Participating in the Food Chain
My grandparents always grew most of their own food and preserved it to have enough to get through the fall, winter, and spring until the next crop could give them fresh crops to eat. I always thought my grandmother, Ma, (Beulah Burch Stark) did all the cooking and canning since I always saw her cooking the meals. My grandfather, Papa, (Clarence Stark) was always out planting, weeding fertilizing, picking and tending the crops. He always had a HUGE garden.
The strawberry patch was to the north of the house taking up an area of about 50 x 60 feet. After the strawberries quit producing, he would cover the entire area with about 3-4 inches of straw to protect it during the winter. The regular vegetable garden was east of the strawberry patch and east of the back of the house. It was about 60 feet deep and about 100 feet wide. This is where the lettuce, carrots, peas, green beans, radishes, tomatoes and grape vines were. This area stopped on the south by the path to the outhouse. On the other side of the outhouse path were the squash, melons, cabbage and cucumbers. There were probably other things that I am leaving out, but needless to say there were lots of food stuffs "on the hoof" to be harvested later.
Across the street from the house and to the south were 5 " miner's lots" that were 50 x 150 feet long, this is where the big row crops were planted. The potatoes, the corn, sweet potatoes and other items. All together there was more than a acre of garden. There were also 2 crab apple trees, a peach tree and a black walnut tree for providing food from. In the early summer there were blackberries growing wild everywhere you looked and these were picked and canned for use later in the year.
One time while we were visiting in the spring Roger and I (ages about 5 and 7) found the garden east of the back of the house. We saw these little rows of greenery and wondered what they were. Roger pulled up one piece of greenery and there was a carrot attached at the bottom about 1 1/2 inches long. I pulled up the first on my row and there was a little red ball like a small marble on the end....a radish. We both sat down with one leg on each side of the row and pulled up our individual treats, hit them on a leg to knock of the dirt and into the mouth it went., with the greenery thrown over the right shoulder to the back. After 4 or 5 pulls, we would scoot up the row a little and do more pulling, hitting and eating and tossing greenery, as we each had moved up the row about 3 or 4 feet, Papa came out of the house, "Whoa, Stop it right now" "Get outa there" I'm sure he saw us from inside the house because he came out with the razor strap. Each of us got a whop with the strap as a reminder to stay out of the garden. This we remembered.
Regarding the grape vines, Papa dug a trench about a foot wide and about 18 inches deep and about 60 feet long. The then took a lot of iron and nails and bed springs and old barb wire pieces and other rusty steel and lined the bottom of the trench. Before he place the metal in the trench, he made a fire in the driveway and put all the wire and nails and other metal in the fire. I asked him why and he said to burn off all the zinc galvanizing on the metal that would prevent it from rusting. He said that grapes were heavy iron feeders and (he didn't tell me he couldn't afford to buy iron additives for fertilizer) it would fertilize the grape plants as it broke down under the soil. I enjoyed the burning of the metal because I always liked camp fires, there's just something about watching fires that attracts young eyes. I helped him put the metal in the trench the next day after everything had cooled off. He then, with only a slight bit of help from me or my brothers filled the trench back in with dirt. Then he planted the rooted grape vine plants in the trench about every six feet. About every 12 feet he set in a fence post. He ran 3 wires the entire length of the trench and attached them to each post. I thought this was a little strange because the plants were only about 6 inches high and the bottom wire was about a foot and a half above ground. The second wire about 3 feet above ground and the 3rd wire about 5 ft. above ground. About 3 years after the vines were planted, I couldn't believe the numbers of grape clusters that were on the vines. The homemade grape jelly, jam and juice were terrific year round.
The garden across the street and south of the house was another story. When Roger was about 10 and I was 12 and Butch was 13 1/2. We got to fully experience this garden. Papa had a set of hoes for us to use in killing the weeds in the rows of the potatoes and the corn and other row crops. Since Butch was the oldest and largest of the three, he got the privilege of using the machinery to do the weeding. There was a manual tiller, with three or four hooked tines in the back to dig out the weeds as you pushed the thing down the row. The front was an old steel wheel. It came back to two handles to hold on and between the wheel and handles was attached either the tiller or a small plow blade.
