An abundance of abundance...

[_harmony]

Harmony,

I hopr you accepted the calling. Are they setting up some "Homemaking" nights that you will be the leader at? Many of the old skills that Mothers and Fathers taught their kids have been lost in the busy shuffle of the modern stress filled world.

Not a calling, Gaz. Just a couple of friends exchanging ideas. I was Homemaking Leader once, back in the day. The stake still shakes their head in wonder at the attendance numbers we had for our Homemaking meetings back then. Heck, half the nonmembers neighbors would come, plus women from neighboring wards. But that was back then... this is now.

So she asked me, as a friend, to advise her on how to make those numbers happen again, at the same time as teaching some almost forgotten skills to our young ones.

You are indeed needed.

Well, I'm trying in my small way to make the world a better place, without being required to accept a calling I have neither the time for nor the energy to complete.

My wife has been making jam with her sister, peach in fact, although I'm sure the peaches they have been using aren't near the quality that you described.

God never made prettier peaches than those were. We're having peach pancakes tomorrow, as Kayla has already decided on our breakfast menu, when one of the jars didn't seal.

don't let the treasures of knowledge that you have go unused. Pass them on !

It never occurred to me that not all children had the same opportunities to learn that my children had. I've learned many new things this week.

[_harmony]

Harmony I have a fridge in the garage full of apple sauce , apple chutney (which tends to be given away pretty much because so many of my friends and family like it), and redcurrant and blackcurrant jelly.

The brambles in the field behind us are just ripening off and I shall be picking them in the next couple of days. I also picked the bullosks on my mums hedges and made some great plum jam.

I've been growing my own vegetables this year as well as the fruits.

The salads freshly picked have been great.

I do it because I hate to see food waste when it is in such abundance in my garden and also because it is reduding my carbon footprint and also saving money.

I can't sow for toffee. Maybe one day...

I'm also self taught...and have made a few mistakes along the way!!

What do you do with brambles? Our apples aren't ripe yet. Perhaps applesauce will be my next lesson for the girls? Or maybe apple pie filling? They are so proud of those jars, I think we'll be doing this again on a weekend in October.

[_Jersey Girl]

We're going to try our hand at drying our own herbs next. I have a food dryer I've never used, so my tall son will have to get it down from the top of the kitchen. I'm sure my house will smell wonderful while we do that!

Sometimes I wonder about the upbringing my DILs had. It certainly wasn't the same as my own children's.

Is that a dehydrator, harm? We have one of those, too. :-) You can do all kinds of things with it like the herbs, dried fruit and beef jerky (which I intensely dislike but JB loves). For example, you can dry sliced apples in it and if you don't care to eat it, you can make wreaths or ornaments with them! Soak them in lemon juice prior if you want the white to stay white.

Your house will smell divine with the herbs!

:-D

p.s. Yes, deer. We lost summer somewhere in the middle of this week. It will snow here in 5 weeks. You can bet your snow shovel on it!

[_Jersey Girl]

Pssst harm? You can make peach syrup (and can it!) with the fruit too, to put on your pancakes, waffles, ice cream, etc. At this rate, my canner will be out by next Saturday!

These are also wonderful gifts to give during the holidays, harm, especially during financial lows. Did you ever make clove studded apples? Wonderful sachet type gifts!



(Spices can be expensive, but they smell SO good!)

[_Blixa]

I love knitting, too, Blixa. I've never been ambitious enough to knit a suit, though. I do have two unfinished sweaters and an unfinished baby blanket, though. LOL

Knitting is one of those mindless things for me that makes great therapy. I love to knit and watch TV. I don't feel quite so guilty about watching TV if I'm multi-tasking. It's actually relaxing for me.

I don't have much time to do it, though.

They used to teach us how to knit and crochet in Primary. I don't think they do that anymore.

It is great therapy. But I tend to go all fanatic on things. I collect old knitting magazines, mostly 30's and 40's, and use only vintage yarn AND vintage needles (I have some bakelite and faux tortise shell needles I found on eBay in NZ. For some reason all the old faux tortise shell needles are in New Zealand...). So I have to do lots of complicated math (read: guessing) to transpose the sizes and stitch counts from the old patterns. Also I try, when possible to convert all sweater patterns into knit-in-the-round sweaters (see the famous old knitting guide, "Knitting Without Tears" for a primer on this technique...the way sleeves are set in using this method is really cool!). The suit is a combination of a reworked jacket from an old pattern; the skirt I just made up. And for once I'm not using vintage yarn, but a discontinued Japanese tweedy yarn in a cashmere blend. Its a thick yarn compared to what I usually use.

I also went nuts over lace knitting and that became anti-therapy since I had to pay such strict attention to the pattern... I only managed a very long scarf (with a separately knitted lace edging---what a chore!).

I haven't crocheted in decades--I need to "re-learn" it.

For contemporary designs/patterns I only can stand the German magazine Rebecca. It comes with English language inserts, but I try to practice my German by puzzling out the instructions first in the original.

Two of my sweaters were in an international exhibit of New Crafts and traveled to Hong Kong and Singapore.

[_zzyzx]

Good for you to teach them skills for life. As for bread, go to a thrift store and you can buy a bread making maching for $5=15 or so. Work just fine and a good supplement to when you don't want to bake in the oven. Mix at night, set a timer for 2AM on the electric control and when you get up for breakfast at 6AM you will have a fresh loaf of hot bread.

