A Rural Life

A Rural Life. . This site was the home of the Grady Babb family. He and his wife Ellen purchased acreage which included a house, a few outbuildings, and a neglected citrus grove. Beginning during the Depression, they improved the grove and over time made it productive. The Babbs farmed much of their own food using a horse-drawn plow. They added to the original property over the years as they raised their family. The barn and the three sheds were part of their everyday life and present a unique collection of historic agricultural facilities still at their original location., WATER IS LIFE , Shingle Creek and its surrounding cypress swamps provided water for cattle, lumber, and posts for fencing and in extremely dry times, water for the citrus trees on the Babb property. Getting the water to the trees required dipping it up in buckets and transfer into barrels on the family's Model T truck for transport to where needed., PIONEER HARVESTS , The Babbs, working side-by-side and with the help of their children, harvested citrus, farmed a variety of vegetables, and raised cattle. In the early years, citrus was taken to a packing house for rail shipment. The development of roads, trucks, and new processes later allowed other options. It is unknown when citrus was first planted on the Babb property. Citrus growing was and is a hard business whether the worry is severe weather or diseases. The family was proud of the grove they cared for. It was lost early in this century to citrus greening - a disease that kills the trees.