For you seniors, how many of ????

Question

.....your parents or grandparents made a lot of their own food
instead of buying it many years ago? I lived with my grandparents on a farm and they made our butter, sauer kraut,
soap etc.

Thanks Debi, I got it at Target. Lol
Sure, Grandma canned and all of that too.

Hey Deb, you look ma-vo-lus in your hat my dear.

Oh...the memories. Grandma used to tell me to ; " go out to the henhouse and get me an ole' hen for supper. I would go get one, give it to Grandma..( and the rest is history... as they say)

Answer 1

My grandparents on my moms' side lived on farms twice in
their lives. Coming from North Dakota with five young girls,
who already were well trained in doing the work of any mother. Grandpa didn't have any sons, so my aunts did the
work of them. My mother told me several times, that when
they did have time to themselves, they would stand on the
backs of the plow horses and balance on them and see who
could ride them that way without falling off.
They moved to the northwest and grandpa went to work for
the shipyards, since it was where hiring was going on. And
grandpa had known hard times on that dustbowl of a farm.
All of my aunts soon learned how to can, make butter, and
separate cream from the cow milk, and make jellies and
jams and one or two learned how to cook more like grandma.
She was the best German cook anywhere. And those of us
who still remain in the family still remember the tastes and smells to this day. In North Dakota, they washed outside with a tub over a hot fire and used lye soap to scrub the clothes clean and hang them on a clothesline behind the house. But
after coming west, they could only use a wringer washing
machine on the covered porch of their two storied house.
My grandma came to town from the last farm they owned
when I was in my teens, she sold eggs and butter from the
farm on a route made up of friends and neighbors of ours. And she helped my mom make saurkraut and dill pickles. When she made them at the farm, she'd check one or two for dillness holding back the jars which were only slightly dilled and were more crunchy like a cucumber. Those were both our favorites, and it pleased me we had something in common. Little did I know, that when I got into my older years, I'd be favoring her alot in my looks.
My mom did her share of baking, and making jelly and
chow chow relish, and she made lots of things my dad liked.
She didn't bake bread, or make her own saurkraut, but she
did pickle her own cucumbers, both dill and sweet, and bread and butters', as well as beets, so we'd have them during the winter. She would make her own biscuits also. She was more the house cleaner than the home maker. She was finicky with a spotless house. It could have stemmed from the poor life back in North Dakota when she was small and lived in a sod house. Soddies, had a dirt floor unless
a wood floor could be made from lumber,and in their area
there were no trees for that.
My grandpa also made his own liquor during the depression, as did many a farmer during those hard times.
I understand that alot of small businesses were going well
all across the nation during that time, selling what was known
as moonshine. I don't know if he made it after he came out
west, but it wouldn't surprise me. Men that knew how, did.
My mom told me how grandma made their dresses out of
flour sacks. And they'ed go barefoot during summer to save
shoe leather. The dresses were made from pretty flowered prints made purposely for re use. But when my aunts went to school they also took part time work to buy their school clothes to be like the other kids. My grandparents worked hard, and they expected their girls to do a good days work when they could also. So the older girls went to school and then worked part time as "help" in well to do homes. One aunt told me she worked for a family who's friend was the son of Kaiser Wilhelm, one of the shipyard owners. And he later paid for her to get additional schooling in a technical field she'd chosen.
My oldest aunt went to live with a wealthy family and so
she wasn't home doing the work in the family. She was
a nanny to the children in that family she worked for, and
"lived in". She would also go with the family to the beach,
where they had a summer home. My mom had to go to
nightschool, because she too had to work full time after awhile. She cleaned for a wealthy Jewish family. And told
us a couple of stories about how bad they were to her.
Only the youngest in the family, got to go to school full time
during the day and didn't have to work. And she was my
favorite aunt who was young acting all her life. They are all
gone now, and only the children remain. There are seven
of us in all.
I never was taught to can or bake or pickle, since I was a
full time student, as my sisters who came nine years later.
So what I know, I learned on my own. And because I like
to eat, I have done a pretty fair job over the years. I wish I'd
have learned to bake like my grandma had. But I took short-
cuts and made cakes from boxed mixes as well as some
other things. I did make a few pies, but I ended up switching
to other modes when I'd have trouble with the crusts. My
mom did too though and she had alot more practice than
I ever had. She too, started using the mixes to save time.
And she saved time that way. She was an ironer, and that
was so important, that her family never wore anything
wrinkled. She took great pride in how her family looked when
they left the house LOL. My grandma and I had a special
bond. One that my mother and I never had. I always wanted
a closer relationship, but my mother was a firm disciplinarian
and just wouldn't allow herself to be close to me. So that
was probably one reason why I never was shown how to do
any of the homemaking skills. But none of my friends got in-
volved in the kitchen either. And only one makes delicious
pies and crusts. I think it's a fast fading art. Especially with
women having to work full time jobs, and families buy take
out more. Or go out to eat. I enjoy the memories I do have
watching my grandma make home made noodles and the
work involved. I remember she and grandpa stuffing their
own sausage into casings and sectioning the lengths and
tying them off. I remember cranking the cream separater that separated the cream from the warm milk. And I remember the
taste of warm milk fresh from the cow, so rich and foamy.
I even tried my hand at milking a few times. And getting
switched by the tail of a sweet Guernsey cow. Grandma
felt I should learn how to do chores, when I visited for a
week or two. And I did my share of gathering eggs from
the hen house, until I developed hayfever. Then my work
was done in the barn and hen house. That dried hay would
send me into fits of sneezing and watering eyes. But
just remembering some of those old days, has made this
heart of mine swell. My generation has been able to witness
and do some things our children will never see or do. And
that's why most of us, have such interesting stories to tell.

