Life in the 'Old Days'~ Part I~

My grandmother made the best of everything. And if you don't believe me...well, you can just ask me, or any of us grandchildren...smile.

I don't know how she made her mulberry pies, but I have a notion she probably mixed some other kind of berry with it. I don't know what it would have been though, because that early in the season there weren't any other 'wild' berries that I can remember. I have tried mulberry pies, but mine always are missing that 'je ne sais quoi'~ that little something that I don't know what...

We picked our mulberries, as I remember it, I do not remember shaking the tree. I've tried 'shaking' the tree, and yes, you do get mulberries. You also get twigs, stems, bugs, worms, and bird...droppings. Ew! George!

The time spent with my Grandparents was fun. Well, as much fun as growing up times can be...with all of our 'growing pains', and what not. They were older, but not really 'old'. There always was something or other going on when I was younger.

One of my older cousins loved raspberry picking. I don't know why. It was always hot, and to pick raspberries you always wore; long heavy blue jeans, long sleeved heavy shirt, and of course a hat, and anything else to keep the insects --as well as snakes-- from off of the body, . We had rattlesnakes in the 'timber' where we went to pick berries.

Sometimes we would go en masse to pick berries, and bring home buckets full of them. Now days we would freeze them, but I don't know/remember exactly what Grandma did with them other than make the most wonderful pies. Maybe she made jelly, but I don't remember.

Then there were the other times when cousin would decide she wanted to pick berries, and I, being the youngest of the bunch, happened to be the only one she could bully into going with her...sigh. Growing pains.

We didn't garden, so our chores and work revolved around inside and outside work. Outside we helped Grandpa feed and water the stock, gather eggs, and field work. We brought in the hay during the summer, and I helped with the 'corn shucking' at harvest time. Although I was in school most of that time of the year, I would help on the week ends. Very seldom did we girls milk the cows, that was Grandpa's chore...

During the summer, we girls would help Grandma with the household chores. In the morning we all pitched in washing the breakfast dishes, sweeping the floors, and preparing the noon meal. After lunch we would quickly wash up the dishes, and as Grandmother would say, "We work first, then we play!"

Out came the Canasta cards and we would play a couple of games of Canasta before time to do evening chores and supper preparation.

Quite a few years ago now, since my Grandfather passed away in 1992, a year or so before his passing he said to me, "We sure did have fun, didn't we?"

Of course I answered him in the affirmative, because it was fun, and we should never expect life to hand us only the good and not some of the other.

In retrospect...I sometimes feel like I'm sitting on the pinnacle of a mountain. Maybe I am, if we call it 'Mount Time'. Those were good times, and --from my vantage point-- yes, Grandpa, we did have fun.

'You see that hill over there?' Grandpa asked me one time. 'We used to have that all in garden.'

It was a good sized piece, well over an acre of ground, maybe as much as three acres. I could not imagine keeping that much garden in shape.

Gardens in the past generations were not just a passing fancy, a hobby, or something done just to keep busy. Without their gardens, homesteaders, and even town dwellers would not have survived, and it certainly made a difference throughout the depression era of the '30's. During World War II they also had the 'Victory Gardens', which meant a lot to those families as well.

As I mentioned, we did not garden, yet, Grandfather would plant some sweet corn along with the field corn, he had a friend that would give us apples and fruit from his 3 acre orchard in trade for Grandpa doing things for him. Often there were tomatoes or other things that came our way from friends or family members. I don't remember Grandma ever canning corn, but she did many jars of 'open kettle' tomatoes. I don't remember ever having a 'canner' either, so that would have limited our ability to preserve food, and there was no such thing as a 'freezer' in my day.

We raised our own beef and every Saturday when we took the laundry in to the laundry mat to do our washing, Grandpa and Grandma would do their grocery shopping at 'Ed and Martha's' grocery and locker where the beef was stored.

Grocery stores back in those days--at least in our neck of the world--were a far cry from today's glitzy grocery centers that you can find everything including the kitchen sink at. I remember when a few years younger standing on "Indian mound" overlooking the valley below, and watching the few twinkling lights from town. And about the same time going into the grocery store and stumping down the few aisles of wood flooring. It was somewhat of a Laura Ingalls, and Little house on the prairie moment in time.

When in Junior High and High school, I had a close friend that her mother had a very large garden. Louise's mother canned and pickled what seemed like a whole store of food. My husband's family never really left the good sense life style of gardening and living close to the land.

