A Quick Discourse on Elderberries©

Elderberries have been planted around farms and harvested for home use and for taking to market since the 18^th century and probably much earlier.  They are found wild throughout much of the country and have been used for generations to make various things, wine and cordial perhaps being the most common.  Having planted elderberries recently and expecting a harvest in a couple of years I took a quick look at other ways to use them.  Elderberry bushes reproduce easily so I hope as time goes by I get larger and larger harvests.

For those who want an alcoholic beverage but are hesitant to try their hand at wine making, I suggest starting with a cordial which is a very simple process.

While some 19^th century cookbook authors were prejudiced against elderberries in favor of more refined fruits, others like Thomas De Voe preached their benefits.  “These small, black berries are pleasant-tasted when ripe, and are brought to our markets to be used for various purposes.  They make the Elder-paste, for the sick, which is considered excellent, Elderberry wine, a wholesome and agreeable beverage, sometimes used for making pies, etc., and when gathered while in flower make the Elder Flower Tea, etc.  The bark makes an excellent ointment; in fact, the whole plant is much used in medicine.  The berries are in season in the months of August and September.”  1867.

“The elderberry is one of the least known and appreciated of the berry family.  In fact it is usually neglected for many less palatable and far less dietetic fruits…

Elderberries when properly prepared are very palatable and delicious, either in pies, jelly, as a spiced conserve or a household wine…If housewives will try any one of the following tried and tested recipes I think they will begin to appreciate this friend of the hedges…”.  “Table Talk.”  1903.

A quick way to pick the small berries from the stem clusters is to place a half inch wire mesh over a large pan or bucket and gently pass the clusters back and forth along the wire.  The berries will fall through the mesh into the container.

ELDERBERRY PIE.

Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cupful of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly.  Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cupful of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar.  Apply top crust quickly and bake.  “Table Talk”.  Vol. 18.  1903.

ELDERBERRY JELLY.

Take equal parts of elderberries and wild grapes, and cook to extract juice, strain, and sugar in proportion of one pound to each pint of liquid, and cook as other jelly…

Elderberries are also combined with gooseberries, crab-apples, and green grapes, equal parts of either, making a piquant table sauce, while pies made from them might please the individual who does not care for the flavor of the single fruit.

For winter use elderberries may be preserved in either of the above combinations and treated as other fruit, or canned plain without sugar for use in pies only.  When making pies from the plain canned fruit, it is wise to cook the berries with the same proportion of sugar, flour, etc., as given for fresh berries, filling the pie paste when cold.  This insures a jelly-like consistency of the finished product without those unpalatable doughy lumps too often seen…”  – “Table Talk”.  Vol. 18.  1903.

ELDERBERRY SHORTCAKE.

Make the cake or biscuit dough rich and flaky, proportioning it with cream, egg and soda the same as for a strawberry shortcake…When baked, divide the upper from the lower crust and place upon each a layer of ripe stewed elderberries.  It is known that elderberries have a somewhat rank taste when eaten from the bush.  Pick them, look them over and wash them; next, put them in a granite or porcelain stew dish, add a very little hot water and cook them a few minutes or until stewed.  Have as little juice as possible.  Add a half teacupful of thick sweet cream to enough of the stewed berries for two layers.  When the berries and cream are placed upon the cake, sprinkle over each layer plenty of granulated sugar, and the shortcake is then ready to be eaten.  Do not add the cream to the berries until it is about time to have the cake brought to the table.  Cream and sugar added to the berries destroy the disagreeable elderberry flavor and makes them rich and palatable.  – “Table Talk”.  1903.

ELDERBERRY CONSERVE.

9 lb. elderberries, 3 lb. sugar, 1 pt. vinegar; cook until thick and seal.  – “The Warren Cook Book”.  1920.

ELDERBERRY PIE.

Dilute Elderberry Conserve with water; add corn starch to thicken and put dots of butter on top (a little vinegar may be added if desired”.  Very delicious.  “The Warren Cook Book”.

DRIED ELDER FRUIT.

This fruit is very easily dried by spreading in pans under the stove or in the oven, and will make as good pies as though fresh, if they are soaked a few minutes in hot water before using.  Some of our neighbors dry them by the bushel, for winter use”.  – “The Ohio Cultivator”.  Vol. 9.  1853.

ELDERBERRY DUMPLINGS.

Make the crust as usual and put in the berries as you would other fruit [like apple dumpling].  Boil them fast till the crust is done, then take them up and eat with a dip of white sugar and sour cream, and you will confess they are delicious.  [Fruit dumplings can be baked as well].

Elderberries were made into a sauce similar to cranberry sauce.  The Iowa State Horticultural Society recommended combining elderberries and rhubarb for a sauce [1910].  An article in “Everyday Housekeeping” said, “twenty years ago many families, by no means poor, during every year consumed gallons of this unsavory sauce, made by boiling elderberries in sorghum molasses.  Jelly, too, made from elderberries and flavored with lemon, was accounted a delicacy.”  1900.

EDLERBERRY SOY.  [Anchovies are used to flavor various sauces and once cooked and strained, there are no fishy pieces remaining in the product.  The flavor blends with the other ingredients, and if made well, leaves no fishy taste.   Modern tastes usually dictate using far less than older recipes call for.  I suggest 1 small can, chopped, for this or the next recipe.]

One quart of elderberries; one quart of vinegar; a quarter of a pound of anchovies; a blade of mace; a little ginger, salt, and whole peppers.  Pour a quart of boiling vinegar over a quart of elderberries, picked from the stalks and set it in a cool oven all night; then strain the liquor from the berries, and boil it up with the mace, ginger, salt, whole peppers, and the anchovies, until they are dissolved.  When cold, put it into bottles after it has been strained, and cork it down.  Some prefer the spice put into the bottles; but either way it is a good and not expensive soy.  This was appreciated as a sauce for fish.  – “Warne’s Model Cookery”.  1879.

ELDERBERRY CATSUP.  [Note this recipe is similar to the one called soy.]