Answer 2

Threw all of the generations as far back as any of the family can remember, they all did farming of some kind. There was very little bought at the stores. They made their own clothes out of the material that flour came in as back then it came in clothe bags. They milked the cows and churned their own butter. Made their own bread, soap, quilts, jam, jellies, you name it they made it. Canned all the food except what they were going to eat right then.

My parents were still growing most of their food until the last couple of years and then couldn't do it any more. We are going to try it this next summer and see if we can grow some. We still make quilts, but not as fast as they did back then.

Even back a few years ago, I had a tiny garden that I grew as much food as I could. I love doing gardening work. At the end of the season it is a joy to see all that hard work that was put into making a garden produce food in the end.

Answer 3

Up until I was about 12, every mouth full of food we consumed, we produced. My extended family pulled together with hogs, beeves, chickens, rabbits, etc. Everyone had a huge garden. All of the men hunted and many of us kids went too when we turned 10. During the summer, the family camped out along the rivers for much of the summertime, catching fish. My grandmother, aunts, mother and we older kids would pick the wild berries to preserve. There was always a huge fire and several smaller ones with large pots stewing berries for jams and jellies.

My family was extremely poor, the men took what work the could find - usually the sawmills or the Forestry service. We knew how to stretch a dollar, fer sure. Nobody ever went on welfare (called AFDC then). We had cows and goats for milk, made our own butter.

My grandmother could whip up a feast for 30 people in a matter of hours....over the woodstove or campfire.

And, that's how it was deep in the valley of Southern Oregon in the 1940's-50's. Nobody had a pit to hiss in or a window to throw it out of.

Answer 4

My grandparents and most of the relatives did it. I can remember my Mom talking about churning butter. They grew their own vegetables and fruits, and they canned and preserved for a solid month in the fall.

When my Mom and Dad got married, they owned a farm and had their garden and did the same thing.

This is a joy that was passed down to me. I love to do it, unfortunately, I don't own a farm so I have to go out and buy what I want to can and preserve. Somehow, it tastes almost as good, but it's just not the same as when you plant it or raise it yourself.

I guess I'm just a Hoosier farm girl at heart!

Answer 5

I'm proud I've lived this long. I don't know if I can honestly say I'm proud. But then I wouldn't want to be 50 again and live through what i did. So. I guess yea, I am proud to be a senior. Hey, I enjoy that 10% discount. HA Donya and I are the same age 2nd

Answer 6

A lot of the people in my little old home town, and the farms around it, made their own food, raised gardens, milked their own cows, raised chickens. But the little berg also had a couple of grocery stores, so things could be bought (or boughten, as some of the people used to say).
I remember helping my mother churn butter and pluck chickens. But, my mother died when I was very young, so there was no more home baked bread and cookies and cakes and pies. No more canned fruits and vegetables. My father was not much of a shopper, so home cooked food was sometimes a little scarce. We made do with a lot of 'store bought' canned goods and hamburger - and potato's, of course.(our Irish ancestry, you know)

Answer 7

My parents did that and so did I. I didn't want all the additives in the foods my children ate. My chickens tasted like chicken and the grass fed beef tasted like beef. My cows did not eat ground up other cows. I made butter, cheese and soap. We had berries and fruits from our garden all year long and plenty of milk and cream. I canned hundreds of jars of veggies. We had two of the largest freezers full and a pantry full as well. I even had 20 beehives and harvested honey. I also had a full time job outside the home. It just wasn't that hard to do all that!

Answer 8

I was raised by my grandparents, and they made everything it seemed! I wore only clothes made by my grandmother until I actually started high school, when I got my first pair of jeans. As to food, my job was weeding out the vegetable garden every day to keep the weeds from taking over. The garden took up most of the back yard, and most of our food came from there. The only thing Granny bought was flour and eggs and butter and stuff. And we didn't eat nearly as much meat as people seem to do today. I was lucky to have 2 ounces of meat a day when I was growing up.

Answer 9

My great grandparents raised mom and they had chickens and a garden. I remember the big wash tubs over a fire outside containing the jars of canned food, they stored them in the cellar. My other grandmother had chickens and ducks, we loved to gather eggs. She made the best sauerkraut, I loved the 'stalk' part slices she'd put in it. We'd pick elderberries for jam. Pickled corn was my favorite canned food, it's my daughter's too.

My mom also raised a garden and canned foods. My stepmom still does a lot of canning, she makes delicious canned spaghetti sauce. I raise a garden now and pick berries to take to mom, so she can have some blackberry jam, she freezes the berries and can make it when she wants, even in the wintertime.

Answer 10

We were just talking about this the other day. I enjoy all vegetables and I was telling my grandaughter that we had a huge garden and I got to go out and pick things for dinner.
My mom used to make a huge crock of dill pickles and she did tomatoes for sauce in the winter. We had jars of strawberry and raspberry jam and peaches.
The only thing that I have done is make strawberry jam and at Christmas I would make batches of sugar cookie dough and put my homemade jam in the center of two unbaked cookies then after they cooled I drizzled icing all over the top and added a green or red cherry half. They made great gifts for the teachers. I wish I had the energy to do it again. Thanks for reminding me.

Answer 11

My grandparents had a farm in Iowa and Illinois. They raised
chickens, grew corn and potatoes, had a vegetable and flower garden, made their own butter, milked their own cows,
made pickles and had a root cellar, made jellies and jams,
canned a lot of their own food. That was back in the early
20th century when my mom was a child.