Interview with Mary Creech, June 13, 1991

Partial Transcript: This is an interview with Mary Creech on June 13th and the interviewer is Elizabeth Albert.

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about her grandparents' farm and her relationship with her extended family. She talks about how the land got divided up when her grandparents died. She describes the different houses in her family.

Keywords: Animals; Aunts; Brothers; Building houses; Children; Cousins; Fathers; Gardens; Grandparents; Houses; Inheritance; Land; Letcher County (Ky.); Mines; Mothers; Parents; Plows; Sisters; Uncles

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Families.; Family farms; Livestock

Partial Transcript: Can you tell me a little more about your grandfather's farm?

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks more about her grandparents' farm and the livestock they raised. She describes making sorghum molasses and maple sugar. She talks about her grandparents' house.

Keywords: Animals; Bedrooms; Beef; Cattle; Chickens; Children; Corn; Dairy; Gardens; Grandfathers; Hogs; Houses; Maple syrup; Molasses; Sheep; Sorghum cane; Spinning wheels; Sugar

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Families.; Family farms; Gardening--Appalachian Region; Livestock--Appalachian region

Partial Transcript: Do you remember what kind of, um, uh, appliances you had, or your grandparents had?

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about her grandfather's craftsmanship. She talks about her grandmother making vinegar and using a stream to keep dairy cool. She talks about when they finally got electricity.

Keywords: Bamboo; Coal stoves; Corn; Craftsmanship; Electricity; Grandfathers; Grandmothers; Grandparents; Milk; Parents; Pumpkins; Streams; Vinegar; Water wells; Wood stoves; Work

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Families.; Family farms; Farms, small

Partial Transcript: Who did, um, who did, can you tell me a little bit about who did what around your house when you were growing up in terms of, did everyone have their own specific chore they did, or how did that work?

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about her parents working on the farm and how the neighbors used to help with farm work and it would be a social event. She talks about how that tradition started to decline and how her family started to separate. She talks about canning and preserving.

Keywords: Beans; Chores; Coal miners; Fathers; Fruit; Hired help; Logging; Lumber; Mothers; Moving; Neighbors; Parents; Preserves; Siblings; Smokehouses; Socializing

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Canning and preserving; Country life; Families.; Family farms

Partial Transcript: When you were, when you were living in that house with your parents, um, and you had, there were eight kids all together you said, um, and you said that pretty much everybody joined in and did the same thing.

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about the chores that she and her siblings did and talks about her relationship with her sisters and brother. She talks about the house where she grew up.

Keywords: Animals; Bedrooms; Beds; Boys; Brothers; Chores; Fireplaces; Girls; High school; Housework; Mattresses; Quilts; School; Sisters

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Country life; Families.; Family farms

Partial Transcript: How do you, how do you remember, um, I mean all the things that you, when you were little and your brothers and sisters had to do all the hard work, how do you remember your mom getting you to do all that?

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about how her parents disciplined their children. She talks about playing with her cousins and being out in the woods. She talks about how she met her husband and where they lived. She talks about working together with her husband.

Keywords: Apples; Brothers; Cousins; Fruit trees; Gardens; Husband; Mothers; Moving; Playing; Responsibilities; Selling; Sisters

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Country life; Families.; Family farms; Marriage

Partial Transcript: Now, when you first started growing these, where did you plant them?

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about starting out growing apples and developing Scarlet Galas. She talks about growing nursery trees. She and her husband are planning to move the orchard to different land and are building a house.

Keywords: Antique trees; Apple trees; Building; Leasing; Moving; Orchards; Planting; Production; Scarlet Galas; Selling

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Apples

Partial Transcript: Yeah I wanted to ask you about, about your family, um, when, how many kids do you have?

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about her opinions on raising children. She talks about how she raised her children differently from how she was raised.

Keywords: Child-rearing; Childhood; Children; Chores; Daughters; Fruit trees; Gardens; Responsibilities; Sons; Television; Working

Subjects: Apples; Families.; Parenting

Partial Transcript: One thing I wanted to cov-- to get over a time period too is, um, farming equipment and things like that from when you were a kid up till now.

Segment Synopsis: Creech talks about the different farm equipment that her parents had and that she and her husband have. She talks about raising a garden and using pesticides.

Keywords: Berries; Diggers; Fungicides; Gardens; Herbicides; Land; Mowers; Mules; Nurseries; Selling; Sprayers; Tractors; Vegetables

Subjects: Agriculture--Kentucky; Gardening--Appalachian Region; Pesticides.