Predicting Weather with Nature

 

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13 Things We Need to Learn From Our Ancestors

For many of us our parents, grandparents, or even great grandparents knew how to do things about which we have no idea or no desire to learn. While I can see the argument that we have advanced beyond the need of these basic skills, I respectfully disagree. We don't have to leave these skills as they are per say,  but can modify them to fit our modern lives and be all the better for them. I was extremely blessed in that I not only was able to know my grandparents from both sides, but also had 3 great grandmothers that I was able to meet and get to know. My grandparents were children or young teens during the Great Depression. Their memories of that time shaped their entire lives and how they looked at the things they owned. My great grandmothers were all adults during the Great Depression, so they saw things from a different light as well. I loved all of their stories and the lessons they taught. I am going to try to share a few nuggets of wisdom they taught me.

1. The Little Things Matter

I remember one of my great grandmothers telling me a story about how my great grandfather brought home some honey comb one day. He had found a bee tree while he was out in the woods. He cut the tree down and robbed the bees. I don't know how much honey he was able to bring home, but I do remember the look on my great grandmother's face when she talked about the next morning having biscuits with fresh honey. She said it was the best honey she had ever tasted. We take so many thing for granted today that we have lost a lot of joy from a simple surprise.

2. Make Everything Last as Long as You Can

My grandfather used to tell all of us kids that we should be thankful for everything we had. He only got one new pair of shoes a year and that was in the fall before school started. They only wore their shoes to school and to church most times because that would wear them out faster. By the time the next year rolled around those shoes were history, either outgrown or destroyed by use. Half of the summer the boys went barefoot everywhere they went, yup even church. 

Clothes were always patched or repaired until they couldn't be fixed any more. Part of this practice made it all the way to me. I remember wearing pants with patches on the knees. I actually have a couple of pairs right now that could use a patch or two. 

Even after clothing became too far gone to repair they were not thrown away. They would become patches for other clothing, dish cloths, or even rags for use in cleaning or repairing things around the home. It wasn't until there was no use left in the cloth at all that they were thrown away. Talk about re-purposing things, they were masters. 

3. Never Be Wasteful 

I will confess that sometimes when I am putting things into the compost pile or feeding leftovers to the chickens, I feel a little guilty. Even though I know that I am putting those scraps to another use and I know that they are helping our little part of the world be more productive, the fact still stands that we cooked more food than our family ate. 

I don't know if you have ever heard of Jerry Clower, but he tells this story well.

The lesson of never being wasteful does not just apply to food. My grandfather kept every nail, nut, bolt, and screw that he had ever bought. The last thing we always did after working on something was to walk around the area and make sure that we didn't drop anything that could be used in the future. He always had boards or pieces of metal around and most things that we needed to do, we could find the supplies around the barn to get it done without having to run to the hardware store. 

4. Never be Envious 

This may vary from family to family, but once again I remember the stories. When electricity came through our small community one of my great grandmothers talked about going to the only house that had it put in. She talked about the light and how they didn't have to feel around for matches, but she also talked about how worried she was that they would get used to this new thing and not be able to pay their bill. She put off getting electricity for a couple of years before she was willing to pay the 15 cents a month power bill. Yup, 15 cents a month and she was worried that her neighbors wouldn't be able to pay the bill.

5. Be a Reliable Family Member or Friend

I cannot remember any of my great grandmothers driving. Anytime they needed to go anywhere, someone in the family would take them. They never had to worry about being left to fend for themselves. Great grandmother Humphries was so afraid of storms that if she even heard it thunder she would call and have my grandparents come and get her so she could be close to their basement. 

If my parents needed to go somewhere and needed someone to look after me, one of them were always available. I cannot tell you how many times I have played with a set of dominoes that my great grandmother kept on top of her cabinet. 

6. Pitch in and Help

Every late summer and early fall when the crops started coming in the whole family would converge on my grandparents' house. This was especially true when the sweet corn was coming in. All of the men and boys would be in the field pulling corn till it was all gathered. Then we would pull the trailer up to the side of the house and we would start shucking the ears of corn. As soon as there were a couple of pans shucked my great grandmothers would start silking the corn. Then it would go to the younger ladies to cook and cut the corn. Everyone, and I do mean everyone had a job. Even the small children would pick up the shucks and throw them to the cows. It was a great system and everyone was working for the benefit of everyone.

7. Be Content

My great grandparents never had a lot. They didn't have fine china, they didn't have fancy cloths, heck they didn't even have a car, but they were happy. I remember when one of my great grandmothers moved out of her old house and into a single wide trailer. She didn't complain about not having as much room, in fact the only thing that I remember her saying was how much easier it was to heat and how thankful she was for an air conditioner.