1 quart of elderberries; 1 quart of vinegar; 6 anchovies, soaked and pulled to pieces; half a teaspoonful mace; a pinch of ginger; 2 tablespoonfuls white sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoonful whole peppers.  Scald the vinegar and pour over the berries, which must be picked from the stalks and put into a large stone jar.  Cover with…glass, and set in the hot sun two days.  Strain off the liquor, and boil up with the other ingredients, stirring often, one hour, keeping covered unless while stirring.  Let it cool; strain and bottle.  This is used for flavoring brown gravies, soups, and ragouts, and stirred into browned butter, makes a good piquant sauce for broiled or baked fish.

FRUIT SAUCE.

Melt a small lump of butter, stir in half as much flour, or a quarter as much of corn-starch, arrowroot, or soaked tapioca, a pinch of salt, if the butter is not salted, a glass of acid wine or lemon juice, or a tablespoonful of vinegar; sugar to taste; any fruit juice you have, as raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, elderberry, or jam will do; thin to the right consistence; bring it to the boil and serve.  Raspberry, and other fruit vinegars make excellent sauces”.  [There is no right and wrong with this recipe – it is thickened as much or as little as the cook desires, and made as sweet or not as is wanted].  “How to Cook”.  1872.

ELDERBERRY PUDDING.

1 cup sugar, 1 cup sweet milk, 2 teaspoons baking powder, butter size of an egg, enough flour to make stiffer than cake dough.  Put in baking dish, then mix the following:  1 ½ cups elderberries (any fruit may be used) 1 cup sugar, 2 cups boiling water, small piece of butter.  Pour this over batter in pudding dish and place in oven.  Bake ¾ hour.  [This could be called cobbler].

ELDER-FLOWER PANCAKES AND JUNKET.  “Fruit Recipes”.

The finest flowers of the elder blossoms, stripped, may be whipped lightly into pancakes or muffins just before baking, a half-cupful to each “batch” of ordinary quantity.  This gives both lightness and flavor.  A plain junket should have added one-fourth part flowers to quantity of cream or milk used.  [Ripe berries may be added to muffins or cakes as one would raisins.]

ELDERBERRY SYRUP TO FLAVOR DRINKS.

Use strained elderberry juice and sugar in a ratio of 1 to 1 (half and half).  Flavor as desired with lemon juice, or cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil and then simmer five minutes.  This may be canned for keeping, or small quantities may be kept in the refrigerator.  To serve, mix syrup to taste in cold club soda or lemon-lime soda and serve over ice.

Note:  While the images may look like poke, elderberry grows on a bush much different in appearance.  Know what you’re picking before consuming any wild plant.  I leave you with my favorite parting, Blissful Meals Yall©.  Enjoy your wild and garden bounty.  – Vickie Brady, The Historic Foodie.

Elinore Stewart, Lady Homesteader©

Elinore Pruitt Stewart is known as the Woman Homesteader and was the subject in the previous post.  After posting the piece on the Homestead Act and a letter written by Mrs. Stewart, I did a little research on her and found she is worthy of attention.

She was born June 3, 1876, probably in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.  Her father died while in the military during the late 1870’s, somewhere on the Mexican border.  Her mother was Josephine Courtney Pruitt.  Josephine married her brother-in-law, Thomas Isaac Pruitt, after Elinore’s father died.

Elinore received a basic education at the Pierce Institute.  The school closed in 1889.  Elinore was orphaned when Thomas died in a work accident and her mother died of complications following childbirth in 1893.  Elinore, age 18, was the sole care-giver for her five youngest siblings.

Elinore married Harry Rupert who was 22 years older and the couple filed for a homestead in 1902.  The marriage did not last and Elinore began work a cook and domestic.  While working for Mrs. Juliet Coney, Elinore began work in March, 1909 for Mr. Clyde Stewart of Burntfork, Wyoming.

In May she filed homestead on 160 acres adjoining her employer.  One of the requirements was that the homesteader build a home on the property and live on it for five years after which they owned it.  Because the line between Mr. Stewart’s claim and Elinore’s came within a couple of feet of Mr. Stewart’s home, they were able to add on an addition to his home that sat on Elinore’s claim giving them room to raise a family while fulfilling the requirements of keeping Elinore’s claim.

The law for married couples filing for homestead said that the husband and wife must live in separate residences so Elinore gave her claim over to her mother-in-law in 1912.  By that time she and Mr. Stewart had begun their family as well as raising Elinore’s daughter from her first marriage.

The long, sometimes rambling, letters Elinore wrote to her old employer, Mrs. Coney, were published in “The Atlantic Monthly” and later were published in book form.  When “Atlantic Monthly” asked more more letters, Elinore went on an elk hunt, both for writing material and meat for the homestead, and wrote several letters over about two months.  Those were published under the name “Letters on an Elk Hunt”.

In 1979, the movie “Heartland” was released and was loosely based on Elinore’s life.  It portrays very little of her work on her homestead and concentrates almost wholly on her life as Clyde Stewart’s wife.

Elinore Stewart died of a blood clot to the brain following gallbladder surgery on Oct. 8, 1933.  She and Clyde are buried at the Burntfork Pioneer Cemetery.  Clyde and their sons operated the ranch until 1940, leased it for a while, and finally sold it in 1945.

Soap Fit for a Queen©

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Pears Soap

Soap is a necessary item for our comfort and health yet it rarely receives notice or praise.  When made for a Queen, however, it is quite another matter.  In 1892, advertisements for Pears soap read:  “Pears Soap Makers by Special Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen”, and “Pears Soap Makers by Special Appointment to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales”.

Queen Victoria conferred the original Royal warrant for the sale of soap to the royal household and the honour was renewed by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  Another Royal warrant was held with the King of Spain

The soap was praised by such notables as the senior surgeon at St. John’s Hospital for the Skin, London and the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.  The latter wrote an endorsement on Nov. 29, 1882.  “If ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness,’ soap must be considered as a ‘Means of Grace’—and a clergy-man who recommends moral things, should be willing to recommend Soap.  I am told that my commendation of Pears’ Soap some dozen years ago has assured for it a large sale in the U.S.  I am willing to stand by any word in favor of it that I ever uttered.  A man must be fastidious indeed who is not satisfied with it.  Henry Ward Beecher”.

