By Velma M. Smith, May 1991

A sight to behold: Our cellar when I was growing up. Uncle Richard built Mama a cupboard to keep her jellies and jams and shelves for her canned goods. On one side were peaches, pears, corn, plums, & cherries. We bought bushes of peaches. Cans of tomatoes, string beans, peas, beet pickles, cucumber pickles of all kinds, strawberries, raspberries, black long berries and huckleberries. Canned beef, pork and chicken sausage. There was a crock which we treated the hams and bacon in, before hanging the hams from the ceiling and packed the bacon.

There was a huge bin of potatoes, which we had dug by hand and barrel after barrel of apples, spies, kings, baldwin sheepnose, russetts, poppins, greenings and one of pears, all picked from the orchard.

Cabbages hung from the roof In the woodshed. Bunches of spearmint and peppermint were hanging up to dry and catnip too.

There were jars of salve made from the balm of gilead trees, dried elm bark, etc. We filled the straw ticks with fresh straw for mattresses. Mama and I gathered chestnuts and hickory nuts. I gathered caraway seeds. We kept hens for our eggs and, of course, we had our milk and cream. Mama made cottage cheese.

We bought codfish by the box and slabs of salmon. Bought coffee beans which we ground. Our tea came in big boxes I suppose from Japan. Bought sugar and flour. Made our own lard from the pigs we butchered.

We had no refrigerator or ice boxes at that time. Eggs were preserved by putting them in a thick solution of salt, in a crock and kept down cellar. Winter squash and pumpkins were stored in a cool, dark place until used, usually an upstairs bedroom.

I don’t think I mentioned onions and summer squash which we always ate fried. Mama made a qoulash of green tomatoes and onions which I liked. She always made mincemeat, using beef, where now they use green tomatoes for mince pies. She boiled cider down to a thick sauce, which she used to make mincemeat and apple butter.