Recently, we've had more squash and cucumbers from the garden than we could use. I've given some to the neighbors and put a little in the freezer. This reminded me of the gardens of my youth.
I grew up in town in a big house on a small lot, but that didn't stop my father from having huge gardens. He always had a friend in the country who would give him an acre or two to plant. And my father would use every inch of it. Corn and tomatoes got the most space, but there was room for many other vegetables.
He spent most evenings in the garden after work. Sometimes, my sister and I would join him for weeding or picking, but mostly he saved us for the preserving--meaning the canning and freezing.* We would start our vegetable processing jobs in the evening after he came home, and it would last into the late night if it was something like peas or corn that needed to be processed immediately for the best flavor. The next morning, we would handle whatever else was waiting--usually something like beans or beets or cucumbers for pickles. And the cycle would go on.
Canning and freezing were common in the rural area I lived in. However, I felt like I had to do more of it than many other kids my age. Whether that is true or just my perception, I'm not sure. And I wondered if, over the years, I have magnified things so that they now seem harder than they were.
But I found something the other day that suggests I wasn't too far off. I found an inventory list my mother made of what we had in the freezer and on the canning shelves. I don't expect you to read it all, but I'm going to share the lists here. It should give you a sense of what I did in the summers.
Canned foods:
Fruits: applesauce, whole apples, crabapple juice, crabapple sauce, blackberries, white grape juice, wild grape juice, wild grape jelly, apple butter, grape butter, pears, yellow peaches, white peaches
Beans: brown beans, dry beans, green beans, pickled beans
Tomatoes: catsup, tomato juice, pizza sauce, whole tomatoes, tomato juice cocktail, V-5 juice, tomato sauce
Other vegetables: plain beets, pickled beets, carrots, corn, peas, green bean juice, vegetable soup, spinach, vegetable broth, saurkraut
Pickles and relish: corn relish, dill pickles, sour pickles, sweet pickles, 14-day pickles, relish, sandwich spread
Freezer foods:
Vegetables: green beans, lima beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, carrots, celery, corn, peas, peppers, green tomatoes, tomatoes, pickles, squash, spinach, zucchini
Fruits: blackberries, blackberry jam, raspberries, cherries, strawberry jam, grapes, peaches
A few of those things were left over from previous years, but we did a good job of using most things up during the year. The rewards of our hard work paid off with delicious food just about anytime we wanted it.
I don't know many people who do things to that extent these days, except Granny Sue, who lives not far from where I grew up. She is always cooking or preserving something.
Well, that's my bit of nostalgia for today.
Until next time...
* Of course, my mother was a part of this but she was working long hours as a nurse, so the major responsibility was shared by my sister and me.
