I first heard about this Free Inquiry project months before I started this class. My mind went to a myriad of interesting things I would like to learn.
There is a spot on my local trails that I really wanted to master on my mountain bike. But then I considered the likelihood of getting injured. No thanks.
Photo credit singletrack.com
Then I thought about indoor gardening. Wouldn’t that be cool to do with my future class! Yes. But I kept killing all my seedlings and just didn’t need that kind of responsibility in my life right now. So I passed on that idea too.
What to do? What to do? Summer ensued and as I looked at my garden, that I am not wholly responsible for (recall the aforementioned seedling death), I realized that I have always wanted to learn to can and preserve food.
I thought a lot about why I didn’t learn from my mom before me. I knew my grandma had canned for her family, but why didn’t Grandma pass the tradition on to my mom and her four siblings?
I thought about it more and more. I asked questions. I stayed curious. Was my mom a modern woman raising a family through the 80s and 90s not to be be bothered with the traditions of yore?
Then I thought further back to my mom’s childhood. My grandma was diagnosed, at 32 years old, with breast cancer. She spent the next 10 years in and out of a hospital an hour away from her rural farm to receive treatment.
My momma, the oldest of 5, started to take care of her family at 11 years old. hen grandma was home she would need a lot of time to recover from her treatment.
When would there have been time or energy to spend days canning and preserving? Or if there was a day when energy allowed, was it likely that grandma sent the kids outside to play?
These women that came before me are the epitome of resilience.
After months of considering what I would do for this project I will try to honour my grandma in this small way. By learning a lost skill and thinking of her and her journey.
My plan is to can or preserve: tomatoes, plums, apples, and a mystery food. Stay tuned.
