I feel so earthy crunchy

I know this post isn’t about crafting.. but it kinda is. I’ve noticed that many of the folks that are crafters are also finding that the “old ways” are worth investing in again.

I’ve learned a lot from my family.. things that I’m looking at again with a critical eye and thinking “I should be doing that”

So, I’m sharing with you.. the things I’ve learned.

From my Great Grandmother:

• When I was 6, she taught me how to crochet.  Although I love knitting, crochet will always be my first love.
• A place for everything and everything in it’s place.

From my Grandmother:

• Mashed Turnips look nasty but are really quite tasty
• You can find make toys out of just about anything you have hanging around.  (Although I was stacking beer cans and saving beer bottle caps, I’ve certainly made a few dog toys out of plastic soda bottles!)
• That women CAN run a business and be quite successful at it.
• How to mix a drink (Don’t ask)

I’m a child of the 70′s   Another time of social change, economic struggle and fuel crisis.  My family was very much the “earthy crunchy”  type.   My father had an idea that we needed to be self sufficient, something that came back around in 1999.    I was telling some coworkers the other day that I like plain yogurt.  They really thought this was wierd but the were even more shocked when I told them I didn’t know what white bread was until I went to public school.

From my Mother

• How to sew.  She let me play with her scraps of fabric and sewing machine.  By the time I was ten, I was making doll clothes and piecing quilted pillows.
• How to make bread.  I’ve (by her own admission) surpassed her skill with this only because I went to culinary school, but she was the one who taught me the joy of kneading and shaping.
• How to make yogurt in a crock pot.  (I now use a cooler covered in towels)
• How to make freezer jam.  (Now I make cooked jams because my freezer is full of dog food)

From my Father:

• Gardening doesn’t have to be limited to farms.
• Raw honey is the absolute best.
• Its always worth trying to “do it yourself” first.
• How to get more than one use out of something.  Soda bottles were great traps for japanese beetles, egg cartons can start seeds, newspapers can be composted along with your table scraps.

I’ve taken a lot of these things to heart lately.  I’ve always been a wee bit “crunchy”.  I’ve recycled as much as I can, try to buy things that are limited in packaging or at least are made with recycled products.  Ironically, the internet, being a global thing, has encouraged me to seek out local farmers, find new ways to reduce waste and reminded me that sometimes doing it yourself is better.

Last year, we bought a farm share.  Because of the over abundace of veggies and fruits, we actually ended up wasting a lot so we decided this year to let another family take our spot.  But because we had so much, I taught myself how to can.  I put up brussel sprouts, pears, peaches, salsas, etc etc.

I’m looking foward to making jam this weekend.  We went to the farmers market this morning and bought some strawberries and rhubarb.  Yum!

I have more earthy crunchy things to share, but I’ll save them for the next post..because I want to share some pictures too!