about what I wanted in life and provided foundational context to my wanting a farm.  That treasure was The "Have More" Plan, by Ed and Carolyn Robinson.
 

The subtitle to The "Have More" Plan was "A Little Land - A Lot of Living."  This ideal was the perspective of a young couple who had escaped apartment living in New York City to buy a house and about 2 1/2 acres in rural Connecticut in the 1940's.  This was just shortly after the Great Depression, so I am sure that experience significantly impacted their thinking, planning, and implementation of their little farm.

The Robinsons had determined that by raising your own food, a family could save enough money to pay for a house, and the cost of the commute to a city job.  More importantly, a family could have a much better quality of life and more nutritious and fresher food to boot.  On the Robinson homestead, they raised most of their own food.  They raised a vegetable garden, berries, grapes, herbs, bees, chickens, rabbits, goats, pigs, and wood for fires.  They canned or froze their own fruits and vegetables.  They extracted their own honey.  They made their own dairy products.  They had fun together as a family as they enjoyed the outdoors and interacting with nature.  The production techniques and the ideal of the homestead framed what I wanted from a farm.

My Mom read me sections of The "Have More" Plan when I was a child.  As soon as I could read adequately, I read each precious chapter.  I learned how to raise laying hens.  I learned how to feed pigs.  I learned how to milk goats.  I learned about having a family cow.  I learned about having a family wood lot.  I read and re-read The Have More Plan as a child and a teenager.

When I was about 15 years old I had a liver colored German Short Haired Pointer named, Cindy.  I got her in the Fall as a puppy, so I would bring her in the house to sleep at night due to the cold weather.  One night, she found my Grandpa's copy of The Have More Plan that he had loaned to us a decade earlier.  She unmercifully ripped off the hardback cover and chewed much of the book to pieces.  I was heartbroken and tried to mend the book, however unsuccessfully.  I replaced it with an edited version of the book that came in paperback.  Eventually, I was able to find a hardback copy of the book at a used book store and was able to replace Grandpa's copy about 30 years after Cindy shredded it.

Ed Robinson was focused on efficiency.  He wanted to set up his food production processes and facilities to be as efficient as possible.  I think this is a laudable goal and worthy of careful consideration.  Over time, I found that Ed focused too much on mimicing commercial agriculture production methods and less on how to raise more optimally nutritious foods.  That said, The Have More Plan provided the foundations of my farming dreams and the ideal of raising my family's food.

I've probably read The Have More Plan about 20 times in my life.  As is often said about good books, I find that I learn something new with each reading.  Maybe I should read it again, next week.