Marie would tell of growing up during the '30's. They lived in town, and her father was the barber in Greenfield. Her family utilized one city block for garden and orchard as well as a second area with a barn or shed that they kept a milk cow in. Her mother (Grandma B--for Bricker)was what the Bible would call a 'worthy woman'. She kept her household fed and clothed by the plain old fashioned hard work of keeping her home, and part of that was with canning and preserving their food. Marie would tell that some people of the community would take government assistance (their children seemed to have money to go to the children's matinee) but Marie's parents would not take the government assistance. (They usually didn't have money for the show either...) but they ate well, and did provide for their own. They all learned how to care for a garden, to keep house, how to cook and sew and be independent.

Marvin's family was the same except they were from the farming background. When Marvin and Marie were married Grandma Westphal helped continue Marie's education in wifery. There was more to being a wife than being just a pretty face!

I believe back in those days they just canned and preserved whatever came to their hand. As long as there was a supply of something--they preserved it. Back when I first began homemaking that was what I did as well. Probably for the first fifteen years I followed that routine, but there was a problem. I found that as our household grew I needed a 'better system'. I began by looking at the problem. In the years gone by they had access to a better food supply. Many places, especially farmsteads, had their own orchard and garden area, or at least they had access to local grown fruits and vegetables. The problem was I needed to plan in order that we had sufficient food for a year's worth of eating for our family and whoever happened to 'show up' for the meal...without much aid in the line of outside sources.

In looking through the garden catalogs some of them tell how many feet of row the seeds or plants will cover, and with research a body can find out how much this or that SHOULD supply. Now this begins to be somewhat complicated, but, start by making a list of the foods that can be supplied by your self and that you like. Also start by a realistic appraisal of what you WANT to supply for yourself.

Let's say you only want enough tomatoes for summer consumption, mostly in salads, or for sandwiches. Or perhaps you are hampered by only having a balcony for growing things. There are creative ways to grow at least a few fresh items. We at one time sold systems that had a plastic container about the size of a medium trash can. We had mesh 'stockings' that held approximately 8 cups of growing medium (peat/perlite mixture) that sat down in the larger plastic container. More medium was poured into the plastic container keeping the stockings spaced apart, and there was a plastic lid with holes for the tops of the mesh stockings to stick out. There was also a watering tube in the lid. You would plant your seed into the mesh stocking medium, and this was where it would germinate, grow, and live it's entire life. Since it had the three mesh stockings, you could plant any combo of plants in your container. Tomato, cucumber, pepper...just about anything. A couple of these would/could fit even on a balcony, or several on a patio. Another clever idea that was a part of our growing system was a ? tower for lack of the correct word here. It was a pole type contraption standing about five foot high with approximately 2" diameter holes at regular intervals all the way to the top. The pole/tower sat in a base that had a pump for a watering system, and the center was hollow. In the hollow center went a five foot length of tube containing growing medium (again peat/perlite). When you were ready to plant, because you planted into the medium through the holes, you would take a utility knife, cut an x or a cross into the hole and open up the tube enough to stick your plant into the spot. It was quite pretty with Strawberries, but there were other plants/flowers you could use as well. This is another interesting idea for a small space garden.

If you have never gardened before starting with a ten acre garden is probably not the best idea. Maybe just a few rows, and continue expanding as your expertise and confidence grows. Not only do some catalogs tell how much a certain length of row will supply, but the seed packets themselves often tell how long a row they should sow at a certain rate.

For example in looking at my Twilley catalog, for beets it gives at the beginning of the section: Approx. 1,600 seeds to the oz., Pkt (packet) plants approx. 25' of row, 1 oz. plants approx. 100' of row.... Johnny's Select Seeds catalog has an excellent page (page 2) that tells how much yield to expect as well from the different crops/per row. These are handy guides in order to avoid over/under planting.

In my case for my family I could make a list of things we like: beans, beets, broccoli, (we like brussels sprouts but I haven't had any success with them, so I pass on over them) cabbage, cauliflower, cantaloupes/melons, carrots, corn, cucumbers, egg plant, kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, peas, okra, peppers, pie pumpkins, potato, radish, spinach, squash (summer, zucchini, winter, spaghetti), tomato, and turnip. Most can be preserved, but some such as radishes and lettuce will be only raw, and only grow best at certain times of the year.

Again, using beets for an example, if you want a 100' row (the symbol ' stands for -foot/feet--, the symbol " stands for inches), you would need 1 oz. and could expect approximately 100# (pounds) of roots and 40# of greens. Maybe I should have turned that around~ smile.

With the advent of the internet one could probably google/search and find out how many jars that would make...but a better idea is a good canning/freezing cook book. Mine tells me that 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 # of beets will give me approx. 1 quart. 100# should yield around 30 quarts.

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.