Vegetables and Fruit

When I was growing up, things were different than they are now. Dad had a garden (which wasn't always a good thing), and we ate a lot of things he grew. Sure somethings came from a local grocer but most of the stuff was from his garden. Then he had a couple citrus trees on the property which supplied a lovely treat every fall of Satsumas. I miss Satsumas.

Even though I grew up knowing how hard Mom worked putting up the foods, I was more or less ungrateful for the supply. Most kids are I suppose. Taking for granted what is supplied by someone's sweat and toil seems to be a fault of humans as a whole. What did grow out of that situation though, was a love of good fresh vegetables and fruit.

Shopping at the supermarkets now is such a disappointment. The cost is ridiculous and usually the quality is substandard. Not only that but you just look at the stuff and wonder where is came from and how it was handled before it arrived at the store. Horror stores can swirl around in your head if you listen to the news. So, you just grab the food, close your eyes and run before anything resembling common sense can get a foothold.

I am not a farmer and can't grow squat. I don't even pretend to know how to garden. Most stuff that has bravery enough to grow here is doomed to "R.I.P.". Loving the fresh foods though that a garden can bring is real. A new quest is born...

The "fruit stand lady" as she is called is really named Trish. She's such a hoot and I like her a lot. She's one of those folks you know is so hard working you just want to support her effort. Yep, that's Trish. One of the things I like about her is that she'll work with your budget. If she knows you can't afford a bunch, she'll tell you in advance she can't save you money right now but if you wait a week the prices on "such and such" will be going down. Buy it then. If you ask her in advance she'll even pick you up a box (bushel) at a good price.

You might ask yourself what you'll do with a bushel of anything. Well, let me tell you, you find a way to deal with it.

Mom and I recently purchased three bushels of peaches. She and I both love them and when they are gone for the year we always morn the loss. This year we decided to go ahead and buy them, process them and freeze them. It was a lot of work and I don't even think I want to touch another peach for a while, but they are in the deep freezer and there if we want peaches this winter.

Also done this year was Blueberries. I'd heard that blueberries were abundant this year and asked around until I found someone who had them growing. Thankfully one of my husbands buddies had some land in Georgia with a blueberry farm and invited us up to pick all we wanted free of charge! OK, so I don't want to see another blueberry either, but the effort yielded three gallons. They made it to the freezer too.

On the way down to go kayaking with my hubby we passed some fruit vendors on the side of the road. We got a couple flats of strawberries and shared those with Mom. They also went into the freezer. I think I have the fruit situation solved for the winter.

What hit me later on after all this effort in the weeks past, was that I was putting in the deep freezer a lot of food; Meat, Fruit and some vegetables. And, the metamorphosis that is really happening is that I now shop for my vegetables at local vendors and no longer shop at the grocery store. Whatever is in season is what I buy. I freeze for later on what is grown at this time of year. Guess where I'd not been in a long time? Wal-Mart...

Yet again, I smell the whiff of something on the air, and it smells like freedom.