Pears’ Soap took the highest prizes at International Exhibitions around the world – Paris, London, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Adelaide, Chicago, Santiago, Edinburgh, etc.

Pears Soap had humble beginnings but through keen marketing strategy it has remained popular into its third century of manufacturing.  Andrew Pears began making soap in London in 1789 and it is still available today.  Andrew took his grandson, Mr. Francis Pears, as a partner in 1835 and The House of Pears became A. & F. Pears.  Andrew left Francis to work alone in 1838 making a modest living but the soap wasn’t quite living up to its potential until 1865 when he was joined by Mr. Thomas J. Barratt and a young Mr. Andrew Pears (son of Francis and great-grandson of the original owner, Andrew Pears.  Francis Pears retired in 1875.

Thomas Barratt’s contribution to the success of Pears’ Soap was his persistence advertising it.  He was responsible for soliciting the endorsement of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and others and made sure it was featured in magazines and newspapers in Britain and the U.S.  The soap, as developed initially in 1792, was good enough in quality that all that was needed to make it a household item was acquainting the masses with the product.

“Each cake of Pears’ Soap goes through a drying process for a full year before leaving the works, which removes every particle of water.  A cake of Pears is all soap and only soap, that is why it lasts so much longer than ordinary kinds”.

So successful was Barratt’s advertising campaign that Pears Soap was truly, “in leading hotels, banks, clubs, steamship lines and hospitals throughout the world”.

Blissful Meals, thehistoricfoodie, aka Vickie Brady.©

 

Destruction Can Come in Small Packages©

Tags

fire ants, fire ants and poultry, fire ants kill chicks

Prior to moving to coastal Georgia about 30 years ago I’d never heard of a fire ant.  The yard where we settled was manicured except for one area maybe 4 x 4 feet.  I decided to clean that up and as soon as I made one pass into the area with the mower I was covered with thousands of stinging ants.  The stings are quite painful and a single large colony can contain up to 250,000 worker ants.  Each bite causes an infected pustule and swelling.  I still have scars from that encounter 30 years ago topped off by more recent ones I got working in the garden and trying to get the ants off chicks and eggs.

We have lost several chicks (duck, chicken, and goose) this year.  At first I didn’t realize why we were finding so many half-hatched or day old dead, but seemingly fully developed, chicks in the pens and nests.  Eventually I found a pipped egg in a nest inside the chicken coop with ants on it, in it, and swarming all around inside the nest.  This wasn’t a case of a few ants crawling on an egg.  When I began to carefully remove bits of shell, ants came pouring out of the egg.  It was like something from a horror movie.  There must have been at least 200 fire ants inside the egg mercilessly stinging the poor chick.  Naturally it died and I realized we have a huge problem.

As soon as the chicks pip, the ants seize upon the bit of moisture and sting the poor chicks to death.  I had a hen hatching eggs in a cardboard box atop my freezer yesterday and by the time I saw the eggs were hatching the ants had already killed three of the chicks.  They climbed up the brick wall in the carport and from there managed to bridged the gap from the wall over to the freezer to get in the box.

A look at some chicken forums confirmed that the problem has been experienced in many areas of the South and one woman claimed the ants had killed a full-grown rooster.  The local Extension office has published papers to educate youngsters raising poultry, goats, rabbits, and other small animals for 4-H club on the dangers of fire ants when animals are penned and cannot escape them.

Cluster of fire ants floating in flood water, Wiki

The quail population in the Southeast has declined drastically, primarily due to newly hatched quail succumbing to fire ant stings.  Quail nest on the ground where the ants have no trouble  getting to the hatching eggs.  A similar problem has been observed with the brown pelican.  “Two years ago, a colony of brown pelicans off the coast of Georgia completely abandoned an area of their rookery right in the middle of the nesting season.  This was a sure signal that something was wrong.”  Brad Winn, UGA, investigated and found fire ants in the nests. *

The University of Nebraska did a study on the impact of fire ants on hatching turtles and reported a loss of 70% of hatchlings on Southeastern coasts.  Brad Winn, a DNR biologist from Georgia said, fire ants damage eggs by chewing holes in the eggs and while the University of Georgia report didn’t seem to think the problem as severe they did note that during and just after hatching young turtles are found that have been killed in the shell by fire ants and others that were killed by fire ants after hatching.

The ants are particularly dangerous for people who are allergic to their stings because so many of them can attack at once.  A young Alabama mother of two died this summer after fire ants came out of a bale of hay she was sitting on and stung her numerous times.

There are multiple types of fire ants, with “our” Red Imported Fire Ant being the worst.  It is the worst because of its swarming behavior, its painful stings, and its ability to reproduce at an astonishing rate.  They are also seemingly indifferent to poisons that finish off other kinds of ants.  “One sting isn’t serious but fire ants can use their stingers again and again, and they have a nasty habit of ganging up on their victims.  Mass stingings can kill animals and people”.  **

So far we haven’t used anything I’d consider an effective poison although I’ve seen recommendations for Advion Fire Ant Bait and Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait, both of which should be broadcast outdoors in the spring and fall. For existing mounds, granules should be spread, not on the mound, but about 3 to 4 feet around the mound.   For those of us with free-ranging poultry, the first step is penning them up so that they don’t eat the bait.  I put Sevin granules in my chicken nests using the recommended amount for the coops but that hasn’t helped the birds nesting outside the pens or the poor hen on top of the freezer.

Travelers to Brazil and other destinations described the painful stings of fire ants in the 1860’s, I wonder what they’d say if they knew that these miniscule stinging menaces were introduced to the U.S. through ship ballast, probably in Mobile, AL, and have spread to this degree throughout the Southeast.