The action was something like this, you pushed the tiller forward, then you stepped forward, pushed the tiller, then stepped forward. then pushed, then stepped........for several hours until you went through the seemingly endless rows of potatoes and corn and other things. In the planting of potatoes, you have to first dig up each row and break up the clods. Then you have to quarter the seed potatoes, leaving at least 2 eyes on each piece, lay them down on the row about 2 feet apart. Then you get the tiller with the plow blade and proceed down each side of the row turning the soil up on the top of the seed potatoes. After a week or two when the plants start coming up, you have to go through the same process with the plow blade attached turning up more soil on the potato plants. This process continues in periodic progression until the mounds are about a foot high. In Houston these would be called raised beds. If you planted them underground, the potatoes would rot because of too much moisture. The plants on top the ground are deceptive, because the potatoes underground are not growing nearly as fast as the greenery above ground. Periodically, we would be sent out to dig up one (and only one) plant and bring in what ever potatoes were on it. These were the "new" potatoes that went well with peas (also "new") right off the vine and onions (also "new"). The plants still had a couple of months before maturity, but also had edible small units that were special treats.
Maybe this is what gave me some aptitude for the small bit of gardening I do now in the back yard. Mostly flowers and shrubs.
Papa surely worked my butt off in the garden but I also learned plenty about growing your own food and the preparation and care to get it from ground to mouth (without the razor strap.....) Thanks Papa. Also, Papa did about 90% plus of the canning of everything, the 1 gallon jugs of home made tomato juice. the quarts and pints of canned green beans, peas, corn, the quarts of pickles, dill, sweet and bread and butter, the jams and jellies, the peach preserves and canned peaches, canned okra, canned carrots, sour kraut, canned tomatoes, grape juice. I can remember him standing over the stove for hours slowly cooking the tomatoes and running the pulp and juice through a large strainer, again and again until he had extracted all the juice and only had pulp left. Then he would cold pack the tomato juice in a large pot with boiling water barely over the tops of the gallon jugs for about 30 minutes and then removing the jugs and sitting on the table on towels. Then one by one you could hear pop!, pop! pop! as the tops sealed to the jugs and you were sure they would hold up in the cupboard until needed.
The strawberry patch was to the north of the house taking up an area of about 50 x 60 feet. After the strawberries quit producing, he would cover the entire area with about 3-4 inches of straw to protect it during the winter. The regular vegetable garden was east of the strawberry patch and east of the back of the house. It was about 60 feet deep and about 100 feet wide. This is where the lettuce, carrots, peas, green beans, radishes, tomatoes and grape vines were. This area stopped on the south by the path to the outhouse. On the other side of the outhouse path were the squash, melons, cabbage and cucumbers. There were probably other things that I am leaving out, but needless to say there were lots of food stuffs "on the hoof" to be harvested later.
Across the street from the house and to the south were 5 " miner's lots" that were 50 x 150 feet long, this is where the big row crops were planted. The potatoes, the corn, sweet potatoes and other items. All together there was more than a acre of garden. There were also 2 crab apple trees, a peach tree and a black walnut tree for providing food from. In the early summer there were blackberries growing wild everywhere you looked and these were picked and canned for use later in the year.
One time while we were visiting in the spring Roger and I (ages about 5 and 7) found the garden east of the back of the house. We saw these little rows of greenery and wondered what they were. Roger pulled up one piece of greenery and there was a carrot attached at the bottom about 1 1/2 inches long. I pulled up the first on my row and there was a little red ball like a small marble on the end....a radish. We both sat down with one leg on each side of the row and pulled up our individual treats, hit them on a leg to knock of the dirt and into the mouth it went., with the greenery thrown over the right shoulder to the back. After 4 or 5 pulls, we would scoot up the row a little and do more pulling, hitting and eating and tossing greenery, as we each had moved up the row about 3 or 4 feet, Papa came out of the house, "Whoa, Stop it right now" "Get outa there" I'm sure he saw us from inside the house because he came out with the razor strap. Each of us got a whop with the strap as a reminder to stay out of the garden. This we remembered.
