Adelaide, remember what backyards used to be like?
THESE days, some homes don’t even have a backyard. But once we had a chook shed, outdoor dunny, veggie garden, fruit trees and a Hills hoist. Here’s what backyards used to be like.
THERE was a time when almost every backyard in Australia had a chook house, an outdoor dunny, a vegetable garden, fruit trees and either a Hills hoist or a clothes line propped up with a long stick.
When I was growing up, my father had almost all the backyard turned into one big vegetable patch.
He grew potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and a wide range of other vegetables in season. I remember his big lucerne patch, which, from memory, was fed to the fowls. I believe the reason our parents grew most of their own vegetables, was first and foremost, a financial necessity.
Most families then survived on a single income, with dad as the sole breadwinner, while mum stayed at home to cook, clean and do the housework.
It also followed on from their parents, who had lived through the Depression and had taught their children (our parents) to be as self-sufficient as possible and not rely on anyone else for anything.
We also had quite a lot of fruit trees on the quarter-acre (0.10ha) block, including a massive peach, two apple, an orange, lemon, fig and quince trees. We were never short of fresh fruit and vegetables and all the excess produce was preserved at home, so for most of the year the family ate what was grown in our own backyard.
Sometimes, the fruit and vegetables were traded, as were jams or the preserves.
One of our neighbours used to catch and smoke fish which might be traded for tomatoes or fresh eggs. Another neighbour was an electrician by trade and would repair electrical appliances in exchange for fresh fruit and vegetables.
The fowl house was down near the outside lavatory and was mainly a homemade affair that housed about a half-dozen chooks with a separate cage for the rooster.
The hens kept us supplied with fresh eggs and were also a regular source of manure for the garden. Some of the hens would peck at you if you went in or near the fowl house, though I remember my sister had several hens that she used to “mother’’. One in particular was a very docile old thing and sis would wheel her around in her doll’s pram.
The rooster, however, was a vicious bird and would attack anyone who ventured inside the fowl house or anywhere near it.
If the rooster ever got out, everyone had to stay inside until Dad had managed to catch him and put him back in his cage. Only the best layers were kept and each year at Christmas one hen would have its head chopped off and be plucked and gutted, stuffed and cooked for Christmas Day lunch. It was the only time in the year I can remember us actually eating chicken.
As well as being a long way down the backyard, the outside lavatory or “dunny’’ offered many challenges to a young kid.
Many of the lavatories back then were long-drops and housed all sorts of creepy spiders (like red-backs) and various rodents. It was a frightening experience to have to go to the lav at night, walking down between the fruit trees, running into spider webs, sitting inside and hearing strange noises …. I think that’s how some of us first developed constipation!
Our original clothesline was strung up across the backyard but was eventually replaced by the Hills hoist.
The legend goes that when Lance Hill returned home from war in 1945, his wife started nagging him about her clothesline, which like most of that time, was looped between two posts and propped up in the middle with a stick. Lance, who was still trying to find work at the time, put his mind to designing a compact rotary line made out of metal tubing and wires.
And the Hills hoist was born. It also doubled as something else to keep the kids occupied …. when our parents weren’t looking we would go for a swing or a ‘whizzy’ on it. That would always get us into trouble though, because mum was frightened we would bend the arms, or even break it completely.
These days backyards are not what they used to be, With smaller residential blocks, very few families keep chooks, most people no longer have the time to tend and care for a big vegetable garden or fruit trees, smaller foldaway clothes lines have replaced the Hills hoist and the lavatory (or toilet) is now inside.
Unfortunately, the kids don’t have as many adventures, or very much room to play in the modern backyard as we did back then.
What memories do you have of those years when you were growing up in your own backyard?
Bob Byrne blogs everyday at adelaiderememberwhen.com.au. His book, Adelaide Remember When, is available from good book stores and The Advertiser news shop in Waymouth St.