SEGMENT: FOOD & MEALS, FOOD STORAGE, & ORCHARDS

Bert Aikman>UIS Collection A's>UIS Collection, Segment 2

SEGMENT: FOOD & MEALS, FOOD STORAGE, & ORCHARDS,

duration 12:52
Next Segment->
FOOD & MEALS
Describes preparation of corn to make hominy. Never saw yellow corn until he moved up in 1910. Before that all he knew was white corn. A neighbor still grows white corn, but local elevator will not buy it. He sells it to mills down south where they make it into grits. White corn is used as human food & not as much as stock food. Describes cracked hominy that was sold in grocery stores. Ate a lot of cornbread, but "Dad was a biscuit man!" Traded wheat for flour at a mill in Litchfield; did this every fall to have flour for winter.
PESTS
No weevil in flour. Pests were not as bad as they are today.
ORCHARDS
Wonderful variety of local apples grown without use of pesticides. Mentions several variety of apples.
FOOD STORAGE
Used a lot of apples. Dried lots of apples; describes drying methods. Also dried pumpkins; "I hated that stuff!" Describes methods for drying pumpkins. Dried apples & pumpkins & meat stored in boxes in smokehouse. Things in smokehouse froze in winter though, so some apples & potatoes put in ditch & covered with horse manure to keep them from freezing in the winter. "Best apples came off of that ground!" Mother canned (using jars) a lot, but it was hard to keep them from fermenting. Describes potato storage method. Dad counted on 50 bushels of potatoes carrying family through the winter.
FERTILIZER
Horse manure spread in garden as fertilizer.
FOOD & MEALS
Sugar & coffee bought at store regularly; sometimes big box of crackers bought at the store. A box a crackers would last a long time. Ate a lot of potato soup, had cows for milk, ate fried bread with sorghum - "Got my fill of it!"