When your garden overflows you can do what we do. Sell at a farmers market. Put a table out front with an honor system drop box and sell that way. Put a table out front with a FREE veggie sign on it. Or, leave some of it on the doorstep of families you know are having a difficult time financially. That one works wonders. Do it when you won't be seen and it is even better. Everyone benefits.

Lost skills for living are easily re-gained with a bit of practice and effort. Too many won't make the effort. We have some in our Stake/town area who have been given bread machines and won't use them because 'it takes four hours'. They also turned down fresh veggies, flour and basics because 'we prefer pizza'. Thankfully few are like these idiots and welcome help, are willing to do what it takes to make the best of it and you know they will help others when they get back on their feet.

As an aside here. Had a few days off and travelled through three States looking at lower priced properties with a few acres/home for the coming Out of Utah retirement. Some nice places, good cold winter climate, farmers markets in them during the season, smaller towns with NO LDS building in them. Getting closer to heaven as we look, rule out locations and add a few to the list of possibles. Good gardening and good country places to live 'out and away'.

[_twinkie]

Oh, I would love to learn some of these skills! I think they are really practical - for reasons mentioned - the economy AND reducing carbon footprints.

I've actually been learning to make bread- not as easy as you would think, but with You tube videos that show how to knead it, I'm getting better. My last effort was almost edible!

[_Yoda]

And for once I'm not using vintage yarn, but a discontinued Japanese tweedy yarn in a cashmere blend. Its a thick yarn compared to what I usually use.

Where do you find most of the yarn you use? On E-Bay as well?

I must confess that I normally go to Michael's or Wal-Mart for knitting supplies.

Of course, I just knit for fun...and it's been over three years since I have really done anything. I was working on a toddler sweater for my son. Now he's in Kindergarten. LOL If I actually finish it, I'll have to give it as a gift to someone.

[_Mary]

I need to persuade one of my closest friends to start posting over here. This thread would be right up her street.

Harmony, depends on how many wild blackberries I pick. If only a few pounds I'll probably freeze some and make blackberry and apple crumble. If a lot (like last year) then I'll make blackberry jam. My family doesn't like the seeds much in the jam, so I might make it into jelly, don't know if it is the same over in the States, but over here jelly of this type is jam without the pips.

We are lucky because we live out in the country and our garden is relatively big. Our neighbours have a couple of acres though, (very big in my book) and what they do is put out all their surplus and sell it off for a £1 a box. Which is excellent.

My apple trees are laden with woolly aphids this year which has not helped apple production, but the neighbours have loads of apples to sell off, so I have been buying some of theirs to supplement.

I've actually never been to a farmers market, and must go. It is all farming country around here, they advertise regularly and it would be nice to support them a bit more.

I did watch my American friends quilt a few years back. It was a real family event, with this kind of frame that took up most of the room.

I'd love to learn how to quilt. Those quilts were gorgeous.

If Relief Society started teaching homemaking skills again like this, I might even be persuaded to attend. I did try the local women's institute, but the average age was 80 plus and it was more bringing in speakers to show their holiday snaps and all that....

Mary

[_harmony]

I need to persuade one of my closest friends to start posting over here. This thread would be right up her street.

Harmony, depends on how many wild blackberries I pick. If only a few pounds I'll probably freeze some and make blackberry and apple crumble. If a lot (like last year) then I'll make blackberry jam. My family doesn't like the seeds much in the jam, so I might make it into jelly, don't know if it is the same over in the States, but over here jelly of this type is jam without the pips.

So I take it the brambles are wild blackberries? One of my sons and his family went to the wilds of Idaho for a family reunion earlier this summer and came home with buckets of wild blackberries. Oh my gosh. What a treat!

We are lucky because we live out in the country and our garden is relatively big. Our neighbours have a couple of acres though, (very big in my book) and what they do is put out all their surplus and sell it off for a £1 a box. Which is excellent.

A couple acres? That's a HUGE garden in anyone's book. I can't imagine weeding it!

My apple trees are laden with woolly aphids this year which has not helped apple production, but the neighbours have loads of apples to sell off, so I have been buying some of theirs to supplement.

I live in the middle of one of the most productive apple growing areas in the world, and we get the pick of the fruit. Even the worst are better than what's available in the stores.

I've actually never been to a farmers market, and must go. It is all farming country around here, they advertise regularly and it would be nice to support them a bit more.

I live near to the largest farmers market in the west, and we're surrounded by several smaller farmers markets, so from May to October, we can get fresh produce, flowers, ice cream, popcorn, etc. When we go on vacation, we always make a point to visit the local farmers market. They never compare to the markets around here.

I did watch my American friends quilt a few years back. It was a real family event, with this kind of frame that took up most of the room.

I'd love to learn how to quilt. Those quilts were gorgeous.

That's an old fashioned frame, designed for several people to quilt at the same time. There are smaller frames now, designed for one person, so it doesn't take up the whole room. And yes, the quilts are usually gorgeous, even if they're just jean quilts or tied crazy quilts. There's just something wonderful sleeping under something that was crafted from scratch.

If Relief Society started teaching homemaking skills again like this, I might even be persuaded to attend. I did try the local women's institute, but the average age was 80 plus and it was more bringing in speakers to show their holiday snaps and all that....

From what I can see, RS can't be bothered to teach the old skills, unless you're in a ward like mine, where they never really were dead (we take old-fashioned to a level previously reserved for the Amish). So teaching our young marrieds and young women some of these skills isn't too far fetched. Urban wards appear to be in dire straits though, if my DILs experience is anything to go by.