And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Friday, August 25, 2006

Almost done

I gathered about a dozen tomatoes out of the garden again yesterday. Not a lot compared to a close friend who takes over 100 lbs a week from hers, but more than enough for my needs. I have noticed that the tomatoes are smaller with each week that passes, but the little one says the flavor is improving. More evidence that size doesn't matter....hehe.

Just about everything else in the garden but the squash is done, whether by natural causes or me losing patience with trying to garden with this belly in my way and pulling stuff out. I am hoping to have the garden put to bed for the winter early this year, as things have just been getting more awkward day by day. Dad has been so much help with going out when I am too ill to get out there.

It makes me wonder....How did women do this back in the days when the garden was one of the main food sources for the family? It seems that with each generation, we get "wimpier" and "wimpier". Here I am, just 7 mo prego with a gallbladder problem, and I can't seem to keep up with the housework, garden, and my job. I have at my disposal most of the conveniences available to modern man to make life easier, and I still can't seem to keep up. Yet there have been women who had to do much more with much less, and still managed to get it all taken care of with barely a hitch in their daily routine. Imagine having to deal with a large garden, laundry by hand, dishes by hand, only home cooking from scratch, and usually several other children to care for as well. YIKES! I have heard the theories stating this change is the result of lifestyle changes, diet and such. I can't disagree.

1 comment:

e4 said...

The only thing I can figure is that people used to know each other, stay closer to family, and help each other out. Mabye 150 years ago you'd have a neighbor or a sibling or a grandparent giving you a hand.

We canned tomatoes yesterday. It was fun, but it took forever. I found myself thinking the same thing: Man, how did people find the time to do all this stuff by hand?