When people traveled in the summer time, they would bring items home. I
remember we got a barrel of pecans from Georgia one summer. We got good
fruits and vegetables from as far away as South Carolina. I live in
California and when you shuck the corn, it just does not have that fresh
sweet smell, of fresh grown corn. When I was a child we would go out to the
corn fields and eat the corn right from the stalk.
Now those are the good old days that I miss (smile).
Anita
>From: Sunshine49 <[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: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 14:36:45 -0500
>
>When I was a kid growing up in Richmond in the '50s, a lot of people had a
>few backyard chickens. I think it's now illegal to keep such "farm
>animals" in the city. In our neighborhood, Woodland Heights (in south
>Richmond), which was mostly built as a streetcar suburb in the 1920s, the
>old houses had cherry, apple and pear trees, black walnut trees, and an
>abundant grape arbor; neighbors shared the bounty with other neighbors.
>We'd gather a few bags full of black walnuts, spread them under the back
>porch to dry, and before holiday baking season sit with a hammer and knock
>off the outer husks and the hard shell, to get the nutmeat for baking. In
>summer we'd have a dishpan full of cherries on the back porch, washing
>them so Mama could make pies, and of course eating plenty, too. Sitting
>under the shade of the backyard maple tree, shelling fresh butter beans
>and talking. So even though it was very much in the "city", it was in a
>way a rural lifestyle, too. My grandparents lived in Chesterfield County,
>and had a small vegetable garden, in the summer we kids would be out there
>picking butter beans, blackberries, various melons, squash, cucumbers,
>tomatoes, corn, etc. When you grow up with fresh food, the horrid stuff in
>the grocery stores today can never compare. Nothing better than fresh
>corn, picked and brought into the house and plopped directly into boiling
>water. Fresh kale, after a first light frost- I'd just pick it and eat it
>raw. Or ripe tomatoes, still warm from the sun.
>
>Out here in rural Orange County there are still older folks who have their
>vegetable gardens. Then one day you no longer see them out there, they
>must have died, and no one else continues the garden. Sad. One thing about
>gardening, no matter if it's for food or flowers, it makes you generous.
>Sharing your extra tomatoes or giving away cuttings of a favorite flower,
>it's a pleasant way to look at the world.
>
>Nancy
>
>-------
>I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
>
>--Daniel Boone
>
>
>
>On Jan 21, 2007, at 1:36 PM, Anita Wills wrote:
>
>>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
>>>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________
>>Get in the mood for Valentine's Day. View photos, recipes and more on
>>your Live.com page. http://www.live.com/?
>>addTemplate=ValentinesDay&ocid=T001MSN30A0701
>>
>>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
>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
_________________________________________________________________
Get Hilary Duff’s homepage with her photos, music, and more.
http://celebrities.live.com
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
