Pioneer Women...I salute you!
I have commented to Phil that if we lived in pioneer times, we would be hungry and cold as I can't sew clothing nor can I juggle 4 small children and a household PLUS a productive garden and canning. I do a little here but we certainly are NOT stocked up for the winter.
We had a lousy grape production this year and what little we had were eaten by raccoons. I found organic grapes, already picked, in a 6 gallon food grade bucket for 15 dollars a bucket (around 35 pounds a bucket, a little less than 50 cents a pound). I intended to buy two but came home with 4. I started juicing at 3:30 in the afternoon and juiced until after 9:00 pm. I started again in the morning around 9:00 and then juiced all day long until about 7:00 pm. This entailed washing jars, boiling lids, picking through grapes (some were moldy - it has been a very wet season and a poor grape year over all), loading up the steamer, draining the juice, keeping the water level up, and dumping the juiced grapes. Seriously!! Two days in the kitchen of mass juice making. It took forever. The children played in the backyards most of the day (not my usual level of supervision). We didn't school. Meals were mediocre. The house was a disaster. My feet hurt. I did manage to get over 47 quarts of juice but I still have grape jelly to make.
I wonder how pioneer women did it?! They canned all season long. They had to or their family didn't eat. They didn't have nice electric stoves, they canned over hot woodstoves. (Canning porches, by the way, are genious. If I ever designed a house, it would include a beautiful, screened in canning porch with lots of counterspace, a stove, and shelving!) They grew or forarged the produce, canned, got meals on the table, cleaned their house, watched their children, mended/sewed/knitted everything they neededed from socks to bedding, hand washed all the laundry, made all the things that we just get at the store (like soap!), oftened homeschooled if they were homesteading away from a town, and on and on! There was no daycare/babysitting, there was no time off for morning sickness and new babies, there wasn't much help from husbands (as they were also busy), there were no modern convenience appliances, or super stores. These women were efficient, skilled, hard working, and amazing!!
We had a lousy grape production this year and what little we had were eaten by raccoons. I found organic grapes, already picked, in a 6 gallon food grade bucket for 15 dollars a bucket (around 35 pounds a bucket, a little less than 50 cents a pound). I intended to buy two but came home with 4. I started juicing at 3:30 in the afternoon and juiced until after 9:00 pm. I started again in the morning around 9:00 and then juiced all day long until about 7:00 pm. This entailed washing jars, boiling lids, picking through grapes (some were moldy - it has been a very wet season and a poor grape year over all), loading up the steamer, draining the juice, keeping the water level up, and dumping the juiced grapes. Seriously!! Two days in the kitchen of mass juice making. It took forever. The children played in the backyards most of the day (not my usual level of supervision). We didn't school. Meals were mediocre. The house was a disaster. My feet hurt. I did manage to get over 47 quarts of juice but I still have grape jelly to make.
I wonder how pioneer women did it?! They canned all season long. They had to or their family didn't eat. They didn't have nice electric stoves, they canned over hot woodstoves. (Canning porches, by the way, are genious. If I ever designed a house, it would include a beautiful, screened in canning porch with lots of counterspace, a stove, and shelving!) They grew or forarged the produce, canned, got meals on the table, cleaned their house, watched their children, mended/sewed/knitted everything they neededed from socks to bedding, hand washed all the laundry, made all the things that we just get at the store (like soap!), oftened homeschooled if they were homesteading away from a town, and on and on! There was no daycare/babysitting, there was no time off for morning sickness and new babies, there wasn't much help from husbands (as they were also busy), there were no modern convenience appliances, or super stores. These women were efficient, skilled, hard working, and amazing!!
Don't be so hard on yourself. What you have accomplished is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAbout the pioneer women....they didn't take up precious work time running errands or on the computer. Homeschooling, maybe, but pretty basic I would suppose. Their children were great contributors to the family. Neighbors and family mostly likely helped. They lived hard lives and died young.
It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges...however I'm like you. The pioneer days intrigue me deeply and I model much of my life after what I think their days must have been like.
This kind of work is hard but so rewarding. Sitting down to a meal is our crowning moment, unlike the majority of Americans who pick up take out or whip up Hamburger Helper most nights.
I really miss my grapevine on Pine Street:)
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