8. Work Your Garden

My Great Grandmother Carter worked in her garden until the year she died. She had the most beautiful roses that I have ever seen. She just knew what and how to do to make them shine. All three of my great grandmothers had something outside that was their passion. One was her pear tree and the blackberries, one her roses and vegetable garden. The other was a vegetable garden and fruit trees, primarily a massive fig tree. All three lived into their 90's and all three stayed active in both body and mind. Working a garden is not only healthy and light exercise it is also very therapeutic. 

9. Have Redundancies

Here is a statement I remember, but I cannot remember who said it,

"Just because you have city water doesn't mean you fill up your well."

For many this statement may not make much sense so I will try to explain. Our little community didn't get city water, or water from a utilities company until I was a child. When the water lines came through the utilities company of course tried to convince everyone that they needed to abandon their wells and be tied to the lines. Lots of people did just that. They capped or filled their wells and were hooked onto the system. There were a few though that refused outright to be on city water. There were others like my grandparents that hooked up to city water, but kept their well and just re plumbed their system so that the well water went were they wanted it to. One year there was a major problem with the water system and the community went without water for a couple of days. Well most of the community did. Those that were either still on the well or still had the well as back up went on as if nothing had happened.

If you will think about it every old country home had oil lamps and a variety of things that enabled them to get through whatever the world threw at them. This is still a great idea for today.

10. Be Willing to Barter and Trade

My great, great grandfather was a self taught country doctor. We still have a couple of books that he studied from and even have his ledger. Paper money is a fairly new creation and it really only serves those who have it. In my ancestor's ledger you can see that he was paid with a pig, chickens, even getting to pick up a gallon of mild once a week for a year. He served everyone in his community without regards of their ability to pay with money. These people his friends and neighbors paid him with whatever they had. Some even paid him in labor on his own farm. Just think about how much better a world it would be if we were not so fixated on currency and paid more attention to the things that have true value no matter what were to happen to the economy of stock market.

11. Pay Attention to Nature

My grandfather could tell you hours in advance when it was going to rain, when it was going to be hot, dry, or cold. He would predict with as good accuracy as the weatherman what the winter or summer would be like. How did he do it? He knew that nature knows the weather patterns long before we do. He had learned over the years and listening to those who were much older than him what things meant. The way animals and plants act will tell you a little about what to expect from the weather.

12. Know as Many Skills as Possible

My grandmother could sew clothes, cook and incredible meal, and shoot a crow in the field. Everyone knew multiple skills. Very few people specialized. There was a good reason for this. When something broke down you couldn't just call a repairman. You had to do as much as you could for yourself.

13. Always Be Thankful

It is so easy to get wrapped up in whatever is happening at the moment, but we must take time to be thankful for all of the blessings in our lives. I remember my grandfather talking about a Christmas where all they received as a gift was a nickle's worth of hard candy split by 6 children and an orange each. That was one of his favorite Christmases and he told that story often.

I remember my one of my great grandmothers being so happy every time we came over and we did so fairly often. Saying the blessing over the meal was not optional and after you reached a certain age you were not allowed to just recite some generic prayer.

I do not know if my dad started this or not, but it has left an impact on me that I will never forget. Every time we would plant the garden as the first seeds hit the ground he would say "We sow in hope and we will reap in joy". Think about that for a moment. There are few things that illustrate faith better than the sowing of seeds. Honestly, everything we do should be done in hope and we will receive our reward with joy.

I wish you all Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes

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Every Family Should Can

I have been doing a fair bit of canning the past couple of weeks. I want to do a lot more. Canning is kind of a family tradition. I cannot remember when I had my first experience with canning. As long as I can remember when harvest time arrived the whole family would get together. It didn't matter if we were harvesting corn, peas, beans, or whatever the whole family was there.

The men would pick whatever we were harvesting. As we filled bushel baskets they would be taken to where the ladies were waiting. They would start shucking, shelling, or snapping.

Once everything was picked, we would start the shucking or shelling or whatever. The ladies would move to cooking and canning. We basically had an assembly line and once one task was done everyone shifted down. At some point everyone did every job. There were no men's and women's jobs, just jobs. Good thing I was raided that way. I have seen my dad, mom, and grandparents all can something.

I am the primary canner in my family now. So far I have canned jams, stewed tomatoes, and vegetable soups. Canning is a great way to preserve what you harvest. Canning can be used for more, much more.

You can can anything that comes out of your garden. You can can meats, leftovers, even take things you buy at the grocery and combine them into something more usable. The equipment you will need depends on what you intend to can.

