2 Childhood

Chapter 2 Childhood Every day, George explored the fields and flowers and animals on the Carver farm. It was a big farm, about the size of 180 football fields! Moses and Susan grew corn, wheat, and potatoes. They raised cows, pigs, and horses.

There was always plenty of work to do on the farm. Jim and George were expected to help the other farmhands as much as they could. Jim was big and did some of the chores that took strength, such as plowing the fields. But George never seemed to be fully healthy after he recovered from whooping cough as a baby. He was often sick. "My body was very feeble, and it was a constant warfare between life and death to see who would gain the mastery," he once wrote.

Because he was often sick, and not very strong, George was excused from the heavy-duty work on the farm. But he still wanted to be helpful. So he did what he could, such as taking care of the plants and flowers and feeding the animals. George didn't go to school as a youngster, but he still had quite an education on the farm. From Moses, he learned to waste nothing. Moses believed that everything the family needed to live was available right there on the farm. From Susan, George learned how to sew, cook, and clean. Susan even made her own clothes with the help of a spinning wheel she kept in the house.

When George was eight years old, he was baptized a Christian. Because he loved nature so much, George always referred to God as "Creator." George went to church on Sundays, about a mile away from the farm. During the week, he played with the neighborhood kids. Most of them were white, and he learned to get along with people no matter what color they were.

Mrs. Baynham was white. One day when George was helping her with her roses, she showed him the paintings in her house. George decided he wanted to paint pictures like that. He didn't have any brushes or paint or canvas or paper. But Moses had taught him to make good use of whatever was available. So George squeezed the juice out of some berries, took a small stick, and started painting on a flat rock. When George wasn't working or playing, he took long walks in the fields and the woods, talking to plants and flowers, and caring for them. He cleared a spot in the woods where he kept his own little nursery—a special place for plants. "Strange to say, all sorts of vegetation [plant life] seemed to thrive under my touch," he said.

He collected rocks, too, and stashed them by the chimney in a corner of the house. Susan would make him clean out the corner, but the pile would soon grow again.