* http://apps.caes.uga.edu/gafaces/index.cfm?public=viewStory&pk_id=963

**  Boys’ Life.  Sept. 1992.

Reclaiming Neglected Grape Vines©

Tags

grape catsup, grape juice

We inherited a row of grape vines when we bought our little farm and this year they have rewarded our efforts at reclaiming them with sweet purple grapes.  The elderly couple who built the home had not been able to properly care for the place for a few years and as a result the fruit trees were all in desperate need of pruning.  The plum trees were beyond saving so we cut those down and planted new ones.  The grape arbor was a massive tangle of old vines with some green growth just at the top.  We severely pruned them per instructions in 19^th century treatises, half expecting them to die from shock, and this year we were pleasantly surprised with grapes.

Yesterday I picked 3 large dishpans full of grapes, stemmed them, juiced them, and canned seven quarts of grape juice, not bad for vines left neglected for so long.  Besides jelly, what might the juice have been used for by my grandmothers?  A little research provided loads of ideas.  Perhaps a few may inspire you as well.

GRAPE JUICE AND SODA. “Practical Druggist”.  Sept. 1908.

There is a demand for grape juice just served with many of the carbonated waters.  To do this, fill the glass half full of the desired water and pour in the grape juice last.  Mix with a spoon or by pouring.

GRAPE SUNDAE.  Same, Oct. 1908.

Ice cream is very tasteful when covered with the grape pulp; for this purpose the pulp is better if it be left undiluted.  This may be topped with a little whipped cream if desired.

WELCH’S GRAPE PUNCH.  Same, May 1908.

For a dainty, unfermented punch, take the juice of three lemons, juice of one orange, one pint of Welch’s grape juice, one quart of water and one cup of sugar.  If served from a punch bowl, add sliced oranges and pineapple.

GRAPE CREAM SODA.  “American Druggist”.  Oct. 1912.

Put a small cone of vanilla ice cream in a soda glass, add 2 ounces of grape juice, a spoonful of crushed fruit and fill up with the fine stream.  Top with a spoonful of whipped cream.  [Soda water].

ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING.  “Eureka Cook Book”.  1907.

Three cups chopped suet, 6 cups sifted flour, 2 cups raisins, 2 cups currants, 1 cup citron, 1 teaspoon each ginger, cloves, allspice, 1 grated nutmeg, I heaped teaspoon baking powder, a little salt, 3 eggs, wine glass of grape juice, milk enough to make a stiff batter.  Soak fruit in grape juice, chop the suet, and put it in a cool place overnight.  Mix baking powder and suet in the flour dry, add fruit, milk and the eggs, stir thoroughly.  Boil 6 or 8 hours in a well floured pudding bag or in a tightly covered pudding mould.  [The mixture can be put into a mixing bowl that is then placed inside a larger pan of simmering water when one does not have a pudding mould.]

GRAPE SOUP.  “The North End Club Cook Book”.  1905.

Stem, wash and cook enough Concord grapes to secure 1 quart of rich grape juice.  Add 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of seedless raisins (which have been soaked in water for 2 hours) and 4 sticks of cinnamon.  Let boil for half an hour, remove the sticks of cinnamon and thicken with 4 tablespoons of flour.  Grape jelly can also be used in place of the grape juice.  To be served hot or very cold.

MINCEMEAT.  “Hanover Cook Book”.  1922.

1 ½ lbs. of beef boiled and chopped, 2 lbs. beef suet chopped fine, 4 lbs. apples, 2 lbs. raisins, 2 lbs. currants, 2 lbs. sugar, 1 pt. [pint] grape juice, 2 nutmegs, ½ oz. cinnamon, ¼ oz. cloves, ¼ oz. mace, 1 teaspoonful salt, ½ lb. citron, 2 large oranges.  [The mincemeat could be frozen in portions for baking pies.]

MINCEMEAT.  2.  “Hanover Cook Book”.

3 lbs. lean meat, ¼ lb. suet, 3 lbs. sugar, 5 lbs. apples, 2 lbs. raisins, 2 lbs. currants, ½ lb. citron, 3 lemons, 3 nutmegs, 1 oz. mace, ½ pt. grape juice, ½ gal. cider.  All these things must be chopped, meat well cooked; fresh tongue is best.

FRUIT CAKE.  “Hanover Cook Book”.

1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. flour, ¾ lb. butter, 8 eggs, 2 lbs. raisins, 1 lb. currants, ½ lb. citron, ½ pt. grape juice, 1 tablespoonful cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful allspice, 1 tablespoonful cloves, and 2 nutmegs.  [The amount of spice is probably too much for modern palates, adjust per your taste.  Cream the sugar, butter, and eggs.  Mix in the flour into which the spices have been mixed, the fruit, and grape juice.  Bake at 350 until done, test with a toothpick.  Fruit cakes flavored with grape juice were relatively common.]

FRUIT COCKTAIL.  “Country Kitchen Cookbook”.  1922.

1 cup cherry juice, ½ c. lemon juice, ½ c. grape juice, 1 pineapple, ½ lb. marshmallows, powdered sugar, 3 oranges.  Shred the pineapple.  Peel the oranges, free from membrane and seeds, and cut into small pieces.  Snip the marshmallows into small sections.  Mix the fruit and marshmallow and sweeten with powdered sugar.  Mix the fruit juices.  Serve the fruit mixture in cocktail glasses.  Put a couple of tablespoonfuls of the fruit juices over the fruit and finish with a spoonful of lemon sherbet.  A fruit cocktail may be served before a soup or in place of the soup.

GRAPE CATSUP.  Mothers’ Congress Cookbook.  1922.

5 lbs. nice ripe grapes mashed, cooked and run through the colander.  Add 1 pt. vinegar, 3 lbs. sugar, 1 tsp. ground allspice, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. black pepper, ½ tsp. salt.  Boil all together until thick enough for catsup.  [Put up per modern canning instructions in small jars].

GRAPE CATSUP.  1906.

1 quart of grape juice, 1 pint of vinegar, 1 lbs. sugar, ground cloves.  [I’m adding the allspice, cinnamon, and a wee bit of pepper found in most such recipes.  I won’t be dipping my fries in this, but tonight’s project is turning a quart of my grape juice into this catsup to serve with cold meats].

GRAPE JUICE SHERBET.  “Everwoman’s Canning Book”.  1918.

