WHAT WAS OLD IS NEW AGAIN By Sarah J. McNeal

In those pioneer days people had to rely on themselves, including for their winter provisions. There were no super markets in which to buy food. Hunting provided meat and fish. Those early settlers knew about conservation and sustainability because they were going to need meat and fish year after year. Killing bucks instead of does would insure new deer would be added to the forest. Harvesting enough fish without becoming overzealous was deemed necessary in order to leave enough fish to procreate for the following year. They gave the same consideration to their farm animals: pigs, chickens, goats, and perhaps a few cattle and a bull. Some eggs were allowed to hatch into chicks and a cow could provide milk as long as she was allowed to calve now and again.

When planting crops, a homesteader had to plant according to season year round. Cool crops such as spinach in the fall, summer crops of yellow squash, corn, and tomatoes, and early crops in the spring such as peas. Some things had to be dried or canned to preserve them while others, such as cabbage, turnips, and potatoes would keep nicely in a cool, dry place. Naturally, feeding livestock was a huge consideration. Fields of alfalfa and oats needed to be planted, maintained, and harvested as well providing a dry place for its storage.

The American Plains have some of the most severe weather on the planet. Weather was the master of the homesteader’s life. Drought, floods, hail, erratic temperatures, and tornadoes, all of which are common on the Great Plains, could destroy a homesteader. Life was hard and filled with work from predawn to sunset and maybe then some. There were other chores to do besides working the fields. As hard as life was though, work was also a good thing. There wasn’t much time to sit around and moan the blues. Work was therapy.

Canning Tools

My parents were young, just getting started in married life during the Great Depression. Like the homesteaders, they had to work hard and become self-reliant. They were proud of the results from their labor. Forget TV and all those electronic doodads we have now for entertainment. Pop used to enjoy working his garden, planning the next one, and showing visitors his beautiful work. It was a thing of pride for him.

Homemade Ketchup

Something I enjoyed as a kid was watching my parents work together canning the harvest from the garden. I remember how they worked on the ketchup recipe every year trying to get it just right, but they were never satisfied. At the time, I just wanted ketchup like we bought from the store. Little did I know then what a treat it was to have that homemade ketchup-—very tasty made from tomatoes with no preservatives and without pesticides. That pressure cooker stayed busy all summer. Pop always shared vegetables from his garden with friends and neighbors. Sometimes they swapped things with each other. Someone might try a different kind f vegetable that others didn’t have. I imagine the pioneers did much the same thing back in history.

Jars of Canned Food Just Like My Grandmother's

For so many years we have depended on the supermarket for all our food. Crops are now raised on huge corporate farms where pesticides are frequently used and processed in plants that are often in foreign countries like China where quality assurance and the FDA have no influence. Problems have arisen because of it both from health issues in the human population and the decline of our friends, the bees due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides.

Bee Keeping Technique

People are now rethinking their lifestyles and re-purposing their backyards from tennis courts to vegetable gardens once again. In the desire for better quality and safe food, we are returning to the old ways of the settlers and homesteaders of raising our own vegetables. Even people who live in apartments are planting gardens in containers in windows or on their patios and balconies. And so we are moving full circle and making what we once thought of as old and making it new again.

Do you have a vegetable garden? Is it a thing of pride for you? Do you peruse the seed catalogs in winter to plan the next year’s garden? What organic ways of controlling pests have you discovered? What satisfaction do you get from gardening?

Sarah J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. She welcomes you to her website and social media:

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