The American imagination draws much from our early experiences of rural life. Central to that life was the family farm whether found in the mist shrouded hills of Appalachia or on the wind-swept prairies of North Dakota. Here are several stories that come from this rich tradition.

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Over Run  Playing Time 6:32

One of our favorite stories, Robert Butcher from Glenville, West Virginia, reminds us of how humor can be found in the most unfortunate of circumstances.

Beans Worked Me Hard  Playing Time 5:30

Betty Farmer is well-named growing up as she did on a family farm. Here she talks about a lesson she learned trying to get out of chore when she was a child.

Sudden Encounter  Playing Time 1:43

Bruce Perry isn't entirely sure this really happened but he says his family tells it for the truth. It took place on a farm in North Dakota and shows the kinds of unexpected dangers early pioneer families often encountered.

That Was Farming Back Then  Playing Time 3:35

Diane Jones plays banjo in an old-time string band called the "Reed Island Rounders." Her family comes originally from a farming community in New Jersey. Here she tells about what happened to a very large horse and very small woman one day on the way to town.

Dead Geese  Playing Time 1:54

Things aren't always what they appear as Rickie Yeagar Cooley tells us here in a funny story about plucking geese.