1 pint grape juice, 4 tablespoons lemon juice, Juice of half an orange, 1 tablespoon granulated gelatin, 1 ½ cups boiling water, ½ cup cold water, 1 cup sugar.  Soak gelatin in cold water five minutes.  Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and hot water for fifteen minutes; then add the soaked gelatin.  Cool slightly; add grape, orange, and lemon juice.  Freeze, using a mixture of three parts ice to one of salt.

Blissful Meals, Yall, enjoy summer’s bounty.  – Vickie Brady, aka thehistoricfoodie.©  Copyright 2016.

When is a Bean not a Bean?

Tags

cucuzzi, edible gourd, New Guinea bean, yard-long bean

My uncle was a good country gentleman, a veteran of WWII, and what one might call a gentle giant in that he was generally quiet but when he did speak it was worth listening to.  He was the glue that held our family together as my grandfather died young and my uncle assumed the duties of patriarch.  His occupation was simply “farmer”.  He raised cattle, kept chickens, turkeys, guineas, pigs, and grew fields of corn and common, as well as some uncommon, vegetables in his kitchen garden.  Some of what he routinely grew when I was growing up faded into oblivion with his passing so when I rediscover one of his classics it is a little like regaining a piece of my childhood.

One such plant is cucuzzi, aka, edible gourd, Italian edible gourd, etc, but which my uncle called Yard-long bean.  The latter is what I knew it as, so, when I researched it and realized that his bean and the cucuzzi gourd are in fact one and the same I wondered how he came to know it as a bean.  An article from “Popular Science”, May 1920, reveals the plant was known by many as such, sometimes called New Guinea bean.  The article was entitled, “When a Bean Is Not a Bean It’s a Gourd”.  It has sometimes been called snake gourd although the two are actually two different plants.

“This gourd springs up as by magic when the seeds are planted after the danger of frost has passed.  Like the ordinary pole-bean, it will grow whether cared for or not.”  The plant is an aggressive spreader so give it plenty of room then let it do for itself.  Unless sprawling over other vegetables is considered desirable they are best trellised.

A humorous discussion on how an edible gourd came to be called a New Guinea Butter Bean” was found in “Bean-bag” [June 1920].  “All jests aside, the elongated gourd with the funny name is conceded to be a quite acceptable vegetable.  It can be prepared in a score or more ways and finds favor with many appetites…The gourds are at their best when about twelve inches long and covered with a white fuzzy growth”.

The plant’s merits are many.  Cattle, goats, and pigs eat them, poultry eat the seed, seed are easily perpetuated by letting one or two of the gourds grow to full size and harvesting the seed for the next year’s crop, and any that are inadvertently overlooked and get too large to cook can be dried and used for containers or crafts.  In the 60’s and 70’s my mom and aunts made floral arrangements, dippers, and bird houses out of the large dried gourds.

I’ve made out an order for seed from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and by this time next year I’ll be cooking a treat from my childhood and have my very own Mason jar full of dried seed stored away just like Uncle Wallace.

A 1909 book [“The English Vegetable Garden,  1909] spoke of its merits as a vegetable and recommended it for soups and stews.  It can be cooked in any way one would summer squash.  We most often sliced and fried the young tender gourds after a dusting of cornmeal.  After all, we are from the South and you know what they say about us and our frying pans.  Blissful Meals, yall, may your growing season see plentiful rain and sun and may your skillet never be empty.  -Thehistoricfoodie, aka, Vickie Brady.

America’s Greatest Problem: We’ve been off the farm too long

Tags

American farmers, farming, self-sufficiency

This article is from Appalachian Magazine.  It carries a powerful message, one that every American should heed.

By AppalachianMagazine –

July 5, 2016

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This is an opinion article from Appalachian Magazine, written by Jeremy Farley:

This week, our nation celebrated its 240th birthday and though my heart fills with patriotic fervor each time I catch a glimpse of those red stripes flapping in the wind, I can’t help but have those feelings checked by the harsh understanding that America 2016 is a nation in dire trouble.

Far from being the land of the free and the home of the brave, we are now a nation of spineless weaklings ready to be offended at the drop of the hat and often it is the very ones who dropped the hat who are the most offended.

I do not pretend to be an expert on sociology or American history – everything I know I had to learn from my life’s experiences, mostly as a child on a +200-acre beef farm in nowhere Virginia.  The older I get, the more I have come to realize, however, that it was here that I received the type of education no Ivy League institution can come close to offering.  My only regret is that 200 million other American children never had the same opportunities I enjoyed – opportunities to bottle feed a baby calf, drive a truck through an empty field at the age of 5 (alone), spend summers sitting alongside my father inside the cab of a John Deere tractor, begin Christmas morning the same way I began everything other cold and windy winter morning – opening the gates for dad as he unrolled hay for hundreds of hungry animals.

In the year 1790, 90% of the American population were farmers.  By 1850, this percentage had dropped to 64%, and then down to only 21% by the year 1930.  Today, only 2% of the American population serves as farmers.

And though American agriculture is more productive than ever, I’m afraid that as a nation we are beginning to witness the consequences of having raised multiple generations who have never looped a metal chain through a gate or chased lightning bugs through a field of freshly mowed hay.

As a nation, we have allowed Disney to convince our children that all animals are cute and cuddly, then wonder why dozens of people get killed each year attempting to take selfies with grizzly bears, cougars and copperheads.

As a nation, we have replaced the garden hoe and watering bucket with an Xbox and cell phone, then wonder why our “children” refuse to move out at the age of 30.

As a nation, the vast majority of our families have never even came across an injured bird, let alone taken the time to nurse one back to health, then we wonder why a generation has been brought up to have no respect for nature or its Creator.

While our forebears were busy praying for rain, we have come to regard the water that falls from the sky as being a cursed object — unaware that it is the rain that keeps us fed each day… All sunshine and no rain makes a barren desert, but hardly anyone realizes this in 2016 America; which is why so many never find peace during their darkest days.

There was a time when Americans consumed bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, fried eggs and a big glass of milk each morning — and yet they rarely got fat.  Why? Because after eating such a hardy breakfast, they went out in the fields and spent the next thirteen hours fixing fences, hanging gates, delivering calves, killing, yes, killing predators, and harvesting food.

