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