Are You Nuts?

Many of my friends are doing the “back to earth” movement – growing and preserving their own vegetables, raising chickens, goats, etc. Now I see nothing wrong with this but wouldn’t our mothers be saying “Are You Nuts?” to this movement….these women who endured their childhoods during the depression and then as adults, WWII? 

My Mom made all our clothes, even coats, as can be attested in the picture above (I am the chunky one on the left).  We had no dryer and I can remember going out and folding these frozen clothes that were on the line and bringing them in, only to have them draped everywhere until they dried.  And then all the ironing, and one way to get on my mother’s good side was to iron.  She would often sprinkle the clothes but never get around to ironing them, so they would mildew and she would have to start over.  When we got a freezer, they would get sprinkled and then put in there until ironed.

We had a huge garden and the children’s task was to weed.  I hated weeding then, something I love to do today.  And then all the produce had to be preserved, one way or another, for the winter.  No wonder this generation embraced the canned, ready frozen, processed food….the era of Betty Crocker and her cake mixes.

When I first moved here 14 years ago, I planted a large garden.  It happened to be the summer of a drought, so this garden required a great deal of attention to keep it going.  I also planted many flowers in containers and added a few perennial gardens around the house.  Today I have an herb garden and a small perennial garden…..no vegetable garden.  I have tried to make my place as low maintenance as possible.

So, my friends, I will gladly take your excess produce and eggs.  I will join a CSA and attend the farmers’ markets, but I fear the only “back to earthing” I will be doing is for my final resting place.