Farm work is dirty, tiring, sometimes cruel and always difficult; which is exactly why the percentage of Americans who engage in this work has declined with every generation.

Yet, it was this type of upbringing that allowed a nation to produce men and women who pulled together to fend off the forces of Hell in the Second World War, explore the heavens, eradicate disease and tap the ocean depths.

Sadly, those farm children are dying off the scene each day. They have been replaced by “men” who have never gotten dirt under their fingernails and purchase overpriced coffee as a status symbol.

I’m not so foolish to believe that all of our ills could be solved by a trip back to the farm, but I am confident that if a few more people had the type of upbringing I enjoyed, the world would have a lot more common sense!

“Men In Denim Built Our Country…Men In Suits Destroyed It.”

Poultry Parenting©

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Buff Orpington

Many of our birds here on the little farm have very distinct personalities.   We have our favorites that are almost like our children, others seem totally oblivious to our presence, and a couple have been downright nasty little cusses.  A rooster named Rocky tried to fight us every time we got near him until he went for a swim amidst light fluffy dumplings and rich golden roo…, chicken, broth.    The more personable of the lot know they’re going to live a charmed life and the others are subject to my grandfather’s cardinal rule.  I can still hear him saying, “Do not name the farm animals.  They’ll be coming to supper and they won’t be guests”.

Last year one of our Ameracaunas hatched two chicks which were as cute as could be but seemed to have a mind of their own, squeezing between the wires in their pen and frolicking all around the yard until a quick heavy rainstorm blew up and drowned them.  This year another hen has 3 chicks which we’ve been putting up at night to protect them from predators or another sudden rain storm.  Mama doesn’t quite understand our good intentions and as we’re catching the chicks she launches into a pecking frenzy to let us know they’re her chicks and we’re not welcome.

Last night I forgot to put them into the coop until well after dark.  I’d already put on my nightgown and didn’t feel inclined to get dressed again to run out back to the chicken pen to put them up.  It’s sheltered and can’t be seen from the road so there wasn’t much chance of stories circulating about the crazy chicken lady running around outside in her gown so I bee-bopped on out dressed as I was.

Mama was doing her usual fierce pecking on my hand as I caught two of the chicks then the third chick decided to make a break for it.  I was weaving and bobbing around the chicken pen trying to catch that last chick without mama getting too feisty when I felt this tug from behind.  Mama had come up behind me, grabbed on to the hem of my gown, and with all the strength she could muster started flopping around trying to pull me away from the chick.  Imagine, if you will, a grown woman with two chicks in one hand and a net in the other trying to catch this one wayward chick with Mama yanking and pulling on the hem of my gown.  I was torn between laughing and admiring her mothering skills.  I’m sure the story about the crazy chicken lady would have been suitably embellished to reflect the incident had anyone actually seen what was going on.

I finally caught the chick and put the three of them inside the coop, mama hen strutted up the gangplank pleased as punch with herself thinking she’d taught me not to mess with her babies, and I fastened the door and headed back inside thinking to myself how a mama chicken can be so protective of her babies when there are people who aren’t as good a parent as she.     © Blissful Meals Yall, visit again soon.  The Historic Foodie

A Little Look at my Garden©

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vegetable gardening

Some time back I posted a series of articles on various vegetables I was researching for this year’s garden and I thought it might be interesting to post an update on what I actually did end up planting.  So far all is well – my plants are up and doing well.  The weather has been good for the deep South although the temperatures are creeping up with a 95 degree heat index yesterday.  With the heat usually comes a decrease in the amount of rain we see and I’ve already watered the garden once.

We probably tripled the size of the garden from last year and instead of doing the whole thing with a shovel and broadfork we had someone plow it for us.  That let me expend my labor on seeding and weeding instead of breaking up the soil.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t done in time for early things like sweet peas and potatoes.

I chose Country Gentleman and Silver Queen corn and planted it as far away from each other as possible.  We staggered the plantings so the corn is varying heights and hopefully will be harvested over a longer season.  I have enough seed and space for perhaps another 10 rows and will put that out over the next 2 or 3 weeks.

The Blue Lake green beans look good as do the Fordhook limas.  I did two plantings of these to extend the harvest so while the first are about 5 inches tall, the others have yet to sprout although after watering, that should happen by the middle of next week.

I planted 3 rows of Pennsylvania Crookneck Squash that seem to be doing well.  I bought seed from Landis Valley but also saved the seed from squash we purchased at an Amish market when we were there over Christmas.  I decided to save the purchased seed and plant the seed from the squash and I do believe every seed sprouted.  There are pies in our future providing the bugs leave some and I keep them watered.

Image of PA crookneck squash from the Seedsavers website.

I put out 60 tomato plants hoping to be able to can and freeze enough for the year so that we avoid the bad nasties in purchased canned tomatoes.  They were chosen for hot weather and disease resistance.  I have 6 Atkinson I bought and the rest are Big Boy and Better Boy that I started from seed.  They are blooming so I have the bacon and fixings ready for my first BLT.

I planted a row of Aunt Molly’s ground cherries or husk tomatoes if you prefer that have yet to sprout but if for some reason they don’t I have enough seed to replant.  I’m waffling in my decision as to whether to wait or reseed.

There is a row of salsify and a row of scorzonera.  The latter, which was referred to as viper’s grass in times past, is pushing through the soil surface and from its appearance it is easy to see how it got that name.

I had asparagus, but I’m waiting for it to be established better before cutting any.  I had about a 50% grow rate on my Jerusalem artichokes.  I’m not sure why only about half sprouted.  Moles or armadillos could be the culprits or perhaps the tubers weren’t as healthy as they should have been when they went in the ground.  I will probably harvest them and replant the bulk of them so as to amass a larger bed for next year rather than cooking them up this winter.

A couple of kinds of cucumbers and a few radishes are tucked away here and there, all up but not ready to harvest.

The basil, thyme, parsley, rosemary, shallots, and elephant garlic are in raised beds surrounded by chicken wire to keep hungry geese, chickens, and guineas from helping themselves.

