SEGMENT: GARDEN, WILD PLANTS, & FOOD & MEALS

Jeanette Sayre>UIS Collection S>UIS Collection S, Segment 11

SEGMENT: GARDEN, WILD PLANTS, & FOOD & MEALS,

duration 14:48
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GARDEN
Describes the family garden when she was young. Family project; father plowed and harrowed, mother planted, she covered seeds. Had to fence it in from animals. Used wire fencing. Perennials such as asparagus, rhubarb, and berries were planted around the edges. Potatoes and corn might be in a field or on the edges Listed crops of turnips, peas, beans, squash, and pumpkins. Soil bad for watermelons. Not a truck patch because not commercial. Gardens reflect tastes of owner. With a big family, may have 20 rows of potatoes.
WILD PLANTS
Not many greens were grown, but were picked in the wild. Lists wild plants picked.
FOOD & MEALS
Describes how greens were cooked for hours over a low-heat coal stove until they were mush. Stove was lit at all times, so tended to cook things a long time. In the South, after marriage, came across pot liquor or broth. Children had that with corn bread which was healthier than the mushy vegetables parents ate.