Basic Equipment

For high acid foods, vinegar based foods like pickles, and sugared fruit preserves, jams, jellies, syrups and the like all that is really required is a water-bath canner. Basically a large deep pot. Helpful equipment includes a funnel, jar lifter, a lid magnet, and a rubber spatula. Oh and of course you need the canning jars. Several name brands are out there. Just pick one you like. So far I haven't had any problems with any that are labeled for canning.

I have made a funnel out of a 3 liter soda bottle that I cut and washed. You can sometimes improvise some of the equipment. Just remember everything must be clean.

For low acid foods like beans, peas, meat, and really everything else you will need a pressure canner. I have included a link to a pressure canner like I have. It works great, but I am saving up to buy a pressure canner that can take 1/2 gallon jars. Yup, I said 1/2 gallon jars. With my family I need larger size jars. I have made jam in the little 1/2 pint jars. Each jar only lasted one meal. I do not can anything smaller than a pint now.

Getting Started

If you have never canned before start with something you have on hand. Tomatoes are probably the easiest thing in the world to can, but jams are pretty easy as well. We have had a fairly good year when it comes to tomatoes.

To can crushed tomatoes all you need is your jars, a water-bath canner, salt, pepper, a knife, and time. If you want to peel the tomatoes first you can, I usually don't. I just core the tomatoes, remove any soft spots, and cut them up. I place all of the tomatoes in a large pot and start cooking them. Salt and pepper to taste. While tomatoes are cooking sterilize jars and put lids in a pot of water. Warm up lids to just below boiling.

There are two ways that I have used to sterilize jars. One, place in a large pot and bring to a boil. Allow jars to boil for one minute. Two, place jars in oven heat to 200 degrees for a minimum of 5 minutes. Either method works fine. Lately I have been using the oven method most often because it keeps the stove eyes open for other steps.

Cook tomatoes until done. I taste mine for seasoning. Take sterilized jar fill using funnel to within 1/2 inch of top. Place lid and finger tighten band. FINGER TIGHTEN. If you tighten the band too much before the next step your jar will not seal properly. The band has to be loose enough to allow air to escape your jar.

Place jars in water-bath canner. Make sure to have at least one inch of water above the top of the jars. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat just enough that the water continues to boil, but it does not boil over. Process for 10 minutes. Cut off heat and remove jars from canner with the canning tongs. Sit them on the counter to cool and listen for the "plink". Some may plink as soon as you take the jars out of the water while others may take hours. Once you hear that plink you know your jars are sealed.

Vegetable Soup

I am including my vegetable soup because I was specifically asked to do so. An honor no doubt, but also a little unnerving. Unnerving because my vegetable soup is never the same twice. I use whatever I have. One time my soup may have okra or even peas in it the next time not, just as an example. There are some staples in my soup though. A very heavy tomato base. I am talking crushed or diced tomatoes and lots of them. Corn, beans (could be lima, butter, or pinto), green beans, carrots, potatoes, and onion. 

Vegetable soup can be tricky. Either all the ingredients have to come in at the same time or you have to can in stages then used canned ingredients and recan. There is also a way to cheat depending on what you have planted.

I cook all ingredients until they are completely done. I have eaten a bowl while canning. While cooking I get everything ready as I stated above. Fill jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Center lid and put on bands finger tight. When you feel resistance stop.

Here is where I deviate from the Ball canning book. The Ball canning book is like the Bible of canning. Ball says to use a pressure canner. Since I prefer to can vegetable soup in 1/2 gallon jars and don't have a pressure canner that is large enough to accommodate 1/2 gallon jars. So I use a water bath canner. Please note I am not suggesting you do so. I am just telling you I do. I process vegetable soup for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I remove from the canner and wait for the Plink.

There is a cheat. If you have lots of tomatoes and you do not want to have to can and recan you can use frozen or even canned mixed vegetables you buy from the grocery. Use what you have and buy the rest. It will be a lot better than anything you can buy. If you are going to use canned veggies with your tomatoes, I suggest buying the big gallon cans, but that also depends on how many tomatoes you have.

If you are new to canning or want to expand your knowledge make the investment and buy the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It is well worth the cost and you can always tweak the recipe, I do.

I hope you enjoyed this little venture into canning. Guys I hope you see you can do it too. This should be something the whole family does. Canning will help you make sure you have a full tummy and a healthy body, because you know everything that goes into your home canned foods. Now if you will excuse me, I have apple jelly to make.

I Wish you Rural Dreams and Homestead Wishes.

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