I wish my (now late) Grandma had taught me how to home can food. I wish I had gone further in Home Economics when I was in high school (heck I wish that going further would have been an option!). I could go on. But I'd be here awhile. 🫤
I'm 60, and I'm very fortunate to have learned some of these things from my grandmothers: how to cook, sew, grow vegetables, and bake. I also learned how to be thrifty, to reuse plastic bags and containers, reuse glass jars, and old greeting cards for crafts. I didn't learn how to jar fruits and vegetables in Mason jars, but I saw they had a special part of the cellar to keep them. I feel very blessed to have had that background.
I'm so glad you were able to share time with your grandmothers and soak up the wisdom they had to share. Thats so special and it's sad that those kinds of relationship are being lost😥
Yeah, it's funny my folks didn't want to be part of that, they are consumers. Now I'm growing a vegetable garden and bringing them the food the way their parents did. Weird huh?
I especially enjoyed this part and the comments so thank you for expressing it so well. I have been doing this more and more (inspired by you and others) and now have a list of what I can make or grow myself in addition to what I need to buy, which gets ever shorter and in more bulk :). Part of that help is being gifted a winters worth of canned tomatoes and applesauce from my husband's mother and sister, who have lots of that knowledge to hand on and I feel very lucky in that. And am doing my part in making sure the next generation gets that as well. I grew up in a house where we ate from the garden and enjoyed my mom's homemade bread (i remember the first time she bought store bread as a teenager and we were like, this isn't even food :)) I think you are very right in the emotions attached, but I wanted to emphasize the fundamental part of community in this as well. It is what makes us independent and self sufficient but it is also the foundational fabric that creates a community, even in small acts of sharing knowledge as you do or abundance in our harvests. At its heart, it is how we nurture and sustain each other and make a broader family. One more personal note, I learned to quilt in middle school at the Indian House in Old Deerfield with some of my school friends and I vividly remember those times, quilting with them with hot chocolate and a lot of laughter. Quilting has been an important part of my life and skills ever since, and has brought me into communities of women that are lifelong connections, including teaching younger people how to enjoy that skill and gift it forward. That is the first thing I thought of in response to your question. Sharing that time and work is invaluable and often lost in that culling of our time and values.
I think the community/social aspect is one of the biggest tragedies of this whole thing, Helen. You're absolutely right. While we've allowed industry to usurp our lives, it's corroded our connections and humanities under the guise of convenience. And now look at us! Half of us don't even know how to some of the things essential to our own survival. It's mind-blowing.🤯
Ilove this post so much! The women in my family all have learned these skills and passed them down. Unfortunately, I'm not sure our next generation will learn them.
I was just discussing this with my husband recently on a long trip, that traditional women's roles were demeaned to create more tax payers. I think the state of our country's poor health (even though we produce more food than any other country except that it is poor quality) can be traced back to when women chose jobs outside the home.
But also there are older women in every community who would love to have someone to pass our skills along to. Just ask! My grandma taught me to garden and cook and can and bake. My daughter is a busy marketing executive and couldn’t care less. I’d be so excited to help someone learn these skills I’ve been using all my life.
But also there are older women in every community who would love to have someone to pass our skills along to. Just ask! My grandma taught me to garden and cook and can and bake. My daughter is a busy marketing executive and couldn’t care less. I’d be so excited to help someone learn these skills I’ve been using all my life.
But also there are older women in every community who would love to have someone to pass our skills along to. Just ask! My grandma taught me to garden and cook and can and bake. My daughter is a busy marketing executive and couldn’t care less. I’d be so excited to help someone learn these skills I’ve been using all my life.
I wish my (now late) Grandma had taught me how to home can food. I wish I had gone further in Home Economics when I was in high school (heck I wish that going further would have been an option!). I could go on. But I'd be here awhile. 🫤
Same girl. Same.
I love this on so many levels. Thank you for writing.
Thank YOU for reading!🙏
I'm 60, and I'm very fortunate to have learned some of these things from my grandmothers: how to cook, sew, grow vegetables, and bake. I also learned how to be thrifty, to reuse plastic bags and containers, reuse glass jars, and old greeting cards for crafts. I didn't learn how to jar fruits and vegetables in Mason jars, but I saw they had a special part of the cellar to keep them. I feel very blessed to have had that background.
Thank you for sharing, Doreen!
I'm so glad you were able to share time with your grandmothers and soak up the wisdom they had to share. Thats so special and it's sad that those kinds of relationship are being lost😥
Yeah, it's funny my folks didn't want to be part of that, they are consumers. Now I'm growing a vegetable garden and bringing them the food the way their parents did. Weird huh?
We have definitely come full circle, I think, Doreen!
I especially enjoyed this part and the comments so thank you for expressing it so well. I have been doing this more and more (inspired by you and others) and now have a list of what I can make or grow myself in addition to what I need to buy, which gets ever shorter and in more bulk :). Part of that help is being gifted a winters worth of canned tomatoes and applesauce from my husband's mother and sister, who have lots of that knowledge to hand on and I feel very lucky in that. And am doing my part in making sure the next generation gets that as well. I grew up in a house where we ate from the garden and enjoyed my mom's homemade bread (i remember the first time she bought store bread as a teenager and we were like, this isn't even food :)) I think you are very right in the emotions attached, but I wanted to emphasize the fundamental part of community in this as well. It is what makes us independent and self sufficient but it is also the foundational fabric that creates a community, even in small acts of sharing knowledge as you do or abundance in our harvests. At its heart, it is how we nurture and sustain each other and make a broader family. One more personal note, I learned to quilt in middle school at the Indian House in Old Deerfield with some of my school friends and I vividly remember those times, quilting with them with hot chocolate and a lot of laughter. Quilting has been an important part of my life and skills ever since, and has brought me into communities of women that are lifelong connections, including teaching younger people how to enjoy that skill and gift it forward. That is the first thing I thought of in response to your question. Sharing that time and work is invaluable and often lost in that culling of our time and values.
I think the community/social aspect is one of the biggest tragedies of this whole thing, Helen. You're absolutely right. While we've allowed industry to usurp our lives, it's corroded our connections and humanities under the guise of convenience. And now look at us! Half of us don't even know how to some of the things essential to our own survival. It's mind-blowing.🤯
Ilove this post so much! The women in my family all have learned these skills and passed them down. Unfortunately, I'm not sure our next generation will learn them.
I was just discussing this with my husband recently on a long trip, that traditional women's roles were demeaned to create more tax payers. I think the state of our country's poor health (even though we produce more food than any other country except that it is poor quality) can be traced back to when women chose jobs outside the home.
Thank you, Claudine!
I agree--the rise of industrialized everything really cost us in so many ways.
But also there are older women in every community who would love to have someone to pass our skills along to. Just ask! My grandma taught me to garden and cook and can and bake. My daughter is a busy marketing executive and couldn’t care less. I’d be so excited to help someone learn these skills I’ve been using all my life.
But also there are older women in every community who would love to have someone to pass our skills along to. Just ask! My grandma taught me to garden and cook and can and bake. My daughter is a busy marketing executive and couldn’t care less. I’d be so excited to help someone learn these skills I’ve been using all my life.
But also there are older women in every community who would love to have someone to pass our skills along to. Just ask! My grandma taught me to garden and cook and can and bake. My daughter is a busy marketing executive and couldn’t care less. I’d be so excited to help someone learn these skills I’ve been using all my life.