When I was growing up in rural Pennsylvania, the farmers would send meat,
fruit and vegetables. We went to the Farmers Market during the summer (which
was run by the Amish), and they had the best foods, and bake goods there. In
the fall my uncle would bring us baskets of pears, apples, peaches,
tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. My mother would can the goods for
the winter, and eventually she taught me how to can. Most of the canned
fruits did not make it past the first couple of months (I can still taste
them). Early in the morning my father would get up and go to a farm to get
milk fresh from the cow. Sometimes he would come home with eggs, which were
freshly laid.
Most of the people that were from the South kept gardens growing, and they
also hunted and fished. The concept of going to a market to buy food was
foreign to them (this was in the 1950's). My mother told me that they grew
everything on the farm she was raised on. They churned butter from the cows
milk, and even used hops to make beer.
I really miss that part of growing up.
Anita
>From: Debra Jackson/Harold Forsythe <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: "ex" Ku Klux Klan member
>Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 15:21:58 -0500
>
>The Virginians on my mother's side called making a big mistake "cutting a
>hog." I imagine this referred to the fact that doing harm to a hog before
>the first freeze meant you would probably not be able to preserve and use
>all that meat. Farm folks, even those a generation removed in the
>coalfields of Pennsylvania, understood the value of home produced protein
>for the good of the family.
>
>In fact, both my grandfathers, industrial workers from Virginia (maternal)
>and Georgia (paternal) kept kitchen gardens all their lives, providing for
>their families not only by earning wages but through their skills as
>gardeners. This tradition continues among blacks (and not doubt whites,
>too) in Virginia and the South but is a dying skill in the urban North and
>West.
>
>The extraordinary richness of southern agricultural potential makes, I
>think, the actual history of agriculture in the South a massive puzzle.
>Think, for example, of how the South ceased to be food self-sufficient
>after 1865.
>
>Harold S. Forsythe
>----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 1:45 PM
>Subject: Re: "ex" Ku Klux Klan member
>
>
>>You are absolutely right. If we think the recipe thread got people
>>bothered this subject will really "take the rag off the bush".....which
>>could lead us to a great line of discussion: old-timey expressions.
>>Does anyone know where the expression: "take the rag off the bush came
>>from"?
>>I know. First of all, it translates to mean something mildly astonishing
>>just happened.
>>Where it originated was from laundry days and sometimes people would drape
>>their damp napkins over the top of a bush to dry. Very likely it would be
>>something like an English boxwood bush since they are fluffy and have no
>>thorns which would tear the napkin. Occasionally, a black bird or a
>>bluejay would swoop down and snatch the napkin off of the bush and fly
>>away with it.
>>So, there you go!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Debra Jackson/Harold Forsythe"
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 12:56 PM
>>Subject: Re: "ex" Ku Klux Klan member
>>
>>
>>>Oh, my: this is totally inappropriate for this listserve. The LV folks
>>>are kind enough to offer us this forum uncensored but that means we have
>>>to be responsible. Democrats vs. Republicans is certainly an argument we
>>>are free to have but not here.
>>
>>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
>>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
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