Regarding the grape vines, Papa dug a trench about a foot wide and about 18 inches deep and about 60 feet long. The then took a lot of iron and nails and bed springs and old barb wire pieces and other rusty steel and lined the bottom of the trench. Before he place the metal in the trench, he made a fire in the driveway and put all the wire and nails and other metal in the fire. I asked him why and he said to burn off all the zinc galvanizing on the metal that would prevent it from rusting. He said that grapes were heavy iron feeders and (he didn't tell me he couldn't afford to buy iron additives for fertilizer) it would fertilize the grape plants as it broke down under the soil. I enjoyed the burning of the metal because I always liked camp fires, there's just something about watching fires that attracts young eyes. I helped him put the metal in the trench the next day after everything had cooled off. He then, with only a slight bit of help from me or my brothers filled the trench back in with dirt. Then he planted the rooted grape vine plants in the trench about every six feet. About every 12 feet he set in a fence post. He ran 3 wires the entire length of the trench and attached them to each post. I thought this was a little strange because the plants were only about 6 inches high and the bottom wire was about a foot and a half above ground. The second wire about 3 feet above ground and the 3rd wire about 5 ft. above ground. About 3 years after the vines were planted, I couldn't believe the numbers of grape clusters that were on the vines. The homemade grape jelly, jam and juice were terrific year round.
The garden across the street and south of the house was another story. When Roger was about 10 and I was 12 and Butch was 13 1/2. We got to fully experience this garden. Papa had a set of hoes for us to use in killing the weeds in the rows of the potatoes and the corn and other row crops. Since Butch was the oldest and largest of the three, he got the privilege of using the machinery to do the weeding. There was a manual tiller, with three or four hooked tines in the back to dig out the weeds as you pushed the thing down the row. The front was an old steel wheel. It came back to two handles to hold on and between the wheel and handles was attached either the tiller or a small plow blade.
The action was something like this, you pushed the tiller forward, then you stepped forward, pushed the tiller, then stepped forward. then pushed, then stepped........for several hours until you went through the seemingly endless rows of potatoes and corn and other things. In the planting of potatoes, you have to first dig up each row and break up the clods. Then you have to quarter the seed potatoes, leaving at least 2 eyes on each piece, lay them down on the row about 2 feet apart. Then you get the tiller with the plow blade and proceed down each side of the row turning the soil up on the top of the seed potatoes. After a week or two when the plants start coming up, you have to go through the same process with the plow blade attached turning up more soil on the potato plants. This process continues in periodic progression until the mounds are about a foot high. In Houston these would be called raised beds. If you planted them underground, the potatoes would rot because of too much moisture. The plants on top the ground are deceptive, because the potatoes underground are not growing nearly as fast as the greenery above ground. Periodically, we would be sent out to dig up one (and only one) plant and bring in what ever potatoes were on it. These were the "new" potatoes that went well with peas (also "new") right off the vine and onions (also "new"). The plants still had a couple of months before maturity, but also had edible small units that were special treats.
Maybe this is what gave me some aptitude for the small bit of gardening I do now in the back yard. Mostly flowers and shrubs.
Papa surely worked my butt off in the garden but I also learned plenty about growing your own food and the preparation and care to get it from ground to mouth (without the razor strap.....) Thanks Papa. Also, Papa did about 90% plus of the canning of everything, the 1 gallon jugs of home made tomato juice. the quarts and pints of canned green beans, peas, corn, the quarts of pickles, dill, sweet and bread and butter, the jams and jellies, the peach preserves and canned peaches, canned okra, canned carrots, sour kraut, canned tomatoes, grape juice. I can remember him standing over the stove for hours slowly cooking the tomatoes and running the pulp and juice through a large strainer, again and again until he had extracted all the juice and only had pulp left. Then he would cold pack the tomato juice in a large pot with boiling water barely over the tops of the gallon jugs for about 30 minutes and then removing the jugs and sitting on the table on towels. Then one by one you could hear pop!, pop! pop! as the tops sealed to the jugs and you were sure they would hold up in the cupboard until needed.
Comments