Letters to Mud Farm

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Philip Mullins

Ragnarokr Riders Motorcycle Club

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ont.

February 18, 1970


George Mullins III

Route 1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Dear mud farmers,

I received your letter about Christmas some time ago. I have no idea why the things were not delivered in the first place. However, have no worry. We have decided not to rent the place in Lakefield anymore. We have all moved back to the city for the next few months. We thought that we would be able to save some money by doing this. I’m not sure whether that will work out that way or not.

We have managed to buy a 1964 model year truck (a VW van naturally) for one hundred and fifty dollars. We haven’t driven it much but it seems to be fine. We’ve spent all our money on that and it does not look like we will have much for buying land again this year. So it looks like we may rent a place again. This might be just as well. Building costs are incredibly expensive. For example a foot of electrical wiring strung to a house would cost $0.75, a well would cost about $10 a foot to drill and the price of lumber is absurd.

Our group is not together enough to actually think about buying anything other than leather. There have been some really bad developments with the personnel at the leather shop since last summer. Fortunately one of the trouble makers is leaving soon and I hope that one of the others will leave soon afterward. They are not really bad people but they think differently than the rest of us. One of them is a young girl who sleeps around, has forty or fifty boyfriends, does really shitty leather work, is lazy and, in general, a real drag to have around. It is all very depressing. As soon as we get rid of some of our worst performers, others show up. We are going to have to be very, very selective in picking new entrants to the shop from now on. We have learned a few really bitter lessons in the last few months.

However, life goes on. The leather craze seems to be finally hitting Toronto. Unfortunately there are plenty of leather craftsmen around as well. One new shop has already opened since the New Year and I have heard that two more will soon be opened. I’m not worried for the coming year but I’m afraid that the current economic depression may get worse. That, of course, gives us about a year to figure out something else we can do to earn a living.

A couple from New York was thinking about opening a leather shop about five doors down from us but we hear that kind of thing all the time. This time of year (January and February) is supposed to be the worse time of year for craft stores but we are holding up fairly well. In January we did well enough to save about two hundred dollars with which to buy the truck. Most of that work was actually left over from Christmas but I was very surprised that the business did not fall off more than it actually did. This month (February) we will not do as well. We have been selling only about $75 a week in the retail store but the wholesale trade has made up the difference.

Also I have been trying to buy leather in really large quantities because this halves the cost to us. This puts a real bind on our supply of cash since we have to buy at least $100 worth of leather at a time to get the wholesale price. So as far as Ragnarokr is concerned, we are poor now and expect to remain poor forever. However, this next year should be a really good year financially and after that we will probably get into some other racket. Maybe we start a business with a little more income potential.

Take it easy, Phil


Mary Rauton

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ont.

February 18, 1970


George Mullins III

Route 1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Dear Mad and Geo;

February doldrums are setting in again. There are too many people here, most of whom are in some sort of virility syndrome. Why can’t people be clear and decisive like me?

A guy who is from Israel came by the shop. He had a leather shop there but left because he had been in Israel three years and was eligible for the Israeli draft. He is from New York and is also a US draft-dodger. He is an expert craftsman. He let me copy a man’s purse that he had made. His criticism is good and constructive. I wish more of the people in this shop had some of what he has. He has that beautiful Jewish clarity of thought and brightness that I enjoy. At present I am so dragged down by the drag element in the shop, I guess that anyone with an ounce of sense would be stimulating.

Philip and Dave Woodward are researching electronic devices since Phil recognizes the approaching flooded leather market. (There are four leather shops within a mile of here). I’m thinking of getting a job and using the funds for the school idea. (We wanted to purchase land and start a craft school in a rural setting).

Lillian Mordes sent an African shirt and some beautiful cloth in all kinds of colors. I’m making a shirt from one of them for Phil. It is dark blue. He will be gorgeous. Some friend sent me ten dollars which I kept to myself for a change. I bought a two dollar pair of shoes from a wholesale jobber, some colored hosiery and two bottle of wine. Now I’m all drunked up and beautiful.

Love and goodnight, Mary

PS Mary and Steve are expecting a new Burdick.


Jeff Mullins

206 Earl Court Street

Pensacola, Florida 32507

March 2, 1970


George Mullins and Madelyn

Route 1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

George and Madelyn;

Jeff here. I read your letter we got today and found it funny to hear you are making rocking chairs and raising chickens. I hope you are having fun and find out what you want to do before next term (whether to go to school or raise chickens). I am planning to see you all, probably with a friend or two, this summer. I want to see a lot of the US during the summer. I’m working at the Warrington Baptist Church and plan to quit in the middle of April.

