As I have written before, I grew up in the country, during the Great Depression days. Many suffered scarcity, however living on a farm in north Georgia, we always seemed to have plenty of everything except money.
My mother was a person with a tremendous amount of innate wisdom, and in my eyes as a child, thought there was nothing she could not do. Always telling us she did not want to hear the words tired, diet, age or retire in our vocabulary.
Lately I’ve been hearing more and more discussion on programs about the fear of scarcity of food. Just the other day I heard a speaker say we’re apt to go to the grocery store and see empty shelves.
This morning I wrote the posted article about 5 year old Prince William and his gardening. Did my daily chores, then took an hour nap. And by the way not a Social Security nap, as commonly described about senior citizens, because I have never drawn Social Security.
I woke up with strong feelings about the predicted coming food shortage. So I ordered a freezer, to be delivered on Saturday. Then I got out my cookbook titled “Stocking Up,” which tells how to preserve food. A few days ago I bought some canning jars, Fruit Fresh and Certo and decided I would start freezing and canning food. I learned how to can food several years back, when I thought the second Depression was around the corner back then.
I recalled my mother canning around a thousand cans of food, stocking up for the winter months, from food grown on the farm. My first project was making some delicious hot pepper jelly this afternoon, and tomorrow I plan on making salsa to can.
Preserving food via canning is not rocket science, however there are certain principles applicable to the process. Not the least of which is, everything must be sterilized. This is done by boiling. All the utensils must be sterilized via boiling. That is the lids, jars, tongs, ladle, cups, spoons and everything used in the canning process. If not thoroughly sterilized the food will spoil.
Freezing food is a different process, however most everything must be processed before bagging for the freezer. Some exceptions include some fruits. For example peaches, now in season, must be covered with Fruit Fresh, otherwise will turn dark when defrosted. Bluberries are not supposed to be washed before freezing, but when defrosted and ready to eat.
Here’s the recipe for making hot pepper sauce: 5 cups of sugar, 1 cup of green pepper, in blender, 1-1/2 cups vinegar, two tablespoons lemon juice, two packages of Certo. 1/2 cup of hot pepper, I use jalapenos. Boil ten minutes then add Certo and boil for another minute. Pour into half-pint sterilized jars and seal. That’s all there is to it. Great on crackers with cream cheese, or eat with vegetables. It’s an easy recipe to begin with.
It’s a very rewarding project to can and preserve food. The most important thing is to have everything you need before you begin. When I sterilize things, I place a clean cotton cloth in the bottom of a large boiler with water and boil 10 to 20 minutes, and remove with the sterilized tongs.
I love to make jellies, jams, chutney, salsa and that sort of food preparation.
I recall during the Great Depression, reading about so many in soup lines, for many people food was scarce. Interestingly today, there’s already news about lines at food banks. Despite the fact there is plenty of food available, so many unemployed can’t afford to buy. Prices are high because so much is imported, and not enough grown here in this country to supply the need.
On the other hand, I see a lot of waste in this country. Before there is a depressing scarcity, it’s a time to consider ways and means of survival in the event another depression hits this country. Anyway one can eat much better and healther by learning food preservation. It’s difficult to keep staples like flour, cornmeal, pasta, rice and the like for very long before it deteriorates. One reason I ordered a freezer is to put those things in freezer for longer preservation, like staples.
I heard stories during the depression about men working long hours on jobs like building railroads, surviving on oatmeal, a very nourishing staple, and a way to prolong freshness is in the freezer.
Now-a-days our lifestyle is so different than during the depression of the thirties. Families had smokehouses for meat preservation, and would build mounds of dirt to “bank” potatoes and knew how to preserve foods via methods no longer available to the average person. We do have methods of preserving via freezing, not available back then, however if electricity goes off, the food will spoil. That’s why I think learning how to can food is a good thing. Back then most everyone had a large canning pressure cooker, not many have now, however one can use the hot water bath method. That is filling jars with food like green beans and cooking it in the jars in large containers filled with water and boiling in the jars, to thoroughly cook. One can get food poisoning unless the proper procedure is followed.
So the best thing to do is acquire books on proper canning, to learn how to preserve food. While so much is still available, a smart thing to do.
We hear so much about economics, and having money for exchange, but food is a necessity, and if unavailable, having a lot of money stashed won’t feed us. Not to diminish the importance of having a medium of exchange, but more importantly is having food to eat.
I feel so fortunate, having grown up in an era with parents who knew how to do so many things for survival. When we as kids got sick, which was rare, my mother knew what to do for healing. She knew how to make clothes to wear and quilts to keep us warm.
I recall times growing up on a farm as a happy time. Not many luxuries, but plenty of everything we needed.
One suggestion is acquiring a copy of the book “Foxfire” which details life growing up during the depression in the mountains of Georgia. Last year I visited the Foxfire museum in north Georgia, near Clayton. You can order the book from Amazon, or google Foxfire for information.
There’s a wonderful cookbook titled The Dillard House Cookbook, and mountain guide from the same area Foxfire was written. A lot of interesting reading from the Great Depression era and life back then.
LET FREEDOM RING
JUST ME
AC
Email: annecleveland@bellsouth.net
One Comment
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this post; I reserved the books you mentioned and look forward to reading them!