After a title dispute forced the Lincolns to leave Sinking Spring Farm, they moved to Knob Creek, where Thomas Lincoln rented 30 acres of fertile fields, hardly enough land to sustain a family in those times. Thomas and Nancy Lincoln grew corn and pumpkins, raised vegetables that could be eaten fresh in summer and dried to last through the winter, and grew herbs for medicines and dyes. Farming on the frontier was unpredictable, as hard rain could flood fields that took backbreaking work to plow and drought could kill an entire harvest. Young Abraham Lincoln helped his parents with farm chores, and the daily struggle for survival at Knob Creek shaped the character of the boy who grew up to be president.