School is doing fine, I guess. Dad is home in Pensacola for four or five days. It seems that every time he is here the subject of what you and Phil are doing with your lives always comes up at least once. Dad was talking about you and Phil because we got the letter from you. He thinks ya’ll should get a decent job or go back to school ( in your case, school) before you get old or something happens to you like a broke back and there is no way to pay the hospital bill.

I always try to tell him why ya’ll do what you do (that is, why I think ya’ll do what you do) but he says that I don’t know what ya’ll think and how ya’ll think, so I give up and leave him thinking ya’ll are bums. I wrote this letter mainly to get your reasons in writing so as to find out why you are doing what you are (for example, doing what you want to do and having fun rather than getting a job and living the drag of a life of a businessman for social status and security and a lot of money).

Tell me why you are raising chickens and living on a farm, have your hair long and dress like you do. Maybe then Dad will see that you are happy (if indeed you are) and don’t care for higher social status. If you don’t want to answer this question, don’t bother because it is not really important.

I hope to see you and Mad this summer. Keep on doing what you want to do and what you enjoy doing.

Jeff


Philip Mullins

Ragnarokr

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ontario

March 30, 1970


George M. Mullins

Route #1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Mary and I returned just yesterday from a trip to an area of Ontario where there are three or four farm communes and lots and lots of abandoned farms. Your idea of buying land jives, in general, with ours. A lot of the people who are into this farm thing are really weird. For example, the two communes we visited are opposed to electricity, machines, medicine and a whole host of other things.

Northern Ontario (and by that I mean the Ottawa River Valley) is somewhat colder than Oregon. They are expecting spring to arrive there sometime this month but currently there is about three feet of snow on the ground (some of it has already melted). For two weeks a year the temperature will drop to around forty degrees below zero. Winter, or at least the snow, tends to arrive towards the end of November and the really cold weather in February, I’m told.

Abandoned farms are available rather cheaply. We looked at two places that could be purchased for between $2,000 and $4,000 Canadian. ($1 US is $1.07 Canadian). Both places contained about 100 acres of cleared land with at least one stream bordering on the property. Both have access to Hydro (electricity) at a distance of ¼ to 1 mile (figure $0.75 per foot to have a pole-line installed). Both farm houses were built of whole logs finished on both interior and exterior (meaning that planks had been nailed over the logs on the exterior and the inside walls plastered). Both buildings have a large kitchen, large living and dining rooms downstairs and full basements with stone walls. One building had four bedrooms upstairs plus a large unfinished attic room measuring 50 by 60 feet. Both buildings were in excellent condition although one needed new window glass.

Another good thing about these abandoned farms is that they have one or more water wells, usually with a pump. They also have three or more log or framed outbuildings that could be made into very nice cottages. The ground has been used as a farm so a garden plot would be readily available. The disadvantage of buying these abandoned farms is that most of the timber is gone and price of land with buildings is somewhat higher than vacant land. Surrounding most of these farms is timbered land that could be purchased as well. There are about eight of us interested in buying land so for $500 each we could purchase 100 acres with a farm house ready to live in with the beginning of three or more cottages. If we have more than $4,000 we could purchase another (adjoining) farm or buy timbered land nearby.

All of this sounds good to me. This area of the Ottawa River Valley is one of the best areas in Canada for finding antiques (meaning that we could begin an antique business). It is about 200 miles from Toronto and 100 miles from Ottawa (meaning that is has easy access to major population centers). There are already at least five rural communes in the area as well as Madonna House (a Catholic lay apostolic center with a focus on subsistence farming). This land is in Ontario (meaning that we could continue to run the leather shop in Toronto).

For the long term we could plan to settle in Ontario for four or five years and then, when we are prepared, we’ll move to British Columbia or someplace else. The Ottawa River Valley is becoming a tourist area so that in five or ten years the value of the property may double. Already in the last ten years prices have doubled. If we buy a farm for $4,000 to $5,000 I can almost guarantee that we’ll be able to sell it for twice that in five years time.