There are baby ducks, chicks, rabbits, and a single gosling that have hatched so we butchered some of the older chickens and a couple of drakes last weekend and put them into the freezer.  Our ratio of roosters and drakes was higher than it should be so this helped to correct that and give the hens a break.  The roast duck followed by a nice barley vegetable soup made from boiling down the rest of the duck was pretty good.

As always, gentle reader, I leave you with the wish for Blissful Meals!  ©  – Victoria, the Historic Foodie, thehistoricfoodie.wordpress.com.

MORE VARIETIES OF HEIRLOOM CORN©

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19th century food, Bear paw corn, Black Mexican corn, Bloody Butcher corn, Country Gentleman corn, Gaspe Flint corn, Hickory Cane corn, Howling Mob corn, Leamings corn, Tom Thumb popcorn

As I’m choosing the vegetables that will get planted in my garden this year I’m adding my insane research results to the blog.  I’ve chosen Silver Queen and Country Gentleman for my corn this year and I’m happy with those choices for now.  The other varieties below will get planted eventually, but a couple at a time.  This will finish my walk down the heirloom corn garden path.  [Maybe]

Bear Paw.  A popcorn created by Glenn Thomson of Vermont and grown between 1930 and the mid-1960’s.  It was served in the Vermont exhibition of the World’s Fair.  It is available today.  Plants are about 4 to 5 ft.  The ears are flattened and split at the silk end, some said resembling a bear paw. An ear can actually split into more than two resembling a crude hand shape.  While it isn’t as old a variety as the rest of the list, I’ve included it because of its uniqueness. It is available from Seed Savers Exchange, cherrygal.com, etc.

Black Mexican.   “If you have never tried Black Mexican corn you should do so…It is said to contain a higher percentage of sugar than any other variety.  The only thing against it is its appearance.  The fresh kernels are a beautiful blue-black, but in the pot they lose their life and luster.  The cooked ears are about as unattractive as black bean soup, but the flavor is delicious beyond words”.  – “Country Life in America”.  July 1904.

Some period sources said it was not preferred by 19^th/early 20^th century market growers because the corn turns from white to very dark as it ages and customers could tell if it wasn’t at its prime by the color.  It is very interesting to see the color change.  Others found that it crossed too easily with other corns, though there was no real discernible difference.  “There is no evidence, however, that this variety crosses more readily than others, but when crosses of Black Mexican and other varieties do occur, the effects are more readily seen.”  ““Bulletin”.  Issues 183-191.  Dept. Ag.  1911.  Corbett, Lee.  “Garden Farming”.  1913.

The name is misleading.  It was apparently first bred in New York, probably from Iroquois Black Puckers.  Some period sources dated it from 1864, but it was found by this writer earlier in the Essex Agricultural Society’s “Transactions” in 1857.    “Several collections of excellent sweet corn were exhibited by S. A. Merrill, of Salem, and others, but among them all we did not find any specimens of the Black Mexican.  Of ten varieties which we tested the past season, this was decidedly the sweetest.  The ear is rather below the average size and matures somewhat late, the kernels when ripe being of a rich, dark, purple color, but when in the milk but slightly tinged with purple…Black Mexican is prolific, will bear close planting, and we can confidently recommend it to the gardeners and farmers of Essex”.

In 1866, Fearing Burr called it, “Black Sweet, or Mexican.  Slate Sweet” and said it was sweet, tender, and well flavored, “remains a long period in condition for use”, and aside from its color which some found objectionable was well worth cultivation.  Black Mexican was offered by James J. H. Gregory of Marblehead, Mass. In his 1863 catalog.

It is available today from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Victory Seed, and others.  Seed may be Aztec Black or an Aztec Black cross.

Country Gentleman.  “Very desirable”.  Still available today.  See previous post.

Golden Bantam.  Stalks 4 ft.  5 in. ears.  Tender skin on the kernels.   Golden Bantam was featured in the Burpee catalog in 1902. In the 1903, W. A. Burpee Farm Annual said William Chambers of Greenfield, Mass.  grew this corn long before his neighbors had ripe corn for their tables but would never sell seed.  Mr. Chambers died ca. 1891 and his corn was grown and the seed kept pure by Mr. J. G. Pickett, also of Greenfield.  E. L. Coy of New York, who was a friend of W. Atlee Burpee, was served some Golden Bantam at a meal when visiting in Greenfield.

Mr. Coy purchased all the seed he could from Mr. Pickett and sent them to Mr. Burpee claiming it was the sweetest and richest corn he’d ever eaten.  It was Burpee who named the variety when he released it to the public in 1902, otherwise it should rightly be called Chambers’ Sweet Corn.

Mr. Chambers is thought to have bred his corn from seed obtained by James J. H. Gregory of Marblehead, Mass which was called Golden Sweet.  Golden Sweet was a cross between a yellow field corn and Darling’s Early, possibly the first named sweet corn variety.  Golden Bantam is still available while  Golden Sweet and Darling’s Early have fallen by the wayside.

“The name and fame of Golden Bantam Corn is known everywhere.  It has the call in summer when fresh corn is on the market.”  Carpenter’s Golden Sweet was a later improvement of Golden Bantam.  – Blackmore.  “Merchant’s Manual of Advertising”.  1921.  See also:  “Vegetables of New York”.  1934.

Howling Mob.  C. D. Keller of Toledo, Ohio developed this corn and named it because he said customers were so anxious to get it at markets they became a “howling mob” when it was offered for sale.  Not much is found on Mr. Keller other than classified ads for seed sales.  Howling Mob was introduced in 1905 and remains available today from R. H. Shumway.  It grows to 6 or 7 feet and ears are 8 to 9 inches long with 12 to 14 rows of kernels.  This corn came very close to being lost.

Stowell’s Evergreen.  See previous post.

Bloody Butcher.  This is a beautiful dark red corn, the color of which was likened to blood.  Some accounts say it was being grown at least as early as 1845, but this writer found no mention of it earlier than the 1870’s.  In 1919, Lamkin claimed Colby Bloody Butcher was grown in Missouri for the “past 25 years” – which would have been sometime around 1894.

