Family Gardening

The home that my family and I lived in from the time I was in kindergarten until high school was a small, four bedroom home in the outlying suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky. Daddy had grown up on a 162 acre farm, so he wasn’t content with a small cookie cutter plot of land. We were luckier than most and had a larger yard and were able to maintain a sizeable garden every year of my youth. We owned a little more than a half acre, not really very big, but large compared to the lots on the other side of our fence. Our garden was at least half of the yard and I remember the first year we went from a rototiller to a tractor. It meant quicker work for my dad in preparing the garden, as well as our weeding between rows – at least until the plants got too big safely drive over without causing damage.

My dad was always a meat and potatoes kind of guy and our garden showed it. Every year, without fail, at least half the garden was potato plants while the other half was a combination of green beans, corn, tomatoes, radishes, turnips, squash, cucumbers, onions, cabbages, lettuce, and anything extra that my mom might have an eye for trying that year. The labor throughout the spring and summer months was always hard, something my brother, sister, and I complained about, but the preserved foods we ate the rest of the year always made it worth it. Until the next year’s bit of hard garden work came about.

People always ask me how my dad was able to preserve his potatoes for so long and so well without them rotting so, before I go on, I’ll share that secret with you. My dad worked side jobs to help make ends meet when we were very young. One of the jobs he had was cleaning banks, and one year one of the banks decided they needed new plastic bins for storing all the money bags. They tossed out 30 or so of their old hard-cased, stackable plastic bins and my dad, ever creatively thinking, asked if he could have them. The bank management approved his request, and he took those bins home and drilled holes down each side of them. We filled those bins about three-fourths of the way and stacked them in the shed that was connected to the back of our house. The holes drilled in the sides, along with not over-filling them, allowed enough air to constantly circulate around the potatoes, so they never went bad. We always had plenty until the next year’s harvest began producing small new potatoes. His answer for preserving the potatoes wasn’t very dramatic or overwhelmingly inspiring for agriculturalists, I’m sure, but it worked for us and that was what counted!

Our garden never just fed our family. I remember taking bushel baskets to family or church members during harvest time, as well as canned goods. When we visited our family on overnight trips, we always brought a gift of food along. At times, my aunt would stay and help mom with the canning. Then she would take some of the finished jars back home for her own family. We didn’t just rely on our own garden for food, either. Every Saturday morning during berry season, our whole family would be out at the wild blackberry patch, picking berries for cobblers in the winter.

My dad had another ingenious technique that freed up both hands for picking, so we could get out of the patch before the sun got too high. We saved gallon milk jugs in the months leading up to berry season. Daddy would cut an opening in the jug opposite the handle that was large enough for your hand to drop berries through. We would all strap two jugs through our belts, and then it became a race to see who could fill up their jugs the fastest, without getting too many scratches from the briar thorns. Our neighbors, the Boone family, had apple, peach, and pear trees in their yard, as well as strawberry plants and a grape arbor in their garden. We often traded vegetables for their fruit. Their peaches were always in abundance, and they were so sweet and juicy – perfect for canning, pies, or ice cream topping. My Great-Aunt Fannie, now home with the Lord, lived across the river in Indiana, and she also had apple trees that we helped pick dry in the fall. We would go with an empty trunk and literally come home with apples overflowing the back of the car!! Apple peeling and coring was a job that only Mom and Dad would do, for some reason, and Mom usually froze most of her apples. I’m not sure why she preferred to peaches, but freeze apples, except maybe that was what Granny always did. Sometimes families are funny in their choices like that!

Our family did not have much money, but we had a lot of love, and we learned about hard work by doing it. Some of my fondest memories are sitting around the back stoop and breaking the green beans into pieces that would fit neatly into the mouth of the jar, all the while joking and laughing with my family. As a military family, my husband and I have not yet been privileged to own our own home or parcel of land, but we go home to Kentucky every chance we get in the summer. There our children can experience a bit of gardening first hand. We’ve canned tomatoes picked from local U-pick farms, blanched and frozen green beans, and made the finest tasting jam with the berries picked by our own hands. At least we like to think it tastes pretty good!!

I’ve learned you don’t always need a huge garden of your own to do some simple preserving. Though, if I had my choice, my husband knows I’d love to have our own garden plot one day. Here are a few recipes that have become a standby until that day arrives.

Canned Tomatoes

To prepare: Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Dip the tomatoes in the hot water long enough to crack their skins (about 2-3 minutes). Place in cool water. Core, skin, and quarter the tomatoes. Place in another pot and bring to a boil. When you see foam, they are ready to go into jars (make sure you scald the jars, lids, and bands in hot water to sterilize them while you are waiting for the tomatoes to foam).

To can: Place tomatoes in the jar. Add salt to each jar (1/2 teaspoon for pints or 1 teaspoon for quarts). Place in a pressure cooker, put the lid on, and lock it. After the stopper comes up, watch your steam for 5 minutes and then place the weight on lid. Can to 15 pounds of pressure, then remove cooker from heat. DO NOT take the weight off until the stopper has fallen completely back down. Remove the jars and let cool before putting away.

Blackberry Preserves

4 1/2 pounds of blackberries
5 1/4 cups of sugar
2 lemons
1/2 cup water

1. Choose ripe, wild blackberries and wash well in cold water. Let stand in a sink of cold water (especially if they have insects on them). Drain well and dry on paper towels.
2. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a large pan and cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the blackberries into the sugar syrup and stir well while simmering for 5 to 10 minutes. Ideally, the heat should be turned off and the berries left to stand for half a day. When this time is up, add the grated rind of one lemon. Return to a boil and cook while stirring and skimming. As soon as the preserves are thick enough, remove from heat and stir in the juice of both lemons.
3. Pour into jam jars and seal tightly. Keep in a dry, dark place.

Strawberry Jam (without pectin)

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

1. In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berries.
2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C).
3. Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process any unsealed jars in a water bath.

Mom’s Zucchini Bread

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs
2 cups of white sugar
1 cup of oil
2 cups grated, raw zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup of chopped walnuts

1. Cream oil and sugar together; add eggs and beat.
2. Sift all dry ingredients together.
3. Stir into oil, sugar, and egg mixture.
4. Add zucchini, then vanilla, then the walnuts. Mix well.
5. Pour into 2 loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour (check center with toothpick).

Check out my article on page 32 of the funky flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.

Sallie Anderson is an off-again, on-again homeschooling mom to her 4 children, ranging from elementary to high school. In her writings, she discusses the challenges of homeschooling a child with disabilities and offers insight to those who sometimes feel all alone, like a square in a round world. Please visit her at Seaside Tales.

Tags: blackberry preserves, building family memories, canned tomatoes, canning, family gardening, food gifts, Frugal living, harvest time, home vegetable garden, preserving, scratch cooking, strawberry jam, working as a family, zucchini bread

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