You mentioned an early start in the spring. That’s fine if we can get the money together in time. Your share would be $1,000. We are trying to collect money here. The possibilities of doing it are better now than before since there are only four of us working in the leather shop now. (The original four, as it were). I’m not sure when we will have our share of the money. We may have $750 by the end of May but our share is $2,000. I’m trying to put together a group of people who are (1) willing and (2) able to put up the $500 each. That isn’t so easy you know. I’m going to write the parents and Jeff to see if they would be willing to loan us some money for the project. Barry Woolaver is interested and would sell his log cabin to raise his share of the money. There are enough people on Baldwin Street who are interested to populate an entire county but the number of desirable people who also have the necessary cash is more limited.

I don’t know what your scene is but I think that most of us in Toronto are planning to wait until the fall to buy a place. We are working here (1) to save money, (2) to put together a group of people with the necessary cash, (3) to arrange for some kind of concerted action with regard to the land purchase, (4) to raise some chickens in our pigeon coop and plant some seeds in our sour soil and (5) to buy a grain grinder and some grain so we can eat better…and do better.

The leather shop is doing better now that the winter slump is over and some of the more undesirable types have been either kicked out or have voluntarily left the leather shop.

Take it easy and work things out. I’ll do my best to get things going. Principally let me know it you are moving to Ontario this spring, next fall or the following spring.

Love, brother Phil


Mary Rauton

Ragnarokr

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ontario

March 30, 1970


George M. Mullins

Route #1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Dear George and Mad,

What a nice thing to arrive home from trekking through Northern farmlands and to find your letter about the same idea we have. Funny thing…I’ve been saying to Phil that of all the people I’ve met since I’ve been in Canada, you guys are the MOST. And Tom Bonanno too!

By the time this farm idea becomes a reality, hopefully I will be better met. At present, I am discovering all of my insanities (and everyone else’s) due to a series of crises in and around the leather shop. Phil manages to hold his ground through it all and I manage to bitch at him because of this and if I don’t watch it, something bad will happen.

I look around this dung heap and say to myself, “There must be a damn pony somewhere.” With that thought, I must be gaining ground.

Many thanks for the seed which we will start, probably next week, and also for a look at the photos.

Love, Mary


Simone Bennett

Ragnarokr

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ontario

March 30, 1970


George M. Mullins

Route #1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Dear George and Madeline;

We met you last summer and are anxious to see you again.

We are now making antique toys and selling them in the leather shop.

If you want to write to us, we would really love to hear from you. Our address is 212 McCaul Street, Toronto 2B, Ontario.

We are hoping to hear from you soon,

Dick and Simone Bennett


Philip Mullins

Third World Enterprises

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ontario

May 19, 1970


George Mullins and family

Box 188, Rural Route #1

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

US of Amerika

It is hard to keep up with your letters. I’m pleased that everyone there writes as often as they do. I’ll try to write more often. We are too busy to listen to each other and, besides, the farm thing has been on our minds so long (two years in my case) that we have about talked it out.

When we started the Yellow Ford Truck we talked about starting a housing co-operative and then did so the next month. We talked about the community of craftsmen serviced by the store and, that same month, decided to get a place in the country while maintaining the store as a source of income. We had it all planned out. First we would get the stores up and running and then we would gather a group of craftsmen, pool our surplus, buy rural property and form a real community.

What actually happened was that the store had such a shitty location that it could not sell enough of any one cat’s stuff to keep him going. I tried several things and never got my money back. Sometimes things were ripped off (for example, my flags) and other things sold too slowly to justify the investment (for example, my bags). Anyway the group of craftsmen never materialized, the store became a boutique and I left.

The leather shop developed differently. We started off a year ago with one cat. A month later we had four people (me and three people who are still here, Steve Spring, Mary and Randy Rauton). A month later we had six people, the following month eight. We had the makings for a sizable community, we all wanted to move to the country and we all got along together fairly well. Everything was going well except that there was no surplus. Even though there was no money left over at the end of each month, we rented a place in the country anyway and four of us moved there from Toronto.

While I was gone some of the leather workers left and were replaced by three people who were not interested in the farm scene. They were also vindictive. They accused us of being counter-revolutionaries, selfish, stupid and lazy. The three new people were dead set against the farm idea. We did not know this at first but, while trying to decide specifically what our next move towards purchasing rural property was, they said they were opposed to the idea. The end result was that we gave up the rented hotel and moved back to the city. Within two months all those revolutionary cats, with all their revolutionary projects, were gone. Their projects, which were to do wondrous things, all failed. I was glad to be rid of them. Those people are so freaked out that we are not on speaking terms with any of them. Maybe we remind them of their failures. This ended the digression.