Bloody Butcher, from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange website

It is a dent corn and a tall one reaching 10 to 12 feet.  It supposedly produces two to six ears per stalk.  The cobs vary in color from pink to red.  It is primarily used for flour, grits, or meal but can be eaten when young and fresh.

“Bloody Butcher is a name applied to corn having a deep-red grain.  The cap, or rather the crown, end of the kernels varies in color for the different varieties, but are usually lighter in color than the remainder of the kernel.  The Colby Bloody Butcher is the only variety of this class that has proved to be an outstanding one…As a rule Bloody Butcher corn is not any more productive than corn of any other color”.  – “Biennial Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture”.  1921.

Hickory King.  This dent corn is available in white or yellow.  It is well known in the South as a hominy corn.  “Hickory King corn was originated by A. O. Lee, Bartee, Va.  I understand that there is a railroad station called Hickory near his place which furnishes the name of this reliable variety…The Hickory King corn is remarkable for having the largest kernels and the smallest cob in proportion to depth of kernels…”.  – Eyck, Albert.  “Corn”.  1914.

Leaming’s.  Jacob Spicer Leaming [1815-1885] of Clinton Co., Ohio is credited with developing this yellow dent corn.  His ancestors are outlined in a “Report” published by the Ohio Corn Improvement Assoc. in 1910 and that source was also an account of the development of his corn.  The article from which the Association quoted was published by his son in 1888. His corn was so much appreciated that the publication says, “the best part of him is still above ground, and the memory of him grows green each year in a thousand tasseled fields”.

Mr. Leaming’s father, Christopher, was growing corn with the help of his sons, one of whom was 10-year old Jacob Spicer Leaming, by 1826.

“In 1855, Mr. [Jacob Spicer] Leaming was driving a wagon in Hamilton County and stopped at a wayside corn field to ask some men husking corn in the field if they might sell him enough corn to feed his horses.  He was so impressed with the corn that he bought a bushel of corn for seed.

He first planted the corn in 1856 and spent some 30 years improving it.  After his 1856 crop was harvested he shared seed with several neighbors and the seed became known as Leaming’s corn.

Jacob was awarded a silver medal for his corn at the Paris World’s Fair in 1884.  He died the following year.  In 1900 Jacob’s son, Peter D. Leaming, took a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition for his seed corn – the corn his father developed.

Leaming’s corn, probably the Improved Leaming, is rare, but available today from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.

Neal’s Paymaster.  William H. Neal bred this variety from Tennessee Red Cob.  “An interesting story was published recently in a Tennessee newspaper relative to the manner in which W. H. Neal, of the Maple Dale Farm, Wilson county, Tennessee, had developed since 1898 what is known as Neal’s Paymaster corn, said to be largely responsible for the excellent yield in that state this year.”  The experts at the Tennessee Agricultural Dept. recommended it for Tennessee and other states.  – “The Seed World”.  Dec. 16, 1921.   It is available from Sandhill Preservation.

Tennessee Red Cob

Luther Hill sweet corn.  Luther Hill developed this about 1902 in Sussex Co., New Jersey.  Mr. Hill was the horticulturist at Rutgers University.  Luther Hill Sweet was used to breed Silver Queen corn.  It can produce two years per stalk.  It is rare, but available today from the Sustainable Seed Co. and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.  It has a short ripening period allowing for quick processing for the freezer.

Gaspe Flint.  Supposedly documented by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and named for the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec.  The plants reach to only about 2 ½ feet with cobs about 4 inches.  It is available from Heritage Harvest Seed Co. and Sherck’s Heirloom Vegetables, Plants, & Seeds.

Japonica Striped Maize, aka Japanese corn.  This is a beautiful corn with striped white and pink in the leaves.  It was touted as new in 1867 by the “Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and All Useful Discoveries and Improvements in Rural Affairs”.  The seed was brought from Japan by Thomas Hogg. – “Genetics Laboratory Manual”.  1918.

From the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange website.  Why not order today?

“American Agriculturist” printed a piece on the corn in March 1866 saying Hogg sent the seed to his brother from Japan.  The author said when the plants were about two feet high they were also streaked with rose color in the leaves but claimed the pink dissipated as the plants got older.

“The Japanese corn has a very peculiar appearance, the leaves being striped with white”.  – “Report”.  Vol. 18-20.  1893.

“A variety of Japanese corn has been successfully grown for several years on the grounds of Cornell University.  While it produced good sized ears, it is not so valuable as the ordinary variety under cultivation.  Its distinctive feature is that its leaves are striped similar to ribbon grass”.  – “The Cultivator & Country Gentleman”.  March 14, 1895.

Seed are available from several sources including Heritage Harvest Seed.

Tom Thumb Popcorn.  The earliest origins of this yellow variety are unknown, but it was found in the “Annual Report” of 1889.  It was featured in John Lewis Child’s catalog 10 years later in 1899.  Plants are said to be very productive but a diminutive 2 feet tall with ears about 2 to 3 inches.  Childs recommended it for city or village lots where space was limited.  It is available from Heritage Harvest Seed.

Truckers Favorite.  Trucker’s Favorite is an heirloom dent corn.  The December 1913 issue of “The Southern Planter” noted that Mr. Charles G. Diessner had received 2^nd prize at a fair for his Truckers Favorite corn.  Mention of it was found in 1905 in a publication by the University of Maryland, “Control Series”.

“There is no early garden corn so extensively grown in the South as Trucker’s Favorite corn.  It is much hardier than any sugar corn and can be planted weeks earlier, and is ready for the table or market in about 70 days.  Although not a sugar corn, it makes the finest roasting ears.” – T. W. Woods Seed Co.  1938.

It can be eaten fresh or dried for flour or meal.  Sources describe it as heat tolerant, thus its popularity in the hot humid South.  Seed are available from My Patriot Supply, Sustainable Seed Co., Gurney’s, St. Clare’s Seeds, etc.

May your soil be fertile, your crop abundant, and your meals truly blissful, Vickie (The Historic Foodie).  ©