100 Nostalgic Childhood Summer Farm Memories

Whether you’re a kid from the 1950’s, 1980’s or 2000’s, these 100 nostalgic childhood summer farm memories will bring back good ol’ times. Country kids in the summer are a different breed, and these summertime childhood memories of a farm kids will make you smile in agreement. So take a moment to remember your own childhood dog days of summer or use these ideas as inspiration to recreate a farm kid summer for your youngsters!

1. Finding a wild rose bush

2. The buzz of locusts overtaking a peaceful evening

3. Rhythmic chirping of frogs at dusk

4. Creepy chorus of coyotes

5. Holding your marshmallow too close to the fire

6. Running full tilt in capture the flag 

7. Trying not to burn your face as you roast a hot dog

8. The smell of hamburgers on the grill

9. The big Tupperware bowl filled with yellow potato salad

10. A game of kick the can with a bunch of friends at dusk

11. Sitting around the campfire talking late into a Friday night

12. A classic game of hide and seek or sardines in the dark while your parents visit

13. Gathering locust shells from trees and hanging them on your shirt

14. Watermelon juice dripping down your chin

15. Trying to keep a juicy BLT from falling apart

16. One person cranking homemade ice cream while the other person sits on the bucket to keep it from jumping around

17. Sucking on ice cream rock salt

18. Strawberry shortcake with homegrown strawberries 

19. Your backache from stretching and leaning to pick strawberries

20. The dreadful chore of hoeing the vegetable garden

21. Swimming in a stock tank and feeling the slime on the bottom with your bare feet

22. Picking an arm full of fragrant lilacs

23. Making mud pies decorated with juniper berries from the cedar trees

24. Cautiously looking for poison ivy when hiking or walking in the woods

25. Getting cedar tree sap on your hands that won’t go away

26. Catching lightning bugs and putting them in a jar only to find them all dead the next morning

27. Swinging on a tire swing until you touch the tree branches

28. Spinning on a twisted up swing until you’re sick

29. Itchiness all over from rolling around in the grass

30. Catching a ride with your dad on the Grasshopper riding lawn mower

31. Doing donuts (or cutting kitties) on the zero turn lawn mower when your dad isn’t looking

32. The Schwan’s man pulling in the driveway

33. Orange sherbet push-up ice cream

34. Ring pop, eye popper sour bubble gum and pretend cigarette candy

35. Water fights with old Lego buckets full of water

36. Super soaker water guns

37. Laying on the hot cement after a water fight 

38. A box full of icy pops in the deep freezer chest

39. Tanning on a plastic woven lounge chair

40. Sweat bees when you’re weeding the flower garden

41. Picking sand plums…so much sweat in your eyes and itching arms

42. The unforgettable memories from spending a week at grandma and grandpa’s house

43. Riding with grandpa in his ancient pickup to check the cattle

44. Playing house under the cedar bushes

45. Standing in front of the window air conditioner

46. The coo of mourning doves on a sultry, quiet afternoon

47. The creak of a 100-year-old windmill

48. Waking up on grandma’s couch to the smell of pancakes

49. Catching grasshoppers

50. Rhythmic whomp-whomp-whomp of an out-of-balance ceiling fan

51. An afternoon nap on shag carpet in the cool house living room

52. Makeshift outdoor tents from tarps and saw horses

53. Letting go of a rope swing at the right moment to make the perfect splash in the creek

54. Hanging up freshly washed doll clothes under the tree

55. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd on a Saturday morning

56. Cutting the first tomato in half, sprinkling on salt and pepper and eating it over the kitchen sink

57. The infernal scratch of hay from stacking hay bales 

58. Searching for a new litter of kittens

59. A big bowl of Mom’s homemade ice cream. Then a second bowl

60. Burning yourself with a punk while lighting fireworks

61. Staying up past midnight to watch a meteor shower with lifelong friends

62. Hands-on experiences where the whole family worked on a hard, manual labor project all day Saturday

63. Sweat soaked jeans from riding double during horseback riding

64. The unbearable heat of a hayloft

65. A vase full of zinnias

66. Sweet home, Alabama blaring

67. Blue fingers from eating mulberries straight from the tree

68. Making a whistle out of a wide blade of grass

69. Perpetually pink from calamine lotion

70. Sweltering in the kitchen while canning jars upon jars of tomatoes

71. Two weeks of perfectly juicy peaches

72. The joy (and envy) while swimming in a friend’s pool

73. Birthday parties that consisted of turning on the sprinkler and opening a box of Little Debbie’s

74. Reading a book during a rainstorm in the hayloft

75. A best friend dropping by unannounced and staying for three hours

76. Whiplash from playing Red Rover

77. Lightly brushing someone’s ear with tickle grass

78. Spending the night in the backyard until you get too scared from coyotes

79. SpaghettiOs 

80. Grilled cheese 

81. Reading Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys far into the night…and being too scared to go to sleep

82. Canned crushed pineapple and mayonnaise sandwiches or banana and mayo sandwiches

83. Pretending to “gallup” a horse down the forever long drive to check the mail

84. Homemade popsicles with jello

85. Running through the mud in a freshly plowed field after a rainstorm

86. Dressing baby farm animals in doll clothes

87. The tickle of ducklings eating out of your hand

88. Forever ruining your clothes in a mud puddle

89. Looking for grandma and grandpa to turn onto your dirt road for a visit

90. Making giant “nests” out of straw after wheat harvest

91. Chewing wheat grains until it turns to gum

92. Playing in the back of the field wheat truck and burying yourself in the wheat like it was sand

93. Picking strawberries, green beans and all other garden produce in the warm morning before the heat of the hot summer days

94. Itchy arms after picking okra

95. Making necklaces and bracelets from dandelion stems and other natural materials

96. Raiding Dad’s junk pile as a great place to find items for making a fort

97. The dusty smell of a combine cab or wheat truck

98. Perpetually scraped, bruised and scabbed knees from outdoor activities

99. The pride of catching your own sunfish or perch at grandpa’s pond

100. A day of family fishing followed by fish fry of bass and catfish that always had a pond-y taste

101. Windows open, lace curtains blowing in the fresh air, birds chirping

102. The Oakridge Boys, Glen Campbell and Dolly Parton playing on the kitchen table radio

As we move forward in life, let’s not forget the good times of the past. You might have enjoyed some or all of these 100 nostalgic childhood summer farm memories or you might have a totally different set of childhood summer memories. Either way, the summer for most kids was a time of freedom and endless possibilities. So this year, let’s try to give that same gift of heat and boredom and freedom to discover to our own children.

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