The departure of the revolutionary (actually women’s liberation) three left us with only four people in the leather shop, about $500 in debt and in the middle of a long, hard winter. But we remembered, and I mean nine months later, the plans we had made when we started the leather shop. Yes, the farm. So here we are. We have learned that large communes are financially dangerous, that large groups of people cannot always agree among themselves and that we were not any closer to buying a farm than we were a year before. So we closed ranks, internalized a through-going work ethic and in the last two months have put $700 in the bank with which to buy a farm. We have collected heaps of goodies which we think will come in handy and, in general, have gotten many times closer to the goal than we ever did when we were operating as a commune.

Actually we are still a commune but it is restricted to the four of us. We have no plans to include anyone else in the scheme until we actually make it to the woods and even then we will insist on a co-operative rather than a real-deal commune.

You said, “We are all just sitting around dreaming of being in Canada.” I wonder what the weather must be like in Oregon to make anyone want to come to Canada. Really the winters are cold but we wouldn’t be able to snowshoe or walk on water if it was not. One thing I am thinking about doing when we get a yard bigger than these slum back yards is to build a boat. We could use an old fishing boat for the hull, completely rebuild the interior, install one or two VW engines and cruise down the Ottawa to the St. Lawrence River and then to the Bahamas. I know a cat who knows where we could get a VW marine engine for $600 and there are plenty of wooden-hulled fishing boats in Lake Superior selling for next to nothing. If we could keep the leather operation going while living in the woods, we could outfit the boat in less than two years. I mean an ocean-going vessel.

Regards, Philip


Mary Rauton

Third World Enterprises

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ontario May 19, 1970


George Mullins and family

Box 188, Rural Route #1

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

US of Amerika

Dear Mud Farmers,

I planted all of your lovely seeds and learned lesson Number One: the potting soil lacked something. The roots weren’t strong. But the tomatoes, basil, peppers and five parsley plants came up and were transplanted yesterday. Mary Burdick and I are watching the soil and plants with a devoted eye. We will see what happens. Probably the end result will be eye strain. No, that is not the way I should think because the little bitty plants can sense these things. Wouldn’t you all rather that we all go to some warm island? I mean we are in southern Ontario and we just planted our garden and June is almost here. Further north we would only be breaking up the ice so it would melt faster. We have saved money. We have way over $100 for the farm and under $100 for the harpsichord. Randy is going to make a harpsichord from a kit when he saves enough to get it from New York. We shall have beautiful music.

Love, Mary

PS Mary is out of her tree. She waited until now to plant her garden on account of she is lazy. The soil has been ready for planting since the middle of April. However I agree with her in that we should be willing to move elsewhere if, after three to five years, we find that Ontario doesn’t make it.

Dig it, Phil


Philip Mullins

Ragnarokr

11 Baldwin Street

Toronto 130, Ontario

June 12, 1970


George M. Mullins

Route #1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Dear kids,

Now, here are the facts about the Ottawa River Valley. The area we are presently looking at is 45 to 46 degree latitude and 76 to 78 degrees longitude. The elevation ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 feet on the Precambrian Shield to 500 feet in the Ottawa River Valley proper. There are no mountains and only a few tall hills. Mean daily temperature for the year is 40° to 42° Fahrenheit; mean daily minimum for January is 2° to 4° F, mean daily temperature for July is 66° to 68° F, May to September precipitation is 14 to 15 inches. Compare this to the January average temperature in Portland to 39° and July average of 67° with an annual rainfall of 39 inches. (The annual precipitation, which includes a lot of snow, is about 30 inches for the area of Ontario that we are interested in).

If you can dig that then you’ll know that the growing season (when the temperature averages 42°) begins around April 20 and the first frost generally arrives around September 25. The growing season is said to end around a month later making the growing season 185 days long. The soil types are listed as Class 7 which generally indicates a rock complex that is not suitable for extensive farming. In the Ottawa River Valley proper, the soil is clay. All of the farms I have visited have been on soil classed as rock but the farmers still managed to grow everything they wanted. What they mean by ‘unsuitable for arable culture or permanent pasture’ is that you should not expect to farm for a living. There are some areas, especially near the Ottawa River, that are good for extensive farming and some of those farms are abandoned. We looked at least one last winter that is located in an area of gravelly, sandy loam that has a lot of gravel in otherwise good soil. A lot of the area that is classed as ‘unsuitable’ is stilled farmed today.

We have not been looking at land since this winter so I haven’t anything new to report. I’ve obtained maps that show all the roads, building and elevations as well as wooded areas, old mines, railroad lines, rivers, streams, towns, etc. I also have soil maps. I’m trying to run down data on the location of electric power lines.

We have passed the $1,000 mark in our savings program which means that we are half-way to our goal of $500 per person. I have the impression that the parents would loan us some of what we need. They are selling their house in Pensacola. Dad said something about giving us a chainsaw. I suppose that you will be in touch with him about that. We have some kitchen tools such as meat grinders, vast quantities of spoons, forks, vegetable choppers, graters, plates, some pots and pans, wood-working tools, metal-working tools, two typewriters, two record players, one electric guitar, one autoharp, some phonographic records, a vise, planes, levels, wood carving tools, squares, hammers, a cross-cut saw, a logging saw, three heavy-duty sewing machines (all pedal operated) and a library of some eight hundred volumes including some three hundred fiction, one hundred science-fiction and two hundred good non-fiction books.

I just got a letter from Diane. She says that she feels that Christ is going to come pretty soon and also that she is afraid that none of us are saved and that she’ll be the only one of the family in Heaven. She even doubts that Mom will be there. Either Mom has become a real ‘swinger’ in her old age or Diane has become a really, hard-shell Baptist. Anyway that is what she said. Diane wants to know if I am saved. I bet she didn’t even ask you. Ha, Ha. She wants to know why I came to Canada and says that she understands why you dodged the draft but can’t understand why I did. She and her husband are going to the Philippines to be missionaries.

Yes, we will try to market your clothing. Send us a few and we’ll try them out. Better to send them as gifts so we won’t have to worry about Customs. If sales become large we’ll import them legally but that will mean we will have to pay a 20% Custom duty.

Mary and I went to the Toronto Islands yesterday and spent four or five hours looking at weeds. We can already recognize ¾ of Ontario’s weeds and we even know some of their medicinal properties. That’s all the news except that the one of the cats that the Burdicks care for has been missing since yesterday. The cat is only five inches long and a baby. Also our landlord says that he is going to commit suicide and so is selling the building. We have got to move in probably a month or so. We’ll probably stay on Baldwin Street and may get a smaller place so there will be less hassle when half of us leave the city this fall.

We should decide on some kind of schedule so I can tell people (such as the parents) what to expect next fall. For example, that you will try to leave Oregon on such-and-such a date and arrive here on such-and-such a date. Will all of you come at once or will some of you come first? I’d like to know.

The cat still hasn’t come back.

Good day, Phil


Philip Mullins

The Ragnarokr Cordwainery

11 Baldwin Street

(33 Baldwin Street after August 1)

Toronto 130, Ontario

July 15, 1970


George M. Mullins

Route #1, Box 188

Brownsville, Oregon 97327

Dear Tie-dyers, potters and old soaps;

Send more.

A tourist type shop in Niagara Falls has taken a sample of everything as well as all of the scarves and all of the headbands. I hope that the prices were correct because we gave them the wholesale price except for the scarves and headbands which we sold for one dollar each.

If you can send more scarves and headbands right away then do so. Send them in parcels valued at less than $10 each until I find out what the Customs duty is. Send them as gifts.

If you have the other things then send more of them too. People say that the patterns and the colours are some of the best they have ever seen.

Right on then, Phil

Oh, eh, by the way, I did not manage to get George landed. It seems like we don’t make enough money. However don’t worry. We will try again later on.

A hand written note from Mary was added to the above letter. It reads:

We are moving to 33 Baldwin Street at the end of July to a house that is zoned commercial, like this one except bigger. Mr. Chiu had to sell this building. Mary Burdick says she can’t wait to talk with Madelyn and Mar about batiking and tie-dying. All is good here. I can’t wait to see you guys. I asked Colleen to visit you but San Jose is too far away. The Burdicks will live at 33 Baldwin too. Steve Spring has an apartment where he lives alone. He is still working in the shop and making great hats. The Toronto Anti-Draft Programme (TADP) manual will be sent to you this week. Myra Kaplan wants to join us in the back-to-the-land project. She will have the ‘bread’ in a year. She is a teacher. A medical student who will have his degree next spring is also interested. We’ll see what happens. You guys are beautiful. Everything you make is going over big.

Love again, Mary Rauton

Use this link to return to the narrative, The Back-to-the-land Movement, February 1970-September 1970

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